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My, Claudius: A Case Against The King As Villain., Kevin Blackwelder Jan 2010

My, Claudius: A Case Against The King As Villain., Kevin Blackwelder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of Claudius in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet has traditionally been affixed with the label of villain, coupled with a presumption of malice. This prejudice has plagued the role, relegating it to shallow melodrama throughout the majority of the play's 440 odd-year history. Although it has now become more commonplace to see him portrayed as a capable, intelligent, even initially likable king, this has only been the case for the past 50 years or so, and even so the label of villain and the assumption of malice persist and prevail even in contemporary practice. While the author is …


(Un)Natural Bodies, Endangered Species, And Embodied Others In Margaret Atwood's Oryx And Crake, Marcy Galbreath Jan 2010

(Un)Natural Bodies, Endangered Species, And Embodied Others In Margaret Atwood's Oryx And Crake, Marcy Galbreath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The developing knowledge of life sciences is at the crux of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake as she examines human promise gone awry in a near-future dystopia. This thesis examines aspects of posthumanism, ecocriticism, and feminism in the novel's scientific, cultural, and environmental projections. Through the trope of extinction, Atwood's text foregrounds the effects of human exceptionalism and instrumentalism in relation to the natural world, and engenders an analysis of human identity through its biological and cultural aspects. Extinction thus serves as a metaphor for both human development and human excesses, redefining the idea of human within the context of …


The English Reformation In Image And Print: Cultural Continuity, Disruptions, And Communications In Tudor Art, Jessica Hoeschen Jan 2010

The English Reformation In Image And Print: Cultural Continuity, Disruptions, And Communications In Tudor Art, Jessica Hoeschen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation generated multiple reform movements and political transformations in Europe. Within this general period of reform, political and cultural changes from the Tudor era (1485-1603) created a separate English Reformation. The English Reformation evolved from the different agendas of the early Tudor monarchs and occurred in two distinct waves: an initial, more moderate Henrician Reformation and a later, more complete Edwardian Reformation. Henry VIII and Edward VI's attempts to redefine monarchy through a new State and Church identity drove English church reform during this period, giving these religious shifts distinct political roots. Cultural …


The Crime Of Coming Home: British Convicts Returning From Transportation In London, 1720-1780, Christopher Teixeira Jan 2010

The Crime Of Coming Home: British Convicts Returning From Transportation In London, 1720-1780, Christopher Teixeira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines convicts who were tried for the crime of 'returning from transportation' at London's Old Bailey courthouse between 1720 and 1780. While there is plenty of historical scholarship on the tens of thousands of people who endured penal transportation to the American colonies, relatively little attention has been paid to convicts who migrated illegally back to Britain or those who avoided banishment altogether. By examining these convicts, we can gain a better understanding of how transportation worked, how convicts managed to return to Britain, and most importantly, what happened to them there. This thesis argues that convicts resisted …


But This Is What I See; This Is What I See: Re-Imagining Gendered Subjectivity Through The Woman Artist In Phelps, Johnstone, And Woolf, Heather Wayne Jan 2010

But This Is What I See; This Is What I See: Re-Imagining Gendered Subjectivity Through The Woman Artist In Phelps, Johnstone, And Woolf, Heather Wayne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the publication of Laura Mulvey's influential article 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,' in which she identifies the pervasive presence of the male gaze in Hollywood cinema, scholars have sought to account for the female spectator in her paradigm of gendered vision. This thesis suggests that women writers have long debated the problem of the female spectator through literary depictions of the female artist. Women writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries'including Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Edith Johnstone, and Virginia Woolf'recognized the power of the woman artist to undermine the trope of the male gazing subject and a passive female object. …


Sisterhood Articulates A New Definition Of Moral Female Identity: Jane Austen's Adaptation Of The Eighteenth-Century Tradition, Katherine Curtis Jan 2010

Sisterhood Articulates A New Definition Of Moral Female Identity: Jane Austen's Adaptation Of The Eighteenth-Century Tradition, Katherine Curtis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Writing at a moment of ideological crisis between individualism and hierarchical society, Jane Austen asserts a definition of moral behavior and female identity that mediates the two value systems. I argue that Austen most effectively articulates her belief in women's moral autonomy and social responsibility in her novels through her portrayal of sisterhood. Austen reshapes the stereotype of sisters and female friendships as dangerous found in her domestic novel predecessors. While recognizing women's social vulnerability, which endangers female friendship and turns it into a site of competition, Austen urges the morality of selflessly embracing sisterhood anyway. An Austen heroine must …


