Who am I?

I am glad that you stumbled upon my humble website. Welcome to CriTEAque! My name is Stephanie Winningham and I'm a writer. This page is a result of the tremendous opportunity provided by ENC-2135 to display my written works. Growing up I always had a passion for reading and other storytelling art forms like theatre and cinema. That interest spilled into a desire to design and create my own works. I often find myself inspired from a variety of sources including my faith (Jesus is my Savior and I owe my life to Him!), my community, & my work. I've always been a Florida girl, but I have a serious wanderlust and would like to visit other places. I love to keep busy and I've certainly managed to achieve that status! Right now, I am pursuing academic advancement at Florida State University. I've elected to study IT because I love technology and find the field utterly fascinating. I'm currently employed at both Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, but I also enjoy service and volunteer work! I'm also an avid tea and coffee consumer (which provides the inspiration for the name of my media industry). All of these aspects of my life are key components of my identity and provide the background for my writing and experience. While I do have experience writing fiction as well as formal papers, I am always looking for ways to improve and strengthen my abilities. I know I have much to learn, and I hope that you, the reader will assist in my educational process. We can both learn from each other. I believe that I have a great responsibility to strive for excellence in my craft and as such I will strive to make sure that the content, I post is worthy of a reader. I've got an edge to my writing as I tend to blunt and to the point. I do love a bit of word play so you can expect my vocabulary to deviate from modern simplicity.

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For Project One I explore the political ideology in post 9/11 America as expressed in a comic book. Comic books often take on allegorical means of explaining current events so I am excited to explore on of the most controversial plots in comic book history, "The Death of Captain America". This work is full of political imagery and allusion that I investigate extensively with research to explore my claims.

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For Project Two I  analyze the subgenre of gothic horror. This genre has been a staple of literature and film for decades. In this project I detail the conventions of gothic horror and connect these conventions to the success of the genre as a whole. In this project I specifically discuss "The Phantom of the Opera", "Sleepy Hollow", and "The Umbrella Academy".

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For Project Three I construct my own fictional narrative. This short story is without a doubt an example of gothic horror. To reference the first project, the story arc centers around the "fall" of the main character (or characters) in an unconventional way. The story is told in an epistolary format which makes for a unique read!

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These prompts were fascinating to me and they challenged me to excel at writing. It is my hope that my works are enjoyable as well as informative.

 

Thank you for your time!