Named in honor of the now-defunct campus newspaper, The Quill is a showcase for student academic writing.  It features student writing that has been nominated as worthy of distinction by instructors.  By making public examples of the fine student writing produced at Ursuline, we hope to inspire more excellence in future student writing.  If you are an instructor at Ursuline and find a piece of A+ student writing, then please nominate it for The Quill by notifying the Campus Writing Liaison.  If you are a student, then we hope these models of student academic writing will inspire you to bring out your own unique voice to provide a vision that cannot be found in cutting and pasting text found on the Internet, but instead can only be found within the values of your own mind.

The Quill

Alphabetical List of Student Writers
Reverse Chronological List of Student Writers

Alphabetical List
"The End" by Lauren Hollis, Ursuline Studies 351 Spring 2012
"Healing The Scars" by Lauren Krozser, Ursuline Studies 101 Fall 2010
"Reflection Essay" by Jessie Mueller, Religious Studies 325 Spring 2011
"Identity and Authenticity in George Orwell’s Burmese Days: The Pukka Sahib Englishman in British Colonial Burma" by Patti Fish Stephens, English 344 Fall 2011
"Reflection Essay" by Kaylene Way, Religious Studies 325 Spring 2011

Reverse Chronological List
"The End" by Lauren Hollis, Ursuline Studies 351 Spring 2012
"Identity and Authenticity in George Orwell’s Burmese Days: The Pukka Sahib Englishman in British Colonial Burma" by Patti Fish Stephens, English 344 Fall 2011
"Reflection Essay" by Kaylene Way, Religious Studies 325 Spring 2011
"Reflection Essay" by Jessie Mueller, Religious Studies 325 Spring 2011
"Healing The Scars" by Lauren Krozser, Ursuline Studies 101 Fall 2010

"The End" by Lauren Hollis
Ursuline Studies 351 Spring 2012

Pamela McVay, Lauren's instructor for US 351 (Introduction to Culture), comments, "In US 351 Introduction to Culture, my students are required to write a poem that demonstrates their understanding of the Baroque aesthetic. Describing the meaning of life in seventeen short lines, in “The End” she borrows George Herbert’s technical feat of choosing line lengths to illustrate her main point before we read a word."

Lauren is a senior Sport Management major at Ursuline and notes of her poem, "When I was handed this assignment, I thought it would be fun to make it a life experience I have had with my horses. As I dug though my memory, I could not get past the two people whom I had showed horses with who had passed away in December of 2011. As I thought about how they both were so young and would never get the chance to be the people they dreamed of, this poem started to come together. As children, we all have those dreams to be someone important, strong, and almost herolike. This poem is my way of expressing that sometimes we may not become the president of the United States, a cancer curing doctor, or a soldier who ends the war, but it is the 'smaller' roles we play in this big world that we are remembered by."

"Identity and Authenticity in George Orwell’s Burmese Days: The Pukka Sahib Englishman in British Colonial Burma" by Patti Fish Stephens
English 344 Fall 2011

Frederick Wright, Patti's instructor for EN 344 (Asian Literature), comments, "For the Asian Literature course, a student has the option of enrolling at the 300 level and doing additional reading and writing for the course. Not many students select this option, yet Patti did, demonstrating her interest in engaging more deeply with the subject matter. In the critical research essay assignment of Asian Literature, the 300-level student is asked to do several challenging tasks. The first is to confront the very notion of literary classification. What does it mean when we draw geographic or national boundaries around a work of literature? The second is to make connections across texts. What links exist between literary works written decades and thousands of miles apart? What can these connections tell us about the literary works, as well as human nature? The third is to explore what literary critics and other scholars have had to say about these works. How can the student's interpretation of the works be informed by viewing them through the eyes of others who have thought deeply about them? How can the student present her or his own understanding of the works without having her or his voice drowned out by the thoughts of others? What can the student add to the critical conversation? In her essay on George Orwell's very first novel, Patti Fish Stephens overcomes each challenge and contributes greatly to the critical conversation."

We human beings have a deep-seated need to name things. The propensity for labeling is in our linguistic make-up. This naming and labeling, we believe, will make our lives easier by allowing us to place things in their proper categories. However, the labels we assign to things or people can affect the way we and others perceive them. For example, the country of Burma now identifies itself as Myanmar. During British colonial occupation, the land now called Myanmar was often simply referred to as part of India. Each of these three names bears subtle but particular political connotations. We must, therefore, choose labels carefully, realizing that not all things can--or should--be defined for the purpose of simplistic classification. Such is the case with George Orwell’s first novel, Burmese Days. Both the novel’s setting of colonial Burma as well as its main character, John Flory, play key roles in the debate over the identity of Burmese Days as authentically British or Asian literature.

