Digital Commons Network^™

Hybrid Or Counterpoise? A Study Of Transitional Trebuchets, Michael J. Basista

Masters Theses

This study investigates the engineering and use of a proposed type of trebuchet in the Middle Ages. A study by a prominent historian has suggested the existence of a type of siege weapon that made use of both human and gravitational forces to fire its projectile. My research will investigate this claim by examining select sources, reviewing the engineering principles involved, and determining the viability of such a machine.

After dealing with this theory I will offer my own new interpretation made from the sources. This interpretation will center on the application of ancient technology to make trebuchets more efficient. …

Current Practices, Preparation, And Demographics Of Music Therapists Working With School-Age Clients Who Have Severe, Profound, And Multiple Impairments, Erin Dalby

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine (a) which music therapy techniques may most effectively assist school-age clients with severe, profound, and multiple impairments to achieve certain goals; (b) assess whether music therapists currently feel that they were prepared to adequately serve the target population; and ( c) describe the demographics of music therapists who work with the target population. A researcher-designed questionnaire was completed by music therapists who served school-age clients who have severe/profound and multiple impairments. Results indicated that the use of singing and therapist-composed music were the most effective methods to develop nearly all types of …

Castles In The Crusader Kingdom Of Valencia, 1257-1276, Marius Nielsen

Masters Theses

For my thesis I proposed to study the registered charters of James I (1208-1276), King of Aragon, to examine how castles were distributed and utilized in the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia for the period 1257-1276. A little over two thousand register charters were issued for Valencia during this period. Around 250 of the two thousand charters mention castles indicating the importance of castles in the administration of the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia. Although there are many works on Western European castles the majority focus on castles in France, Britain and the Crusader States in the Middle East and rely on …

The Comunero Uprising In Castile, 1520-1521: A Case Study For Early Modern Revolution, David Kristian Dyer

Masters Theses

This thesis argues that scholars have ignored the Comunero rebellion’s importance as an instance of early modern revolution and that this uprising anticipates the revolutionary movements of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Leyenda Negra or Black Legend is primarily responsible for this oversight, as Protestant Europe has portrayed Spain as anachronistic and reactionary since the reign of Phillip II. This depiction has skewed both the Spanish and the European historical representations of Spain and pushed Spain onto the periphery of European history. This thesis uses the Comunero rebellion to identify these historiographical problems and suggests a way of viewing …

Berlin’ Movies In Post-Wende Berlin And Germany, Alissa Hope Nesbitt

Masters Theses

Historian David Large concludes his narrative study of modern Berlin by questioning how Germans can come to term with their new national identity. He suggests that the renewed political and social emphasis on Berlin may be key: “It might just be that Berlin, the city where the Germans have experienced the peaks and depths of their national experience, can help to show the way” (Large 647). One of the ways to see how Berlin and the German identity are interlocked is in the cinema, due to its influence on collective consciousness. Furthermore, films can also serve as a valid and …

The Bayeux Tapestry: Norman And English Perspectives Intertwined, Maria Dajcar

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the Bayeux Tapestry, commissioned by the victorious Normans after the Norman Conquest of 1066, in order to determine which, if any, of its scenes bore English influence. The primary sources analyzed were, among others, Ordericus Vitalis, William of Poitiers, William of Jumieges, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the Bayeux Tapestry itself. The secondary sources included monographs by David J. Bernstein, Wolfgang Grape, Frank Stenton, and Ian Walker.

While the majority of the Tapestry scenes adhere to the interpretation of the Conquest that was popularized by Norman chroniclers, several elements, such as the …

Newspaper Coverage Of Coal Strikes In Cullman, Jefferson, And Walker Counties In North Central Alabama, January And February 1921, Alison Patricia Cook

Masters Theses

The coal strike in Alabama, especially in Birmingham, Cullman, and Jasper during January and February 1921, have not been studied. In the early 1900s, newspapers were generally the only sources of information and news for people, both in rural and urban areas. The coal strikes during this time were some of the bloodiest in Alabama history. Beatings, lynchings, and murders of strikers were common. Strikebreakers, or scabs, also were abused. While northern Alabama farmers were treated worse than others because union miners felt the farmers were taking their jobs only out of spite. Some simply disappeared and later were presumed …

Imagining Dissent: Muhammad Ali, Daily Newspapers, And The State, 1966-1971, Daniel Bennett Coy

Masters Theses

“The Paranoid Style in American Politics” is an accurate way to describe what happens here. In 1966 heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was reclassified as fully eligible for military service; it became apparent that he would be drafted to serve in Vietnam. Ali—contesting the government’s right to control his body—claimed his own right to self-determination. But this question of the government’s right over the individual became far more complicated when daily newspapers turned this conflict into an “event.”

