Digital Commons Network^™

Objectivity And Aesthetic Judgment, Glenn Poskocil

Honors Theses

Where do we draw the line between what is and is not a work of art? and, how are we to distinguish between so called "good" and "bad" works of art? There is a tendency to blur the distinction between these questions because they seem, in certain senses, to be inextricably bound to one another. It is not uncommon, for instance, to hear someone praise something by referring to it as a "work of art," yet most of us agree that not all works of art are "good," even in the aesthetic sense. Too often this distinction is muddled by …

A Genealogy Of The Will : A Comparison Of The Works Of Kant, Schopenhauer, And Nietzsche, Jane Elizabeth Edwards

Master's Theses

This study investigates the development of the notion of man's will upon which Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche based their theories. Although this topic had been virtually neglected in the great intellectual debates of the first to the eighteenth centuries, by the nineteenth century the question of man's will--its origin, function, and value--dominated such philosophical discussions. An exploration of the differences in the perception and role of the will in the works of these three men is attempted, from Kant's redefinition of the nature of will, to Schopenhauer's redirection of its position in philosophical matters, to Nietzsche's radical reinterpretation of the …

Richard Brautigan : A Man In Search Of America, Elizabeth A. Howell

Honors Theses

Avant-garde writing tends to be an "iffy" thing these days, more a matter of cocktail chatter than execution. The resources for experiments seem used up, or ash John Barth put it, "exhausted" (Pinkser 75). Things and words increase in quantity but diminish in value and meaning, making the contemporary writer more and more unwilling to follow the old ways of arranging them. Though this is not a new predicament for an aspiring writer, it is one that seems threatening in an age of self-conscious art. Writers must look for new grammars and new semantics. Some writers turn this quest for …

Evil And The Role Of Evil In The Book Of Revelation, Elizabeth Alger Pugh

Honors Theses

The symbolism of evil as used in the Book of Revelation portrayed God's response through the personal revelation of the author to the wickedness of humanity. The purpose of this focus on evil was to instill obedience and faith of the early church community as it held to strong messianic expectations.

Kate Chopin : A Different Look, Kimberly Ann Francis

Honors Theses

Kate Chopin? Who is she? This is a common resonse of many people who are not familiar with this outstanding woman writer of the late 1800's and early 1900's. In fact, this same question would more likely have gone unanswered then than today. For the most part, many of her contemporaries are prominently discussed and read today because they enjoyed popularity while they were alive. They not only established literary voges; in many cases they gave the public what it wanted to read. Such writers include Mark Twain and Stephen Crane as well as Edith Wharton and Ellen Glasgow. Kate …

Toni Morrison's Approach To Understanding, Joyce Dorris

Honors Theses

Toni Morrison tackles the problems for which she does not have resolutions. In order to make an impact on readers and achieve a meaningful understanding, Morrison manipulates readers' emotions. She says, "My writing expects, demands participatory reading. The reader supplies the emotions. Then we (you, the reader, and I, the author) come together to make this book, to feel this experience" (Tate, 125). Morrison carefully positions her readers to see what her characters see and react as they would. Morrison feels if the readers can see the person experiencing the thing, they do not need an explanation. The illustration will …

Truth Lifting Up Its Head Above Scandals : The New Law Of Righteousness Proposed By Gerrard Winstanley And The Diggers, John Cook

Honors Theses

In the beginning of 1649 a group of landless people began to build houses and plant crops on the common lands at George Hill in Surrey, England. However these were not ordinary squatters for the Diggers also had a program which declared "freedom to the creation, and that the earth must be set free of the entanglements of lords and landlords, and that it shall become a common treasury to all, as it was first made and given" to men by God. (p.128) Sometime just before this the Diggers' leading spokesman, Gerrard Winstanley, had begun to claim "that many things …

Gerard Manley Hopkins: The Struggle For Poetic Vision, Kathryn M. Fessler

Honors Theses

In this study, I will trace the developmetn and history of Hopkins' struggle to realize and live by a vision of an immanent God, using as the gauge of his progress the poems, which are the celarest expressions of Hopkins' heart. I will illustrate the chronological progression of this vision in the poetry, and discuss specific poems in terms of their places in the history of Hopkins' life as a poet and a priest. I will also pay some degree of attention to linguistic innovations in the poetry, since these are manifestations of Hopkins' liberation from certain formal constraints made …

Alice Walker: An Interpretation Of Her Works, Niamh Walsh

Honors Theses

In summary, I feel as if Alice Walker has used her literature for far more than mere literary entertainment. I believe that she wrote with a very strong message for both blacks and women. To both minorities, of which she herself is proud to belong, she calls for acknowledgmetn of their attirubutes, their worth and their limitations: she calls for reclamation of the many positive attributes that have, for too long, been derided as insignificant: and she calls for a loud, joyous celebration of all the many defining aspects of womanhood and blackness. I see this evident in most, in …

The Irish Community In Antebellum Richmond, 1840-1860, Kathryn Lynn Mahone

Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the Irish immigrants experienc e in antebellum Richmond, Virginia. Their journey to America and the various reasons for migrating south were also included in the study. The neighborhoods and occupations of the Irish were described as well as the immigrant's role in Richmond's antebellum society. The Catholic church, benevolent groups and militias were reviewed in order to understand how Irish helped fellow immigrants adjust and prosper in their new home.

The paper was based on information from the census records of 1850/1860, and from various city directories. Personal property and death records …