Engl 3130 Advanced Composition, Spring 2025
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Model
Student Essays
last update: January 12, 2025
These are "A" essays, written by ETSU students for this Advanced Composition class during the past few years, and published here with the authors' written permissions. The essays are arranged by assignment type. -- Dr. O'Donnell, instructor -- odonnell@etsu.edu
I.
Narrative Based on Experience
- Beowulf
and the 1,000-Year-Old Body: My Walk Through Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England.
By Kristin Lyons, Fall 2019
- Dropping One Hundred and Twenty Feet in Four Seconds: My Daughter and I Experience the Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach, the Third-Tallest Free-fall Water Slide in the World. By Cheston Axton, Fall 2020
- Histoplasmosis Syndrome: My Experience with an Ocular Injection. By Kelsey Grubb, Spring 2016
- My Journey Through Hell; A Memoir of my First Marriage. By D. S. Black, Fall 2020
- The Redneck Waterslide: How I (Almost) Broke My Back at Church Camp. By Sarah McNabb, Fall 2020
- Rock City in 1979: A Memory from My Childhood, by Christina Hart, December 2024
- The Secret Heart: A Memoir of My Grandfather Thurman Cooper’s Life, by Samantha Matney, Fall 2021
- “The Sins of the Fathers Visited Upon the Children,” or How I Lived More-or-Less Openly Queer in the Southern Baptist Church, by Emrie Gilbert, Fall 2021
- The Two Years That Changed My Life: A Story of the “Love” and Abuse of a Naïve Girl, by Isabella Marrin (pseudonymn), Fall 2021
- Vacationing in Redneck Paradise: Lakewood Camping Resort in South Myrtle Beach, South Carolina--“Yee-Haw”. By Grace Roberts, Fall 2019
- Viking Mountain: Greeneville, Tennessee--The Location For Grace, Beauty, And Wonder. By Katelin Mckeehan, Fall 2020
- Waking Nightmares: Visits from My Sleep Paralysis Demons. By Harrison Pollitte, Fall 2020
II.
Tech Writing / How-to
- At-Home
Atelier: How to Curate Your Own Sense of Clothing Style. By Raylee McKenzie,
Spring 2023
- Breaking My Father’s Heart: Understanding Atrial Fibrillation Catheter Ablation. By William R. Wight, Fall 2019
- From the Plan to the Plate: Everything You Need to Host Thanksgiving Dinner, by Emily Sanders, November 2024
- A Guide to Caring for Your Pet Rats. By Anne-Marie Wilson, Fall 2019
- How to Spend a Weekend in Johnson City, Tennessee: A Guide from a Local, by Taylor Harr, Fall 2021
- Loving Literature: How to Escape the Smartphone and Become a Reader, Rebekah Saulsbury, November 2024
- My Favorite Places to go in the Lake Norman, North Carolina Area for a Relaxing Weekend with Family -- Featuring Mooresville, Cornelius, Davidson, and Charlotte. By Leah Smith, Spring 2023
- Stop Fighting Your Curls: A Guide to Embracing Your Natural Hair Texture. By Tracy Ezel, Fall 2020
- If I Can Make Them, Anyone Can: Meatloaf and Boneless Wing Recipes to Benefit the Culinarily Challenged. By Abigail Seay, Fall 2019
- The Album That Started Heavy Metal Music: A Review of Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath Album, by Brett Strother, Fall 2021
- An Analysis of “Inception”: A Cinematic Masterpiece. By Bailey Johnson, Spring 2023
- Blues Run the Game: A Look at the Tragic Life of Jackson C. Frank, the disregarded folk talent whose gorgeous music was undermined by childhood trauma, poverty, and schizophrenia. By Hunter Eaton, Fall 2019
- Curiosity from Controversy: A Quarantine Read of Nabokov’s Infamous Lolita Guided by One of the Most Unreliable Narrators in Literature, by E.P. (pseudonym), Fall 2021
- A Dreamlike State of Life: The Love and Loss Depicted in Good at Falling, the Debut Album by The Japanese House. By Alana Shuler, Fall 2020
- The Hideaway: 3 Reasons Why Johnson City, Tennessee Needs This Punk Sanctuary, by Kylee Phalen, Fall 2021
- Of Hope and White Wings: A Review of Hatoful Boyfriend, by Emma Sheedlo, Fall 2021
- I’m Happy & It’s Homey: A Review of Open Doors Coffeehouse. By Olivia Preshong, Fall 2020
- More Than a Kid’s Show: A Review of Nickelodeon’s Hit Cartoon: Avatar: The Last Airbender. By Emily Bowens, Fall 2020
- The Power of Interactive Narrative: A Review of What Remains of Edith Finch. By Cameron Davis, Fall 2019
- Why Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small Quartet Should Have Been Gen Z’s Harry Potter, by Emrie Gilbert, Fall 2021
- My Journey with Binge Eating Disorder: The Effects B.E.D. has on Myself and Others by Madison Grady, Spring 2022
- The Sacrifice of a Stray: Laika’s Mission to the Stars Aboard Sputnik 2, by Laken Greene, Fall 2021
- Stopping Sexism? Canceling Classics Isn’t the Answer, by Rebekah Saulsbury, December 2024
- Why We Dress More Casually Than We Used To: A few speculations having to do with changing technology and signaling theory. By Isaac Kennedy, Spring 2023
- Willis O’Brien: Unsung Pioneer of Animation and Special Effects. By Christian A. Bice, Fall 2019