Examples
Need some inspiration? Take a look at what previous students submitted.
Individual paper proposal (Folklore): Sample 1
In this folklore project, I focus on stories that are told about childhood which the subject has no personal memory of. Often memories of childhood are so few that we rely on family members to tell us stories of who we were at that age, which can impact the way we view our identity. We can either integrate these stories into the core of who we are or decide that who we are doesn’t fit the narrative our families push on us. In my research, I document fourteen of these “second-hand personal narratives” and analyze how these stories affect the contributors. I examine the narratives based on three questions: (1) Where/when is this story told?; (2) Why was the story repeatedly told?; (3) Does this story fit the way the person sees their identity in the present? I ultimately conclude that these stories have immense power to shape us as we grow up.
Individual paper proposal (English Teaching): Sample 2
Receiving feedback on writing can often feel like flaws and insecurities are being exposed to a bitter frost. The words can hurt and hinder our progress as both writers and learners. This presentation hopes to address how English educators can provide feedback on student writing that changes the experience from a negative to a positive one. Like a photo needing exposure in order for its image to be brought to light, exposure can be an enlightening and propelling experience, and the same can be said of feedback. This presentation introduces the concept of the exposure triangle (a diagram often used in adjusting exposure settings in photography) in the context of student feedback. The three key elements that impact the feedback experience are scope (aperture), duration (shutter speed), and vulnerability (ISO). By looking at the interactions between these elements, I argue that just as photographers make setting adjustments to bring about a high quality photo, teachers can make adjustments to their feedback to bring about high quality writing.
Individual paper proposal (Rhetoric): Sample 3
Rhetoric is an implicit part of athletics, partially because of media coverage and partially because athletic performances are rhetorical performances. To better understand how athletic performances function rhetorically, I examine three iconic moments in sports using the rhetorical “icon” as a base. These three moments are 1) Michael Jordan’s shot over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989 to win the series and send his team to the next round; 2) Kerri Strug’s vault on a broken ankle in the 1996 Olympics, which secured the U.S. gold medal in team gymnastics; and 3) Conor McGregor’s interview after becoming the first double-champion in UFC history.
I first examine what is necessary for any moment — and specifically sports moments — to be considered iconic. I then examine how these three moments fulfill those requirements in different ways, indicating that moments can be iconic for different reasons, but they always fulfill these three requirements. I then consider the implications of these considerations on rhetoric and on athletics, specifically how athletic moments teach us about rhetoric.
Individual paper proposal (Literature): Sample 4
This paper explores the twentieth-century novel, My Ántonia by Willa Cather and the way this narrative rejects the words that had been used to describe women, femininity, domesticity, and race in domestic fiction. The words used within these pieces of fiction and the more general rhetoric of the time denied women, especially immigrant women of women of color, acknowledgement of their individuality and their role in the national identity of America. My presentation will discuss how Cather’s novel critiques systems of whiteness and patriarchy and celebrates the experiences of immigrant women, through words that challenge and empower. Cather’s novel can and should be read today in order to continue to empower the words and voices of marginalized groups and to redefine our sense of what defines Americanness today. Our words, ideas, and values, make up who we are as individuals and as a nation, so we must consider which groups these words, ideas, and values represent and how that translates into the formation of our culture and nation.
Individual paper proposal (Literature): Sample 5
In his book, The Book of Dead Philosophers, Simon Critchley follows the various philosophical perspectives of “190 or so dead philosophers” (1) in an effort to elucidate the societal investment with death throughout the centuries. Beyond simply thinking, reasoning, or arguing how death comes about, Critchley’s work illustrates how death continues to influence culture and thought throughout the twenty-first century. I would like to call attention to the way English writers, thinkers, and philosophers of the sixteenth and seventeenth-centuries address death. Turning to the various Early Modern confrontations with death is relevant because the work done in this literature provides the foundation for understanding the deaths we experience. I will be focusing specifically on the way Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, and the martyrdoms of Thomas More and Anna Askew illuminate the role of death in the twenty-first century production of the film Room (2015). Throughout these texts, the confrontation with death leads to an inevitable moment of choice, and it is precisely that moment of choice that I argue necessitates greater examination. The decision between hope and despair, fear and faith, life and death seems very straightforward. But in each of the instances mentioned, the choice that brought life wasn’t life. It was death.
