Digital Commons Network^™

Tracking The Basic Writer, Timothy Donohue

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Since the 1970s, composition teachers and theorists have been advocating the term “basic writer” to give a space and voice to underprepared students entering college by providing them with basic skills remediation. Despite the various pedagogical approaches to these classes that have been established and put into practice over the years, there is still large disagreement among educators on how to best prepare these students for entrance into the mainstream college environment.

This study begins by examining the history of the basic writing movement, acknowledging key figures and the salient ideas of their works. A broad overview is given to …

Connections And Disconnections Between Academic Writing Theory And Writing In The Business World, Shannon N. Fanning

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Although not all college students will become professional writers, many, if not all, will need to learn to write professionally. The ability to write well is an essential skill in any profession, and while few would dispute the importance of being able to write well, the ways in which one’s academic writing experiences inform her ability to write successfully in professional settings remain a mystery to many.

My thesis begins with a discussion of attempts made to bridge academic and business writing and a review of the history of efforts made by advocates of professional and workplace writing instruction and …

Linden Hills And The Women Of Brewster Place : Race, Class, And Gender Seen Through The Gothic, Nicole Marie Riotto

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Gloria Naylor uses Gothic elements in two of her novels, Linden Hills and The Women of Brewster Place, to highlight struggles and fears of the black communities of these texts. In each, the characters try to navigate through a white, patriarchal world, which causes them to struggle economically, emotionally, and socially. Throughout reading these texts, it is clear that Naylor uses the sins of the father, the absent mother/fear of motherhood, and religion versus the state/science, all Gothic elements, to show how these characters are put in the position of other and how they respond to occupying that space.

Each …

The Illusion Of Influence : Gender And Class Conflict In Three Gothic Works By Louisa May Alcott, Katie Elizabeth Dowson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In “The Illusion of Influence: Gender and Class Conflict in Three Gothic Works by Louisa May Alcott,” the works A Modern Mephistopheles, A Long, Fatal Love Chase, and Behind a Mask are analyzed as representative works of Alcott’s gothic fiction in terms of how they reflect the changes that were taking place in mid-nineteenth century America, as society developed from a sentimental culture to one that was theatrical. In Chapter One, I focus on the ways in which Alcott’s gothic heroines embody a blend of sentimentality and theatricality and how each looses or gains influence over others as a result …

The "Stamp" Of Black Science Fiction In The Works Of Octavia Butler, And The White Sf Of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Liamog Seamus Drislane

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Among other things, science fiction is a tool for imagining futures. SF authors take what they currently understand about science, couple it with their understanding of human nature, and spin stories that inform, encourage, or warn us about what might be possible. In this sense SF functions in a role adjacent to scientific inquiry, acting as a mouthpiece for the potential revealed or made accessible by developing technology. What can sometimes go unsaid in conversations about SF is that science fiction, like science itself, does not exist in a vacuum removed from cultural scripts and problems. When written by white …

Captain Cook's Writing Assignment, Leonard F. Grant Iii

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Captain James Cook is one of the greatest mariners and explorers the world has ever known. The writing he did on his first voyage around the world both preserved the histories of the Pacific Ocean cultures he encountered and commenced their colonization by the British Empire. Despite his limited educational background, Cook was able to achieve such fame by learning maritime skills and writing skills through literacy sponsorship and cognitive apprenticeship. When he was selected by London’s Royal Society to lead an expedition to the Pacific Ocean and around the world, it gave him a complex set of instructions that …

The Bean Field Quandary : Environmental Ethics In Emerson And Thoreau, Nicole Elaine Wittenburg

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis discusses Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau and their oppositional environmental perspectives. Specifically, the analysis focuses on Emerson’s Nature, “Self-Reliance,” “The Transcendentalism” “Circles”, and “Hamatreya,” and Thoreau’s Walden and The Maine Woods. In these texts, Emerson conveys a predominantly anthropocentric viewpoint throughout his writings, while Thoreau’s view is ecocentric. In addition, both of their works contain contradictions regarding the environment. At times, Emerson speaks of nature as subservient to mankind but then shifts his tone to that of reverential awe for nature. Thoreau is conflicted by humanity’s impact on the environment, promoting vegetarianism but then renouncing farming. …

Negotiating National Identity : “Between The Saxon Smile And Yankee Yawp. The Devil And The Deep Sea.”, Norman C. Defilippo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Analyzing the colonial/postcolonial significance of Irish homes in James Joyce’s Ulysses, Samuel Beckett’s Molloy, and Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds requires an analysis of the spaces outside the home and the underworld each of the main characters traverses. These three interrelated spaces, and the characters’ experiences in them, reveal distinct versions of Ireland in each novel. An analysis of Ulysses unveils an Ireland of self-alienation and figurative exile in each space, which seems to lead to an actual exile. Examining Molloy reveals an Ireland of intense attraction and repulsion, which results in perpetual colonial-like oppression and psychological paralysis. And a study …

Transcendentalism’S Advocacy And Perpetuation Of Capitalist Ideology : The Physical And Spiritual Profitability Of Henry David Thoreau, Geoffrey D. Borshof

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Henry David Thoreau is often perceived as a naturalist, a minimalist, and an anti-capitalist. However, more in-depth readings of Walden reveal numerous fundamental similarities between Transcendentalism and Capitalism. This thesis argues that Henry David Thoreau did in fact advocate a capitalist agenda not merely through his texts, but his lifestyle as well.

Much of Thoreau scholarship places an emphasis on several fundamental points including individualism, the right to ownership, support of the abolitionist movement, frugality, and Thoreau's experience as an inventor and engineer. By examining these values and exploring the foundation of Capitalism through readings of Adam Smith's A Wealth …

Writing In The Preschool Classroom : The Emergent Writer, Lisa Walsh

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis is an exploration of how preschoolers write, what preschool writing looks like, and how teachers can better position themselves to create strong and engaged writers. Intended to provide busy preschool teachers with real-world solutions, this thesis will focus on the research that points to best practices in the classroom and discuss what works and what doesn’t. While discussing the common challenges in preschool literacy, this thesis will discuss how home involvement greatly affects writing literacy and will therefore suggest ways in which to better engage and train parents. Current theories of literacy development are also explored through the …