Written by a British author about his time in colonial Burma, Burmese Days defies simple classification as either British or Asian Literature. This question of identification goes far deeper than the decision of which Dewey Decimal number should be assigned or of where Burmese Days should be shelved in the library. The dilemma of identity goes to the very heart of Burmese Days. Based on Orwell’s years in Burma as a military police officer, the novel is set when “the British empire was at its largest and most expansive in the 1920s and 30s [sic], the same period . . . of the beginning of the end of imperial authority” (Gopinath 201). It is this setting of “the steady deterioration of imperial confidence both at home in the empire” (Gopinath 201) which creates the identity crisis of John Flory, the maladjusted protagonist of Burmese Days.

Flory’s identity crisis arises from the duality common to the expatriate or immigrant experience: having one’s physical body in one location while one’s heart resides in another. In Flory’s case, however, his heart has switched sides on him. He has been in Burma so long that he has embraced it as his homeland, yet he despises its colonial subservience to the British Empire and its haughty “pukka sahib” (Orwell 39) or “perfect colonial master” (Srivastava 58) colonizers, of which he is one. This love-hate relationship with colonial Burma mirrors Flory’s own identity crisis. He cannot reconcile his love of the Burmese country and people with his allegiance to the other Englishmen in his adopted home of Kyauktada. This tension creates in Flory a self-loathing that makes his existence virtually unbearable until he finds someone to share his life and ambivalent feelings with. When this relationship falls apart, Flory’s self-loathing turns suicidal. His inability to reconcile his identity as an Anglo-Indian within the rigid pukka sahib subculture of his fellow Englishmen culminates in Flory’s self-destruction. With death comes the ultimate loss of Flory’s identity.

It can be argued that Flory’s devolution from Englishman to pukka sahib to non-entity loosely mirrors the history of Burma. Burma’s identity has transitioned from Asian country to British territory to chaotic present-day Myanmar. In a very literal sense, Burma has lost her identity; the name of Burma no longer exists just as the character of John Flory is “soon forgotten” (Orwell 283) after his death in Burmese Days. As Jeffrey Meyers discovered while researching his biography, Orwell: Life and Art, “the Burmese government has tried to obliterate all traces of the colonial era, which lasted from the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824 to independence in 1948. (The five-story National Museum leaves out more than a century of the country’s history.)” (Meyers 10). Flory and Burma have both been defined by and destroyed by British colonial rule.

Because Flory no longer has a clear national identity, he is in search of someone or someplace to whom or which he can belong. Flory has never been comfortable in his own skin, one reason for which is the large blue birthmark which covers most of one side of his face (Orwell 17). This stain upon Flory’s face can possibly represent the external manifestation of the emotional mark that Burma has left upon his character. The unusual blue birthmark could be so colored in order to represent India, the source of indigo blue dye. Flory’s birthmark can therefore be viewed as a symbol for his identity crisis. Burmese Days provides not only the setting for Flory’s identity crisis but also a snapshot of Burma under British colonial rule. Flory’s identity crisis is a direct result of his participation in British colonization of the Indian subcontinent; he is British by birth but runs a timber company in Burma, thereby profiting from the imperial machine he claims to despise. He has been away from his native land so long that he no longer feels at home in England. Here is how the omniscient narrator in Burmese Days describes the moment Flory realizes that England was no longer his home: "Something turned over in Flory’s heart. It was one of those moments when one becomes conscious of a vast change and deterioration in one’s life. For he had realised [sic], suddenly, that in his heart he was glad to be coming back. This country which he hated was now his native country, his home. He had lived here ten years, and every particle of his body was compounded of Burmese soil" (Orwell 71). Flory’s ambivalence toward both his British counterparts and his Burmese home calls into question his very identity. Flory’s identity crisis mirrors the identity crisis of the novel. As Arif Dirlik discusses in “Literature/Identity: Transnationalism, Narrative and Representation,” “Ethnic or transnational literatures present a challenge not only to historical ways of thinking, but also to the ways in which we have organized the study of the world in terms of nations, areas, and regions” (209). It is just this challenge that is raised by Orwell’s Burmese Days. Despite Orwell’s authorial stature in the canon of British literature, his first novel crosses the boundaries between British and Asian literature.