Individual paper proposal (Literature): Sample 6
This paper examines the occult-coded language in “Retired Elizabeth,” a chapter in Cotton Mather’s 1722 medical guide, The Angel of Bethesda, in the context of two significant Puritan beliefs: first, that women by nature are highly susceptible to devilish influences; and second, that witchcraft is the ultimate manifestation of feminine evil. By approaching “Retired Elizabeth” from this historical context, we can readily see Mather’s fear of women’s reproductive capability becoming twisted into a form of witchcraft. This perspective not only lends insight into why Mather is so concerned about the occult in “Retired Elizabeth” but also why he makes such a concerted effort to intrude into the birthing room—and women’s personal and spiritual affairs more generally. In light of this reading, “Retired Elizabeth” becomes an important point of convergence for studies regarding eighteenth- century ideas of witchcraft and Puritan attitudes regarding women.
Panel project: Sample 1
As a towering literary figure, William Wordsworth leaves behind a record of poetical and personal development. But critically under-recognized in this development is his sister, Dorothy Wordsworth, who maintained significant influence over William. From her voracious reading habits to the copious amounts of transcriptions in her notebooks, it is clear she was inspired by others’ words even as she wrote her own. Exploring these literary relations and their impact on the Wordsworths’, the following panel will share three presentations investigating the way words have influenced and defined the lives of the Wordsworth siblings who have likewise utilized their words to influence us.
The first presentation utilizes a prominent identification theory from philosopher Harry Frankfurt to articulate the intricacies of identity formation in the fifth book of The Prelude. Frankfurt argues that identification occurs by the internalization or externalization of particular types of desires. As Wordsworth expresses the effects of literature on his own development, he further demonstrates how words effect the Frankfurtian model.
The second presentation explores the intersection between Georgian England’s commonplace book trends, the importance of deliberately unpublished material, and female literary networks. DCMS 120 (also known as Dorothy Wordsworth’s “commonplace book”) has been largely unstudied despite the rise of interest in Dorothy herself. I analyze a selection of its contents using the lens of decision authorship. This mode of thinking about authorship looks at the decision to copy already published work or works original to someone else as a form of authorship in its own right.
The final presentation details why Dorothy deserves to be taught as a Romantic author and how she can be taught effectively. Typically, whenever Dorothy is mentioned, it’s as the sister of William or as an adjunct to her brother’s genius. While Dorothy was William’s muse and confidant, Dorothy was also a creative herself, lending her mind and time to the creative of the period, her brother. Giving more time in the classroom to figures like her can help students better connect to British Romanticism.
Panel project: Sample 2
Future sonnets are dependent on past sonnets. It is this relationship that defines the form. This particular mode of poetry is characterized by readers’ strong sense of its literary tradition; the richness, complexity, and depth of past and present sonnets relies heavily upon its perpetuation or contradiction of what has been previously established. But sonneteers such as Spenser, Locke, Milton, Wordsworth, and even Shakespeare (most commonly associated with the sonnet) made statements by subverting the expectations set up by their predecessors. Today, sonnets can be constructed from binary code, geometric structures, and even rock sculptures, but despite the range of content and material, their meaning can still be discerned through an exploration of their relationship with the sonnet tradition. Thus, past sonneteers have shaped the possible paths for future sonneteers. Their works have created traditions with which future sonnets cannot avoid entering into conversation.
“Dante and Petrarch Meet Esther,” by [Student Name], analyzes how Christina Rossetti used her “Monna Innominata” to engage in conversation with previously male-dominated sonnet tradition, specifically with a breakdown of Esther’s story.
“Blazon in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130,” by [Student Name], explores the ways in which Shakespeare uses the counterblazon in Sonnet 130 to challenge the contemporary sonnet form, proving that the sonnet structure — and its subject — are flexible.
“Claude McKay’s Protest Sonnets,” by [Student Name], analyzes how Claude McKay both used the conventions of the sonnet tradition and broke from the sonnet tradition in the poems “If We Must Die” and “The Lynching” to protest racial injustice.
“Coleman’s Blues: Jazz Influence in the Sonnet” by [Student Name], examines Wanda Coleman’s jazz innovation in the sonnet form, adjusting the sonnet’s function to address personal history and unrequited national identity in her American Sonnets 10, 18, and 91.
We don’t have any examples of ENG+ proposals yet! When you submit, we may ask to use yours in the future. But if you have any questions about submitting an ENG+ experience or joining the ENG+ panel at the Symposium, reach out to Trina Harding (trina_harding@byu.edu) or Frank Christianson (frank_christianson@byu.edu).