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The Poetics Of Authorship In The Later Middle Ages: The Emergence Of The Modern Literary Persona, Burt Joseph Kimmelman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Literary individualism manifested itself in the twelfth century both trivially and profoundly. Word puzzles and overt self-naming within a literary work, and discussions of the nature of poetry and the role of the poet in the world, increasingly considered the purpose and efficacy of writing and ultimately of language per se. Poets asserted themselves in their works not so much for the sake of self-promotion, in a modern sense, but to address and modulate contemporary intellectual and spiritual issues. Speculative grammar, nominalism and realism, often provided the material for poets such as Guillem IX, Marcabru, Dante, Chaucer and Langland. As …

Pygmalion Goes To School: The Effects Of Goal Setting, The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy And Self-Efficacy On Trainee Performance, James Michael Benton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined the effectiveness of motivation techniques for increasing performance in a skill training program. A PC based software program provided structured training to increase subjects' typing skills. Motivation was manipulated by the use of goal setting and the self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP), alone and in combination. The moderating effects of self-efficacy on motivation, defined as a generalized "can do" personality orientation, were also examined. Two levels of goal setting were employed: (1) "do your best"; and, (2) a difficult, specific goal. The SFP was tied to the situation, not the person. It was invoked by informing subjects that the …

Taxi Driving: A Study Of Leasing In New York City, Allen Russell Stevens

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study uses ethnography, survey research and organizational analysis to examine the impact that taxicab leasing has had upon the occupational, social and personal lives of fleet taxicab drivers. Ethnography has been conducted at the Yellow Taxi Company (a pseudonym for a major taxicab fleet garage in New York City); 408 surveys were completed by fleet drivers, and 50 interviews were conducted (30 with lessees 10 with management at various garages and 10 with local 3036 taxi union personnel). And organizational analysis was used in the description of how the shift from the commission remuneration system to the lease remuneration …

The Dynamics Of Program Development: A Case Study In Urban Mental Health Services, John Kastan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study describes the planning, development and implementation of the on-site school mental health program, an innovative mental health services program for schoolchildren in New York City. The program, developed jointly by the New York City Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Alcoholism Services and the New York City Board of Education in 1982, was fully implemented in 1986. This study uses data gathered via the method of participant-observation (the author was employed by the Department of Mental Health), supplemented by the review of documents and discussions with key individuals.

The study begins by providing background on the two …

The Psychological Determinants Of Occupational And Non-Occupational Risk-Taking Among Law Enforcement Officers, William F. Mccarthy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this study was to identify and statistically examine the psychological determinants of risk-taking among law enforcement officers. This study was conceptualized and designed on a rather simple premise that risk-taking in one's leisure would have a dramatic and predominant influence on the grouping of subjects into definable personality trait categories. The suspicion regarding these categories was that subjects who engaged in risk-taking in their leisure time would be distinctively different from all other emerging groups, with regard to the 16 PF Cattell factors. It was also suspected that this leisure time risk-taking group's personality profile would be …

Claes Oldenburg: Sculpture, 1960-1968. A Catalogue Raisonne. (Volumes I And Ii), Susan Ginsburg

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A catalogue raisonne presents the complete work of an artist so that we can better understand that artist and the period in which he or she worked. This dissertation presents all the sculptural works made by Claes Oldenburg between 1960 and 1968. I begin with the works of 1960 and continue through 1968. Although no chronological time period can be demonstrated as absolute, this one begins with an exhibition in which Oldenburg became noticed to a wide audience and ends when Oldenburg's ideas about sculpture became involved with public statements made through public sculpture rather than the studio/home/gallery themes that …

Structural And Functional Studies Of The Tryptophan Operon Of Bacillus Pumilus, Miriam V. Rivas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The nucleotide sequence of the trpE, trpD, and 5’trpC genes of the Bacillus pumilus tryptophan operon was determined for a comparative evaluation. DNA comparisons to the tryptophan operon of a related species, Bacillus subtilis, showed 66% base homology. The overlapping of translational start and stop signals indicate that, similar to Escherichia coli, the trpE, trpD, and trpC genes of the B.pumilus trp operon are translationally coupled. The values for amino acid identity between the two Bacilli showed 68, 62, and 65% for trpE, trpD and 5’trpC genes, respectively. Charge related residues …