One argument for classifying Burmese Days as a work of Asian literature can be attributed to Orwell himself. As Douglas Kerr points out in his article “Colonial Habitats: Orwell and Woolf in the Jungle,” Orwell’s comment that “In all novels about the East . . . the scenery is the real subject-matter” indicates that the setting of Burmese Days is the true main character, upstaging the action, as it were (149). By this definition, then, Burma herself is the main character of Burmese Days and therefore this is a novel about an Asian country, set in an Asian country, by an author who lived for many years in that Asian country. Additionally, although Burmese Days is written in English, it contains a great deal of Burmese terminology. This use of Burmese vocabulary addresses “the issue of authenticity” (60) which Neelam Srivastava discusses in his article “Pidgin English or Pigeon Indian? Babus and Babuisms in Colonial and Postcolonial Fiction.” Srivastava points out that when Salman Rushdie used English parenthetical translations of Hindi terms in his novel Midnight’s Children, the language was “seen as an inauthentic mediation between cultures” (60). Orwell, on the other hand, seems to go out of his way to not define the Burmese terms used in his novel, thus indicating a more authentically Asian work of literature.

Conversely, Kerr asserts in “Colonial Habitats” that “Flory has an Asian mistress, an Asian friend, and an Asian enemy, but virtually all the novel’s action is focused through his European consciousness” (151). Kerr describes the “pattern often repeated in Orwell’s Burmese writings” (152) by which that European consciousness evolves, passing through three stages. The first stage is marked by the European view of the Burmese landscape as “grotesque and alienating.” This phase can be related to the shock of seeing the “hideousness” (Orwell 17) of John Flory’s birthmark for the first time. Next, the European viewer has some sort of “romantic epiphany” about the Asian landscape; this phase can be compared to the point in Burmese Days at which Flory’s romantic interest, Elizabeth, no longer notices his birthmark and they kiss for the first time (177). Finally, just as Elizabeth comes to hate Flory and his birthmark as the representation of his dishonor (274), the viewer realizes that this romance with the landscape “is impossible to sustain, for the constraints of ideology – the roles provided for him by his place in the imperial project, by his race, his gender, his class and profession – drive him back into postures of antagonism, and acts of violence” (152). These “constraints of ideology” which Kerr describes are the cause of Flory’s identity crisis in Burmese Days. Flory may view Kyauktada through European eyes, yet he still calls Burma “his native country, his home” (Orwell 71). So does Kerr’s line of reasoning necessarily point to a Eurocentric classification of Burmese Days as British literature?

The role of language may once again serve as a determining factor in the classification of Burmese Days as either British or Asian literature. In our Asian Literature course we encountered numerous genres of Asian literature with authors and settings spanning from Iran to China. Of these works, the most useful comparisons to Burmese Days can be found in The Lotus Singers: Short Stories from Contemporary South Asia, The Complete Persepolis, and When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman’s Journey from War to Peace. In the foreword to The Lotus Singers, Urvashi Butalia points out that there are many different criteria by which an editor could choose to compile a collection such as The Lotus Singers: “will nationality define choice? Or language? Or class? Or gender? . . . Clearly there are no easy choices. But there are abundant cautions . . . Perhaps because of the colonial past of most—happily, not all—countries in the region, English is predominant and gets more importance than the indigenous languages . . .” (Butalia x). Does this mean, then, that if native Asian writers choose to write in the language of power and of colonialism, that is, English, would those stories no longer be classified as Asian literature? Would they be labeled British literature or American literature, simply because of the language in which they were written? Where do we draw the line in deciding how to classify the national identity of a piece of literature?

Several of the stories in The Lotus Singers are set in India, written by native Indian authors, and deal with themes also found in Burmese Days. For example, in Neeru Nanda’s “His Father’s Funeral” we find that the landscape has once again taken center stage, further supporting Orwell’s assertion that the setting is of primary importance in Asian literature. Nanda’s story opens with the simple exclamation that “It was burning hot – 42 [degrees] centigrade!” (1). Similarly, Orwell begins the second paragraph of Burmese Days with a comment on the heat in Kyauktada, writing “Unblinking, rather like a great porcelain idol, U Po Kyin gazed out into the fierce sunlight” (1). The character of U Po Kyin, a corrupt Burmese public official, goes to drastic lengths to achieve his life-long goal of becoming the first native admitted to the European Club in Kyauktada (Orwell 285). This is the paradox of Orwell’s depiction of colonialism; the British colonizers are simultaneously despised and emulated.

This depiction of colonialism is reaffirmed in another of the works from The Lotus Singers, the short story “Law and Order” by Sushma Joshi. In this story by an American-educated Nepali writer, the main character Bishnu is devastated after failing to achieve his dream of becoming a soldier in the British Gurkha Army (41). Bishnu and his family are shamed when he fails to pass the physical trials to become a British Gurkha soldier and must settle for a position in his native law police force (45). Bishnu, like U Po Kyin and John Flory, suffers from the desire to be identified as something other than what he is. While Bishnu and U Po Kyin aspire to be associated with the prestige and power of the British colonizers, Flory despises his coveted position and wishes to escape his role of pukka sahib.

