The Mall publishes writing from Butler University's First Year Seminar students and shares exemplary work produced in FYS courses. We aim to empower students' understanding of writing. We hope that this resource serves as a learning tool in classrooms and in the community at large.
See the Aims and Scope for a complete coverage of the journal.
First Year Letter Contest – Open to all sophomore students
Butler University’s The Mall, a Journal of FYS Writing, is excited to announce a new contest for all sophomore students. In keeping with our mission to share student writing and first-year experiences, students of sophomore standing are invited to address the following prompt.
Futures, experiences, your first year at college, seldom go exactly as planned. In a letter addressed to your younger self, or an incoming student, or to a professor, or to whomever you think needs to hear it, reflect on your first-year experience at Butler.
How has reality met your expectations? Consider challenges you encountered and how you positioned yourself for success. What questions drove you, what answers found you? Who are you now, as you reflect on who you were at the start of your first year?
Writing should demonstrate focus, development, voice, creativity, and honesty.
The winning essay and runners-up will be published in The Mall 2023-24, and authors will be recognized at a public reading. The winning essay will receive a $200 gift card to Starbucks. Second place will receive a $100 gift card to Starbucks, and third place receives a $50.00 gift card to Starbucks.
Deadline: October 10, 2023
2022-2023
Essays
Front Matter
The Mall Staff
The Trees Are Talking
Maeve Saunders
Breakups and Boiling Points: Which is the Real Doomsday?
Alexandria Barath
The Joy in Help
Gabbie Mock
Systems of Faith, Doubt, and Reason
Madeline Dauphin
Pros and Cons of Motherhood
Jenna Burd
Galaxies: A Cento
Danika Casa
The Domino Effect of Change
Norah Schloneger
The Caged Bird Sings
Zoe Barger
Hurricanes: Climate Change & Social Inequality
Hannah Szymanski
The Damages of Excess Mining
Meredith Modelski
“It’s Alive!:” How Stephen King Redefines the Haunted House
Katherine Thuma
Dunkirk as a Movement-Image Film
Kyan Hamilton
Del and Me
Maeve Saunders
Tangerines
Katlyn Stahly
Childhood Comfort: Three Poems
Hallie Ross
Friday Night Lights
Nina DiCicco
Woman Walks into the Coffee Shop and She is Perfect in Every Way
Gabriela Campbell
Bones of Ink
Henry Memmer