Visual Stamp, Jeanay Fullerton Jan 2010

Visual Stamp, Jeanay Fullerton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I create images in a painterly manner illustrating a visual dialog, which suggests simultaneous moments, yet are actually a separated collision of moments and time. I have stretched these ideas from a slowed manipulation of time, to a calculated capture of segmented moments. My work undermines the importance of the decisive moment theory. This theory was the catalyst for my new series, VISUAL STAMP. "The decisive moment, it is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression." - …


Divining The Divine: Pop Mythology And Its Worth, James Hall Jan 2010

Divining The Divine: Pop Mythology And Its Worth, James Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis compares classic mythology of cultures like ancient Greece to the mythology that has risen from the popular culture of contemporary western civilizations like America. While there are some differences, the two use the same archetypes that humanity has used for generations. In my work I use sculpture and photography to show their similarities and differences in form and story.


Place, Space, And Form Captured Through Photographic Meditation, Sarah Stead Jan 2010

Place, Space, And Form Captured Through Photographic Meditation, Sarah Stead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inspired by Buddhist philosophy, the photographic series Architectural Zen attempts to beautify banal and pragmatic architecture through limiting and preexisting artificial light conditions. The selective illumination of artificial light eliminates the non-essential details and enhances the pure forms and saturated color presented by the camera lens. This encourages the photographer and the viewer to enter a state of meditation. The resulting process is similar to a Zen approach to image making. The ancient Zen artist's compositions are strengthened by a meditation on form and subsequent elimination of the non-essential elements of the subject. Through embracing this Zen mentality and mindfulness,aspects …


Jerry Herman's Leading Ladies, John Mansell Jan 2010

Jerry Herman's Leading Ladies, John Mansell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Jerry Herman is celebrated for his ability to showcase strong leading female roles in his canon of work that spans some fifty years. In writing such strong female characters, he must produce strong male counterparts to these women who can communicate on their level and not become overpowered by the women's presence. I was cast in the musical revue, It's Today: An Evening of Jerry Herman, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Earl D. Weaver. My portion of the revue explored Herman's leading male roles of Cornelius from Hello, Dolly!; Mack from Mack and Mabel; Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky from The …


Evelyn Offscreen: An Application Of Interactive Performance Methodsin Alternate Reality Gaming, Dawn Borglund Jan 2010

Evelyn Offscreen: An Application Of Interactive Performance Methodsin Alternate Reality Gaming, Dawn Borglund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For my thesis project for the Masters of Fine Art in Film and Digital Media, I designed and produced Evelyn Offscreen, an alternate reality game (ARG) that was facilitated by interactive performance. The goal was to create an interactive experience that allowed several players to collaboratively create story across numerous media within the field of alternate reality gaming. The approach used in Evelyn Offscreen was intended to provide a degree of creative freedom to the players that has not been demonstrated in other ARG experiences and to use digital media to capture information about the relative effectiveness of the different …


Contact, Brittany Osbourne Jan 2010

Contact, Brittany Osbourne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This fiction novel focuses on the Sankofa philosophy that we as human beings must learn from our past to better understand our current existence and future; however, sometimes we choose to ignore or suppress the past because remembering it may be too hurtful. When we forget what happened yesterday our outlook on today and tomorrow becomes distorted. Contact is a novel that attempts to explore how 'living in the now' alone becomes problematic because the past'if not remembered'will come back to haunt you. The erasure of the line between Diasporic Africans and their African past is the primary theme explored. …


The Evolution Of The Swastika : From Symbol Of Peace To Tool Of Hate, Lindsey L. Turnbull Jan 2010

The Evolution Of The Swastika : From Symbol Of Peace To Tool Of Hate, Lindsey L. Turnbull

HIM 1990-2015

Few figures in the history of the Americas are surrounded with more colorful lore and acclamation than the Cuban politician, teacher, patriot, and poet Jose Marti. Among Marti's literary contributions, his Ismaelillo, a collection of fifteen poems published in 1882, claims prominence as both Marti's first book of poems and as a seminal Latin American text. Celebrated for its sincere communication of paternal love and lauded as the genesis of Hispanic literary modernism, Ismaelillo captures the longing of an exiled father separated from his son and homeland. Its language is at once evocative of classical Spanish literature and innovative, incorporating …


Parallel Adolescents, Tricia Windowmaker Jan 2010

Parallel Adolescents, Tricia Windowmaker

HIM 1990-2015

The general intent of my thesis is to write two novellas that show the differences in ways of life in two completely dissimilar states, and the conflicts that occurred therein. Therefore, the novellas will include a variation in gender, setting, and conflict. The main characters will be roughly the same age, but I will explore how the setting they live in has affected conflicts they have to deal with. I will explore writing these two novellas in the category of young adult fiction, as well as, first person narration for a close psychic distance.


