We are so proud to honor and congratulate our amazing Honors students who won awards for the First-Year Writing Showcase! These students worked so hard and will be presenting these award-winning papers at Friday’s research conference! Congratulations winners!
Here is a link to the showcase to learn a little more: https://las.depaul.edu/academics/writing-rhetoric-and-discourse/undergraduate/first-year-writing/Pages/writing-showcase.aspx
Honors Winners of the First-Year Writing Showcase:
Adeline Kehrberg
HON 100 honoree and won Honorable Mention for the DeCordova Award
Abstract:
This project is not what it started out to be. I went into my conversations with my mother and grandmother planning to hear my grandmother’s conservative rhetoric and my mother’s religious brainwashing. In actuality, I discovered so much more. Over the years, I have developed a significant disdain for my mother and grandmother’s place of origin. The politics and social culture of my generation turned me completely off to what I determined to be the community’s entire history. These conversations taught me how surface level my understanding of their community is and revealed my true outsider perspective.
Diana Mejia
HON 100 Honoree
Body Language Influencing Election Results
Abstract:
When thinking of elections, influence is thought to be instilled through a candidate’s declaration of promises the public and nation hold at a higher value in comparison to the competing political opponent’s ideals. More often than not, people who vote fail to realize the subliminal nature of body language , which unconsciously plays a role in presidential preferences, ultimately affecting the results of the election. A question that is then elicited falls along the lines of: Does body language during presidential debates significantly affect election results? If so, to what extent? Following three crucial steps, social power is achieved by outshining the political opponent’s debut, creating a loyal base of adherents, and winning over the press and public. All of these are closely intertwined with visually-based human-to-human interaction, whether physically or through a screen, which would imply the presence and influence of body language.
Wren Wasson
HON 100 Honoree
Abstract:
True crime dominates popular culture through literature, podcasts, film, and television. With audiences of unprecedented sizes, true crime faces extensive public opinion in commendation and scrutiny. True crime’s fascinating and cautionary nature generates praise among many media consumers. The genre’s ability to critically observe the justice system also garners public admiration. Entertainment media such as the Serial podcast, Netflix’s The Keepers, and Peacock’s A Friend of the Family are influential examples of true crime’s positive effect on audiences and victims. Meanwhile, Dahmer, Making a Murderer, and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile prompts other viewers to criticize the genre’s potential to perpetuate misinformation, romanticize criminals, and glorify the violation of victims’ privacy rights. Numerous influential works of true crime media demonstrate that, while not inherently unethical or harmful, the genre can yield adverse social effects when neglecting an ethical code.
Abby Kane
Research Award Recipient
Final Draft
More Than Child’s Play: Uses of Animation as a Medium in Society
Abstract:
Cartoons are a common piece of many people’s childhoods throughout the world. I myself remember watching animated characters move around onscreen from an early age. In general, children’s TV shows and movies are what come to people’s minds when they think of animation. Society as a whole tends to dismiss animation as a form of one-dimensional and simplistic entertainment intended only for children and toddlers. As someone who has maintained an interest in animation well into my adulthood, as well as chosen to pursue animation as a career, I have witnessed firsthand what the art form is capable of beyond what people generally see.
Bella Zamudio
HON 100 Honoree
Agatha Christie and the Eternity of the Whodunit
Abstract:
I expect you are all wondering why I’ve gathered you here today. This classic line, often occurring when a detective has summoned together the cast of suspects, has become a trope in mystery novels, film, and television. Born in England on September 15, 1890, the creator of this phrase would become one of the world’s leading detective novelists, her books outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. Dame Agatha Christie’s extensive career writing mysteries solidified her as a world-famous creator, promising her a legacy in popular culture for years to come. Although her novels are a product of the times, sprinkled with viewpoints that a modern reader would wince at, her work was nonetheless important to providing the definition of a whodunit
Mandy Quach
HON 100 Honoree
White or Wrong: Minority Representation in Film and Television
Click here to visit Mandy’s e-Portfolio !
Abstract:
The media is an effective means of communication. In an age where technology is ever-evolving, people must recognize the risks that come with it. The entertainment industry is overwhelmingly White, and as a result, minority groups are inaccurately portrayed in television and film. When minority groups are appropriately portrayed, society’s understanding of that group improves, and the minority benefits
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