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Why the Garcia Girls Should Be In The Norton Anthology
By Aodhán Ridenour When Ezra Pound said “Make it new” at the beginning of the twentieth century, hesparked a fire that needed two significant forces to flourish: experimentation and demographicchange. Julia Alverez’s novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents represents a log pile ofintersections with Pound’s famous statement. From the novel’s peculiar narrative constructionand direction, the counterculturalist undertones, to the intimate semi-autobiographical stories ofoutsider experience, Garcia Girls adheres to—and challenges—the somewhat ambiguousrulebook for inclusion in The Norton Anthology of American Literature. As the introduction ofNorton states, “The vitality of contemporary American literature, evident throughout the mostrecent selections in this volume, is fueled by two great engines, one artistic and…
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Cliffs near Dieppe, 1882
By Aodhán Ridenour Photo of “Cliffs near Dieppe, 1882” by Claude Monet. Painted blisters, round and random,childlike or elderly—depending onperspective, or what you thinkyou know, or someone elsehas told you. Blues so smooth they make thepink look jagged, untouched sectionof the 64-pack, greens and grayssqueezed from a spectrumlike the Pillars of Creation. Humanity perverse, it’s not a surfaceto traverse; I wouldn’t want tolay out on that beach.Yet everybodyloves to gaze,talk, and stare. A scene of pastel painted blisters,woven, doubled,dectuple stacked;a knife slit skin revealsits melted crayon profiles. I hated you at first, thenI loved you, standing backa couple paces,lacking glasses. “It’s Impressionist,” they say, “so what is your impression?”Should I…
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Breaking Silence
By: Kristen Craycraft “Every poem breaks a silence that had to be overcome” – Adrienne Rich. My words are my words,They need to be heard,The same goes for you,You deserve to be heard too. Poetry makes noise,Overcoming the deafening silence,Writing through struggles with poise,Running away from violence. What good is it knowing words,And having a voice,If you remain silent,Refusing your choice?
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Maple’s Soliloquy
By Alyssa Phifer Photo by Pexel Stock Images My branches nearly brush her windowsill She sleeps inside so sweetly ’til the sun Shines through my leaves, warm green glows soft into Her dreams, her waking moments intertwined With mine—though I do not know how to sleep Or wake—I wonder what this might be like To lay my body down, to rest beneath The shade of someone else’s outstretched arms I stand still, tall and strong—my roots reach down, Dig deep to raise me higher than before I stand, I grow—she sleeps, she dreams and wakes To see her limbs seem longer, running out To share her dream with me—together, we…
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Done.
By Meg Salizzoni “Mors irrumat omnia. Death fucks us all.” —Leigh Bardugo in Ninth House mors omnibus adest memento mori words meant to soothe calm prepare redirect divert numb to the eventual end of which we do not consent? instead, mors irrumat omnia. latin is a dead language already. we were doomed from the start.
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Felix
By Rachel Hoarau (Photo by Pixel Free Images) My paw pads aren’t callused like my mother’s. They are soft and pink. The light is bright, and I can hardly see. Mom licks my head Says bye bye and runs out of the den I want to go out there, too! It looks so bright and green. A year has gone by and I’m running every day, Crushing green sprouts in soft soil and spilling down over the hillside, nearly falling into the chittering brook. There is another like me in the brook’s wavy water. He is red and white with deep brown eyes. I dance with him. I think he…
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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,…
