The writers in Mercer Street generously shared the multiple drafts that led to their published essays. Below are some excerpts from these drafts that reveal the drafting process, as well as underscore the tough choices that go into creating a final essay.

• Exercise That Builds an Idea: Shawn Harris, “The Cost of (Digital) Living” (2024-2025, Leeore Schnairsohn, Managing Ed.)
• Developing an Idea: Anavi Jalan, “The Novel Strain of Anti-Asian Discrimination” (2020-2021, Jono Mischkot, ed.)
• Composing an Ending: Fatiha Kamal, “The Selfie: A Reinvention of Identity in Visual Self-Depiction” (2020-2021, Jono Mischkot, ed.)
• Creating Transitions: Jacqueline LeKachman, “Dulce et Decorum Est: COVID-19 Health Workers and the Old Lie” (2020-2021, Jono Mischkot, ed.)
• Negotiating Ethos: Caitlin Mulvihill, “Power and Subversion” (2020-2021, Jono Mischkot, ed.)