Best mini-essay ever?

12 October 2024: I have started giving ENGL 204 students "mini-essays" on their midterm exams: short prompts where they argue a thesis about a text in 200-250 words. I have also been trying to make the prompts more open to their interests. This particular one--which invites them to talk about how something they read connected to their lives outside the classroom--stopped me in my tracks and legit made me cry. It's an absolute gift. I am so grateful to this student and, as always, to Emily Dickinson, who inspired her.