Most of my writing samples included here are based on my involvement with researching an archaeological asset in Northern Virginia, Old Vestal’s Gap Road. These and the others are the products of writing courses of the last few years. However, they do reflect my tendency to explore historic or cultural subject matter. These samples include the following:

Technical Report: Feasibility Analysis

This report was prepared for a technical writing course and explores the feasibility of  attaining landmark status for parts of Old Vestal’s Gap Road. I have selected it for its technical nature and structure.

News Articles: Local Heritage and Culture

These were written for a journalism course. One is about Old Vestal’s Gap Road, and the other is about the Indians of Virginia Festival. I chose to include these for their local subject matter and for their use of the interview technique.

Blog: Old Vestal’s Gap Road

This blog was created for a web writing course. It contains a webliography of interesting resources, and is used here to demonstrate writing for an internet audience.

Grant Proposal: Interpretive Park

This document was inspired by a business writing course. It represents a fictional organization making a fictional proposal about Old Vestal’s Gap Road. It was selected to show persuasive writing in a business format.

Researched Review: Adrienne Rich Poetry

This was written for a poetry course. It is a review of Baltimore poet Adrienne Rich’s 1969 publication Leaflets. I have included it here to demonstrate writing about culture within the review format.

User Manual: Cathedral Birdhouse Craft Project

This document was prepared for a user manual writing course. It represents a brochure for a fictitious product. It is included as a demonstration of an instructional tone of voice.

Software Tutorial: Placing Text Next to Photos

This is also an artifact of the user manual writing course. It represents an online tech tutorial for older, first-time users. It is meant to show instructional voice in an internet format.

External Proposal: Writing Seminar

This document was prepared for a technical editing course and was a project involving comprehensive and copy editing. It is an example of my best comprehensive editing.

Short Essays: Education and Astronomy

These short essays were written for English composition courses. The first was an actual letter I wrote to Washington Post education writer Jay Matthews. They are meant to demonstrate writing in the first person.

Short Narrative: Appreciation

This short narrative is about a departed co-worker and his effect on my career. It was written for an advanced composition course. This entry shows the development of ideas within a short story.