In addition to the issues of identity as it relates to power, another point of contention in the debate of a literary national identity is the use of native terms in the text. In The Lotus Singers, as in Burmese Days, native terms are utilized without textual translation or explanation, rendering the language usage as “authentic” by Srivastava’s definition. However, the native language terms are italicized throughout The Lotus Singers (they are only sometimes italicized in Burmese Days) and defined in the glossary located in the back of the text. The glossary seems to provide evidence that the book is intended for an English-speaking audience. In When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, however, we have a clear-cut case of a Vietnamese/American immigrant author writing in English and using textual definitions for Vietnamese terms used throughout her memoir. Are these works less authentically Asian because they have been written in English, although the authors, characters, and settings are primarily Asian? If not, why is a double-standard applied to colonial writers such as Orwell in the case of Burmese Days?

The reason a double-standard is applied to colonial writers could be due to the oppressive nature of colonialism. Although Orwell lived in British-occupied Burma for a good portion of his formative years, he eventually returned to his native England. Because his language is that of the colonizing oppressor, his work may not be seen as Asian despite its content and themes. Conversely, Le Ly Hayslip, author of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, wrote her memoir in English despite the fact that she is a Vietnamese immigrant to America. While Americans might view her memoir as Asian, her work is likely seen as less authentically Asian by her Vietnamese readers because she chose to write in English, the language of the military invader in the Vietnamese-American conflict.

This issue of labeling a literary work with an “authentic” national identity can also be seen in the case of Marjane Satrapi’s memoir, The Complete Persepolis. This coming of age story of an Iranian Muslim girl is portrayed in the form of a graphic novel. Due to the Islamic taboo against graven images, the author’s gender, the author’s emigration to France, and the publication of her work in French and English, Satrapi’s memoir breaks multiple barriers. This work defies classification of genre, nationality, language, and stereotype.

How can this situation be rectified? The issue comes down to labeling and identity. In Burmese Days, John Flory struggles to reconcile his British identity with his Burmese residency. He is never completely accepted by his British peers due to his loyalty to Burma, but he will never be accepted as fully Burmese with his white skin despite the fact that he bears the mark of India in the form of his blue facial birthmark. Flory considers Burma to now be his home, but native Burmese still view him as “Ingaleik” (Orwell 102) and his fellow Englishmen refuse to let him out of the despised role of pukka sahib (Orwell 124). How does Flory label himself?

Flory calls himself an “Anglo-Indian,” (Orwell 178) and in this label we find the answer to the identity of Burmese Days. In the same way that Flory defines himself as Anglo-Indian and that Burma was forever changed by British colonization (as evidenced by the continued use of the English language and despite the government’s attempts to erase colonial history), Burmese Days is both British literature and Asian literature. It should be shelved in both the British and Asian sections of the library, much in the same way that Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis is shelved in both the graphic novel and biography sections. The Burmese subject matter, Asian setting, and Anglo-Indian vocabulary of Orwell’s Burmese Days are all arguments for labeling this novel as Asian literature; the British author, English language, and colonial subject matter argue for a British classification. Burmese Days defies neat and singular classification; it is a transnational literary work which, after more than three quarters of a century, still subverts our human need to label it with only one “authentic” national identity.

Works Cited
Butalia, Urvashi. “Foreword.” Carolan ix-xi.
Carolan, Trevor, ed. The Lotus Singers: Short Stories from Contemporary South Asia. Boston: Cheng & Tsui, 2011. Print.
Dirlik, Arif. "Literature/Identity: Transnationalism, Narrative and Representation." Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies 24.3 (2002): 209-234. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 Dec. 2011.
Gopinath, Praseeda. “An Orphaned Manliness: The Pukka Sahib and the End of Empire in A Passage to India and Burmese Days.” Studies in the Novel 41:2 (2009): 201-223. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.
Hayslip, Le Ly, and Jay Wurts. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman’s Journey from War to Peace. 1990. New York: Plume-Penguin, 2003. Print.
Joshi, Sushma. “Law and Order.” Carolan 41-56.
Kerr, Douglas. “Colonial Habits: Orwell and Woolf In the Jungle.” English Studies 78.2 (1997): 149-161. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.
Meyers, Jeffrey. Orwell: Life and Art. Urbana, IL: Univ. of Illinois Press, 2010. Print.
Nanda, Neeru. “His Father’s Funeral.” Carolan 1-9.
Orwell, George. Burmese Days. 1934. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1962. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. Trans. Blake Ferris and Mattias Ripe. New York: Pantheon-Random House, 2007. Print.
Sriviastava, Neelam. “Pidgin English or Pigeon Indian: Babus and Babuisms in Colonial and Postcolonial Fiction.” Journal of Postcolonial Writing 43.1 (2007): 55-64. Literary Reference Center. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

