Graduating C.A.L.L. student’s presentations next week
by Katrina Tortorici
The Literature Profile Academic Conference (LPAC) will take place on Tuesday, April 27 and Friday, April 30 at Dawson from 10:00 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., in 5B.16.
Graduating students from Liana Bellon’s Integrating Activity course will present their end-of-term projects associated with the 1957 American novel, On the Road, the Creative Arts Literature and Languages (C.A.L.L) Arts festival theme.
“Students have a chance to present their strong papers to the Dawson community and, in the process, develop their poise and confidence when speaking in a formal setting,” Bellon said. It is the second year in a row that Bellon holds the conference.
Students in her Integrating Activity class work on a topic of their choice for their major 15-page paper. “After I’ve graded and returned the projects, I then choose the twelve that have the strongest thesis and work best with the conference format,” she said. Meanwhile, the rest of the students work to promote the conference, ask inquiries to the presenters, moderate the panels and prepare the welcome statements. “Each role is important,” she said.
The panels on Tuesday, April 27 include a lecture on space travel in literature and the theme of the American dream by Domenica Martinello, moderated by Alessia Faustini. Justin Pulice will then continue with an analysis of Ray Bradbury’s Mars is Heaven, Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan, and Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Domenica Martinello will talk about the necessity of the unattainable American dream in selected classic literary works. This will be followed by Alicia Schneider’s presentation, which will include an analysis of constructed language in Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange.
Jade Melnick will consider the development of particular genres and literary movements, and shortly after, Courtney Purcell will analyse homosexual identity in literature. The Plant’s very own sports editor, Sean Tepper sticks to his niche, as he will give a formal analysis of Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side, related to the subject of New Journalism in Sports Literature. Amanda Hooper will end the night with a detailed analysis on Allen Ginsberg’s Howl.
On the following Friday, Jennifer Volpi will begin by focusing on the political atmosphere influencing Russian literature, and Alicia Cross will follow by examining the effect of politics on Russia. Grace Tatigian will study Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess and The Secret Garden, Amber Conchâtre will give an interesting examination of the meaning behind spirits in literature and film, Jessica Racine will analyze literature’s most well-known characters, and Anastasia Howe-Bukowski will enlighten us on the motif of blindness in William Shakespeare’s Othello and José Saramago’s Blindness.
The night will rap with The Plant’s arts editor George Pantazopoulos’ analysis of Hamlet’s character in film, followed by Grace Scharf’s discussion about six disreputable characters in literature.
“We hope that students in other programs take the opportunity to discover what Literature profile graduating students are working on in their final term,” Bellon said.
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