Digital Commons Network^™

Dawning Revelation: An Examination Of Developments That Culminated In Estes Kefauver’S Emergence As Political Tv Star, Jamie Edward Bumpus

Masters Theses

Because of his role as chairman of the Senate crime investigating committee, which held widely viewed hearings in March 1951, U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver has been called television’s first political star. This research examines contemporaneous press accounts, particularly those from Kefauver’s adopted hometown of Chattanooga, Tenn., to determine the extent to which such a storyline was immediately apparent. Microfilm and electronic database resources, supplemented by book and peer-reviewed journal content, form a contextual framework through which is argued the position that the Chattanooga dailies were in fact attuned to the changes being wrought by Kefauver’s probe. Ultimately, The Chattanooga Times …

It's A Woman's World: Feminist Themes From Pride And Prejudice To The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Amber Naz Haydar

Masters Theses

The overall objective of It’s a woman’s world: Feminist themes from Pride and Prejudice to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is to examine the feminist themes present in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and their representation in Bernie Su and Hank Green’s recent web series adaptation of Austen’s novel, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. There is first discussion of the critical conversation regarding Austen’s position as a feminist, as well as background on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Analysis of the feminist themes present in novel and, subsequently, adaptation, follows, and the project concludes with a discussion of some of the …

Reviving First Person Understanding In Ethical Inquiry, Matthew Allen Reese

Masters Theses

Virtue Ethicists who follow the arguments set out in Elizabeth Anscombe’s Modern Moral Philosophy have consistently referenced problems with modern ethical thought. It is unclear, however, whether a single theme unites their dissatisfaction. Discovering ‘the problem’ is important for two reasons: first, it is, itself, historically interesting were there to emerge a common thread running through modernity; second, it is potentially insightful for providing future direction to ethicists. In the following two sections I argue, respectively, that such a theme underlies modern ethics and, further, that it is problematic.

In Section I, I take up three influential dichotomies. I situate …

The Mechanics Of Franz Kafka's 'In Der Strafkolonie': A Reading Through Verbal Associations, Charles Beck Cochran

Masters Theses

Theoretically based in a Judaic philosophy and in Kafka’s related mythology, which locates the origins of the world in language, this thesis takes its practical starting point from a relatively little-documented writing method of Kafka that appears inseparably linked to his language mythology. This writing method is one in which Kafka developed the fictional world of his narratives out of language or associations in language. In a unique attempt to document its full impact on the development of a literary text, the thesis seeks to utilize this writing method as a reading method, identifying the verbal associations from which Kafka …

Hablo Español, You Know? Language And Identity In The Puerto Rican Diaspora, Rachel Ann Denton

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between language, personal identity, and culture among members of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Puerto Rico represents a unique situation socially and politically because of its colonial relationship with the United States. This relationship has facilitated a continuous circular migration to and from the mainland U.S. over the last century. As of 2012, the diasporic community now represents a greater population than those who remain on the island. While nationalistic debates in Puerto Rico have traditionally excluded this group (collectively dubbed “neoricans” or “nuyoricans”), their recent contributions to literature and Puerto Rican cultural theory, as well …

Augmentation Of Delusion, Christopher Lynn Adams

Masters Theses

Augmentation of Delusion is a single-movement piece for chamber orchestra composed by Chris L. Adams. The piece was originally written for a four-person percussion ensemble in 2013 and orchestrated in 2014. This document will analyze the major musical elements of form, harmony, melody, rhythm and meter, and genre of the piece, as well as compare and contrast these variables with other composers’ works.

Music theory terminology and figures will be applied in this document as follows:

1. Set theory functions will be expressed as:
a. Normal order indicated by brackets – [2367]
b. Prime form indicated by parentheses – (0145) …

Framing Urban Change: Gentrification Discourses In The Media Coverage Of The Gülbol Eviction In Berlin, Eric Daniel Gedenk

Masters Theses

This thesis examines gentrification discourses in Berlin by highlighting an extraordinarily large protest sparked by the eviction of the Gülbol family—long-time residents of Berlin who immigrated to Germany from Turkey. Media outlets chose to frame the event in very different ways. I analyze articles from various media sources in an attempt to discover how these sources chose to frame this event, then analyze how these frames are applied to the general gentrification discourse in Berlin. Non-traditional, or “advocacy” media outlets used technology to break away from mass media frames on the subject and frame the event as governmental oppression and …

Les Vosges A Suite For Orchestra, Glenn Robert Kahler

Masters Theses

Les Vosges, a programmatic suite for orchestra in three movements, features dance-like rhythms, folksong-influenced melodies, and formal characteristics and stylistic qualities that combine elements of modern composition with those reminiscent of Baroque dance. Les Vosges was composed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Music with a concentration in Composition from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

This paper offers a supplementary analysis of the Les Vosges while referencing influential compositions and composers of the last century (Milhaud, Grofe, Kodaly, and Holst) regarding musical parameters of form, melody, harmony, rhythm and meter, and genre.

