In a display of composition and visual rhetoric, the English department held the Showcase of Student Writing on Friday afternoon in the Holmes Student Center.

This is the showcase’s first year. The First-Year Composition Committee arranged it.

The showcase allowed students in the “Rhetoric and Composition” and “Literature” courses to visually present their own writings and studies.

“We get to see how students actually use argument and audience appeal in the real world rather than simply in an essay that only the instructors can read,” said Chris Blankenship, a doctoral student representative for the First-Year Composition Committee.

Similar to a science fair, tables were set up with display boards, posters, electronic media, artwork and interactive activities so those attending could participate in the event.

Many of the subjects covered were of social significance, ranging from violent video games and alcohol consumption to U.S. defense spending and the “American Dream.”

Writing instructors acting as judges walked the room, examining every student’s project for audience appeal, elements of visual rhetoric and the extent and responsibility of research. The top projects will be awarded cash prizes at the First-Year Composition awards ceremony on April 27.

Hayden Hallgren, a freshman undeclared major, whose project proposed better bus stations around the NIU campus, thought the showcase went well.

“I think this is a pretty good setup they have going on here,” Hallgren said. “There’s a lot of interesting projects and a lot of people have a lot of good things to say.”

However, Randi Stella, a sophomore photography major who painted a portrait of a bald eagle with a blue mohawk and a red-and-black striped tie, was disappointed with the showcase.

“My general impression of this is disappointment because I don’t think anyone was very creative in their outlook and expressing their actual projects, and I think cardboard projects are boring,” Stella said.

The showcase fulfilled the coordinators’ expectations for its first year, and they expect to continue this showcase every year by including it in the syllabuses of Rhetoric and Composition courses for students to participate.

“It’s fantastic and I’m ready to do it again,” said Kathleen Turner, a teaching assistant in the English department and coordinator of the event.