Best Midwestern High School Writing 2013 Winners
The Reflection
This story is highly effective in its aim to establish a haunting and eerie tone. From the opening, explosive lines, the writer keeps us very transfixed with the poetic (though difficult) details of a seizure. With a great sense of style and phrasing, she uses excellent sensory description to pull us into these disturbing scenes. The tone is then developed further as the writers reveals the tortured and paranoid mind of a (possibly?) possessed young person. Every verb teems with energy and freshness here, as the reader becomes captivated by the horror of this narrative. This is a very impressive story in the manner that it generates a more genuine terror where other young writers tend to deal only in horror clichés and explicit gore. Beneath it all, is the subtle suggestion that this horror-narrative is meant to serve as a metaphor for some of the psycho-emotional difficulties of adolescence.
To be answered by the student
In my piece, The Reflection, a traumatic story is told through detailed descriptions and strong word choice that creates a vivid image in the reader's mind. The language paints a striking picture that compels the reader to continue. The story is about a possession, at first appearing to be the trials of the devil. The reader is left with the choice to either delve in only surface deep, or to read between the lines, analyzing the clues to the girl's discontent and rage. It is written in a dramatic way that immediately draws the reader in with lingering questions that allows them to determine the cause of her fate. The story is written strongly, but with enough obscurity to allow the reader to manipulate it to their own comprehension level and depth of understanding.