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John Fox Jr.'S Commentary On The Roles Of Women In The Progressive Era., Heather Mac Sykes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

John Fox, Jr. provides commentary on the changing roles of Progressive Era women in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, “A Cumberland Vendetta,” and “The Pardon of Becky Day.” Fox’s portrayals provide evidence that although he recognized the changes in his society with women spearheading reform, he did not entirely approve of these changes or of women taking an aggressive role in advocating change.

This thesis provides textual examples and analysis demonstrating Fox’s beliefs. Chapter two focuses on the stories of “The Pardon of Becky Day” and “A Cumberland Vendetta.” Chapter three analyzes The …

Breaking The Bonds Of Silence: The Immigrant Experience In Magical Realist Novels Of Katherine Vaz And Chitra Divakaruni., Hillary Dawn Hester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The genre of Magical Realism is normally explored on the sole basis of its identification with and fantastic expression of Latin-American cultural identity. However, the genre, when employed by non-American immigrant women, takes on new characteristics. It not only highlights the mystical underpinnings of everyday life but instructs in a subliminally didactic manner by opening the reader to new possibilities through delightful imagery and a plot woven around transposed myth and folklore.

In examining how two female Magical Realists translate their narratives of immigrant life in twentieth-century United States, the instructive nature of the genre is laid bare. Both use …

The Story Is Everything: The Path To Renewal In Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony., Tracy Y. Kilgore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a study of Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony analyzing the process of renewal and the use of stories as guides.

Silko's work deals with problems faced by all who experience the death and destruction of war, a problem complicated by a Native American heritage. Tayo's struggle to complete his ceremony and find renewal is intertwined with his interaction with the medicine man Betonie and the mysterious woman Ts'eh. By the end of the novel, Silko shows that only through a respect for the world can mankind achieve completeness and harmony.

History And Ambiguity: Graham Greene's The Third Man And The Quiet American In Print And On Screen., Valentina Reshetova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this master’s thesis, I shall examine Graham Greene’s place in criticism of the British novel by focusing on The Third Man and The Quiet American. In terms of theoretical approach, I shall focus on a close, critical reading of the texts employing elements of cultural, historical, psychological, and genre criticism. With the films, I shall focus on lighting and shot formation along with the abilities of the directors and actors. These works have not been studied jointly before as literature or as film or as a combination thereof. Nevertheless, such study proves worthwhile. My thesis is also the …

Imprisoned And Empowered: The Women Of Edith Wharton's Supernatural Fiction., Tonya Faye Stansberry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By focusing on the status and state of women as represented in selected supernatural fiction by Edith Wharton, we explore the socio-gender relationships, as well as the gender roles of women in general as they existed in the early part of the twentieth century. These associations are discussed, as is the influence Henry James may have had on Wharton’s writing style within the genre of the ghostly tale.

The conclusions made within this study lead the reader of the tales to believe that Wharton expressed different feminist perspectives based on how she was developing as a person and as a …

Hopelessness And Despair: Alienation And Oppression In The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter By Carson Mccullers., Stacey Reece

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter thrust Carson McCullers onto the literary scene at the age of 23. The year was 1940, and anticapitalistic fervor was at its peak. McCullers, familiar with the writings of Karl Marx, expresses in this novel her concern for the exploited classes, her disdain for a materialistic society that keeps the masses oppressed, and her conviction that societal reform was desperately needed. Marxist theory is evident in every aspect of this novel, from the characters to the setting. Alienation, failure to communicate, poverty, and an atmosphere of despair permeate the work. A product of the …

Southern Star., Shanda Schrae Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Southern Star” follows protagonist Sally Gayle through the cycle of maturation. Complex family relationships and secrets hinder Sally as she searches for her identity in this bidungsroman set in a small, rural area of Southern Appalachia. Taking a minimalist, cinematic approach, “Southern Star” experiments with form and technique in an attempt to convey pure story to the reader. The work particularly focuses on character development, authentic dialogue, and a sense of place.

