Sharp Writing:
The Portfolio/Blog of Alexander Sharp
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Bodies Bodies Bodies
Bodies Bodies Bodies is ostensibly a horror film but it provides satire that elevates it beyond a mere genre flick.
Justifying the Ways of God with Humor
This undergrad paper examined Jonathan Swift’s “An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity” and argues that Swift is being both disingenuous and hypocritical.
The History as Narratives and Exposition in Gould’s ”The Creation Myths of Cooperstown”
This rhetorical analysis of Stephen Jay Gould’s “The Creation Myths of Cooperstown” argues that Gould functions as a counter example to Hayden White’s idea that history functions as narrative.
The Absence of Art in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
This is a paper I wrote as an undergrad about Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (affiliate link). Looking back, it's a thoroughly ridiculous paper. Although accepted in the academic genre, it's impossible to follow unless you're familiar with the book. It's...
Political Rhetoric Done Right
Almost no one gets political rhetoric right. Candidates spend millions on polling, focus testing, A/B testing, and engaging in every other conceivable way to narrow rhetoric into quantifiable pieces, and yet very rarely does a politician have the ability to...
Political Rhetoric Done Right
Matthew McConaughey gave a speech at the White House about the mass shooting in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas. While I’m not particularly passionate about the legal status of guns, I think his speech was a master class in political rhetoric.
Socialism is a Dirty Word
For now, Democrats control the Presidency and both chambers of congress. Many progressives hoped to quickly pass ambitious legislation in 2021, but that didn't happen. It probably won’t happen in 2022, either. There’s one thing standing in the way of passing...
Socialism is a Dirty Word
There’s a growing number of progressives who have embraced the “socialist” label. I explain why this is a rhetorical mistake, regardless of the validity of their policy positions.
The Bootlegger
I wrote this gothic short story for an English Lit class at Wittenberg. We were studying the works of Edgar Allen Poe and the assignment was to write a gothic short story. My professor, Dr. Davis, thought the main character needed more of a backstory but I thought it...
The Bootlegger
This was a piece I wrote for an English Lit class at Wittenberg. We were studying the works of Edgar Allen Poe and the assignment was to write a gothic short story. My professor, Dr. Davis, thought the main character needed more of a backstory but I thought it worked better without one. I think, throughout the course of the story, we learn enough about him.
NERD STUFF
