Navigating Identity Through Education In Literature And In The Classroom,
2024
Chapman University
Navigating Identity Through Education In Literature And In The Classroom, Sofia Sakzlyan
English (MA) Theses
This thesis explores the intricate relationship between education, identity formation, and oppression, drawing from psychosocial and sociocultural perspectives. I delve into how education serves as a critical arena where individuals encounter various internal psychological conflicts and external social influences that shape their sense of self. By analyzing the perspectives of writers such as Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Kate Chopin Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Erin Gruwell, the thesis seeks to answer how education impacts the self and how it intersects with systems of oppression. Furthermore, I explore the role of education in fostering critical consciousness and empowerment, particularly in the face …
Place-Based Fiction: Tourist Town Stories,
2024
Utah State University
Place-Based Fiction: Tourist Town Stories, Keegan Waller
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present
I first conceived of the idea for this short story collection in my early 20's while working as a ski lift operator, bartender, construction worker, and window cleaner in Park City, Utah. At the same time, I was becoming interested in short fiction through the works of authors like Raymond Carver, Chuck Palahniuk, and Charles Bukowski, whose dirty realism has played a large role in the formulation of my thesis. I intend to write a story collection that moves their genre into a more modern setting. While this collection will not fit perfectly into the dirty realist box, the themes …
Satanic Ritual Abuse Hysteria; A Discourse Analysis,
2024
Chapman University
Satanic Ritual Abuse Hysteria; A Discourse Analysis, Sloan Watson
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
During the 1980s, moral panic erupted nationwide as allegations of satanic abuse of children were made public, sparking inflammatory headlines and sensational news stories that drove fear and doubt into the hearts of many. Known as Satanic Ritual Abuse Hysteria, this mass hysteria is now widely acknowledged to be absurd, as allegations were proven false and the mistakes made by those in positions of power were brought to attention. However, this still leaves us to question how society within this era so easily came to believe these now-proven falsities and outlandish claims of mass ritual abuse. Using Van Dijk’s “Ideology …
Lifelong Movie Goers, Hardworking Filmmakers, And Oscars Discourse,
2024
Chapman University
Lifelong Movie Goers, Hardworking Filmmakers, And Oscars Discourse, Haley Kamola
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
This paper focuses on the discourse surrounding the Academy Awards, often referred to as the Oscars. The differences in discourse between people working in the film industry and those who watch movies are analyzed, as they represent the supplier and recipient of films and filmmaking. These two groups offer varied perspectives on the topic. The discourse of another group, a group in-between–student filmmakers–is also analyzed. To many people, what makes a film “good” is quite subjective, so the Academy Awards are often a subject of discourse. One particular focus of discourse will be the 2024 Academy Awards. There were a …
The Last Days Of Elder Mitchell,
2024
Utah State University
The Last Days Of Elder Mitchell, Jack Bylund
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present
The Last Days of Elder Mitchell is a novella following the eponymous Latter-Day Saint missionary as he narrates the miracles performed by his colleague, Elder Gibson, as well as his personal grappling with his queer identity as he serves a high-demand religion that condemns people like him. The narrative explores the intersection of queerness and faith, the form of the novella, and the healing nature of autobiographical fiction.
Lincoln's Carnegie Library:
A History Of Community And Philanthropy,
2024
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln's Carnegie Library: A History Of Community And Philanthropy, Emily Blomstedt
Honors Theses
Nebraska received 69 Carnegie libraries from the Carnegie foundation between 1899 and 1922. The first and most expensive Nebraska Carnegie library was granted to Lincoln in December 1899, after a fire destroyed Lincoln’s previous library. Lincoln’s main Carnegie library served the community between 1902 and 1960 before it was torn down in 1961 to build the present-day Bennett Martin library. This thesis explores the 60-year history of Lincoln’s Carnegie library, how it connects to national trends surrounding Carnegie libraries, and the role community and philanthropy played in the development of Lincoln’s public library system. These themes are examined through a …
Standing On The Front Porch Of To Kill A Mockingbird,
2024
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Standing On The Front Porch Of To Kill A Mockingbird, Anna Mclain
Honors Theses
This thesis is an examination of the front porch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. After providing background on the practical functions of the front porch in the South, I argue that this space serves as a synthesis between perception and reality in Lee’s novel. My thesis is divided into three sections that each explore different characters on the front porch: Boo Radley, Southern women, and Scout. Analyzing specific scenes with these characters on the front porch, I consider how the space exposes various tensions in the novel and highlights Lee’s larger themes.
