Evidence:
Prior Influential Writing
I started writing long before being admitted into the Minor in Writing program at Michigan. This page, the "evidence" for my writing trial, is a compilation of works that demonstrates my progress as a writer, showcases different styles of my writing, and alludes to why I write. I've decided to include one written work from every year since 2008 to give as large and diverse of a pool as possible.
High School
September 2008-June 2012
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
College
August 2012- Present
This is the oldest paper I have saved on my computer. Written for my first high school english class, it analyzes (poorly, I might add) how the protaganist in "A Hanging," an essay by George Orwell, feels about the death penalty. Seeing as I spent the majority of this semester creating projects that argue for the abolition of the death penalty, I found it fitting to include it in the Evidence section of The Writing Trial. Disclaimer: I am not particularly proud of this piece of writing. The theme just compelled me to include it.
Dance of the Pen is a portfolio of sorts comprised of my work from English in my freshmen year of high school. Each student's portfolio needed a substantial reflective piece, as well as a metaphor to describe how we feel about writing. In the portfolio, I talk a lot about the writing process in comparison to choreographing a dance. I give my teacher that year, Mr. Wukas, full credit for any ability I may have to write. He taught me how to organize my thoughts, structure my sentences, and most importantly, believe in my writing. I chose to include this as evidence for The Writing Trial because like this ePortfolio, Dance of the Pen was a reflection of my work as a writer.
"A Hanging"
"Dance of the Pen"
Click here to read Diva Divine, one of the papers I discuss in Dance of the Pen.
"Secret Sinners"
"Daring to be Different"
"Pride and Prejudice"
I have never enjoyed writing a paper more than "Secret Sinners." I got to write about one of my favorite topics (crime) occuring in my favorite high school book, (The Scarlett Letter) in the voice of Holden Caulfield from the perspective of the devil. To make that less difficult to follow: I was assigned to write a paper about sin in The Scarlett Letter from the perspective of either god or the devil. I then chose to cast Holden Caulfield, protagonist from Catcher in the Rye, as my devil. But my love of this paper came from more than the topic- I loved the prompt. Thus far in my writing career, I had never written anything but an academic, my-own-voice paper. "Secret Sinners" allowed me to do something different; I could explore writing in another voice without feeling restricted to "standard written English." This is why I chose to include it in Evidence- it shows a different side of my writing and thus, a different side of me.
Junior year, my high school requires every student to write a paper called Junior Theme. For most, including myself, junior theme is the longest paper students have ever tackled. For my class, Mr. Wukas (that life-changing teacher from freshmen year), told students to pick a book to read and then assigned a book of his own choosing. I wanted to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer, and he paired that with Middlesex, by Jeffery Eugenides. My assignment involved taking these two seemingly different books and finding a common thread; I found conformity. This fifteen page paper takes a reader through the difficult life of the protagonists as they struggle to fit into their societies. Seeing as this is the first remotely long paper I wrote, it has a place as Evidence in The Writing Trial.
In AP Literature and Composition senior year, I had to write a book report. Weird, I thought. I haven't written a book report since like 6th grade. Well, this wasn't so much of a book report as it was an analytical essay- one very similar to the ones I would come to write in my freshmen year of college. I chose to write about the problems pride and prejudice posed in the book Pride and Prejudice. Though I do not consider this a particularly exceptional work of mine, I do think it shows my promise as a writer (or so at least, my teacher told me it did). I decided to include this essay in Evidence because as one of the final papers I wrote in highschool, it demonstrates my transition into college writing.
2012
2013
2014
Minor in Writing Application
Tutoring Philosophy
The Ultimate Punishment:
The True Purpose
I wrote "The Ultimate Punishment" in my first college English class. We had to write an analytical essay on the book Puddn'head Wilson, one of my favorites of the year. To no ones surprise I decided to write about the different ways societies and time periods have executed capital punishment (no pun intended.) I also used this paper when I applied for a position as a writing consultant at Michigan's writing center, Sweetland. I got the position, so I figured along with following my interest in capital punishment, adding this paper would serve as an adequate, representation of my writing
Before writing consultants actually get the priviledge to consult, we must take a writing class (Writing 300) that focuses on collaborating with writers and ensuring the writing center remains a safe environment for all students. I wrote this personal statement to sum up my tutoring philosophy after finishing the Writing 300 course. I felt strongly about including this piece as evidence because it played a big role in my decision to apply to the writing minor. If I want to become an effective tutor, helping writers find the confidence to use their voice, I need to make sure that my own is strong.
This piece of writing is the reason I'm here. Well, maybe not the complete reason, but it definitely played a large part in my acceptance. It is my application to the writing minor. In it, I hit all of the typical application points like what interests me about the minor and why I'm a good fit. But I also talk aboout how the minor can help me in my future endeavors: a career in law. Pretty suiting that I finish the semester with a porfolio based entirely around a trial, right?