Contests
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Allowing the Mistreatment of Black Americans
Each year the Department of Literature, Languages, Cultures, and Writing selects the very best final essays from ENGL 102 Critical Writing to be entered into a scholarship competition, evaluated by professors within the department, and ultimately selected by Emeritus Professor of English James Strickland. Below is the winner of the 2023 Strickland Award for Writing. Congratulations, Daniel!! By Daniel Tooson Original Drawing by Megan Krumpak The United States Constitution was first authored in 1787. The Constitution createschecks and balances within the government, orchestrates three branches, and establishes theUnited States as a Representative Democracy and Republic (What is the Constitution). Withinthe U.S. Constitution, there are amendments. These amendments allow the Constitution…
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The Early Bird Gets an F
Each year, the Department of Literature, Languages, Cultures, and Writing asks the professors teaching ENG 102 Critical Reading to submit the best student essays from their classes for consideration for the James Strickland Writing Award. Below is one of the selections that won an honorable mention for 2023. by Madison Barr It is no secret that students hate waking up early to go to school. As they get older, it only becomes more difficult. Every day, these students reluctantly drag themselves out of bed and try their best to make it through the morning. One has to ask, could these early morning wake-up times hurt more than attitudes? The fact…
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No Longer Breathing Easy
Each year, the Department of Languages, Literatures, Cultures, and Writing at Slippery Rock University holds a contest for the best essays produced by students in the required Rock Studies course Critical Writing. Named after English Professor Emeritus Dr. James Strickland, the contest awards scholarship monies to students whose professors submitted their final essays as the best-of-the-best. Here is one of the three honorable mentions for the 2023 Strickland Scholarship contest. By Hayden Fritz Dr. Seuss’s book “The Lorax” is a classic from many people’s childhoods. It follows the exploits of the character named Once-ler as they build their business empire from the humble beginnings of chopping his first truffula tree…
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Eating Disorder Recovery on Social Media
English instructors of first-year writing select the very best student essays produced for that class and submit them to a scholarship competition named and evaluated by SRU English professor emeritus, James Strickland. In selecting this easy for an honorable mention, Dr. Strickland notes, “Grace Buckley, in Eating Disorder Recovery on Social Media, examines the disturbing controversy surrounding the health risks of eating disorders as portrayed on social media sites such as Tik Tok, Twitter, and Tumblr. Grace presents a shocking exploration of potential triggers and dangers for those suffering from eating disorders, including postings by pro-ana groups who escape detection and censorship (that is, normalizing the disorder point of view,…
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Nationwide Access to Paid Parental Leave
The Department of Languages, Literatures, Cultures, and Writing at Slippery Rock University hosts an annual scholarship contest, the James Strickland Award, for the best essays to come out of our first-year writing course (English 102.) Below is one of the honorable mentions for the 2021-2022 academic year. In selecting this essay for recognition, Dr. Strickland noted, “everyone, I am told, assumes that any program that would improve the lives of our citizens would be too expensive and too much government overreach. Jaden Boyle makes the case that Nationwide Access to Paid Parental Leave would actually have a positive impact on our economy. Jaden’s argument is so well presented that it is…
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Lifting a Financial Burden
The Department of English at Slippery Rock University hosts an annual scholarship contest, the James Strickland Award, for the best essays to come out of our first-year writing course (English 102.) Below is one of the honorable mentions for the 2021-2022 academic year. In selecting this essay for recognition, Dr. Strickland noted, “Melanie Putt’s essay is a well-reasoned argument in favor of providing a universal basic income for every United States citizen. Melanie offers the benefits and drawbacks of the plan and to those who find the concept unbelievable, she presents examples of how it has successfully worked in Alaska, California, Kenya, and Canada.“ By Melina Putt Money. It is something…
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Welding Compassion
In Selecting this essay for the third-place in the James Strickland Scholarship, emeritus professor James Strickland notes, “James Byron’s essay was a delightful surprise: a meditation upon the value of teaching meditation, controlling one’s breathing, and practicing compassion. All of it done while supposedly teaching welding techniques at a trade school. James’ unusual story includes the reaction of some of his students, like Leroy from Homewood, but the real joy of the piece is hearing how James himself became a convert. Imagine the karate kid with a welder’s mask.” By James Byron Have you ever considered the power of a single breath? We all breath, automatically, involuntarily. It’s something we do naturally, without…
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The Feminist Movement: The Needed Shift for Women in Their Careers
Each year the Department of English selects outstanding essays from ENGL 102 Critical Writing as entries in the James Strickland Award in Writing scholarship contest. RockScissorsPaper is proud to publish these pieces in our summer edition of the website. Below is the second-place winner for 2022, Sasha Jantsch. Dr. Strickland writes: “Sasha Jantsch’s essay on the necessity of the feminist movement in 2022 is a powerful argumentative essay in the traditional research genre. Not only is the feminist movement not superfluous today, but Sasha also argues it has established and protected the rights of women in the workplace, rights that would have never been realized otherwise. Her essay reminded me of a…
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Nuerotypicals Speak
Each year, the Department of English awards the James Strickland Award to the top essays from ENGL 102 Critical Writing. These pieces are selected first by writing instructors, narrowed down to 10 by a select committee of reviewers made up of department faculty, and then ultimately selected by professor emeritus James Strickland.Below we are proud to present the winner of the 2022 James Strickland Award for Writing, Zach Sterza.Dr. Strickland explains: “I enjoyed reading Zach Sterza’s essay, “Neurotypicals Speak,” because it was so professionally written, so carefully researched, and rhetorically so in control. I had some experiential understanding of autism, so I knew his essay was probably about autism spectrum…
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Mother Tale
By Anna Potter We tell each other stories I tell you how in eighth grade I tried to graft new flesh Onto my birthmark, how when I began the crime of bleeding, I dammed myself with cotton and chocolate. You tell me how your body formed from the crust of earth, how desire rose in you with the same ache as morning sky, and how heavy it has been ever since. I had forgotten this until now, but once An old friend coaxed me with stories of how the sun rises in Haiti, how my body’s vacancy might soothe his own. Another recalled how she observed the curvature of the…
