Find Your Voice: Emily Anderson Publishes Academic Article

Emily Anderson, a double major in English and Psychology at the College of Charleston, has joined the ranks of published scholars. Emily’s short article on Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon appears in the February, 2018 edition of the journal, The Explicator. Part of an essay originally written for Dr. Susan Farrell’s class on contemporary American fiction, Emily’s article focuses on the character Pilate Dead in the novel. Emily examines Christian symbolism associated with the character, including wine-making, trees, fruit, rocks, and serpents, in order to argue that Pilate is a Christ-like figure who illustrates the complicated relationship that African Americans have historically maintained with Christianity.

The experience of publishing her first academic article was a positive one for Emily, though it also required hard work, including revising the essay in response to a reviewer’s comments, as well as a lot of waiting around to hear back from the journal editors. “I loved that it gave me the opportunity to have my work taken seriously by professionals in the field,” she says.

Emily’s research will take her in a somewhat different direction in the next few months, as she takes classes in London for her British Studies minor this summer and begins a Bachelor’s Essay in the fall with Dr. Tim Carens focusing on Victorian children’s literature. The English Department wishes Emily the best of luck with these projects and congratulates her on her scholarly accomplishment!