Each year, the English Department recognizes excellent writing in English 1101, 1102, and 1102M by presenting three Barnett Awards. Named in honor of Donald E. Barnett, who directed the Freshman English Program for many years, the awards consist of cash prizes and publication of the winning essays in a pamphlet. Below are links to the Barnett Award-winning essays from the past twelve years.
2008-2009 Barnett Essays
Death by Association: The Jeffery Wood Case, by Stephanie Ryals
A "Jaunty Salute": Jordan Baker's Role as the Modern Woman of the 1920s in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, by Brianna Randall
James Weldon Johnson's "The Creation" and the Biblical Creation: A Comparison, by Ellen Davis
When Colors Contrast, by Savannah Willerton
2007-2008 Barnett Essays
The Hoodie, by Ronald B. Ramsey, Jr.
Overcoming Proteasomes: One Step Closer to a Cure for Cystic Fibrosis, by William C. Mitchell
The Mummy Invokes His Soul: A Portrayal of Women Suffering Under and Overcoming the Repression of Men, by Mary Tanner Scott
The Forbidden Fruit of The Kite Runner, by Christina Westpheling
2006-2007 Barnett Essays
The Not So Wonderful World of Disney, by Caroline Smith
Real Money, by Laura Bowden
Satan and Economics, by Rebecca Kopp
Mythology as a Means of Understanding in Al Young's "Somebody Done Hoodoo'd the Hoodoo Man" and Leslie Marmon Silko's "Call that Story Back," by Kathleen Mischaikow
2005-2006 Barnett Essays
Death With Dignity, by Nicole Parker
California Proposition 69 and the DNA Fingerprint Act: Considerable Expansions in Criminal DNA Databases, by Adam Rea
Landscape With the Fall of Icarus: Musée des Beaux Arts, by Mason Savage
Silence as Beauty, Silence as Self: The Asian American Identity, by Cecilia Schoenbaum
2004-2005 Barnett Essays
Cutting Disorders: A Silent Cry for Help, by Jennifer Davis
False Façades in A Doll House, by Laura Thomas
The Unpatriotic USA PATRIOT Act: Roving Wiretap Provision is Both Unconstitutional and Invasive, by Ashley Louise Smith
Invisibility and Isolation as Indicative of the Asian American Female Voice, by Meggan Wood
2003-2004 Barnett Essays
Trendy or Healthy?, by Melissa Light
Chopin's Other Awakenings, by Sean Hill
Allusions to Bob Dylan and the Folk Music Revival in Toni Morrison's "Recitatif", by Cameron Dye
2002-2003 Barnett Essays
How to be an Honest Cheater, by Alex De Nadai
No Small Parts, Only Small Actors, by Erinn Rowe
The Impact of Catholicism on Chippewa Love Medicine, by Diane Beavers
2001-2002 Barnett Essays
Lunch is What Spaceships Do . . , by Mark J. Dial
Life's Not a Paragraph, by Bonnie Sillay
The Combined Use of Poetry and Prose in Janice Mirikitani's "Spoils of War", by Kerry McCaughan
2000-2001 Barnett Essays
The Ever-Changing Culture of Country Music, by Sarah Winchell
Joyce's "Araby" and Updike's "A & P": A Culture Hostile to Romance, by Genna Miller Walters
1999-2000 Barnett Essays
Arthur Ashe: A Legend in His Own Time, by Lesley Joseph
The 'Fickle' One?, by Mary Catherine D'Arcy
Linguistic Intrigue: How Bilingual Storytelling Reveals a Culture, by Jeremy Craig
1998-1999 Barnett Essays
Archetypal Characters Within the 'Slasher' Film Sub-Genre, by Jonathan King
The Influence of Sociology in Getting Out, by Lori Guimond
The Function of Greek Mythology and The Bridge of Dreams in the Character of Sorin, by Megan J. Hall
1997-1998 Barnett Essays
Still Enduring: Equity Feminism for the Next Generation, by Elizabeth Harper
Sylvia and the Struggle Against Class Consciousness in Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson," by Sara Wiktorski
The Lonely Effects of Assimilation, by Lauren Murphy