Three Waves Of Underground Feminism In "Soft" Conscious' Raising Novels, Jeannina Perez Jan 2010

Three Waves Of Underground Feminism In "Soft" Conscious' Raising Novels, Jeannina Perez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the chapters of my thesis, I explore how "soft" consciousness-raising novels of the first, second and third-waves of feminism practice underground feminism by covertly exposing women's socio-political issues outside of the confines of feminist rhetoric. In moving away from the negative connotations of political language, the authors enable the education of female audiences otherwise out of reach. Working from and extending on various theorists, I construct a theoretical model for what I term underground feminism. Running on the principal of conducting feminist activism without using feminist rhetoric, underground feminism challenges the notion that "subtle" feminism means weak feminism. In …


Red Tide: A Feature Length Motion Picture, Dino Gallina Jan 2010

Red Tide: A Feature Length Motion Picture, Dino Gallina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following document provides insight into the uncharted process of producing a micro-budget feature length film. This paper aims to document my growth as an artist in terms of storytelling and filmmaking as well as the development and production process. Red Tide: A Feature Length Motion Picture includes elements from each phase of the production process, from story and script development to marketing and distribution. This document reflects on the obstacles we faced and the solutions we implemented during the process of creating a feature length motion picture on an undersized budget.


La Divina The Birth Of The Singer/Actor, Shelley Cooper Jan 2010

La Divina The Birth Of The Singer/Actor, Shelley Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the world of Musical Theatre and Opera, it is not acceptable to simply have a pretty voice; you must be able to portray the character you are singing and ground it in reality. Drama in music theatre was highlighted in the Early Romantic Movement by bel canto composers Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti who re-designed the opera scene format to better tell the story. Late Romantic composers, Puccini and Verdi, took it a step further by writing music to compliment the drama of the story. Twentieth- Century Opera singer Maria Callas is admired for her famous portrayals of title roles …


Three Different Jocastas By Racine, Cocteau And Cixous, Kyung Mee Joo Jan 2010

Three Different Jocastas By Racine, Cocteau And Cixous, Kyung Mee Joo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is about three French plays in which Jocasta, the mother and wife of Oedipus, is shared as a main character: La Thébaïde (The Theban Brothers) by Jean Racine, La Machine Infernale (The Infernal Machine) by Jean Cocteau, and Le Nom d’Oedipe (The Name of Oedipus) by Hélène Cixous. Jocasta has always been overshadowed by the tragic destiny of Oedipus since the onset of Sophocles’ works. Although these three plays commonly focus on describing the character of Jocasta, there are some remarkable differences among them in terms of theme, style, and stage directions. In The Theban Brothers, Racine’s 17th …


From Celery City To Navy Town: The Impact Of Naval Air Station Sanford During World War Ii, Lewis Metzger Jan 2010

From Celery City To Navy Town: The Impact Of Naval Air Station Sanford During World War Ii, Lewis Metzger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how Naval Air Station (NAS) Sanford impacted the nearby city economically, demographically, and socially during World War II. City commission minutes, newspapers, and census data highlight the efforts of city leaders and their cooperation with the federal government to get a naval base established at Sanford. Thereafter, it assesses the ways in which a naval base garnered economic and demographic development, and organizing among African Americans in a southern city.


