Writing Examples
Creative Writing: The Bucket List by Joseph Haas
“Wow.” William’s gaze shifts to the floor. He rubs hard at his brow; his hand noticeably tremors. “So, what does this mean?” William asks.
The doctor crosses his hands and rests them on his desk. 
“Well, Bill, it means you have a second chance at life. This only happens in a very small percentage of cases.”
“I guess I should feel relieved. It just feels… strange. Not sure what I should do.” A swell of uncertainty rises to the back of William’s mouth.
“It’s been a long road. Take a deep breath, and then let that cross slide off the crutch of your shoulders. By now, you’ve probably hashed out a bucket list you never thought possible. Write them down, and do them, one by one. Think of it as therapy for the mind.” …
Academic Writing: Qualifying an Approach to Homework Anxiety by Joseph Haas
In the last decade, the nation’s reforms to elementary and secondary education were introduced to revitalize a system that was in decline. The 2001 installment of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind and later President Obama’s 2009 Race to the Top have shined a spotlight on classroom effectiveness by way of state-standardized testing and regular assessments of both students and teachers. Since then, a renewed emphasis on homework has resulted, and subsequently, homework has been a topic of debate. Specifically, the student and parent anxieties related to the excessive amount and harsh grading of homework have generated much of the concern. Just this week, the relevancy of this issue is emphasized in a Huffington Post article, contributed by Vicki Abeles, director of the film Race to Nowhere…