2009 FRESHMAN WRITING AWARD WINNER: ALLEN BUTT

 "Allen's essay exhibited all the characteristics of good writing: it was focused, argumentative, organized, well-developed, and well-edited," said Jerry Alexander. Allen Edwin Butt from Beaufort wrote the winning entry for the 2009 Freshman Writing Award in Alexander's Introduction to Comparative Literature class for his paper "Power Struggles as Examined by Henrik Isben."

According to Alexander, "what set Allen's essay apart was his ability to synthesize concrete evidence from the two plays, his interpretation of that evidence, and ideas from a secondary source," a book on art history. "His ability to see the relevance of this source to his argument reveals the breadth of Allen's reading experience and his ability to make connections among a wide range of disciplines-here, drama, the visual arts, history, philosophy, and politics." A faculty panel of Laura Crary, Anita Gustafson, and Lynne Simpson judged the 2009 entries.

 

Allen outlines his writing process: "For a school paper, unless the assignment is very simple, I usually write a substantial outline, something like a rough draft without prose transitions: just what's essential to the argument. Then I expand that into a working draft and go over it at least once to catch typos and polish the style."

Butt spent his junior and senior years of high school at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville, concentrating on creative writing. Allen reads widely, especially poetry. One author he wishes more people would read is Frank Bidart, an underrated living poet who is the subject of his proposed Honors Research paper in the fall. Allen also enjoys writing poetry when he has time, particularly during the summer, and has had several poems published and pending in the journal Poetry.

By Lauren Johnson and Jill Frey

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