I have found that all of my college essays—with topics ranging from Anne Bradstreet to Matthew Arnold, François
Fénelon to Marcel Proust—explore written expressions of the interior life...
I am interested in language as a means to delve into the soul, whether through personal writings or through musings on theology, philosophy, political theory, or the arts. I am exploring the art of meditation in the Western tradition--in particular, the seventeenth-century English religious lyric and American Puritan texts.
The Western tradition of religious meditation developed in continental Europe during the Middle Ages, manifested in various strains of mysticism, traveled to Britain through sixteenth-century devotional treatises (especially French!), and profoundly shaped seventeenth-century English writers--from authors of obscure diaries to renowned poets like John Donne, George Herbert, and Edward Taylor.
Below is a list of essay titles that reveals the evolution of my interests during college, as I pursued dual degrees in English and French at Louisiana State University. To view full essays, please click on the orange text. First, read about my senior Honors thesis.
English
- Rival Political Orders: the King and the Boss in Connecticut Yankee (Nov. 2010, Arthurian Lit)
- Storm and Song in Chrétien's Yvain (Sept. 2010, Arthurian Lit)
- Memory and Identity in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Stoppard's Rosencrantz (May 2010, Shakespeare)*
- Political Theory and Natural Law in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mar. 2010, Shakespeare)
- Past and Present in Uzodinma Iweala's Beasts of No Nation (Apr. 2010, Postcolonial Lit)
- Symbolism in Tahmima Anam's The Golden Age: Rehana as Bangladesh (Feb. 2010, Postcolonial Lit)
- The Eucharistic Cup in Old Testament Contexts (May 2009, Lit of the English Bible)
- Pessimistic Longing in Arnold's Water Imagery (May 2009, British Lit II)*
- Malicious Chance in Percy Shelley’s “Mutability” (Feb. 2009, British Lit II)
- Paradise Lost Portfolio: "The Soliloquies of Satan and Adam" and "Satan's Strategic Deception" (Dec. 2008, British Lit I)
- Battle and Balance in Anne Bradstreet's Poetry (Apr. 2008, American Lit I)
- Steel (May 2007, original short story)
*Honors Essay
Français
- L'Ancien français: l'identité linguistique mutable et durable (Dec. 2010, Old French)
- François Fénelon et Saint Augustin (Nov. 2010, Lit Survey I)
- Pages d'art Literary & Arts Journal (Nov. 2009--see "Experiences" page)
Presentation: "Les auteurs américains en France" (Nov. 2009, French for Business) - Le pain français: un symbole qui endure (April 2009, French Culture & Civilization)
- Explication: Proust, from "Du Côté de chez Swann" (Nov. 2008, Lit Survey II)
- « Joyeux Noël » et l’absurdité de la guerre (Oct. 2008, Advanced Grammar)
- Explication: Baudelaire's « Un voyage à Cythere» (Apr. 2008, Readings in French Lit)
- Le problème de la vérité et du mensonge dans Tartuffe (Mar. 2008, Readings in French Lit)
- Les métaphores de l’écriture dans Le Roman de Renart (Feb. 2008, Readings in French Lit)