"And Gladly Wolde He Teche": Chaucer's Use Of Source Materials In The "Clerk's Tale.", Robert R. Brandon Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Few of Chaucer’s works provoke such animosity as does his “Clerk’s Tale.” Modern critics are divided by the social and gender issues that to which the tale lends itself. However, the tale was immensely popular to Middle Age audiences and was one of the best loved of the Canterbury Tales. Therefore, to dismiss this tale’s literary values outright, as some critics have done, is a mistake. By examining the history of the Griselda story, Chaucer’s use of his source materials, and the tales placement within the Canterbury Tales, this thesis is an attempt to examine the tale in more …

Writing As Conversation: The Importance Of Communication In Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy., Christie Dawn Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy is a novel consumed with conversation. The conversations that the characters have with each other and the ongoing conversation between Tristram and the reader all address the importance of communication. This study examines the theme of communication as Sterne presents it in his novel. The first chapter explores the personalities of Walter and Toby Shandy with the assumption that an understanding of their eccentricities will illustrate the reasons for the difficulties they encounter when trying to communicate with others. The relationships between the sexes are the subject for the second chapter. Sterne recognized the opportunity that …

New England Genealogies: The Life And Writings Of Mary Ellen Chase, William Orin Chesley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mary Ellen Chase, one of the most popular American authors of the twentieth century, was born in Blue Hill, Maine in 1887. Her career as a writer spanned the period between 1909, when she left Maine to teach in the mid-West, and her death in 1973. Much of her literature was influenced by her early life in Blue Hill and by the various members of family. This thesis looks at the historical, biographical, and genealogical factors that gave impetus to a prolific literary output and won her a place among the leading Humanist writers in American literature during the middle …

Stories Of Canada: National Identity In Late-Nineteenth-Century English-Canadian Fiction, Elizabeth Hedler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The search for a national identity has been a central concern of English-Canadian culture since the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867. In the late nineteenth century, English-Canadian concerns about Canadian identity and the need for distinctively Canadian stories resulted in the creation of a body of fiction that attempted to define Canadian nationhood and identity by depicting Canadian scenes, people, and situations. In the late nineteenth century, writers of fiction focused on defining the impact of Canada's unique land and heritage upon Canadian identity. Based on an extensive reading of these novels, this dissertation explores the way …

Liminality In Popular Fiction, Adam Crowley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most popular narratives are composed of segments. A narrative segment is a sequence in which those narrative elements fundamental to the immediate progression of the narrative are resolved. These resolutions can be true resolutions, or they can be resolutions in part. If they are resolutions in part, the narrative elements in question must be sufficiently transformed so that their role becomes radically different, less fundamental. When narrative segments terminate, we become aware of that which is hidden by the logical progression of the segment itself: the author's authority to introduce new narrative elements without warning or apparent need. In short, …

Refractions, Linwood R. Lancaster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project allowed me to pursue one of nly greatest joys, expressing my feelings, emotions, and thoughts through the written word. As we march towards a world dominated by technology, there are those that think the day of the storyteller has passed. Television, movies, and electronic games have become the vehicle for amusement in the world today, supposedly leaving no room left for the lowly storyteller. However, these entities are stories told but in a different medium. The ideas that drive these devices still have to come from someone, an author. Even video games now are intertwined with the storyteller, …

The Phenomenological Self In The Works Of Jerzy Kosinski, Tracy Allen Houston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A scholar who wishes to examine the works of Jerzy Kosinski faces a problem not found in the study of many other authors: Kosinski's personal history, critical to many approaches to the study of literature, is filled with fictions, contradictions, and unverifiable events. For years Kosinski's first novel, The Painted Bird, was taken to be autobiographical. However, as interest in Kosinski's work grew, inconsistencies and obvious falsehoods contradicted this accepted autobiographical reading. The Painted Bird describes the wanderings of a young boy in Eastern Europe during WWII, yet Kosinski was not separated fiom his parents as had been previously believed. …

The Language Of Man And The Language Of God In George Herbert's Religious Poetry, Polya Tocheva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to Burckhardt, the Reformation was an escape from discipline. The Reformation changed both the cultural and the religious reality of early modern Europe. Reformation theology and the new Renaissance understanding of self and of individuality required a radically new language in which to address God and at the same time demand a response. Medieval rhetoric of praise could no longer sustain the versatility of the Renaissance reader and could not provide the medium of searching for that response. The poetry of the metaphysical poets, Herbert in particular, bridges Christian discourse, rhetorical strategies, moral expression, radical dissention. Herbert was an …