Patti is a senior English and History double major at Ursuline and notes of her essay, "Prior to taking Dr. Wright's Asian Literature course, the only books I had read by George Orwell were Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. I was familiar with very few of Orwell's other works and knew even less about his personal life. Burmese Days is a fictional tale informed by Orwell's own early years in Burma (now Myanmar). Reading Burmese Days provides a unique snapshot of the harsh realities of British colonialism in India during the nineteenth century. Just as Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn serves to illustrate the evils of slavery, Burmese Days contains depictions of graphic violence and offensive language which illuminate the dark side of colonialism. Writing this essay on Burmese Days forced me to consider the importance of national identity in literature, and to contemplate the fascinating new field of transnational literary theory. I highly recommend Burmese Days to anyone wanting to learn more about George Orwell or the complex issue of colonialism and its effect on personal identity."

"Reflection Essay" by Kaylene Way
Religious Studies 325 Spring 2011

Sister Dorothy Ann Blatnica, Kaylene's instructor for RS 325 (Fundamental Principles of Morality), comments, "In our study of an ethics of character as part of our Fundamental Principles of Morality course, Kaylene Way demonstrates her accurate understanding of the meaning of temperance and its implications for living life in a way that builds character even out of tragedy."

"Question #2: Name two prevalent authorities in your life that have shaped how you use, or do not use, alcohol. Explain how and why they have shaped you so" (131).

As Mattison writes, “human persons are purposeful creatures . . . We do things for reasons, and those reasons, or intentions, render our actions meaningful” (118). When it comes to the concept of drinking alcohol, I have many reasons as to why I personally do not drink. As Mattison states, we do certain things with the intent that what we are doing in some way or another is meaningful to us. The two prevalent authorities in my life that have shaped me into a person who does not consume alcohol are my sister and my attitude towards conformity.

The first authority in my life who has shaped my ideas about alcohol is my sister, Jenna. Her life was taken on March 12, 2006 by a drunk driver; she was only nineteen years old. At the time, I was only sixteen and, although throughout my stages of grief I was very angry, I have come to be very aware and appreciative of the purpose and meaning that her death has given me. I felt a need to live for her and live with more virtuous intentions. She was taken from this Earth at only nineteen, an age when we are just figuring out who we are and where we are going in life. At nineteen, we have few, if any, thoughts of dying tomorrow. After I finished the angry part of grieving, I became very aware that not every moment is promised; it can be taken from us at any second. For that reason, it became important to strive to live a virtuous life; I wanted to make sure that I had an impact on the lives of others and that I used all of my heart and compassion in every decision I made from then on out. In the five years since her death, I have also come to notice that a lot of the reasoning behind why people drink alcohol, and very often drink too much of it, is because of conformity. Much of what people know about alcohol has come from other people. Our society places a lot of emphasis on alcohol being something that creates a fun, more relaxing time for people.

The second authority that has led me to live an alcohol-free life is my attitude towards conformity. After Jenna’s passing, I noticed myself looking deeper into the reasons why people, especially my young high school and college friends, drank alcohol. I saw a lot of people drinking because everyone else at the party was, or because their parents say it is not that bad. I have yet to come across a person who does or does not consume alcohol for her or his own reasons. I spent my whole life with Jenna; she was as individualistic as they come. She did her own thing, for her own reasons, and never cared what anyone had to say. If the roles were reversed and I had been the one to pass away, I know she would feel the same way that I do about how society conforms to the pressures and ideas of alcohol consumption. It may seem like the cool thing to do, it might make one more relaxed at a social event, or it even may temporarily relieve one of their problems, but at the end of the day it could also take a life.

My sister did not get to live a full life because it was taken from her by yet another person who had too much to drink. That guy may have had his reasons for why he drank, but those reasons led to the death of my big sister. I know that life is short; it is so precious and delicate that we often overlook the idea that tomorrow may never come. I learned this lesson at an early age, and because of that lesson I strive to live my life with compassion, understanding, and truth at every moment. I do not drink because tomorrow is not promised, and I want to spend today with as much kindness and charity as possible.

Work Cited
Mattison, William C., III. Introducing Moral Theology: True Happiness and the Virtues. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2008. Print.

Kaylene is a junior Political Science major at Ursuline and notes of her essay, "I wrote this essay as a reflection; the death of my sister has had the biggest influence in my life thus far and that influence has been both positive and negative. I have worked very hard in order to deal with the grief and look past the sadness to find a deeper meaning to her life and how that meaning has changed my life. I spent my whole life with Jenna; we had a really pure sisterly bond. When she passed, I truly felt a calling to live my life for her and live a life of purpose and compassion."

