Digital Commons Network^™

Son Of A Thousand Fathers, Colter Patterson Cruthirds

Dissertations

The following collection, which explores the often tenuous relationships between fathers and sons, was written by the author between 2008-2011.

That He May Raise, Armond Joseph Boudreaux

Dissertations

This dissertation is a work of fiction written during the author's time as a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“Breakfast Shots” And Other Stories: Collected Fiction Of Joseph D. Haske, Joseph D. Haske

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The following thesis for the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing consists of two parts. The first part contains five excerpts from a short story cycle, tentatively entitled Breakfast Shots. The second part includes experimentation with the short story form, including the noir-influenced Bloqueo and two minimalist stories derived from this piece. Several stories included in this thesis have been published in journals such as Boulevard, Fiction International, and Dark Sky. The rest are currently under consideration for various journals and anthologies.

And They Were Thirteen, Daniel Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In the critical introduction to my thesis, I explore how the progression of my creative work straddled the gap between fiction and nonfiction and how, in trying to make the creative work a combination of both, I failed to make it work as successfully as I could have as a narrative. I then segue into my research on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth and how it has even affected narratives focusing on teachers. I then explain how elements present in my work coincide with aspects of the monomyth. Because of the prevalence of the monomyth in American pop culture, I make an …

“Oye: Words Are One Big Mind” A Collection Of Poems, Samuel Arizpe

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Oye: Words Are One Big Mind. A Collection of Poems comprises forty poems arranged into three sections. It is preceded by a critical introduction in which the author discusses: 1) the childhood provenance of his love for language; 2) how his Latino linguistic, religious and cultural roots from South Texas set him on the path of poetic discovery and contextualized his poetic style 3) the influence of early Chican@ poets upon his poetry; 4) commonalities of Latin American poetry in his own work; 5) the convergence of spiritual, social, religious, mystical, and universal issues in his work.

'The Purpose Of Poetry Is To Seem As Lifelike As Possible ...': Communicating The Alive Through Contemporary Poet Chelsey Minnis's Supplemental Language, Lindsay Niedringhaus

All Theses

Contemporary poet Chelsey Minnis has a style that is unlike any other poet of today. Throughout all three of Minnis‘s collections, the speaker is unpredictable in her tone, content, and approach, appearing quite random and flippant. Furthermore, Minnis‘s distinctive use of ellipses and ideograms also separate her poetry from any of that of her contemporaries, as they take such a prominent role within her poems, refusing to be ignored. When first reading a Minnis poem, many do not know how to even begin to analyze it, as the poetry does not adhere to any traditional codes, and no rules exist …

Strike Out Across The Shoreless Ocean, Julia Claire Paajanen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

What happens between a reader and a poem is none of my business. The world has always been yours; find your own way.

(1) Every choice is correct.

(2) Everything is true.

(3) What is anything, unless so far as it is enjoyed?

All you have to do is see the course, and when you see it, go.

Mameluk Una Novela Corta, Ruben Baldazo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

La presente tesis es un trabajo de creación creativa literaria. En esta novela corta se relata la historia de Anilez, una guerrera mameluk mitad demonio y mitad humano, la cual, tras el aniquilamiento de su protectora y amiga, busca y asesina a una serie de demonios denominados como shekskas en las distintas misiones que es asignada por una organización secreta conocida simplemente como la Hermandad. Los géneros en los cuales se desarrolla la trama de la historia son la aventura y el dark fantasy, teniendo como temas centrales la búsqueda, el encuentro de identidad, la venganza, el psicoanálisis y …

Re-Visioning The Semantic And Semiotic Registers In The Study Of Culture And Religion, Gary S. Bedford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term `God' may be understood as the desire for the complete epistemological condition of thought; language expresses this condition in statements of `meaning.' `Religion' expresses this desire in texts and ritual practice which may be examined by in academic study; however, because the `third term' of religio is understood as the condition of being `bounded to or by,' the study of religion is itself bounded to or by this desire for the completion of thought. This desire cannot be understood as an `alterity' of thought but is rather the internal native or `alter-native' condition of thought itself. …

Strange Places, Alex James Morris

Dissertations

Strange Places is a collection of short stories and short shorts written during my time at The University of Southern Mississippi. Set primarily in Akron, Ohio, the stories in this collection explore a range of themes, such as trauma, death, alienation, social class, and the struggle to connect to others. This collection is preceded by a critical introduction.

