Digital Commons Network^™

Bad Blood: Octavia E. Butler Takes A Bite Out Of Gender And Racial Stereotypes In Fledgling, Abigail Cole

Senior Theses

For contemporary audiences the word “vampire” typically conjures two figures: a Damon Salvatore-esque[1] man with devil may care eyes, dark hair and an equally dark past. Dripping with sex and charm, he struggles with an internal dilemma, his animalistic urge to kill constantly at war with his human morality. On the other hand, we have the sexy, scantily clad white female vampire who uses her feminine wiles and socially “perfect” body to prey upon poor, unsuspecting men, until she is eventually corralled into domestic submission, or killed. While this description fits the broader scale of what the vampiric figure …

Babylon Is Fallen, Is Fallen: Southern Morality In Go Set A Watchman, Anna G. Dowling

Senior Theses

A crucial theme throughout Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee is the struggle between individual morality and collective consciousness, as exemplified by black and white relations in the American South. In this thesis, I explore the biblical concept of a “watchman” as referenced in the novel’s title and what conclusions can be drawn from delving into the literary and biblical contexts of this allusion. I utilize this as a framework to explore how and why the characters of Watchman exist in such fragmented, defensive states as opposed to their Mockingbird counterparts, and what these differences imply regarding the importance …

Visiting Jane: Jane Austen, Fan Culture, And Literary Tourism, Brianna Surratt

Senior Theses

People have been visiting sites associated with Jane Austen for two centuries now, and there have been fans of her work for even longer. Austen inspires unique devotion among her fans for an author about whose life we know very little. Furthermore, these fans have been fighting among themselves for as long as fans have existed over who loves her the right way – the academics or the amateurs? This work explores that unique fan culture in detail through the lens of literary tourism, going into detail about two sites in particular – Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England, and …

Self · Ish: Examining And Reshaping Filipino & Filipinx Identities Within The Continental United States And Hawai’I Via Post-Colonial Literature, Kiana Anderson

Senior Theses

This thesis explores a conversation between the “self” and Filipino culture to examine the ways the Filipino diaspora exists in literature amongst colonization and trauma. Through literary texts spanning across time and geographical locations, like Elaine Castillo’s America Is Not the Heart and Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters, I interrogate the cultural and psychic meanings associated with the concept of home within the context of these hybrid histories. By examining the neo-canonical literature of some of these authors, I interrogate their sense of self, voices and visions via the languages, symbols, cultural frameworks and emotions that are prevalent within the literary …

The Meaning In The Music: Music And The Prose Of Chopin, Joyce, Baldwin And Egan, Colin Perry

Senior Theses

Kate Chopin, James Joyce, James Baldwin, and Jennifer Egan are collectively gifted in the art of prose, yet each author also experiments with music in their literary works. An analysis of Chopin's The Awakening, Joyce's "The Dead," Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," and Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad reveals a trend of authors utilizing music to enrich their texts and convey major themes.

"Death Stars, Death Breathes:" The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao And The Trauma Of Diaspora, Hannah Quire

Senior Theses

The following thesis aims to examine the interlocutions of diasporic trauma and genre in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. Centering the work of prominent theorists regarding diaspora, trauma, and literature, this project enacts a close reading of the novel in order to frame it as a text that is at once principally concerned with diasporic trauma while also defying thematic labels and genre categorization. This project begins by foregrounding the work of trauma and diaspora scholars to demonstrate the relationality between the two fields of study, while the second chapter examines those presences in Oscar …

"This Dreadful Web": Alienation And Miscommunication In The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Debbie Clark

Senior Theses

Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame hinges on the idea of fate and characters being caught up in situations and fantasies that seem to be out of their control. Esmeralda is the fly caught in Frollo’s web, and yet her beauty and allure attracts and ensnares him in turn. Quasimodo is ensnared by Esmeralda’s beauty but also by society’s perceptions of him. The characters in Hunchback are so caught up in the webs of fantasies and perceptions spun by themselves or society that they can no longer communicate effectively with others, resulting in alienation from the very society …

Nuanced Translations: The Search For Unity Between Text, Image, And Self In Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales, Jana Purington

Senior Theses

Few scholars have invested much time studying Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, focusing primarily on their place within the fairy tale genre, their morality, and queer themes latent in the stories. Fewer still examine them as visual, rather than merely literary, texts. Many of these ways of understanding his tales provide valuable insight, convincing interpretations, worthwhile avenues for thought, but by considering the artistic elements of Wilde's work, we can appreciate the cross-fertilization of his abstract, theoretical Aesthetic principles and the tangible objects he produces. Even among the subset of critics who do emphasize the visual aspects of Wilde's books, attention …

Metaphorically Mapping Literature Onto Music: An Analytical Guide, Aubrey Elizabeth Leaman

Senior Theses

Music and literature are both inherently narrative structures. Because of this, when the paraphrase of a musical aspect is similar to the paraphrase of a literary aspect, that literary aspect, whether it is a character or action, can be metaphorically mapped onto the music at that point. Like any mode of interpretation the theorist must be careful to remain true to the music, but conscientious metaphorical mappings provide a creatively stimulating approach to both literature and music that can engender an even deeper understanding of the music itself. There are many precedents to this approach. Renowned theorists including Lawrence Kramer, …

After All This Time: A Study Of The Appeal Of Young Adult Fiction Series Among Young Readers, Sarah Jessica Martin

Senior Theses

What is it about young adult fiction that is so addictive? Why do teenagers return to the same characters and situations over and over again in series fiction? This study explores the significance of young adult fiction series with a scientific approach, through the surveying of teenagers on the aspects of those series that are so meaningful to them. Through this study, a greater understanding of the way readers interact with literature is achieved.

The research portion of this study is largely inspired by Reading the Romance by Janice Radway^[1], an investigation that explores the attraction of romance …

Incorporating Study Abroad Experiences Into The High School Classroom Using Practices Informed By Cognitive Research, Grace Carroll Zimmermann

Senior Theses

This senior thesis project is a Unit Plan designed for at-risk high school students that incorporates literature from places where I have studied abroad and employs classroom practices that are based upon research in the fields of cognition, motivation, and pedagogy. The accompanying paper addresses the rationale behind choices made for each lesson and the research that supports it.