Defining Workplace Information Fluency Skills For Technical Communication Students, Yuejiao Zhang Jan 2010

Defining Workplace Information Fluency Skills For Technical Communication Students, Yuejiao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information fluency refers to the ability to recognize information needs and to gather, evaluate, and communicate information appropriately. In this study, I treat "information fluency" as both an overall competency and as a collection of knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore the specific workplace information fluency skills valued by employers of technical communicators, to find out how instructors perceive and teach these skills, and to suggest how these findings can inform our teaching practices. Within the framework of qualitative methodology, this study employs two data-collection instruments, including a content analysis of online job recruitment postings …


The Search For Theatre For Social Change, Britney Cooper Jan 2010

The Search For Theatre For Social Change, Britney Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout history people have sought to prompt social change through theatrical experiences. The theatre has moved the masses in ways that have frightened governments and religious establishments into closing down theatres and banning theatrical material. History proves that theatre which causes change exists and works, but it also proves there is no one definition or formula for this type of theatre. Depending on the culture, time period, issue, resources and people involved Theatre for Social Change takes a variety of forms. However, theatre affecting change does tend to maintain two common threads: the creation of a new work and the …


A Beautiful Belly: Toward An Intimate Cinema Through Microbudget Production Techniques, Andrew Gay Jan 2010

A Beautiful Belly: Toward An Intimate Cinema Through Microbudget Production Techniques, Andrew Gay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Beautiful Belly is a feature-length, microbudget, digital motion picture produced, written, and directed by Andrew Kenneth Gay in pursuit of the Master of Fine Arts in Film & Digital Media from the University of Central Florida. The guiding question behind the production of A Beautiful Belly was whether digital "no budget" production was particularly suited to the telling of a particular kind of cinematic story - the interior journey. The pursuit of an intimate cinema shaped every decision by the filmmaker and his collaborators, and this thesis is a record of their production experience.


Potential Energy, Edward Bull Jan 2010

Potential Energy, Edward Bull

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Potential Energy. (Under the direction of Pat Rushin.) Potential Energy is a collection of sixteen short stories. They range from the fictional to the autofictional to the entirely non-fictional. In all of them, characters both real and imagined struggle to live and define themselves in a world that is outside their control. They cope with the inevitability of loss, dangers both internal and external, and the passing of their own greatness. Some of these characters become lost while others learn to embrace life on its own terms'to accept 'without hope or expectation.' More often, they are not lost or enlightened, …


A Screen Of One's Own The Tpec And Feminist Technological Textuality In The 21st Century, Amy J. Barnickel Jan 2010

A Screen Of One's Own The Tpec And Feminist Technological Textuality In The 21st Century, Amy J. Barnickel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I analyze the 20th century text, A Room of One's Own, by Virginia Woolf (2005), and I engage with Woolf's concept of a woman's need for a room of her own in which she can be free to think for herself, study, write, or pursue other interests away from the oppression of patriarchal societal expectations and demands. Through library-based research, I identify four screens in Woolf's work through which she viewed and critiqued culture, and I use these screens to reconceptualize "a room of one's own" in 21st Century terms. I determine that the new "room" is …


The Miseducation Of Simon Kraus A Record Of The Film's Production, Michael J. Diaz Jan 2010

The Miseducation Of Simon Kraus A Record Of The Film's Production, Michael J. Diaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Miseducation of Simon Kraus is a feature-length film produced, written, directed, and edited by Michael J. Diaz as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Digital Media from the University of Central Florida. The thematic aim of the film is to paint a portrait of the Millennial Generation on the microcosm, by following the story of an apathetic protagonist whose dreams and ambitions are threatened by his own character. The statements, documents, and images contained herein serve to record the experience and motivation behind the film.


The Development Of The University Of Central Florida Home Movie Archive And The Harris Rosen Collection, Michael Niedermeyer Jan 2010

The Development Of The University Of Central Florida Home Movie Archive And The Harris Rosen Collection, Michael Niedermeyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the invention of the cinema, people have been taking home movies. The everincreasing popularity of this activity has produced a hundred years worth of amateur film culture which is in desperate need of preservation. As film archival and public history have coalesced in the past thirty years around the idea that every person’s history is important, home movies represent a way for those histories to be preserved and studied by communities and researchers alike. The University of Central Florida is in a perfect position to establish an archive of this nature, one that is specifically dedicated to acquiring, preserving, …


Computer Technologyin The Design Process, Gregory Montague Jan 2010

Computer Technologyin The Design Process, Gregory Montague

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a study of computer technology's impact on the theatrical design process. The tools of communication provided by technology were studied, and an analysis was conducted in the classroom of Digital Rendering, Digital Rendering Videos, and 3d CADD. After-wards, these tools were applied to an actual production of West Side Story where, with the addition of 3d light simulation software, the tools were used to communicate the design ideas from the lighting designer to the director. The goal of this process was to provide a 'real to life' virtual representation of the show to the director with the least …