"Reflection Essay" by Jessie Mueller
Religious Studies 325 Spring 2011

Sister Dorothy Ann Blatnica, Jessie's instructor for RS 325 (Fundamental Principles of Morality), comments, "In our study of an ethics of character as part of our Fundamental Principles of Morality course, Jessie Mueller demonstrates her accurate understanding of the meaning of temperance in this brief reflection.  Through the use of personal experiences she has integrated a deeper comprehension of the meaning of this virtue beyond mere intellectual understanding."

"Question #2: Name two prevalent authorities in your life that have shaped how you use, or do not use, alcohol.  Explain how and why they have shaped you so" (131).

The strongest and most influential person who modeled alcohol use in my childhood was a male relative.  I was not completely aware of many of these impacts until adolescence.  As a child, I did not know what alcoholism was, I just assumed that the Beefeater Gin stench coming from my relative was his cologne.  However, as I grew older and was exposed to a greater variety of people and circumstances, I slowly became aware of alcoholism.  I began to incorporate the new experiences I had in relation to alcohol use with a deeper understanding of my extended family.  This new awareness was unsettling and painful to me.  Many of my relatives were alcoholics.  There was never a family brunch, dinner, or casual gathering that was not centered around alcohol.  The excessive and consistent reliance on alcohol fueled the arguments and shouting matches I witnessed between my male relatives.  Their arguments were always laden with racist, sexist, and classist hatred.  My female relatives were silent, resentful observers of the flying slurs who found solace in their own alcoholic stupors. 

I did not like what I saw and vowed to have a different relationship with my loved ones.  I initially believed alcohol was to blame for their hatred.  However, I soon recognized that the bigoted, hateful language and actions of my relatives was always present in them, whether they were under the influence or not.  Alcohol was merely an excuse to shout these hatreds out loud.  The biggest influence my relatives' alcoholism had on me was my conviction that I would have a different relationship to alcohol use in my life.  The familial pattern of alcoholism had a lasting impact on me through the awareness that I have a predisposition to alcoholism.  In order for me not to become addicted to alcohol, I would need to be vigilant about this.

The second largest influence on my perspective on alcohol use was from my close friends.  All three of my best friends in high school were against any alcohol use at all.  At first, I followed their example.  However, I would question them frequently on how they had reached such a definitive position on alcohol at such a young age and no experience.  Their responses to my questions resulted in them taking a defensive stance.  My friends condemned any drinking, and negatively judged people who chose to drink, even if in moderation.  Their responses did not sit well with me.  Their reasons and explanations for avoiding alcohol seemed to be based on fear.  I did not want my decision about alcohol use to be based on fear or avoidance.  I had learnt, in dealing with other addictions, that avoiding anything (in this case alcohol) didn’t have a lasting positive consequence for my thoughts or actions.  In fact, often, when I had tried to avoid things it had made me more obsessed with the very thing I was trying not to think about.  I wished to have temperance in regard to alcohol.  Mattison writes,”Temperance is the virtue that enables us to desire, intend, and partake in sensual pleasures well” (126). 

My current relationship with alcohol is to try to achieve temperance whenever I consider consuming alcohol. I find that my awareness of how and why I drink is a constant safety net for the overall relationship I have to alcohol.  I believe the extreme alcohol abuse I witnessed from my family and the complete abstinence of my friends has helped me reach the inner conscience I always have to return to in times of doubt.

Work Cited
Mattison, William C., III. Introducing Moral Theology:  True Happiness and the Virtues. Grand Rapids, MI:  Brazos Press, 2008.  Print.

Jessie is a junior Sociology major at Ursuline and notes of her essay, "I chose this essay question because I have spent a great deal of time and effort forming my relationship to alcohol.  I had seen the harm that alcohol can result in with abusive realtionships and other negative impacts of alcohol abuse.  By being aware of my predisposition to alcohol abuse, I needed to form my own idea of what type of power I wanted alcohol to have in my life. I also found this question interesting because it is something that I am keenly aware of every time I am engaging in drinking and a conscious decision I make not to have a second or third drink, even though it is sometimes tempting.  I am proud of how I have and continue to consume alcohol, knowing that I no longer need to be afraid of alcohol or people who abuse alcohol because I am in control of my own decisions and whom I choose to be around. I believe this confidence has allowed me to make better decisions in most areas of my life.  I am a junior at Ursuline and have almost completed my major in Sociology.  However, I am going to stay for another few semesters to major in Mathematics with the goal of becoming a high school math teacher.  I feel especially excited to be a woman mathematician, as they are largely underrepresented in the field.  I also believe there is a great need for students becoming fluent in math, as it will increase their opportunites for employment and logical thinking skills that will be a great attribute to many careers.  I especially find teaching math important also because there is a great shortage of math and science teachers and I am excited to try and fit that need."

