S T U D E N Tiffanie Amirante Andrea udala Denise Pricket!t Janice Barnet Laura Jane Gresey Gatherine Quigg Genevieve Betken Dee Hanson Jyoti Raghu Charles Boswell Jeanne H son Holly Rushakoff Casey Brookshier Jessica Huth Steve Shepard Neil Bucalo Kathy Kleiva Barbara Singer Joyce Butak Kristin Kolesiak Phillip Stahnke James Cates Barb Kottmeier Kathleen Struif Carol Coutts-Siepka Barbie Markay Frank Tebbe John Czapiga Anahid Melkoni Doriann Thompson Steven Davis Laurin Navratil Rosemary Vitale Erika Dobson Darraugh Nolan Kyle Van Wickevoort Tracey Dorus Mary Patanella Flora Wu Nanette Fabros Christine Pomroy Beth Zimmermann Kim Zurek Special Contributor Martin . Ry� The Harper Anthology of Academic Writing Issue IX 1997 William Rainey Harper College T h e Harper Anthology Human language has the potential to be insensitive, ugly, even brutish. And yet we want to think, too, Foreword that Aristotle was right, that words are indeed what set human beings apart from the balance of the ani­ mal kingdom. We want to trust that just around the corner from the vulgar phrase lurks a sentence that resonates with ravishing poetry. We hope, as we pass ungraspable utterances, that we will come upon the sounds of words that are clear, frank, and true. The HarperAnt hology Selection Committee is determined and optimistic about unearthing lan­ guage that possesses clarity, frankness, and truth; we believe that human beings will, in obedience to cer­ tain internal impulses, fashion words uniquely and express themselves transparently, sometimes beauti­ fully. Most of all, we believe that good writing­ poetic, lyrical, illustrative, substantive, altogether soulful writing-is perennial, like baseball. And given the caliber of the writings in this ninth issue of The HarperAnthol ogy, we are justified in being so heartened. (Would you say we are idealistic? Romantic? Read on, and judge for yourself.) We do not promise that each of the selections in the fol­ lowing pages is "perfect," but we do feel sure that in each piece a genuine struggle for meaning and a quest for literacy are apparent. We are convinced that the writings in this issue have sprung from stu­ dents who are sometimes imaginative, sometimes informative, and always serious about cultivating both the reader and the self through the written word. This year's issue contains works that were com­ pleted in courses from 14 departments or programs: Chemistry, Early Childhood Education, English, English as a Second Language, Foreign Languages (Spanish), the Honors Program, Humanities, Journalism, Literature, Philosophy, Physics, Plant Science Technology, Psychology and Speech. Some of the selections that follow document personal tri­ als: a person who is pushed toward the periphery of life because of her "status" as an overweight female; a woman who unofficially adopts an infant, only to be heartbroken years later when the birth mother returns to reclaim the child. The very first selection Foreword is, among other things, a kind of tortured mono­ We are indebted, finally, to Harley Chapman, logue that powerfully illuminates a young woman's Dean of the Liberal Arts Division, and Pam experience as a victim of anorexia nervosa. To omey, Liberal Arts Division Administrative Of course, there are also works that celebrate the Assistant, for their gracious support of the process of being alive. There is, for example, a Anthology. "Wilderness Journal" that reminds us-in remarkably We hope and believe that the 1997 Harper observant and beautifully written terms- that the Anthology will present you with much to admire, world, however infirm it frequently appears to be, is and maybe a little (maybe a lot) to oppose, for we still a life-affirming place, a place where we can, upon do not expect that you, the reader, will leave each assuming the proper temper, find ourselves meditative piece by singing unreserved praise. Indeed, human and at peace. There is a graceful poem, written in both beings sometimes learn very well when they partic­ Spanish and English, that embraces the memory of a ipate in activities of criticism and dissent. good man (a father-in-law) whose body has passed away, but whose spirit of decency survives. Another Good reading! essay shows a woman who "comes of age" by reject­ ing, at long last, a life of transience and rootlessness. Andrew Wilson Another underscores the cheerful and productive bonds of friendship that have formed and thickened Chair, Ha rperAnt hology Selection Committee among the employees of an area restaurant. Each selection is preceded by the instructor's description of the assignment, and followed by the instructor's evaluation. At the end of the Anthology, the members of the Selection Committee describe their criteria for good writing, selected students offer their comments regarding why they view writing as a significant enterprise, and Professor and Poet Martin Ryan expresses his sense of the importance