The works below were written by first-year students in the Composition Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston, selected for publication by Composition Program faculty serving on the Undercurrents editorial board. Please see our Editor’s Introduction to learn more about our 2019 issue, click About the Journal to learn more about Undercurrents, or click the links below to enjoy our 2019 selections.
Ogadimma Ebele’s Letters to My Unrequited Love
“Dear Writing: We need to talk. I know we haven’t been dating for very long. But there’s something I need to tell you …”
Nayelis Guerrero’s English Language Learners Marginalized in Classrooms
“Multilingual justice could be defined as a universal right for a person to be respected and accepted when speaking or writing in a different language in a community. ESL students often do not receive this justice.”
Ashley Kim’s Nota Bene: A Study on Latin and its Influence
“This methodical, systematic process can train the brain of Latin pupils to not only think carefully and thoroughly in Latin, but in other intellectual channels and subjects as well.”
Abigail Pineau’s What are the Benefits of Reading for Pleasure?
“Pleasure reading makes you better equipped to excel in academia, but pleasure reading is much more important and influential for a person’s well-being than for a person’s intellect.”
Steve Prochniak’s American Arms: A Soldier’s Perspective
“There is no one size fits all solution, because there are too many angles to cover. If we are going to solve America’s gun violence we need many, many solutions working in tandem with one another.”
Brianne Riccio’s Romanticized Communication: Why Does Modern Dating Suck?
“Could we consequently be sacrificing our self-sufficient independent personas for reliant co-dependence in our relationships when we rely heavily on communication through social media?”
Siena Santos Edmunds’ The Languages We Speak and the Biases that Erase Them
“The most important things teachers can do to enhance the learning environment are to acknowledge the biases they themselves carry, and the biases that are ingrained in the teaching style and curriculum used.”
Chloe Tomasetta’s Note-taking Is Not Universally Applicable
“Typing notes saves students time and energy inside the classroom, but what about when it comes to remembering the information outside of the classroom?”