These newspapers imposed rigid and simplified categories on a situation that was not easily classifiable. Muhammad Ali’s response was to identify the …

Preferences Of Chinese Alzheimer’S Patients For Music Therapy Activities: Singing, Instruments, Games, Dance/Movement, And Composition/Improvisation, Karen Kwok

Masters Theses

This research, based on Brotons and Pickett-Cooper’s 1994 study, examined the preferences of Chinese Alzheimer’s patients for music therapy activities. Fifteen Chinese senior residents residing in a Toronto, Canada ethnic nursing home participated in this study. Five different language and culturally appropriate music therapy activities were used, which included singing, dance/movement with music, musical games, instrument manipulation and improvisation/composition. Subjects met in small groups of 3 for a total of five 30-minute sessions in two weeks. During each session, one of the five music therapy activities was presented. At the end of each session, subjects were asked to state how …

Tinners And The Stannaries: Law, Life, And Labor In Fourteenth-Century Cornwall, Michael Kurt Deen

Masters Theses

Based on extensive archival research, this thesis analyzes the socio-economic position occupied by fourteenth-century tinners in Cornwall, England. The tinners represented a privileged group of laborers in the later Middle Ages, and the records of their stannary courts provide a unique glimpse into their lives. the evidence from these records show that the stannaries of Cornwall experienced a transformation of the structure of labor after the Black Death out of tin production and into agriculture. The result was a shift from a system overwhelmingly dominated by independent prospectors, dependant on credit for survival, to one which included large-scale operations owned …

Cultural Encounters: The Peruvian Artifacts Collected By Cristobal Vaca De Castro, Genoveva Garcia-Gallardo Carcedo

Masters Theses

This project examines the collecting activities of Cristobal Vaca de Castro through a comparative analysis of official and private letters, inventories of items he collected, trial records, his judicial review (an appraisal of his activities in office taken after his term ended, known as residencia), and secondary sources. Vaca de Castro was originally sent to Peru to act as a judge to ensure that Francisco Pizarro carried out the royal orders and instructions he had been sent and to establish peace in a Peru struggling with civil wars. The assassination of Francisco Pizarro on the eve of Vaca de …

Improving The Connection Between Grammar And Culture In Today’S Foreign Language Classroom, Jenessa Gale Hunter

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper was to examine the existing degree of integration between grammatical and cultural elements in beginning college level German foreign language classrooms. Out of this analysis, some of the shortcomings to successful integration were identified and sample activities were created to address these shortcomings while demonstrating ways to further strengthen the connection between grammar and culture.

Chapter One provides a theoretical background to the concept of integration. It focuses on the communicative approach to teaching and the 1996 Standards for Foreign Language Learning, both of which support a connection between grammar and culture even at …

Potpourri, Louis A. Willis

Masters Theses

The American Heritage Dictionary defines potpourri as “a combination of various incongruous elements; a miscellaneous anthology or collection.” This collection of nine essays and a short story includes seven autobiographical essays in which through memory, I try to make sense of the potpourri of some of my life experiences. Of the last two essays, one is my thoughts on the stylistic technique two 20^th century writers used to give the former slaves a voice. The last essay is my search for a technique for telling stories. The short story is an attempt to put into practice the storytelling technique …

Incivilities In The College Classroom: The Effects Of Teaching Style And Teacher Gender, Misty Renee Bailey

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher gender, teaching style, and classroom incivilities in composition and business writing courses at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Incivility frequencies were collected from approximately 581 students and twenty-four teachers using surveys.

While it cannot be stated that teacher gender combined with teaching style causes more incivilities, this study revealed a correlation between the frequency of incivilities and teacher gender controlled for teaching style. Students of female teachers who use student-centered pedagogical methods report more incivility occurrences than students of male teachers who use student-centered pedagogical methods.

Findings also …

Omen, Tao-Hsing Wang

Masters Theses

The arrangement of this composition is based on chamber orchestra. The piece which is very classical structure was written not only by the harmonic theory of chromaticism and mode mixture but also by a sort of contrapuntal skill for its essential musical languages by me. In addition, the music form of the whole piece can be described as three movements with one introduction, though it should be played without any interruption or break between each movement.

