The Magnificence of Life and Death
Creators: name: Nicolai, Adam
Publisher: name: Maryland Shared Open Access Repository
Year: 2004
Subjects: Research -- Periodicals.
Humanities -- Research -- Periodicals.
Social sciences -- Research -- Periodicals.

description: From Mina Brunyate: I can still recall the delight with which I read Adam Nicolai’s final paper for my English 104 class last December. Although he had been a steady, engaged student throughout the semester, his fourth paper demonstrated leaps and connections that he had previously revealed only in class discussion. Over the course of a semester, my English 104 students work on different skills as they explore emotional and intellectual conjunctions with texts, develop coherent, organized papers that discuss some aspect of at least one of the readings, and discover their own academic voices. Mastery of these processes involves slogging through the usual English stuff, but eventual mastery makes these elements seem effortless and full of grace. As with all English 104 courses, the class involves a lot of feedback, from peer review to conferences with me—as well as class discussions that help to illuminate students’ positions on their topics. But in my class, the handholding stops with the fourth paper, which is my equivalent to a final exam. For this assignment, the students must develop and revise their papers on their own (as they would in most other college courses). Paper four gives them a chance to illuminate their understanding of and commitment to the whole writing process. Rarely does anyone do this so well as did Adam. For one thing, he set the stakes high in claiming such a big topic for discussion: Life and Death pretty much cover everything. Adam took a risk here that could easily have failed. In order to succeed, he had to structure a disciplined discussion that did not descend into bland generalizations and clichés. Accordingly, he invests in small, carefully chosen details (such as the color of Patricia’s teeth) to build his discussion. In addition, his opening with the personal narrative not only gets the audience’s attention. It also sets the stage for the major themes in the paper and the connections that he makes between his carefully chosen readings. Life and death are both there, sharply etched in the recollection. Sustaining and developing these themes, Adam then introduces and discusses the passages from his selected texts. At the end, his loop back to the earlier narrative is natural and satisfying, but his discussion in the body of the paper has enriched this da capo. As I read the paper in the darkening December afternoon, I felt the fresh force of his voice and of his mind, both of which revealed lively commitment to meaningful and persuasive communication.
description: I wrote this essay for English 104 after being particularly struck by the assigned readings concerning death. Together they brought up an experience that I had tried to forget about; most likely because it was the one moment in my life where I felt most helpless and afraid. Looking back now, I regard it in a different way. My time here is limited and this one occurrence ought to be looked upon as a reminder that life is a gift and should be treasured.
description: Mina Brunyate
description: http://blogs.goucher.edu/verge/verge-1/