The New Chicana Heroine: Representations Of Anzaldua's Mestiza Consciousness In Chicana Feminist Cultural Productions, Monica E. Montelongo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis analyzes Gloria Anzaldúa‟s mestiza consciousness as a representation seen thematically in Chicana feminist cultural productions. Mestiza consciousness, defined in Anzaldúa‟s Borderlands/La Frontera, is a non-binary feminist ideology, which proposes a third space in female identity, explored in terms of gender, class, race, and sexuality identification. The representation of mestiza consciousness in Chicana feminist cultural productions is proposed as a new trope in Chicana\o cultural studies, which I term the “New Chicana Heroine.” The New Chicana Heroine is both a proposal and representation of a third space in female identity. An examination of several authors, artists, and filmmakers, spanning …

Andre Goeritz Mfa Thesis Statement, Andre M. Goeritz

CGU MFA Theses

I strive to make objects of no complicity--arranging smaller parts to create larger forms, or allowing the combination of parts to allude to narratives without linearity, foreshadowing, point of entry, point of attack, conflict, context, or catharsis; a state of sustained stillness until equilibrium is no longer a desired result, at which point the parts of the whole can be dismantled, reconfigured, made anew. I think about words, rhythm, inflection, resonance or timbre, vocal dissonance, dismembered disjointed utterances, and repetition--somatic impulses guided by intent. Intention translates into action--an act of will, a willful act, an act of willful intent--a marker …

Looking For Adam: An Analysis Of The Works Of Marilynne Robinson, Kristina Y. Zavala

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Many scholars have analyzed the works of Marilynne Robinson, focusing their work on analyzing her novels separately instead of as a whole according to her views of Calvinism and other faith-related themes. This thesis will take apart all of the essays in The Death of Adam, examining each of them for the most important views and opinions expressed by the author. These issues have served to evolve Robinson‘s opinions in such a way that to analyze her novels according to only her religious views would be an injustice. By examining the use of certain aspects of the novel form, this …

My Made For Tv Life Or How We Survived My Psycho-Killer Dad, Sarah Beth Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The critical afterword discusses my struggles writing a memoir after a lifetime of primarily fictional influences, the ethics of truth and memory, and my attempts to find a style that would do justice to my mother s struggles. The memoir began its life as a portrayal of my mother's story, but in the end was the story of a girl growing up with the knowledge of her father's attempted murder, and the strength of her mother's guidance. My story.

The Ripening Of Mangos, Katherine Hoerth

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This project is a collection of poems which draw influence from Romantic, confessional, and post-modern poetry movements, and can most accurately be described as Confessionalistic, though they are resistant to categorization. The poems function to dismantle archetypal definitions of feminine identity, and instead aim to depict identity to be fluid and multifaceted.

The Ripening of Mangos is divided into four sections. The first section deconstructs the 'angel' or 'virgin' archetype, while the second deconstructs the 'monster' or 'whore' archetype. Section three includes voices of procreation, and functions to complicate the image of 'the mother.' The last section, Transplanting, shows gendered …

The New Woman Persona In “Dracula” And The “Twilight” Series: An Elliptical Struggle Of Social Order, Silvia E. Herrera

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis will explore the existence of the New Woman persona found in the Gothic works, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. By exploring this persona, we can shed light on the internal struggle, comprised of Victorian gender roles and one’s desire to seek greater liberation, which results in the presence of an elliptical struggle that finds itself at a constant state of progression and digression. In order to have a greater understanding of the New Woman persona, we must explore both works’ themes of the uncanny figure, sexuality and female heroism. Through the exploration of these themes, …

Awake: A Young Adult Novel In Verse, Minerva Vasquez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This project is a manuscript for a YA novel written in verse and represents the type of YA literature I hope to publish after graduating. Awake chronicles the story of Alejandra de Luna, a high school student from the Rio Grande Valley who must come to terms with an abusive home situation, while at the same time struggling to find her place and her voice as an artist, writer, daughter, and young Latina. To complicate her world more, she begins to dream of Tenochtitlan, the former capital of the Aztec Empire. She experiences Aztec culture as one of patriarchy and …

“Combustible Sinners” And Other Stories, Myra Ivette Infante

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This is a collection of six short stories with a critical introduction. The characters in the short stories are all connected (sometimes remotely) to a small, Mexican, Pentecostal church in South Texas. The critical introduction explores the religious background and evolution as a Chicana writer of Myra Ivette Infante.

After “Borderlands” The Making Of An Academic Chola: Poems, Veronica Sandoval

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This poetry collection is by a Mexican American spoken word, performance poet, Lady Mariposa, from Sullivan City turned Chican@ feminist after coming to terms with her mestizaje through Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza. In Lady Mariposa’s journey as an “Academic Chola,” the term “chola” articulates her Chican@ identity and creates a new space in academia by using “chola” as a hybrid of identity and style in the formation of her poetics. Her poetry can also be called pocho, pocha, Tex-Mex and code switches. She is inspired by Chican@ literature and history, lowriders, cholo culture, cholas, jazz, hip …

Disciples Of Vu, Leif Carl Behmer

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This project is in the design of high-fantasy sword and sorcery, wherein the concepts of mana and magic are employed as expressions of virtue to highlight contemporary issues of cultural identity and belonging. This project is also an experiment to attract a readership of non-traditional fantasy readers into the genre by creating, rather than assuming, a fantastic world context using immersive rhetorical techniques.

