The John & Freida Arak Journal: An Anthology of Student Writing at the University of Delaware

Each issue of the Arak Journal represents the results of efforts by our selection committee to choose essays that allow readers of the journal, particularly those who are students in English 110, to expand their notion of what research in a first-year writing course can be. We want readers to see the possibilities that can result from the creativity, rigor, time, and tenacity required to produce a strong research-based argument. Our hope is to inspire students to take on ambitious, complex, morally urgent writing projects of their own.

Those hopes and desires are no different this year. In choosing this group of 6 award winners, however, we were once again impressed by the writers’ willingness to take intellectual and social risks, and to pursue and articulate sometimes provocative arguments to which they have intense commitment. These writers use their research to enter—or perhaps spark—conversations about important topics that often escape everyday scrutiny.

Diversity of topic choices has been an important feature of the Arak Journal, and we are pleased to have that be the case again this year. Two essays invite us to attend to and consider the importance of objects and experiences from everyday life: crosswalks and local television news. Two other essays consider the need for and value of alliances in different social justice movements. A fifth essay draws our attention to social experience again, this time focusing on the rise of domestic violence in the context of pandemic. Finally, our sixth essay, which deals with inclusive education, asks us to consider the ways that our current system for serving all students might be falling short of their goals.

The six essays were selected from a group of approximately 85 submissions via a series of blind reviews by instructors of English 110. Writers’ names were removed from entries to help ensure a fair evaluation process.

Our selection committee of enthusiastic, indefatigable writing instructors went through three rigorous stages of evaluation. Editors worked with the student writers to source check and edit the essays for publication.

None of this would be possible without a generous financial gift from Sydney F. Arak and Ruth Toor in honor of their parents, John and Frieda Arak. A sincere thank you to Mr. Arak, Ms. Toor, and the many others across the University of Delaware’s campus who believe that writing is at the heart of learning and discovery.

To learn more about the UD Composition Program, please visit our website, OneHundredTen.org.

Délice Williams, Assistant Professor English/Associate Director of First-Year Writing​