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The Supernatural’S Role In The Juxtaposition Of The Ideas Of Modernity, Traditionalism And Identity In Zakes Mda’S The Heart Of Redness, Thabo Lucky Mzileni

English 502: Research Methods

The supernatural is an entity found in many African literary texts as it is an important part of the African cultural fabric that informs and shapes the African way of life. In modern times the supernatural still informs these African cultures even though it is oftentimes defined by some unknown entity outside the realm of understanding, beyond reason. This paper explores the ideas presented in Zakes Mda’s The Heart of Redness—a novel sourced from the Xhosa cattle killings of 1856-1857, prompted by Nongqawuse’s prophetic message. Specifically, the paper examines how ideas of modernity, traditionalism and identity are influenced by …

Marcus Clarke: Confronting Spectacle With Spectacle In For The Term Of His Natural Life, Mary E. Perkins

English 502: Research Methods

While Marcus Clarke’s For the Term of His Natural Life is unquestionably a valuable contribution to Australian literature, his journalism career also deserves equal attention, particularly as an influential antecedent to the creation of his seminal text not only on a technical basis as John Conley details in “Marcus Clarke: The Romance of Reality”, but also as a social platform. In “Marcus Clarke and the Society of the Spectacle: Reflections on Writing and Commodity Capitalism in Nineteenth-Century Melbourne,” Andrew McCann demonstrates how the “Peripatetic Philosopher”— one of Clarke’s more successful journalistic endeavors—and other selections reveal Clarke’s critique of the colonial …

The Submissive, The Angel, And The Mad Woman In District 12: Feminine Identity In Suzanne Collins’S The Hunger Games, Kirstie E. Linstrom

English 502: Research Methods

The social roles women are given in literature are often debated by critics. This essay discusses the treatment and perceptions of female characters in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy. Throughout the trilogy, the male characters shape the identities of the female characters through language and enforcing Western gender roles. Katniss, Prim, and their mother each fill different roles typically assigned to women. Katniss is a submissive female; Prim is the innocent angel in the household; and their mother portrays a mad woman that cannot cope with reality. These characters—Katniss in particular—are often misconstrued by audiences and critics. Katniss is …

Running Away To Neverland: The Fear Of Adulthood In John Green’S Paper Towns And J. M. Barrie’S Peter Pan, Teri Klauser

English 502: Research Methods

In examining John Green’s young adult novel, Paper Towns, and J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, a theme of fear towards adulthood and social obligation is explored in the characters, Margo Spiegelman and Peter Pan. This fear causes them both to run away to their own Neverland. In doing so, both characters are hindered from truly growing, as they settle into a frivolous and forgetful lifestyle. Using critics, such as Michael Egan, Sarah Gilead, and Karen Coats, I will examine Peter Pan as the immortal child, having taken on the identity of death and time, as well as Neverland as the …

Glass Slippers, Fairy Dust, And Feminist Ethics: Perrault And Barrie’S Influence On J.K. Rowling’S Independent Heroine, Gennesis Roman

English 502: Research Methods

My essay delves into J.K. Rowling's character of Hermione Granger. Hermione is a feminist character that seems to have been created with influence from Charles Perrault's "Cinderella" and J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan". This essay details the similarities between Cinderella, Wendy Darling, and Hermione Granger, all while proving Rowling's feminist leaning when creating Hermione.

Biological Vestiges In American Psycho, Russell K. Allen

English 502: Research Methods

In proposing that the use of violence as allegory in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho is warranted, this essay challenges a popular reading of the text, one found in many critical articles, that proposes otherwise. Specifically, this essay will break the novel’s cast into three factions, with each faction having a biologically definable origin: representations of the past, representations of the present, and representation of an ambiguous territory in between. Jean serves to depict a time when people communicated on a level beyond that which is comprehensible to most Generation Xrs. She has been transplanted into the novel’s present from …

Was Jonathan Harker Wearing A Red Hood?, A. Nicole Ferrell

English 502: Research Methods

An icon of Gothic literature and forerunner of vampire lore, Dracula is credited as being inspired by Stoker’s nightmare after eating a particularly rich crab dinner. It’s also evident that he was influenced by other British invasion tales, LeFanu’s tale “Carmilla,” and The Woman in White. However, no work is evident as of yet about the possibility of Dracula being influenced by fairy tales, specifically “Little Red Riding Hood” in structure, themes, and characters.

This essay will be considering Dracula’s background, why Stoker wrote it and its Victorian influences. Then I will examine Bettelheim’s fairy tale structure as …

The Price Of Growing Beyond Innocence: Examining The Literary Lineage Of Mark Haddon’S The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, James A. Clark

English 502: Research Methods

Through a thorough examination of textual clues in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, particularly those moments in the narrative in which Christopher Boone begins to develop an understanding of his own emotional and developmental limitations, as well as the results of that burgeoning understanding, this essay seeks to establish Haddon’s novel as a subtle homage to—if not the direct progeny of—Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and other noteworthy works of literature in which a fictional protagonist, originally limited mentally or intellectually, suffers emotional anguish brought on by self-awareness resulting from either internal action …