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Race, Women, And The South: Faulkner’S Connection To And Separation From The Fugitive-Agrarian Tradition, Brandi Stearns

Masters Theses

“Race, Women, and the South: Faulkner’s Connection to and Separation from the Fugitive-Agrarians” examines the similarities of circumstance, thought, and literature that existed between William Faulkner and the members of the Fugitive-Agrarian group despite the lack of communication between them. The initial chapter elucidates the biographical similarities between Faulkner and the Nashville group. The information in that chapter was chiefly drawn from biographies, William Faulkner: His Life and Work by David Minter, The Southern Agrarians by Paul Conkin, and The Fugitive Group: A Literary History by Louise Cowan.

The second chapter explains Quentin Compson, a character in Faulkner’s novels Absalom, …

Renaissance Woman: The Works And Critical Reception Of Dorothy West, Tamara Jenelle Williamson

Masters Theses

Dorothy West’s literary career spanned seven decades, beginning with the publication of "The Typewriter" in 1926. West published her second novel,

The Wedding, in 1995. The following year, the author published a collection of short stories and non-fiction, entitled The Richer, the Poorer. However, in discussions of American modernism and African-American women’s literature, Dorothy West is excluded.

The focus of this project will be to explore the themes in West’s two novels,

The Living Is Easy and The Wedding. I also analyze several of her short stories and a non-fiction piece. In the last chapter of this …

Piety And Politics: John Capgrave's The Life Of Saint Katherine As Yorkist Propaganda, Michael M. Baker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the political undertones of John Capgrave's The Life of Saint Katherine of Alexandria. In recent years, various scholars have regarded the Life as political propaganda for either the House of Lancaster or the House of York. I have attempted to reach my own conclusion regarding Capgrave's political beliefs by navigating some of the primary arguments purported by those scholars and adding some observations of my own.

I have considered not only the text itself, but also some of the aspects of Capgrave's life that were most likely to have influenced him: …

The Crisis Of The Marital Institution In Henry James: An Analysis Of James's Experiments In Marriage In The Bostonians, The Portrait Of A Lady, And The Golden Bowl, Amy Sloan

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine Henry James’s novels The Bostonians, The Portrait of a Lady, and The Golden Bowl in an effort to create a wider picture of the threats that James perceived were closing in on the institution of marriage at the end of the nineteenth century. The paper begins by attempting to place James’s narrative style in a suitable context by comparing it to that of other American realists and to the popular genre of domestic fiction. Then it translates the more generic discussion of his narrative stylings into a more honed focus …

Bins Of Plums, Erin Elizabeth Mulert

Masters Theses

This collection of poems represents work revised and completed during my tenure in the M.A. program in English. The pieces deal with themes of identity, family, and love, and the nature of poetry itself. An introduction is included that identifies my major influences and my purpose in writing poetry.

Mobius Strip, Tory Killian Niemann

Masters Theses

This collection of short stories explores the moments of change in a variety of human experiences. Change is embodied in the stories not only in the literal action of the characters and through the expressions of prose, but also in the uses of certain formal devices, such as point of view, narrative control, and genre. Through unexpected redirection of these formal devices, the impact of change is given a different significance in order to better reach the reading audience. Each of the seven stories looks at the different experiences of change, for good and for ill, in human life, showing …

Their Old Kentucky Home: The Phenomenon Of The Kentucky Burden In The Writing Of James Still, Jesse Stuart, Allen Tate, And Robert Penn Warren, Christian Leigh Faught

Masters Theses

The focus of this project is to investigate the phenomenon of the Kentucky burden, and to explore the impact of that burden on four Vanderbilt-educated Kentucky authors of the early twentieth century. The works of James Still, Jesse Stuart, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren reveal not only characteristics common to Southern regionalism in general but also traits radically particular to Kentucky. Through an exploration of the poetry and prose of these prominent Kentucky writers, we can gain a better understanding of the significance of their identities as Kentuckians and recognize the many obstacles and challenges the Kentucky burden posed …

Angel On The Mountain: Homestead Heroism In Appalachian Fiction, Nicole Marie Drewitz-Crockett

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to offer homestead heroism as a model for analysis in Appalachian fiction. Homestead heroism provides specific criteria for evaluating images of women in Appalachian fiction. In contrast to long-standing stereotypes of mountain women, homestead heroes achieve economic equality, and thereby autonomy, through labor production. In order to offer homestead heroism as a viable means of critical study, I have traced its presence in Appalachian fiction from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century.

Poetic Performances: Tracing Castiglione's Theory Of Courtliness In The Poetry Of John Donne And John Wilmot, The Earl Of Rochester, Lauren Holt Matthews

Masters Theses

In The Book of the Courtier, Baldesar Castiglione outlines the three criteria that courtiers and would-be courtiers must implement to fashion a successful performance, one that helps them maintain or strengthen their social status: grazia, sprezzatura, and dissimulazione. Each of these elements enables and supports the others; the success of the performative act relies on the courtier’s mastery and manipulation of these three characteristics. Their poetry indicates that John Donne and John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester both attained that high level courtly skill – Donne through his novel use of the metaphysical conceit and Rochester through his representations …

Glass-Blue Days: A Collection Of Poetry, Steven Paul Sparks

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Position Of The Intellectual In The 1950s: Case Studies Of J. D. Salinger And Ayn Rand, Stephen J. Bain

Masters Theses

The purpose ofthis study was to examine the historical and social factors that influenced American intellectual life in the 1950s, and to apply these broader, cultural influences to case studies on two American writers working in the 1950s: J. D. Salinger and Ayn Rand. Research involved diverse readings in biography and literary criticism concerning the two authors as well as interpretation ofthe authors' works themselves. Despite having opposing philosophical, aesthetic, and intellectual ideals, J. D. Salinger and Ayn Rand typify the position ofthe intellectual in the 1950s because they share the conflicting needs ofacceptance and superiority. While the two authors …

The Fool, Jonathan M. Cook

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Focused Study Of The Social Outcast In Literature: A Healing For America's Youth, Darcey A. Voyles

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Bringing Her Fist Down On That Wholeness: Rewriting Gendered Narratives In Zoeìˆ Wicomb's Fiction, Rachel Heicher

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Observing, Navigating, Exploring: The Fourfold Path Of Nourishing Wrath And Others, Greg Holden

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Parting Of The Ways: The End Of The Spirit Of Empire In Paul Scott's Raj Quartet, Blake Strong

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Politics And Gendered Spirituality In The Short Stories Of Sridaoru'ang, Rachel Ann Vaughn

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Sadness Of Great Fame: The Conflict Between Individuality And Expectation In The Works Of Don Delillo And Jim Morrison, Sue Ellen Norton Francis

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Tunnel At The End Of The Light: Victimization In The Films Of Roman Polanski, Christopher Weedman

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Re-Assessing State Writing Assessment, Tracy Wright

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.