Here are some papers that I wrote in my first year of the MATX program.
I wrote this first paper for my Text and Texuality class with Dr. Cornis Pope. I argue that reality TV has gone through all of Baudrillard’s phases of the image, starting with real life and gradually moving toward total simulation. Click on the following link for a PDF of this paper..pdf Also, here's a version in Word. .doc
I wrote this paper for my History of MATX class with Dr. Eckhardt. I argue that Emily Dickinson’s poems are mediated by a few different things, including her handwriting and the different materials she used. I also argue that these kinds of mediation are integral to understanding her poems. .pdf .doc
The third paper I wrote for my Methods class in the spring of 2010. In it, I apply some of Deborah Bowen’s theories about how women blog to Baghdad Burning, written by a woman living in occupied Iraq. .pdf .doc
Finally, here is my review of Matthew Kirschenbaum’s book Mechanisms. I also wrote this for my Methods class in the spring of 2010. Kirschenbaum writes about how people often think of the internet as ephemeral. He claims that technology is actually very permanent. I argue that this book is especially important for bloggers, citing a recent example of a woman who was made to reveal her online identity. .pdf .doc