academic
Schoolwork and such. Below you will find some select essays I have penned (well, word-processed, if anything) for my university courses. Understandably, not everything I have written is presented here; this is a repository of my longer and more developed compositions.
A BRIEF NOTE ON PLAGIARISM
Please note that these are copyrighted works. I strongly advise against printing these out and passing them off as your essays. Number one, my writing style is somewhat unique and quirky, and as such recognizably not yours; and number two, it's illegal, immoral, and the gods of karma will seriously kick your ass. So don't.
spring 2005
Victorian Literature, Modern Poetry, American Literature II.
Love Me Not For Love's Sake: Barrett Browning's Romantic Poetry Reconsidered
Famed woman poet of the Victorian era today relegated to kitschy Hallmark cards. Read why this is not cool.
High Tea with Gertrude at 27 Rue de Fleurus
Lesbian no-nonsense expatriate Parisian pushes boundaries of language. I write about some of her theories and experiments.
Stevens and God: A Match Made at Heaven's Gate
Musings on the Modern poet Wallace Stevens and one of his many poems concerned with death and rebirth.
An Irish Poet Foresees His Birth
An essay exploring the creative struggles of the Irish poet Yeats, as seen in his poetic tributes to past and present.
Fire and Ice: Lawrance Thompson on the Life and Poetry of Robert Frost
A report on a biography on Frost that claims he was a miserable failure of a human being. (It is also alleged the man wrote some poetry.)
Reclaiming Female Heritage: Gynocentric Modernism in the Poetry of HD
Not Yet Uploaded
Rewriting the Book
Musings on the likes of Hemingway, Wharton, Williams, Stevens and Gilmore – important figures who elevated American prose and poetry.
fall 2004
Shakespeare; African American History
Properties to Unfold: A Reading of a Passage from “Measure for Measure”
Now: I deconstruct a boring passage. Later: watch paint dry.
Sojourner's Truth: A Life Twice Lived
A report on Nell Irvin Painter's captivating biography on the black abolitionist Isabella Van Wagenen, “Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol”.
The Great Migration
Brief overview of the mass exodus of African-Americans from the South.
The Hajj and Malcolm X
A short essay assessing the impact of religious experiences on the dogma of Malcolm X, specifically his Hajj to Mecca.
spring 2004
Survey of British Literature I.
Under Cupid's Spell: Love in Premodern Writing
Marital incompetence and other distressingly hilarious topics are covered.
On Men, Women and Fairies: Gender Constructs in Premodern Literature
Chaucer's Wife of Bath, Spencer's Fairy Queen, their exploits & more!
College Writing
Ophelia, Interrupted
A critical look at prejudices against women in Shakespeare's Hamlet.