"Healing The Scars" by Lauren Krozser
Ursuline Studies 101 Fall 2010

Alana Andrews, Lauren's instructor for US 101 (Introduction to the Liberal Arts), comments, "Lauren was in my US101 class fall semester of 2010.  She is an exceptional student who takes the extra time to prepare her work properly; she proofreads and edits as needed.  I was impressed by Lauren's attention to detail and her fine use of language in her final paper on the Aboriginal people of Australia.  In addition to an excellent analysis, her paper was well researched and appropriately documented. Lauren rarely makes grammatical or mechanical errors, which adds to the high level of quality of her work."

The dawn of 1788 brought the discovery of a new, untamed continent: Australia. With the exploration of this land came the exploitation of its native people. Upon their arrival, the European settlers sought to civilize Australia’s wild terrain and “savage” Aborigines. What were once regarded as sacred lands were replaced with stores and military posts; wildlife was over-hunted and resources depleted; strange diseases pervaded Aboriginal communities and took the lives of many. The indigenous people were enslaved on their own land, with women serving as house cleaners, gatherers, and sex slaves. Later, colonists constructed mission stations in which the native people worked for menial rewards such as rice and clothing, which they were now forced to wear. No longer could an Aboriginal hunter take an animal off the land to eat-–this was now European territory (Australian Government).

While the horrors of this invasion were far-reaching, perhaps the most damaging aspect of the Aboriginal experience was the abduction and transport of their children to “instructional” settlements. This process began in the early 20th century and lasted until the 1970s. Children born of both European and black Aboriginal descent were ripped from all they knew-–their homes, their families, their way of life—-and taken to settlements in an effort to educate, “Christianize,” and “Europeanize” them. The children were forbidden to speak their native language and were given little more than a mattress to sleep on and a bucket to relieve themselves in (Johnson). These dormitories were overseen by A.O. Neville, “Chief Protector” and legal guardian of all Aboriginal children (Pilkington 102). The detrimental effects of these institutions were extensive for not only the children confined there, but for the entire native culture as well.

Fortunately, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States spurred Aboriginals to fight for their freedom and equality. A referendum to Australia's constitution gave native people the right to vote and fully recognized them as citizens. Furthermore, legislation such as the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1976) allowed Aborigines to reclaim the land taken from them so many years ago. Yet to do this, they were required to prove the land belonged to them, which involved telling the secret and sacred stories of their ancestors. Much of their oral history was lost through the generations as many of their 250-300 various languages disappeared due to disuse (Aboriginal Heritage Office). In 2008, the Australian government offered an apology to those children who were so brutally ripped from their homes to be placed in reformatory camps, known as the “Stolen Generation” (Johnson). This was only the first step in the path toward reconciliation between native and non-indigenous Australians, and in healing the wounds of so many years of mistreatment.

Today, the Aboriginal people comprise only one to two percent of Australia’s population, yet have some of the highest rates of unemployment and crime (Johnson). The psychological damage they have experienced has led many Aboriginals to turn to drugs and alcohol in an effort to numb the pain of both past and present-day discrimination. Thankfully, various steps are being taken to reconcile the native people of Australia with their troubled pastand to push them toward a brighter future.

The National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1974 has ordered the protection of all Aboriginal sites, regulated the archeological activity around such sites, and provided legal protection to all Aboriginal artifacts. Aboriginal sites include shell middens, shell mounds built up over many years from shellfish meals; ochre quarries, where Aboriginals gathered paints used for body art; fish traps, circles of rocks placed in water to catch fish; and seed grinding patches, where women used rocks to grind seed to make dough. Other sites include rock paintings, axe grinding grooves, watering holes, bora or ceremonial grounds, and burials. The 1976 legislation has offered a sense of dignity to the Aboriginal culture and has served to further the education of white Australians about the history of the continent (Aboriginal Heritage Office).

To promote this enlightenment about Aboriginal heritage, monuments have also been erected and special parks designated to pay tribute to the first people of the land. This has not only benefited the native people of Australia, but the non-indigenous as well. Streets have been named according to the tribes that originated in certain areas, reminding citizens of the unique history of the “land down under.” Furthermore, museums have been set up to display various aspects of Aboriginal life, including their vibrant artwork and colorful dress (Welch). Australian tourism has presented Aboriginal customs as a way to broaden the views of people from other lands who may know little about Australia’s past. Another way Aboriginal culture has been celebrated is through the creation of a month totally focused on the native people and how they have contributed to Australian culture.