As the title "Omen," we can find that there is a crucial harmonic motive, augmented triad, hidden in the introduction of this piece, and …

The Drawing Of The Three, John Griffin

Masters Theses

The Drawing of the Three is a work in seven movements scored for full orchestra. The title, along with the movement names, are derived from the novel The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. This composition can be viewed as a "sequel" to my earlier piece The Gunslinger, inspired by the first book in King's "Dark Tower" series. Unlike the previous work, the music is not intended to be a literal programmatic representation of the book's plot. Rather, its purpose is to musically depict the personalities and inner conflicts of the characters in the …

Fluidity In Marguerite Duras' Le Vice-Consul : An Architectural Reflection On Culture And Consciousness, Holly Ann Macdonald

Masters Theses

This thesis explores Marguerite Duras’ Le Vice-consul (1966) through an interdisciplinary approach to architecture and literature. Five architectural elements found within the novel – path, park, grille, octagon, and study—are explored through the concept of the “fluid” mise en abyme outlined in Lucy Stone McNeece’s Art and Politics in Duras’ “India Cycle” (1966). The contrasting theme of fluid versus rigid assumed a physical and symbolic meaning in both architectural and literary realms.

The analysis reveals a connection between the fluid framework of this nouveau roman and the structure of the built environment, which impacts our surroundings and psyche. Exploring …

Sunsphere, Andrew Everett Farkas

Masters Theses

This is a short story collection centered around the Sunsphere (the structure in Knoxville that was built for the 1982 World’s Fair), utilizing various concepts of energy as its central metaphors. Containing seven short stories, Sunsphere is in the tradition of such writers as Thomas Pynchon, Donald Barthelme, John Barth, and Jorge Luis Borges (among others). The concepts of energy covered herein are “work,” in “Do Kids in California Dream of North Carolina?,” “potential energy,” in “Chekhov’s Shotgun,” “kinetic energy,” in “No Tomorrow” and “The Physics of the Bottomless Pit,” “internal energy,” in “Everything Under the Sunsphere” and “Wordsworth’s Volcano,” …

Our General Mother:’ Eve’S Mythic Power And The Poetry Of Aemilia Lanyer, John Milton, Elizabeth Barrett, And Christina Rossetti, Sarah C. Mccollum

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze Ameilia Lanyer, John Milton, Elizabeth Barrett, and Christina Rossetti’s versions of Eve. In my first chapter, I pair Lanyer and Milton’s work and focus on the demands and expectations they place on the reader. Both authors desire that their readers be intellectually and spiritually astute enough to accept their arguments about Eve, but also be willing to see themselves as Eve. In my second chapter, I discuss Milton’s influence on Barrett, and center my treatment of Barrett on the way Barrett’s ambivalence toward male authority manifests itself in her depictions of Eve. …

'The Third Sex': Interpellation Of The Woman Physician In Nineteenth-Century Literature, Margaret Jay Jessee

Masters Theses

As American women entered the medical profession for the first time, the literature of the late nineteenth century America reflects the debates surrounding women professionals. I will focus on three novels written during this controversial and interesting time. William Dean Howells's Dr. Breen 's Practice (1881) and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's Dr. Zay (1882) deal with similar subjects, both novels portraying a female doctor and her struggle to decide between marriage and a career. Published in 1884, Sarah Orne Jewett' s A Country Doctor was the third novel seen in three years with a female doctor as the main character.

The …

Unremembered Politics: A Discursive Analysis Of Lyrical Ballads And American Revolutionary Politics, Graham Buckner Stowe

Masters Theses

This thesis seeks to define Wordsworth’s political stance in his 1798 Lyrical Ballads. Up to this point, his work’s politics have been defined negatively, that is, he has been described by what he is not. Instead, I suggest that reading his poems through the lens of an American Revolutionary discourse offers us definitive view of his political position. To these ends, my first chapter establishes this discourse, outlining the three elements of the discourse on which I focus. Most important of these is the elevation of common humanity present in Wordsworth and the discourse outlined. Also present are an anti-urban …

Envisioning Identity: Theatrical And Political Innovations In Caryl Churchill's Plays, Jina Yi

Masters Theses

Caryl Churchill, a contemporary British playwright and declared socialist feminist, combines theatrical inventiveness with social critique in her plays. Churchill consistently relates to political ideas in theatrical terms. This study offers a close reading of Churchill’s most representative works, Cloud Nine (1979) and Top Girls (1982), detailing the development of her dramatic craft. In Cloud Nine and Top Girls, Churchill examines political structures through a conscious evaluation of traditional theatre structure. In particular, Churchill finds Brechtian epic theatre’s politics invaluable to her socialist feminist dramaturgy. Detailed analysis of the two works enables us to determine the extent to which …

The Rebel Collection, Erika Leigh Andra

Masters Theses

This collection of creative writing incorporates an introduction, three short stories, and a creative non-fiction piece, all of which represent my emotional exploration of both intense subject matters and an autobiographical impulse (blending the lines between fiction and non-fiction).

