Here is a small selection of  numerous English essays and research papers I have written throughout my bachelor’s degree at Iowa State University. In these documents, my thesis topics range from 19th Century Romantic poetry to race/identity issues to gender/patriarchy arguments.

S.T. Coleridge: Mesmerism, Power, and Control of The Mariner

In this paper, I have delved into the “element of power both enacted upon and possessed by the Mariner” in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” I discussed my thesis and paper after reading it aloud at a literary conference for Romantic Travel and Science, where I also responded to questions in a panel discussion.

Breaking Silences and Rebelling Patriarchy in The Yellow Wallpaper

This literary analysis on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper was completed for my Women’s Literature class. After studying the effects of the “rest cure” on Victorian women, I became intrigued with images of the main narrator and protagonist, Jane, and how she transitions into a rebellious, freedom-seeking woman who seeks privacy, power, and a voice independent of her husband and patriarchal society.

Cross-Cultural Miscommunication in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Addressing issues in the 1980’s between American/Western medical perspectives and differences in Hmong spiritual beliefs and practices, I describe how the failure of Lia Lee’s Hmong family and Lia’s American doctors  to communicate effectively results in tragedy for both cultures, as Lia “sinks into a vegetative epileptic state.”

Lorde’s Critique of Gyn/Ecology: Privy to Whites or Ignorant of Black Mythology?

In this critical essay, I examine Audre Lorde’s critique of Mary Daly’s Gyn/Ecology, in which Lorde questions, “How do I, as a black non-white woman, fit into this discourse?” Audre Lorde is a black, feminist, lesbian, socialist woman, who suggests Daly’s novel is not inclusive of non-white women and questions the credibility of Daly’s inconclusive research for “women” in Gyn/Ecology.

Slave: The Road to Rediscovering Mende’s Identity

This analysis of Mende Nazer’s autobiography, Slave, shows the “transition of Mende’s lost identity during slavery to her reclaimed identity as a free woman,” as her childhood, slave, and free UK citizen identities are examined in a modern-day slave account. I question whether Mende can be truly “free” or if she will remain a slave to her daunting memories of childhood enslavement.