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Academic Writing

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Faculty

  • Diana Epelbaum
    Diana Epelbaum

    Director, Academic Writing Program

    Assistant Professor of Academic Writing

    The Faculty Center 401A
  • Tahneer Oksman
    Tahneer Oksman
    Assistant Professor of Academic Writing
    The Faculty Center 401A
  • Magdalena Maczynska
    Magdalena Maczynska
    Associate Professor of English and World Literatures
    The Faculty Center 300
  • Kenton Worcester
    Affiliated Faculty of Academic Writing
    The Faculty Center 100

Student Writing Sample

  • <span class="lw_profiles_image" style="float: left;"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1049-kaitlyn-burke-"><img src="/live/image/gid/126/width/215/src_region/0,73,1237,1310/8409_kaitlyn_burke.rev.1453903360.jpeg" alt="Kaitlyn Burke " title="Kaitlyn Burke " class="lw_image" width="215"/></a></span></span><div class="lw_profiles_103 styled-link"><p> “As I stood in the sea of cameras I couldn’t help but wonder: were these people even looking at what was in front of them? I could see their eyes moving over the scene, but were they really choosing to see it? I stood in the same place alone for a while and watched as what seemed like hundreds of people paused and took a photograph of the boat. Was the boat meant to be viewed only after being cropped and filtered? Or was it for real people, with real eyes, who should take this sight in and let themselves be absorbed by it?<br/> These questions recall Walker Percy’s key idea: the struggle of knowing whether we are actually experiencing something or just looking at it. But maybe not all picture takers are the same. After all, what we were witnessing was so beautiful that perhaps it had inspired us to transfer that beauty into ourselves, like a choreographer who is inspired to create a new dance by what they see in nature.”</p></div><div class="lw_profiles_name"><a href="/live/profiles/1049-kaitlyn-burke-">Kaitlyn Burke </a></div><div class="lw_profiles_104"><p> Class of 2017</p></div>
  • <span class="lw_profiles_image" style="float: left;"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1048-tracy-tauro-"><img src="/live/image/gid/126/width/215/src_region/0,284,640,924/8407_2011-nyc-bryant-park-2_edit.rev.1453903359.jpg" alt="Tracy Tauro " title="Tracy Tauro " class="lw_image" width="215"/></a></span></span><div class="lw_profiles_103 styled-link"><p> “In a broader sense, this study of Bryant Park is also a study of being in the moment and living with a widened mindset. As Walker Percy argues in “The Loss of the Creature,” if every experience is compared to a certain standard there will always be a “disparity between what it is and what it is supposed to be.” Just because something does not live up to an idea or fulfill a preconceived notion does not mean it does not have anything to offer. Coming into a situation with specific expectations can take away from approaching it with a blank slate. A personal standard for parks, or pleasure, or nature does not have to be justified by others or, to borrow Percy’s phrase, “certified as genuine.” Nature does not have to be beautiful or grandiose or stunningly overwhelming. We authenticate our own meanings. This does not require being inflexible in interpretation and openness, but rather approaching situations with an open mind, forming a personal opinion, and trusting that that opinion does not need to be authenticated by others. It is important to be open to being wrong, of course, but it is equally important to trust in one’s own judgment.”</p></div><div class="lw_profiles_name"><a href="/live/profiles/1048-tracy-tauro-">Tracy Tauro </a></div><div class="lw_profiles_104"><p> Class of 2017</p></div>
  • <span class="lw_profiles_image" style="float: left;"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/1047-zoe-schott-"><img src="/live/image/gid/126/width/215/8405_bryann_pittner.rev.1453903358.jpg" alt="Zoe Schott " title="Zoe Schott " class="lw_image" width="215"/></a></span></span><div class="lw_profiles_103 styled-link"><p> “Frederick Law Olmsted created areas of recreation meant for liberation. They are “Escape From” parks: the places we venture to when in need of tranquility and the ability to be lost in our imaginations and unconscious influences. The trees, the wide open spaces that relieve our city claustrophobia—they are all positioned to have this effect on us. Then there are the “Escape To” parks: the kind we city dwellers visit to escape solitude and to find a sense of community. The circle around the fountain at Washington Square Park is packed with the community we miss on our island of millions. We look for an escape to company, even in the company of strangers. What the creators of Washington Square Park have given us is a place to slow down and to meet people, to talk, to eat, to be conscious of our experiences and to allow ourselves a break from the loneliness of city life.”</p></div><div class="lw_profiles_name"><a href="/live/profiles/1047-zoe-schott-">Zoe Schott </a></div><div class="lw_profiles_104"><p> Class of 2017</p></div>