To reunite Aboriginals with their heritage, as well as introduce people of other nationalities to a new perspective on the world, mediums such as radio, television, magazines, and the Internet have created Aboriginal-focused outlets. Radio stations play all Aboriginal music, TV stations run programs with all-Aboriginal casts, magazines write on Aboriginal issues, and online networks hold blogs where Aboriginals communicate current matters relevant to their culture, while still utilizing 21st century technology. There has been a careful effort, however, to ensure that the portrayal of Aborigines is accurate and not derogatory in any way.

It is widely known that education can help to deter individuals from crime by allowing for higher-paying and mind-stimulating employment. Better schools for Aboriginal children have been created and after-school programs implemented to decrease the Aboriginal dropout rate and lessen the number of Aboriginals who turn to drugs, alcohol, and crime to deflect their anger and pain. Along with providing higher quality school buildings and supplies, an effort has been made to promote a more supportive teacher-family relationship to ease the tension that exists in Aboriginal families surrounding education. Understanding the effect that the past has had on native Australians has helped staff better tailor their approach to foster learning and growth. In fact, Aboriginal teachers have served as role models for Aboriginal youth. Furthermore, becoming aware of the traditional environment in which Aboriginal children learn best has helped them perform better in the classroom.

Better education cannot lead to better jobs if Aboriginals continue to be discriminated against. Laws outlawing segregation and discrimination in the workplace have been crucial to fixing the situation Australia is in. Although most wide-spread segregation has been abolished in Australia, there is discrimination in public-housing and a tendency for white companies not to hire native people. The two races often keep to themselves, both missing out on the opportunity for new friendships and discoveries (Korff). Appointing more Aboriginals to positions of power has helped to lessen such present-day discrimination. In May of this year, Meagan Davis became the first Aboriginal to be appointed to a UN body (Korff).

In addition to politics, great strides have been made in other areas such as athletics and fashion. In 2000, the first stamp displaying a living indigenous person was printed showcasing sprinter Cathy Freeman. In June of this year, Vogue Australia featured 19-year-old Aboriginal model Samantha Harris, who began her modeling career by entering a competition in a teen magazine (Korff). These opportunities and achievements prove that Australia is moving in the right direction.

A final solution to bringing peace to white and black Australians alike has been educating students of all races in public schools about the truth—-good and bad—-of Australia’s history. To bring to life what students learn in the classroom, Aboriginal focus groups have been formed to raise awareness pertaining to indigenous culture. Native people have found jobs sharing their stories and customs in classrooms from coast to coast. This practice has discouraged stereotyping and prejudice, while providing jobs to Aborigines. Furthermore, government-funded support groups and panels have been formed as outlets for Aborigines to share common struggles and goals (Korff).

Reconciling with a painful past requires more than just one strategy or one group of people; it takes the cooperation of many and calls for both sides to listen, understand, and forgive. Hopefully, the efforts being made in Australia today will have a healing effect on all that inhabit the land. With acknowledgement of past wrongdoing and a sincere desire to move toward a more peaceful future, prosperity will come to Australians of all colors and backgrounds.

Works Cited
Aboriginal Heritage Office.  “A Brief Aboriginal History.” Aboriginal Heritage. Aboriginal Heritage Office, 2006-2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.
Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.  "European Discovery and the Colonisation of Australia.” Australia's Culture Portal.  Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.
Johnson, Ryan. "How Aborigines Work." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, 21 Jan. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
Korff, Jens-Uwe.  Creative Spirits. Jens-Uwe Korff, 2000. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
Pilkington, Doris. Rabbit-Proof Fence. New York: Hyperion, 2002. Print.
Welch, David M.  “Aboriginal Culture.” Aboriginalculture.com.au. David M. Welch, 23 Mar. 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.

Lauren is a freshman English major at Ursuline and notes of her essay, "'Healing The Scars' was written in response to Doris Pilkington's novel Rabbit-Proof Fence, a true story that depicts her mother's struggle to escape the Moore River Native Settlement in 1931. As mixed-race Aboriginal children, she, her sister, and cousin were placed there to be assimilated into European culture and were forced to shed all traces of their heritage. With her courage and sharp wit, Pilkington's mother led the girls on a 1,500 mile journey back home to Jigalong, all the while following the rabbit-proof fence that ran north and south across the continent of Australia. Many similar stories exist within the Aboriginal community, and as they rarely have happy endings, they are a source of great heartache for present-day Aborigines.  When reflecting on Rabbit Proof-Fence, I felt it important to connect the past of Australia and its native people to the land it is today. I decided to research how this historical connection has influenced the lives of Aborigines in the twenty-first century. As it is clear from my essay, although the treatment of Aborigines has greatly improved, the psychological scars of the culture's past remain raw. The strategies being used to heal these scars involve patience, love, and understanding, remedies that can be employed in healing, not only Australia's wounds, but the wounds of other divided nations as well."