Writing Samples

On this page are links to my most interesting and well written papers and works of original fiction along with a brief synopsis of what to expect in each selection. Please not that all of these works are completely original (except where I have quoted and cited others).

Scholarly Papers

• • “The ‘Odd’yssey: Mythology and House M.D.”: This is a paper that I wrote for an independent study I did during my time at The Ohio State University. The independent study was on myth criticism and its continued relevance in popular culture. In this paper I outlined how three separate mythological themes still applied to modern story telling by using the television show House M.D. as a subject.

  • "The Rub: Anti-Immersive Techniques in Almereyda’s Hamlet": This is a paper that I wrote for a class called Shakespeare in Film. In it, I explore the anti-immersive tendencies that are employed by Michael Almereyda in his film adaptation of the play Hamlet and explain why a director would be so eager to break one of the first and most time-honored rules of the cinema: immersion.

  • "The Questionable Knight" and "The Still Questionable Knight": These twin papers were written as a critical reading of John Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci." The first, "The Questionable Knight," was written with the intent of proving that the Faery (Fairy) in the poem was actually the victim of a sexual assault by the knight in the story. The second paper "The Still Questionable Knight," was written in direct response to the previous paper in an attempt to exonerate the knight. In essence, I was arguing with myself... it was a lot of fun.

  • "Mythology in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man": This paper was written to explore the mythological significance of labyrinthine imagery in James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."

Original Fiction

• • The History of Esfera: This is the account of the creation of Esfera, a fictional world that I have been working on for the last four years or so. It is written in a formal, almost Psalmic fashion.

  • The Crucible: The Crucible is the first book in a series called The Chronicle of the Evening Wars. It is a fantasy adventure series based in the world of Esfera. I am in a long and drawn out writing process for this book, but the first three chapters of the book are housed on the linked site.