For Immediate Release

May 16, 2008

Contact: Pam Joseph (419) 995-8284 or Lesley Fry (419) 995-8671

Ohio State Lima English student brings home Reiter Prize for Critical Analysis

Nellie Smith of Cridersville is the 2007-2008 winner of the Robert E. Reiter Prize for Critical Analysis for the best critical essay written in an undergraduate English course at The Ohio State University. The award, which involves competition from among all essays written at any campus of The Ohio State University, has been won three of the last four years by three different students at the Lima campus.

Smith’s winning essay “Shattered Glasses: Symbolism of the Female Gaze in Strangers on a Train” was written for Dr. John Hellmann’s “Special Topics in Cinema – The Films of Alfred Hitchcock” (English 578.02) course at Ohio State Lima. A careful analysis of the motif of female voyeurism in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Strangers on a Train, Smith’s essay shows how the female gaze contrasts to the usual patriarchal assumption that women are to be watched and not to watch. The paper examines the connection between voyeurism and the implication of secret knowledge, and how the three central women characters defy cultural conventions, each with varying success.

Smith is a senior English major attending Ohio State Lima. Past winners of the Reiter Prize from Ohio State Lima include Rebecca Nutt (2005-2006) and Stephanie Verhoff (2004-2005).

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Editors’ Note: A photo of Smith is available.