The introduction to “The Rebel Collection” pointedly scrutinizes my writing aesthetics and includes lists of authors and works which have profoundly influenced me. The creative non-fiction piece, “My Writer’s Eye,” relates my adventures from a mission trip to Mexico, during which I examined religion, writing, and class structures. The first short story, “Shells,” delves into the mind of a woman in …

Html And Pdf Documents: A Study In Terms Of Genre Theory, Meghan Mccarty

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to determine, in light of current genre theory, if Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) documents and Portable Document Format (PDF) documents are representative of separate and distinct genres. I chose a set of NASA documents, some published in HTML only, some published in PDF only, and one published in both HTML and PDF, as the focus of this study.

Using current genre theory and layout and design recommendations for print and HTML documents, I determined that HTML and PDF documents are not examples of distinct genres based on the NASA documents.

Making The Most Of A Bad Situation: Coddling, Fraternization, And Total War In Camp Crossville, Tennessee, Gregory J. Kupsky

Masters Theses

This study examines the significance of interactions between German prisoners of war and their American captors during World War II. It uses government documents, personal accounts, and newspaper articles to reconstruct various aspects of life in Camp Crossville, Tennessee, as a representative of the national camp system. It also examines the recollections of former prisoners, guards, and Crossville residents to assess the impressions created by prisoner-captor interactions.

These sources demonstrate that camp life created a generally positive impression among both the Germans and the Americans at Camp Crossville. The POW s attempted to use their time in captivity constructively, and …

Milk Glass Moon, Rebecca K. Brooks

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to tell the mostly untold story of the 900 or so families that left the Oak Ridge valley in 1942-42 in order for the federal government to build the Manhattan Project, the secret project that built the atomic bomb.

The story is fiction but based loosely on the experience of the Sam and Mary Kesterson family. While the story covers the experiences of most of the family, it is told primarily through Lydia Mae Johnson’s point of view, a young teen who must confront adult issues early: a strange man comes into the community, …

Competing Visions Of Spain: Joaquin Costa And Miguel De Unamuno's Searches For National Identity, Alyson F. Baker

Masters Theses

This paper examines the competing visions of Spain offered by Joaquín Costa and Miguel de Unamuno in the last decades of the nineteenth century and in the first years of the twentieth century, as they sought to define the essence of Spainishness. In attempts to describe the national character, they invoked common historical memories and symbols, which were open to numerous interpretations. These multi-faceted and often contradictory depictions of Spain and its inhabitants presented diverse view of the country, attesting to the complexities of national identities. Focusing primarily on the writings of Costa and Unamuno, this paper examines their various …

Orchids On A Windowsill, Julie Ann Predny

Masters Theses

“Orchids on a Windowsill” is a collection of poems presented for partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art in English, with Concentration in Writing. An introduction is provided to name major influences on the poems and a general philosophy on writing.

From Useful Knowledge To Rational Amusement: Museums In Early America, Allison M. Morrill

Masters Theses

This study examines the rise of early American museums following their birth from intellectual societies in the American colonies. The two primary categories of collections, scientific and patriotic items, were examined for their significance and intended purpose. Likewise, both popular education and interesting entertainment were identified as factors for encouraging early museum proprietors to seek the appeal of the general public while simultaneously drawing visitors to these early establishments of learning and leisure.

In order to understand the motives behind intellectuals’ desires for popular education, scientific knowledge, and patriotic enthusiasm, the writings of many American intellectual elites were consulted. The …

Blood Kin: Poems, Sara Ann Baker

Masters Theses

This manuscript contains poems written and revised during my two years in the M.A. program in English. Themes include family, divorce, love, madness, religion, and nature. I wanted to develop a manuscript that truly reflected the past two years in terms of my life and in terms of my writing. The introduction details my journey to this point, explaining why certain I have been influenced by poets such as Sylvia Plath and Sappho. Overall, I see this manuscript as a reflection of life coming full circle, acting out part of the cycle of life. The journey from the first poem, …