A New Classrom Focus for the GM Review

by Reba Elliot, MFA TA / GM Review Editor

An exciting new classroom resource will be provided, free of charge, to instructors this May. The upcoming issue of the George Mason Review, the journal of exemplary undergraduate student writing, will be a departure from previous issues, which were under-utilized.

Starting with its 2006-2007 issue, the Review will offer classroom-focused content.  The Review can be used by students as a dependable, viable resource, allowing them to examine and analyze exemplary writing by their peers. In turn, this analysis of peer writing can help them learn how to write in their discipline.

Evaluating and dissecting essays written by peers, as opposed to those written by more experienced authors, can engage and encourage learners at all levels.  The Review will contain student essays drawn from across the disciplines. To this end, each academic essay will be preceded by two brief notes. In the first, the student will describe the assignment, how he/she interpreted it, and what steps he/she took to complete the essay. 

In the second, the instructor will describe the assignment expectations and why this particular essay serves as a good example that meets the criteria and engages the reader.  Each creative piece will be preceded by just one note, from the student, describing what his or her goals were in writing.

The final section of the journal will include a brief essay on the writing process by Anna Habib, Assistant Director of the writing center, and a list of resources for writing in the disciplines.

The best entry in each category (Humanities, Sciences: applied and pre-professional fields, and Creative Writing) will be awarded a prize of $100. Faculty should encourage their strong writers to submit their work, so all students learn that their writing has an audience and that it matters.

We are always looking for essays, creative work, and cover art.  There is no limit on length or topic, or on the semester in which the work was produced. 

Copies of the new George Mason Review will be distributed in May to faculty who teach writing-intensive courses in the disciplines. For more information or to order copies for 2007-2008 classes, please contact Reba Elliot at gmreview@gmu.edu. 

The George Mason Review would like to congratulate its 2006-2007 Judges’ Prize winners.  Please join us in congratulating Lara Ayad, for her essay in the Humanities; Tri Tran, for his essay in the Sciences; Jonathan Kirk, for his Creative Work; and Johanna Mueller, for her Art.