The Kirby Canon

    The Kirby Canon is a collection of winning student essays within the English Department curriculum from the 2006-2007 academics year. Some of the essays were nominated by English faculty, while others were self-nominated. The essays were divided between a panel of two faculty members. In an effort to remain unbiased, the panel did not judge essays from students who submitted a paper in their classes. After choosing a group of the top submissions from each category-- 101, 120, 201, 200-level, and 300-level-- the final decisions were made by English graduate, Shannon Curtin, who did not submit an essay.

Best 101: Michelle Junker • The Darfur Crisis: A Spiritual Analysis

Best 120: Naseem Mian • Perversion of Motherhood in Incidents of a Slave Girl

Best 201: Henry Hunsinger • Heinrich’s Hidden Prophesy: The Quest for Relevance in Don Delilo’s White Noise

Best 200-level: Stefanie McHugh • Supernatural Light: Light Imagery in The Day of Doom and Annabel Lee

Best 300-level: Sarah Doman • Colonizer and Colonized: Unraveling the Dynamics of Identity Formation

    The Kirby Canon originated as an English 101 essay contest; however, it was later expanded to incorporate all upper level English course categories. This expansion will allow the anthology to be used as a pedagogical tool for all courses within the department.

    Thank you to all who submitted. We would also like to acknowledge Stefanie McHugh for her wonderful work in designing and formatting of the anthology and Geoffrey Forman and Craig Thomas for their assistance with the online publication.