of writing in an Afterword. Thanks to the dedicated members of the Harper Anthology Selection Committee; each generously donated much of his/her time to secure the quality of this ninth issue: Nancy Davis, Jack Dodds, Julie Fleenor, Barbara Hickey, Kurt Neumann, Kris Piepenburg, Peter Sherer,. and Joseph Sternberg. Thanks, too, to Michael Knudsen from the Harper Graphics Department, to Anne Frost and Deanna Torres from Harper Publications, and to Peter Gart and the Print Shop staff for their first-rate produc­ tion assistance. And thanks to all Harper faculty members who contributed their students' writings; without them, the Ha rper Anthology is surely not possible. J T h e Harper Anthology Steven Davis L The Relationship of Mathematics to Physics Table (Physics) 35 Erika Dobson of The "Invisible" Teacher (Early Childhood Education) 38 Tracey Dorus Contents Journal Entries (Literature) 40 Tiffanie· Amirante Nanette Fabros From the Edge of Starvation Gabriel Conroy's Epiphany in "The Dead" (English) 1 (English) 44 Janice Barnet Andrea Fudala More Than just a Pretty Picture Debunking the Cinderella Myth (English) 5 (Honors Literature) 49 Genevieve Betken Laura Jane Gresey Soil Erosion and ConservationTillage An Environmental Evaluation of Some Belief Systems (Plant Science Technology) 10 (Philosophy) 52 Charles Boswell Dee Hanson The Fearsome Foliage of Venemous Science From the Depths (English) 14 (English) 58 Casey Brookshier Jeanne Hanson Cultures in juxtaposition: A Collage on Racial The Mirror of Murderers: Robert Browning's Insight and Cultural Differences on Human Nature (English) 16 (Literature) 60 Neil Bucalo Jessica Huth Genetic Engineering: The Wave of the Future, Rape Sentencing: An Illusion of justice Despite Skepticism · (English) 65 (English) 21 Kathy Kleiva Joyce Butak The Lost Episode from Albert Camus's The Stranger Dear Ms. Wei! (English) 68 (Chemistry) 27 Kristin Kolesiak James Cates Hawthorne's True Intent in "The Birthmark" WildernessJournal Entries and "Rappaccini's Daughter" (English) 28 (English) 69 Carol Coutts-Siepka Barb Kottmeier Teachers: Please Teach! Daddy's Tears (Speech) 31 (English) 76 John Czapiga Barbie Markay E.R. The Journey Home (Chemistry) 34 (Psychology) 79 Table of Contents Anahid Melkonian Phillip Stahnke The Painful Moment of My Life Micro brews (English as a Second Language) 84 Qournalism) 121 Laurin Navratil Kathleen Struif Nikko's: A Place with People Hesiod Secretly Loved Women (English) 86 (Humanities) 123 Darraugh Nolan Frank Tebbe Childless Adults: Don't Take Your Frustrations Awakening to Frost Out on Parents (English) 125 (English) 89 Doriann Thompson Mary Patanella Newman Wherefore Is This Poetry? (Spanish) 130 (Literature) 93 Rosemary Vitale Christine Pomroy The Grass Isn't Always Greener; The Comfort of Home Sometimes It's Blue, Purple, or Silver (English) 94 (English) 131 Denise Prickett Kyle Van Wickevoort Feminist Philosophy in Brenda Bosman's Analysis of Little Girl Lost Nervous Conditions (English) 133 (Literature) 97 Flora Wu Catherine Quigg Chinese Names Searching for What a Poem Is (English as a Second Language) 136 (Literature) 100 Beth Zimmermann Catherine Quigg Finding the Early Signs of the Feminist Movement Poetry journal within "The Yellow Wall-Paper" (Literature) 102 (English) 137 Jyoti Raghu Kim Zurek My Life as a Marginal Woman Crimes of the American Family (Honors English) 106 as Seen through the Female Heart (English) 143 Holly Rushakoff The Repellent Nature of the Existentialist in Society The HarperAnthology Selection Committee: (Literature) 109 What Is Good Writing? 150 Steve Shepard Harper Students on Writing 152 Anne Bradstreet: A Soul Divided (Literature) 113 Martin Ryan Writing 154 Barbara Singer The Case of the Missing Nobleman Alternate Table of Contents 156 (English) 119 T h e Harper Anth ology I had a hole in my heart so I threw away my plate. -julianaHa tfi eld From the 1. There had been a mirror on the wall across from my bed when I first arrived. It was a small square mir­ ror, not much larger than the one I had kept in my Edge of high school locker. It had a gold edging that served as a border, and broke up the monotonousness of the black white walls. At first, it hadn't bothered me. In fact, I didn't even look at it. I kept my eyes mov­ ing over the empty walls, focusing on other points in Starvation the room, looking at small cracks in the ceiling or the white-on-white pattern of the tiled floor. But my Tiffa nie Amirante eyes grew tired of the colorless room, and I grew Course: English 101 weaker, and began to be drawn to the mirror's Instructor: Andrew Wilson smooth surface. I didn't want to look at it, but where else could my eyes go? I didn't want to see the reflections that I already had burned into my Assignment: mind. But the mirror taunted me-teasing me with Create a character and write from the truth. And so I let it win, and I succumbed to its his/her point of view.