Unveiling Deception: Discourse Analysis Of Sora And The Impact Of Ai On Misinformation,
2024
Chapman University
Unveiling Deception: Discourse Analysis Of Sora And The Impact Of Ai On Misinformation, Kellen Edwards
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
In today’s era of information abundance, combating the proliferation of misinformation is paramount. The growing concern within the release of artificial intelligence–AI models–have exemplified concerns through Open AI’s new text-to-video learning language model: Sora, heightening the ever-present issue of how artificial intelligence will be a detriment to society. This project is a culmination of a comprehensive analysis regarding the ongoing discourse of the effects of this language learning text-to-video model and its impending effects of deception. Implementing James Paul Gee’s meticulous discourse analysis tools, I was able to meticulously examine online discussions spanning diverse social media platforms to unearth underlying …
Radical Antiracism And Anti-Queerphobia In Politicised Education Environments Through Critical Race Theory And Queer Theory,
2024
Utah State University
Radical Antiracism And Anti-Queerphobia In Politicised Education Environments Through Critical Race Theory And Queer Theory, Mina Aubrey Weeks
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present
In 2023, the Utah legislature passed bills that alter how secondary education teachers can talk about “divisive topics,” usually referring to topics of race, LGBTQ, or other systemic topics like classism and nationalism. Many teachers committed to anti-racism and anti-queerphobia do not want to water down topics of race and LGBTQ, but they also do not want to lose their jobs for teaching race and LGBTQ in a way that the law restricts. Critical Race Theory and Queer Theory have typically been framed as anti-White, anti-cishet, or overall divisive by State critics due to their radical ideologies, but this comes …
The New Westward Expansion: Settler Colonialism And Gentrification In Paula Fox’S Desperate Characters And Kali Fajardo-Anstine’S Sabrina And Corina,
2024
Chapman University
The New Westward Expansion: Settler Colonialism And Gentrification In Paula Fox’S Desperate Characters And Kali Fajardo-Anstine’S Sabrina And Corina, Miranda Roberts
English (MA) Theses
This thesis explores two underexplored works of gentrification literature—Paula Fox’s novel, Desperate Characters (1970) and Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s short story collection, Sabrina & Corina (2019). Desperate Characters offers a nuanced and critical examination of characters with privilege who move into Brooklyn in the 1960s, which involves the displacement of Black and Latinx communities; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection introduces Denver as a site of dramatic gentrification in the new century, by portraying Latinx characters from older neighborhoods who must adjust to the disintegration and cohesiveness of their communities in the face of gentrification. In my discussion of these works, I draw from pre-existing scholarship …
Posthumanism In Literature: Redefining Selfhood, Temporality, And Reality/Ies Through Fiction,
2024
Chapman University
Posthumanism In Literature: Redefining Selfhood, Temporality, And Reality/Ies Through Fiction, Eileen Kelley Pierce
English (MA) Theses
While fictional novels are often seen as a way to escape reality, their relation to reality and the ways in which they distort or reinforce our understandings of reality can provide significant insights into our cultural values and beliefs. Using posthumanist theory, I examine how understandings of selfhood and its relations to time and reality are complicated within three works of fiction and how those complications represent and articulate a societal shift in meaning and knowledge that is supported by posthumanist ideologies. The three works, No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, Wolf in White Van by John …
Final Master's Portfolio,
2024
Bowling Green State University
Final Master's Portfolio, Savannah Packman
Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects
This portfolio uses Marxist and feminist film theory to analyze various forms of visual media. It analyzes Mark Mylod's film The Menu (2022), Julie Taymor's film Across the Universe (2007), the historic V-J Day Kiss photograph, and popular TikTok videos. This portfolio focuses on the impact of capitalism in the political and economic sphere. It also analyzes images of women throughout history and critiques how these images have been used to formulate the American body politic.
Book Review: Afternoons With Harper Lee,
2024
Georgia State University, Dunwoody
Book Review: Afternoons With Harper Lee, Lindsay G. Wong
Georgia Library Quarterly
No abstract provided.