This project in of itself is not so much a re-invention of the traditional adventure quest as it is an exploration of its post-Tolkien form (the attraction of mythology and folklore, the narrative use of prophecy), and …

Triangular Desire In Sandra Cisneros's “Never Marry A Mexican”, Laura V. Bazaldua

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis focuses on desire in Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Never Marry a Mexican” in her collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. Cisneros alters the typical configuration of triangular desire in Western literature by focusing on two females and one male. This thesis analyzes the protagonist’s mimetic desire, applying the Girardian model of triangular desire, for her lover’s wife and how it illustrates her internalized racist views. This analysis examines the correlation between mimetic desire and the protagonist’s, an individual of color, investment in the illusion of whiteness.

Her desire is fundamentally a drive toward Megan, who represents the …

Tierra Sagrada: Stories, Jose Rene Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis consists of fourteen stories and a critical introduction. Each story is set in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas and features Mexican American characters. The critical introduction discusses the history of the Rio Grande Valley and traces my development as a writer. It also shows the influences Mexican American writers such as Américo Paredes have had on my work.

Signifying Ruins: The Wreck And Rebirth Of Modernity, Language, And Representation, Audrey Farley

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores formal and thematic representations of ruins in twentieth century literary texts, including James Joyce’s Ulysses, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, and Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck.” Analyzing these texts and concepts of ruins in the theoretical work of Jacques Derrida, Walter Benjamin, and Julia Kristeva, I argue that ruins underscore the arbitrariness—and, thus, the fragility—of symbolic systems of signification. Ruins, by virtue of their fragmentation, invite nostalgic projections of totality only to betray totality as an illusion. Thus, the imagination of wholeness that the ruin incites allows—only to disallow—meaning. Modernity and …

Linguistic Variation In The Affrication Of /T/ And /D/, Megan E. Tedder

Culminating Projects in English

This study investigated the affrication of /t/ and /di before the palatal liquid /J/ and whether this linguistic variable is a language change occurring in American English. To investigate this, I used the methodology of an apparent time study. The methodology of this study involved finding 12 participants of varying ages and placing them into predetermined age groups. Group A had four participants aged 10-19, Group B had four participants aged 20-40, and, finally, Group Chad four participants who were over the age of 40. These participants were asked to read from a word list and a short story that …

Which Components Of Joint Attention Are Critical For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders To Learn New Words?, Dana Smith

All ETDs from UAB

Though established that language deficits comprise a core element of a definitive autism diagnosis, relatively less research has been conducted to understand the bases for impaired language abilities as compared to understanding the social deficits associated with the disorder. Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have impoverished joint attention (JA) abilities, evidenced by their relative difficulty both in initiating bids for JA as well as responding to them. Once accepted that JA was crucial in lexical development in typically developing (TD) children, recent trends have diverged from this perspective, shedding light on JA's role in lexical development in an …

Exploration, Language And Application: An Approach To Teaching Beginning Instrumental Jazz Improvisation, Jeremy Todd Pownall

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide preservice and inservice teachers with an alternative approach to teaching beginning jazz improvisation to instrumentalists in a classroom setting. It was determined that there exists a need for an accessible (to both teacher and student) method for teaching beginning jazz improvisation to instrumentalists. This is due to the lack of emphasis on jazz improvisation at both the public school and university level, as well as the inclusion of improvisation in both the national and Georgia state standards for music performance. The teaching method presented in this study is based on previous research, …

Space: A Discovery Of Visual Language, Kelley White

Theses and Dissertations

Space is a visual communicator. The act of perceiving space is a neurological soiree that projects and negotiates meaning in our constructed world. The poetry that we observe within space is tied directly to our emotions and to previous experience. Within ourselves, we each have particular feelings, unconscious or not, relating to height, length, and depth, as well as light and shadow. For example, a long, narrow hallway may elicit anxiety, while an open, sunlit nave in a cathedral may bring about feelings of serenity and joy. Our observations and interactions within the perceptual confines of space reveal clues to …

The Hegemony Of Language - Literary Writing And The Quest For Subjectivity In The Works Of Michel De Montaigne And Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, Carla Bota Vance

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Starting from the premise that one’s identity is first and foremost construed in language, this dissertation argues that language is the fundamental site of resistance for writers who define themselves through linguistic difference. Recognizing also that language and literary production frequently fall under the control of complex authorities, this thesis examines literature as a site where confrontation is played out aesthetically. Literary writing, in other words, is exposed as a point of intersection between writers whose language draws its sources from a peripheral location and the centers of authority that regulate and dictate what is accepted as artistically and culturally …