ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Rachel Dunnahoe, a former student at Ouachita Baptist University, earned second place at the recent 2010 Sigma Tau Delta International Convention for her essay in the Critical Theory, World and British Literature category.
Dunnahoe’s critical essay, “Hey, Fyodor, Leave Them Jews Alone: Dostoevsky’s Anti-Semitism,” calls attention to Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s anti-Semitic writing in his journalism and classic novels. The essay was originally written for Ouachita’s Senior Literature Seminar, the English Department capstone course.
“Her thesis shakes up a traditional view of Dostoevsky as a noble and moral man when, in fact, he did have blind spots and was misguided,” said Dr. Doug Sonheim, Clarence and Bennie Sue Anthony Professor of Bible and Humanities and English department chair. “She also delivered her paper professionally and confidently, which I believe plays a part in the judging. After reading her paper, she answered questions with confidence and humility.”
“After I read my essay, a professor who was there for her students complimented me on how well I anticipated the audience’s questions in my paper. She said it was difficult to be able to bring up an opposing side fairly, then respond with a convincing counterpoint,” said Dunnahoe, who is currently living in California.
Dunnahoe attributed her ability to anticipate questions to the emphasis that Sonheim and other English teachers put on the book “They Say, I Say” written by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, which is introduced to English students during their first few courses in the major.
“She very strongly situated her critical essay within an ongoing discussion of other critics,” Sonheim said. “In other words, readers (and, at the conference, listeners) of her paper get a very strong sense that Rachel is not only responding to the work of Dostoyevsky but also that she is responding to what other readers have found in Dostoyevsky. So Rachel’s paper has a very strong sense of purpose—namely, that she is joining and contributing to a conversation.”
Dunnahoe was one of five Ouachita English majors to make the trip to St. Louis, Mo., for the convention. She and the other students presented their original work to 800 participants from throughout the United States as well attended lectures of renowned authors and toured St. Louis.
“All the papers, stories and poems read by our OBU students were excellent, and I would say that more English majors should work hard in their classes to produce this level of good work,” Sonheim said, “both for the intrinsic pleasure of work done well and also as a stepping stone to graduate school and/or professional work in the world of literature or publishing.”
Sigma Tau Delta, founded in 1924, is an international English honors society and is part of the Association of College Honors Societies. There are more than 750 chapters located throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Europe with a total of 8,500 members inducted annually. The Ouachita chapter coordinates multiple events for the university such as publishing the OBU literary journal SCOPE, hosting lecturers and conducting high school writing contests.