The Best Children's Books Of The Year [2024 Edition],
2024
Bank Street College of Education
The Best Children's Books Of The Year [2024 Edition], Bank Street College Of Education. Children's Book Committee.
The Center for Children's Literature
Includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2023. In choosing books for the annual list, committee members consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.
Jane Austen And A Biographical Study Of The Historical Narrative Process,
2024
California State University, San Bernardino
Jane Austen And A Biographical Study Of The Historical Narrative Process, Serena Young
Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations
Jane Austen, beloved national literary icon of Great Britain, is world-renowned for her fiction. Biographers have attempted to authentically piece together her life and often, try to connect her narrative to when and how her fiction was written, as well as point out circumstances within her personal life and speculate their influence on her work. Literary analysts and critics that have examined the historical narrative process, Hayden White and Kevin Gilvary, have found that the way in which a historical account is presented plays a significant role in how history is understood and perpetuated. When examining Jane Austen’s life, many …
Variations On Leitmotif: Firebird Rises,
2024
Utah State University
Variations On Leitmotif: Firebird Rises, Virginia Beikmann
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present
This thesis begins with an introduction that discusses the various influences on the development of the creative novella portion. These influences include Russia literature and folklore, as well as the genres of alternative history and speculative fiction. The novella takes place in a re-imagining of Moscow, Russia during the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. The novella portion is driven by a close focus on character, with emphasis on reactions to wartime pressures and interpersonal relationships forming the central conflict.
Dismantling Barriers To Publishing: Identifying Types Of Negative Review Experiences And Strategies For Mitigating Them,
2024
Utah State University
Dismantling Barriers To Publishing: Identifying Types Of Negative Review Experiences And Strategies For Mitigating Them, Hannah L. Stevens
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present
This dissertation research focuses on academic publishing, particularly the peer review process, investigating gaps between journal guidelines and guidelines of inclusive publishing policy and processes. This project investigates the potential for supplementation of policy documents to cultivate a positive publishing experience. Moreover, this research continues the work of cultivating connections among authors, reviewers, editors, etc., in the drive to increase the accessibility and inclusivity of the publication process.
Conflicting Ethe In _Anna Karenina_: A Reexamination Of Tolstoy’S Complex Female Protagonist,
2024
Harding University
Conflicting Ethe In _Anna Karenina_: A Reexamination Of Tolstoy’S Complex Female Protagonist, Hannah Diles
Honors Theses
Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina depicts the world as an endless array of choices and experiences to which one assigns meaning to. His characters, like real people, must navigate their world of complex ethical systems using their own moral ethos. Readers and critics alike critique Anna as a heroine for living out her moral ethos, pitting it against the social and feminist ethos of late 19th century upper class Russian society. Anna’s story is either interpreted as a cautionary tale or Anna is portrayed as a feminist heroine who tragically died for love. Throughout this paper, I argue that Anna is …
Little Cricket On The Hearth: The Quiet Feminism Of _Little Women_,
2024
Harding University
Little Cricket On The Hearth: The Quiet Feminism Of _Little Women_, Caroline Anderson Klein
Honors Theses
Since the advent of the cult of domesticity, the stakes for female characters in domestic literature have been notoriously high. There was no room for flaws, rebellious decisions, and certainly no room for mistakes—whether of the woman’s own accord, or simply as collateral damage of a male character’s immorality. In this shallowly Calvinist domain, women were never more than one broken guardrail away from social ruin or death. In writing Little Women, Louisa May Alcott breaks these molds through unflinching kindness to her female characters from childhood to adulthood, even unto death. Alcott achieves this quietly feminist feat by …
Beyond The Bedroom Door: Investigating Representations Of Sex In Young Adult Literature,
2024
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Beyond The Bedroom Door: Investigating Representations Of Sex In Young Adult Literature, Amelia Gutche
English Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis examines representations of sex in young adult (YA) fiction, focusing on negative patterns, empowerment, and healthy relationships. Through analysis of seven YA novels and existing scholarship, three research questions are addressed: the evolution of sexual representations in the twenty-first century, patterns characterizing teenage sexual situations, and distinctions between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Findings reveal a shift toward more inclusive and empowering depictions, yet lingering conservative values and silences persist. YA literature often portrays sex as a source of fear and obsession, limiting adolescent power and perpetuating unrealistic ideals. Healthy relationships are characterized by support systems, mutual respect, and …
