the Crimson Quill 5th edition i ii Crimson Quill• 2015 Publishing Disclaimer This work was published from a camera-ready copy. The material has not been edited by the print center. Peer review, class testing, and accuracy are primarily the responsibility of the author(s) and editor(s). Managing Editor AJ Schmitz Editors Tayseer Abu Odeh Mohamed Ahmed Maha Alawdat Julia Grove Rachael Warmington Rob Welch Design Editor Julia Grove Copyright © 2015 Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) All Rights Reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher and copyright holder. Printed in the United States ISBN: 9789970025428 Please address correspondence to [email protected] 1 EDITORS’ NOTE Welcome to the 5th edition of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Crimson Quill. Our mission is to encourage undergraduate students from English 100, 101, 121, and 202 to find ownership and take pride in their contributions to the university community through their writing. In the past, CQ was carefully curated to display exceptional student work that was further polished by CQ editors; it has served as a journal for IUP’s core undergraduate English courses. However, in this latest edition we have revamped our approach and design to better serve not only as a showcase for student writing, but also as a clearer pedagogical tool. Some of the changes in this edition, in brief, include: • In previous editions student submissions have been carefully edited by Crimson Quill editors; in this edition, however, each piece appears exactly as it was submitted. This means that there will inevitably be some grammar and usage errors throughout the edition, however, rather than mistakes, we see these as opportunities. Including these minor errors, allows students to recognize common problems and opens up a conversation about the revision and editing processes. • Additionally, to further facilitate this conversation, we have included extra space in the outside margins to be used for annotation. We feel that modelling editing and annotation skills in the classroom will allow students to practice the skills necessary in workshopping, peer editing, and reflecting on their own writing. We have included common editing marks on the back cover for quick reference towards the same end. • Lastly, where possible, we have included genre introductions and assignment prompts. By placing each submission in a clearer context, it is our hope that students can better understand each writer’s strategy and approach. These genre discussions and prompts can also be used by instructors to prompt writing or spark further ideas. We hope that these changes will maintain the original vision and mission of the Crimson Quill, while adding pedagogical value for instructors and students alike. 2 Crimson Quill• 2015 EDITORS’ BIOS Tayseer Abu Odeh is currently a PhD candidate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania majoring in Comparative and Postcolonial Literature. He has published many articles that center around English, World, and Arabic literature along with Postcolonial Studies. In 2014, he served as a Teaching Associate in the Department of English Literature and Criticism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also served as an instructor of English Literature at the University of Jordan (2009- 2011). In 2015, he’s taught Arabic language and Literature in Middlebury College (California), as a Faculty member. His research interests include Comparative Literature, Translation, Postcolonial Studies, Exile, and Arabic Literature. He is also a recipient of several awards and fellowships including Indiana University of Pennsylvania Foundation Doctoral Fellowship award for excellence in teaching and research (2011), Sylff, The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Scholarship, Tokyo Foundation (2007-2009), Middle East Group Study Program (2008), Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange, The Japan Foundation, and Sylff Fellows Mobility Program grant, visiting scholar, University of California, San- Diego (2009). Dr. Maha Alawdat finished her doctoral program in Composition and TESOL at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in May 2015. She has a Master degree in Foreign English Literature, as well as a degree in Management and Educational Leadership from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Her Bachelor’s degree is in English Language and Literature from Bethlehem University. During her studies at IUP, she won a number of awards including the 2015 Teaching Excellence Award, Exemplary Teaching of Literacy and Language Award for two years, and 2015 Graduate Women’s Leadership Award in recognition of academic achievement, service to the campus community, and leadership skills. Her interests include eLearning, composition, and creative writing. Writing poems is an area where she can express her thoughts and feelings and has published a number of poems. She is also interested in using ePortfolios to teach writing and published a number of articles and a book on this topic. Her dissertation focused on exploring the implementation of ePortfolios by writing teachers in PASSHE schools. Julia Grove is an IUP Literature & Criticism doctoral candidate and instructor. She has previously taught Composition I, Composition II, and Humanities Literature at IUP, where she is currently teaching Basic Writing; she is also currently teaching Composition I at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. She is active in the campus community in various capacities. Most notably, she has served as the English Department Colloquium Series co-director; English Graduate Organization social co-coordinator and graphic designer for their conference publication, Voices; Online Pedagogy Teaching circle leader; and LSE Shared Syllabus Assessment Committee member. She was nominated for an Outstanding Teaching Award and won the English Graduate Organization’s Outstanding Service Award. For her dissertation she is identifying and exploring a new genre of texts that utilize digital media strategies while simultaneously emphasizing their physical materiality, a genre she is calling Hyperprint. 3 AJ Schmitz is a PhD Candidate and Instructor in the English Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Research interests include Eighteenth-Century British Literature, Narratology, Ecocriticism and Place studies. In addition to his work with the Crimson Quill, he has been of great service to the English Department, serving as co-coordinator of the Colloquium Series, a judge for the Undergraduate Writing Contest, and contributing editor for Livingston Online. He is also the co-creator of the English Graduate Dissertation Discussion Forum. His most important achievement has been his part in the development and growth, as well as his role as MC for the monthly Lit. Night at the Artist’s Hand Gallery, bridging the gap between the college and the community at large through a mutual love of poetry, prose, and performance. His teaching has been recognized by the faculty at IUP as evidenced by his nomination for the Outstanding Teaching Award and his efforts in the department and community garnered a win for the Outstanding Service Award. His prose and poetry have been published in various print and digital mediums and he is committed to the growth of his students’ writing abilities. Rachael Warmington is a doctoral candidate and a former instructor in the Literature & Criticism Program at IUP. She earned her B.A. in English from Montclair State University, M.A. in English from Seton Hall University, and her MFA at City College of New York, City University of New York. Rachael was the recipient of the 2014 Graduate English Programs in Literature & Criticism for Outstanding Service & Citizenship Award. She has been published in The Tower Journal, Poetry in Performance, Chavez and The Normal Review. Being part of the success of students is very rewarding and this is why Rachael encourages all of her students to publish both their creative pieces and research projects. Rachael was also both a poetry and fiction judge for IUP English Department’s Annual Undergraduate Writing Contest. She is a trustee in the New Jersey College English Association and the editor of their scholarly and creative publication, The Watchung Review. Rachael will be teaching at both Seton Hall University and Rutgers University starting in the fall of 2015. Rob Welch is a Ph.D. candidate in the Literature and Criticism program at IUP. He is currently employed as an instructor in the English department at IUP and at Penn Highlands Community College. His keen interest in composition studies has been fueled by his ongoing involvement as a tutor at the Writing Center with graduate and undergraduate students from all fields. His research centers on teasing out an intersection between American literary naturalists and modern affect theory, and his forthcoming dissertation compares the critical projects of Lauren Berlant to the fiction produced by Frank Norris. Rob is a member of the Stephen Crane Society and the Frank Norris Society, and remains active in supporting the local community of IUP scholars through his continued work for our English Graduate Organization in numerous capacities. EGO Voices • 2014 Q Volume 5 •C 2015 C Q SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 6 HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS 7 9 Natalie Beers A Simple Thank You Changed Me 15 Lauren Glinksy Crossroads