Sonic Environmentalism: God, Nature, And Politics In Olivier Messiaen's Des Canyons Aux Étoiles . . ., Ryan James Taussig

Masters Theses

Scholars often speak of Olivier Messiaen’s (1908-1992) use of birdsong as inspiration in his compositions. The avian vocalizations he dictated and catalogued while traveling throughout France and the world make appearances throughout his oeuvre. Other well documented influences upon his music include landscape and religion. In order to better comprehend the ecological, religious, and political underpinnings of Olivier Messiaen’s musical output, one must deduce how he drew upon nature and religion as inspiration. I propose that such an understanding can be reached through an in-depth examination of Messiaen's Des canyons aux étoiles . . . (1971-1974).

Through analysis of Messiaen’s …

The Wilderness For String Quartet, Samuel Moore Lewis

Masters Theses

The Wilderness is a single-movement work for string quartet with a performance time of approximately 14 minutes. This piece was completed in the spring of 2014.

The purpose of this paper is to place the composition within the context of concert music by analyzing its form, melody, harmony, rhythm, and meter and comparing those elements with those in similar examples by 20^th and 21^st century composers, in particular the post-Romantic string quartet literature.

Unmasking Wagner's Grail: Homoeroticism, Androgyny, And Anxiety In Parsifal, Tyler Cole Mitchell

Masters Theses

Most readings of Wagner’s final music drama Parsifal seek to illumine a clandestine presentation of Wagner’s racist doctrine or make sense of a less-shrouded but still ambiguous panegyric to Christianity. However, little scholarly material addresses Wagner’s provocative account of sensuality and homoeroticism in this Bühnenweihfestspiel [Stage Consecration Festival Play]. This thesis explores desire and homosexuality within the drama and considers how and why Wagner masks these themes through the opaque mythos of religion, race, and community. Parsifal was partly informed by Wagner’s own complex neuroses: his sexual anxieties and scandals, amalgam of German philosophies, and confusion concerning Germanness. As filtered …

Block 271, Reviving An Industrial Artifact, Jared Thomas Pohl

Masters Theses

Vacant industrial sites are scattered throughout our cities all across the country. These sites, these remnants of industry, are occupied by a very interesting category of buildings. They are artifacts from an industrial era that served very unique and specific functions. These service buildings suffered programmatic failure and have lost their vitality. They have entered a form of hibernation, waiting for the post-industrial epoch to wake them up.

The building stock under investigation makes up a large portion of the city’s structures. Identifiable by their heroic scale, clean articulated lines and tendency to be vacant, these service buildings raise arguments …

The Larsen Motive: A Survey Of Motivic Usage In Libby Larsen's Corker, Slang, And String Symphony, Iii, Shelise Nicole Washington

Masters Theses

Libby Larsen presents a rhythmic motive in Corker (1977), Slang (1994) and “Ferocious Rhythm” from String Symphony (1999) as more than a memorable melody or tune. Her rhythmic motive has multiple connections within each piece. It has value and purpose that can be explained through multiple musical parameters. Larsen varies the application of her signature motive in these pieces over a period of 20 years. Its general rhythmic structure is a common thread that links these three works together, but the overall motive is used in individualized ways in each of the pieces.

This thesis will demonstrate that the rhythmic …

Eruptive Baroque Hysteria In English Neoclassical Literature, Royce Lee Best

Masters Theses

"Eruptive Baroque Hysteria in English Neoclassical Literature" explores the persistence and intrusion of early-seventeenth-century baroque aesthetics in otherwise bourgeois, neoclassical works of the English Restoration. These "baroque eruptive" moments, I argue, can be read as particular instances that articulate historically-specific anxieties felt by aristocrats, including the restructuring of the family unit and the dual appeal and abhorrence of continental Catholicism. The introduction discusses the poetry of John Wilmot, earl of Rochester; chapter 1 discusses William Wycherley's The Country Wife; chapter 2 discusses Thomas Otway's Venice Preserv'd; and the conclusion chapter probes into several early eighteenth-century works.

Isolation Nation: Representations Of The United States In The Photographs Of Rémi Noël, Pascal Aimar, Yves Marchand And Romain Meffre, Mary Elizabeth Downing

Masters Theses

Visions of America vary greatly. There is an extensive variety found in foreign and domestic portrayals of the United States and these representations are affected by both pro and anti-American ideologies. Such juxtapositions can be found in contemporary French photography. In analyzing the works of photographers, Rémi Noël, Pascal Aimar, as well as the collaborative works of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, I will argue that their vision of America is influenced by their own perceptions and their viewpoint as French artists. These photographers seek to picture their versions of Texas, Detroit, and New York in ways that reveal aspects …

