论文：掌握高中学生的个人叙述

自1932年在颁奖日首次颁发以来，“斯卡尔作文奖”一直颁发给当年八年级或九年级学生写的最好的文章。 “骷髅作文”，在贝博体育更广为人知，可能没有演讲比赛的表演天赋，但一方面强调写作是一种公共行为，另一方面则将写作视为一种非常个人和私人的表达形式。 “The personal essay encourages students to engage authentically in the world around them, nurtures an authoritative voice, and teaches students to value their own stories,” says English Department Chair Paul Abeln. It’s also a style of writing that is gaining currency, as secondary schools and colleges are trending toward incorporating more personal writing in their programs.

 

高年级学生在春季学期花三到四周的时间来撰写论文。 七年级和八年级的学生围绕一个中心隐喻来构建他们的文章，但九年级的学生在风格和结构上没有限制。 “As students find their voices as writers, they are able to transcend those organizers,” says Paul. 两年前，这位“骷髅散文”（Scull Essay）的得主写了一系列小短文来表达自己的一系列经历。 “They were almost prose poetry,” notes Paul, “but they had a unified effect.”

 

这些文章由英语系使用一个反映每个年级要求的写作技巧掌握程度的标准来评判，包括使用适当的语法、生动的词汇、复杂的句子结构和写作的总体流畅性。 每位英语老师提交两到三篇来自班级的文章，名字被删除，然后部门开会对他们的最佳选择进行排名并讨论写作。 “It’s one of my favorite meetings of the year,” notes Paul. Usually, a clear consensus develops on the winner, but often there are two or three other essays that are celebrated as “runners-up” at an 上学校 Morning Meeting. “It’s a privilege to recognize those students who have written something extraordinary,” says Paul.

 

 

The Scull Award for Composition was donated in honor of Guy Scull ’28 and David Scull ’30 by their mother, Mrs. Eliot Wadsworth. Guy and David’s father, Guy Hamilton Scull, was a writer and journalist who joined Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and later served as a war correspondent, Deputy Police Commissioner of New York City, and a military intelligence officer in World War I. Writing and storytelling were an important part of the Scull family, and Scull’s biographer Henry Jay Case noted that for Scull, literary expression was “almost a passion. He always wanted to write, more than he ever wanted to do anything else.”

 

 

 

Dad’s favorite rocking chair appeared even more antique under North Carolina’s bright, early-autumn sun. 我疲惫的眼睛顺着它那褪了色的灯芯绒靠垫，沿着它那破旧的椅背和吱吱作响的木架，一直看到地毯上摇椅碰到地面时留下的柔和凹痕。 在不知情的人看来，这把椅子只是普通郊区住宅的一部分。 两层。 漂亮的草坪。 一个孩子和他爸爸想要的一切。 但一切都是那么…… 死一般的沉默。 Forget a pin—I could hear a feather drop.

 

 

I hear the high shriek of “Tag!” across the playground and immediately join in the chaos taking place among the otherwise calm games, like hopscotch and hula hooping. 对我来说，只有一个目的； to not become “it” for as long as possible. 我的彩虹照亮了斯奇奇在黑色水泥上弹跳。 笑声越过篱笆，回荡在校园里。 在我的脑海里，这就是纯真的所在，深藏在我大脑的内部运作中。 我的大脑现在超速运转，以确保我永远不会感到童年时代的天真遗忘。 它保护我免受“永远不会失去无法挽回的东西”的谬论。 我的纯真存在于我父亲带我上床的爵士乐音符和黑沥青操场上的双荷兰式唱法之间。

 

 

即使是现在，当我去看望奶奶时，牵着她的手，看着她的眼睛，我仍然能闻到那浓汤的味道，那些周日早晨的时刻在我的脑海中根深蒂固。 我记得小时候握着她的手，它们看起来是多么娇嫩柔软，但这丝毫没有减少它们的坚固。 她的双手讲述了不同时代和艰辛的故事，她的成长似乎与我的世界相距甚远，生活在一个我永远不知道的时代和生活中。 我拿着她的手读这些故事，因为她从不大声讲出来； 她的故事是通过她花时间仔细烹饪和品尝食物的方式讲述的，因为在她长大的过程中，食物很少。 她的故事是用她下午坐在窗边休息的方式讲的。 我的祖母从小到大都在努力工作，从来没有失败过，因为她从小就被教导努力工作的重要性和储蓄的必要性。

看看我们的高中作家是如何发展他们的技能的！ Read about our writing programs in 小学 and 较低的学校。

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