The Hungover Romance Of "We", Jonathan Joseph Brehm

Masters Theses

This collection of poems attempts to capture the author's inner life through a specific perception of his own generation as energetic, ambivalent and lost. The poems, while sometimes personal and autobiographical, portray dreamlike and surreal conceptions of twenty-first century twenty somethings and their landscapes: rocky deserts, expanses of water, and the vibrating city. The poems track the speaker's transitioning in and away from a hectic life of drinking and celebrating unspoken and unconventional forms of beauty. The collection concludes with a meditation on the video game Hotline Miami, which reflects the collection's interest in alchemical imagery by transacting this …

“We Know What We Are, But Know Not What We May Be”: Victorian Adaptations Of The Shakespearean Gaze, Joanna Elizabeth Ruth Zimmerman

Masters Theses

In considering Victorian adaptations of William Shakespeare, critics have long studied literary references to him as a sign of his popularity as a cultural figurehead. This thesis argues that Shakespeare played a larger role in Victorian writing as a symbol for social change. Through historical research and close readings of the texts, it becomes apparent that in adapting Shakespeare, Victorian authors purposefully wove him into writings that were intended to bring attention to social problems. Shakespeare originally brought focus to certain types of characters, such as women, servants, Jews, and other victims in his work by directing the gaze and …

L’Imaginaire D’Albert Cossery – Une Modalité De Transcender Le Temps Et L’Espace, Lavinia Adina Horner

Masters Theses

This thesis offers an analysis of the works of Albert Cossery, an Egyptian writer who wrote novels in French, even though all of them – with the exception of a single book – describe only the country he left behind – Egypt. In order to continue to live mentally in « Egypt » while in Exile, and to cope with the malady of nostalgia, he recreated his own Egypt in his books with the help of the five senses, which made this imaginary Egypt plausible. He also played the role of his characters, thus defying time and space. Although he …

The Liminal Mirror: The Impact Of Mirror Images And Reflections On Identity In The Bloody Chamber And Coraline, Staci Poston Conner

Masters Theses

In Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber (1979) and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), mirrors play a large role in the development of the female protagonist’s identity. Tracing the motif of physical mirrors and mirrored realities in these texts offers a deeper understanding of each protagonist’s coming of age and coming to terms with her own identity. Though Angela Carter’s short stories are for an adult audience, they are remakes of fairy tales, which are often viewed as children’s literature, or at least literature about the child. Though the appropriate reading age for Coraline is debatable, it can tentatively be categorized as …

What Men Do And Other Stories, Larry Joseph Seale

Masters Theses

This collection of short stories is about men, men and women, and the problems that occur in relationships when one character is more unstable than the other. In today’s modern times, the role played by each gender has shifted mightily, and as women become closer and closer to being regarded as equals, many men have found themselves wondering what this means for them. The man is no longer the undisputed leader of the household. He is no longer the sole breadwinner. Without a clear role to play, some men find themselves pressured to lash out in some way, to overcompensate …

A Multidimensional Analysis Of The Great Green Wall: The Environmental And Social Effects Of Reafforestation In Senegal, Anna Eugenia Alsobrook

Masters Theses

The north-central region of Senegal is home to the Great Green Wall (GGW)—a reafforestation project aimed at restoring decades–old, degraded land conditions by establishing tree belts and community gardens. Its presence on the ground has changed the local landscape and altered the social institutions governing the daily lives of the people it aims to protect.

My study is an in-progress assessment of the GGW towards its two major goals: 1) improving the lives of the people of the Sahel and increasing their capacity to adapt to climate change and drought, and 2) improving the state of the ecosystem and increasing …

“Wir Streiken!”: Music And Political Activism In Cold War Germany, John Tyler Patty

Masters Theses

Using print media such as band biographies, books, and journals that address youth, popular culture, and music in the German context, this thesis analyzes how music and musicians influenced political protest movements in West Germany during the Cold War and how, in turn, protest movements fostered the career of musicians. The relationship between music and social change in Germany throughout the Cold War is complicated and contains many aspects. This thesis focuses mainly on the effect American and British music had on divided Germany and examines how these influences helped shape the cultural climate in which political protests emerged. It …

String Quartet, Zachary Pentecost

Masters Theses

String Quartet is a work scored for standard string quartet, consisting of two violins, viola, and cello. The composition was completed in early August 2013, and was written in part to fulfill the requirements for the Masters of Music degree with a concentration in composition. The primary purpose of this thesis is to highlight various aspects of String Quartet and then offer comparisons between it and multiple works from the twentieth century centering on various musical elements such as; form, melody, harmony, rhythm, and texture.

Cimmerian River: A Concerto For Cello And Orchestra, Nicholas David Powell

Masters Theses

Cimmerian River is a four-movement concerto for solo cello and symphony orchestra. The work was composed by Nicholas D. Powell. The initial version (for piano and cello) was written in 2012 and orchestrated in 2013. The movements are titled “Dark Cascades,” “Shaded Current,” “Past Shadow Things,” and “Deluge.” This document will compare and contrast Cimmerian River with other works containing comparable parameters, such as similarity in melodic construction or harmonic language. The concerto will also be set in the context of other cello concertos, ranging from historic (as early as Dvořák and Elgar) to recent (as late as Williams and …