Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Escaping Modesto: George Lucas, Film Auteur, And The Alteration Of Movie History, Krister Persson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This video essay analyzes the early filmography of George Lucas as a critique of auteur theory. Dissecting THX 1138 (1971), American Graffiti (1973), and Star Wars (1977) based on their autobiographic qualities, this short documentary investigates the advantages and disadvantages of viewing a complicated cinematic work through the lens of an individual author. Analysis focuses on Lucasfilm founder George Lucas and his reputation for controversially altering his works through special edition re-releases, calling into question the sanctity of theatrical releases and the confines of a film auteur. Does a filmmaker, particularly one whose films are drawn from personal experience, have …

“The Amazing Iroquois”: Haudenosaunee History In Myth And Memory, 1776–1955, John C. Winters

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project is a history and memory study of Iroquois exceptionalism. This is an idea that shaped our understanding of the Iroquois as the “most studied” Indian nation and that they, as the debunked Iroquois Influence Thesis claimed, influenced the structure and scope of the U.S. Constitution. My study examines the lives of four related (by blood and by claim) Seneca leaders: Red Jacket, Ely S. Parker, Harriet Maxwell Converse, and Arthur C. Parker. These four stand out because each was one of the most famous Native Americans of their generation who worked within and against American colonial society and …

The History Of Martha J. Lamb: Her Origin, Rise, And Progress., Mary Collins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

On June 16, 1883, Harper’s Weekly ran a story foreshadowing the transformation of the City of New York from the island of Manhattan to a massive metropolis, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. Another article on the page announced that Martha J. Lamb “has become editor of the ‘The Magazine of American History.’” It does not mention that she was also president of the company purchasing the journal. Ten years later, just a few months after her death, Mrs. Lamb’s great work, her History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise, and Progress, was included in …

The Subject As Subjective : Benjamin Franklin's Biographers, Alex Starr-Baier

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This Thesis is a case study in biographical subjectivity. We are taught in primary school to trust biographies, as they are meant to objective. However, the truth is each biographer brings with them their own bias, and thus leaves with their own perception of their subject. I chose to focus on Benjamin Franklin because a good example of this phenomenon. Franklin's fascinating and full life brings with it a treasure trove of biographical speculation. Each Biographer, in constructing their own version of Franklin, manipulates the facts of Franklin's life. I traced Franklin's biographical legacy through time, from the 1800's to …

The Spirit Of Triumph, James Anderson Depreist: The Life, Career And Music Of An American Conductor, Darryl Eric Harris Sr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to present an organized account of the life, career and music of this prominent American symphonic conductor. James Anderson DePreist is an African American conductor/composer, educator and spokesman for the Americans with Disabilities who has achieved prominence in the symphonic field while overcoming many obstacles, both physical and social. In addition to having have conducted orchestras all over the world, this maternal nephew of famed contralto Marian Anderson is best known as the arranger/composer of Theme For The Cosby Show, the 1988–1989 season, as recorded by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to a …

Woman At The Top: Rhetoric, Politics, And Feminism In The Texts And Life Of Annie Smith Peck, Hannah Scialdone-Kimberly

English Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this focuses on the autobiographical rhetoric and public identity of Annie Smith Peck, a scholar, mountain climber and woman rhetor from the turn of the century. My qualitative case study of Peck examines how she worked as a woman rhetor to create a popular identity for herself in both mountain climbing and scholarship. I also focus on how Peck worked to identify herself with her audience; here, I use Burke's concept of "identification," as a way of adding to (rather than substituting for) traditional rhetoric. My project brings new findings in that I examine data on Peck …

Eldorado: The Poes In Norfolk, Myreen Moore Nicholson

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the best known Americans in the world, as a great poet, literary critic and essayist, and innovator of the analytic detective story. Yet he basically remains his own best mystery. Major cities have monuments to him. This creative work's object is to show that Norfolk, Virginia, was central in his life and art. In fact, the theatre company with which his actress mother, Eliza Arnold Poe (and her friends, the Sullys), was longest affiliated, was headquartered there. Edgar's sister Rosalie was born in a house on Brewer Street. Times and the circumstances of Poe …

Eudora Welty: A Writer For The Heart And Mind, Gerrie Krudwig

Honors Theses

Eudora Welty is a writer whose works appeal to many readers. This appeal is in part based on her artistic use of themes and settings as well as her creative style of writing. These three things combined lend to her work an excellent quality which has been recognized by publishers and fellow writers.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss Welty's creative style of writing, her prominent themes, and her use of settings or the importance of place in her works. The last section of this paper discusses in detail one theme which I have chosen to fasten on …

Life And Personality Of Robert Frost, Una Mae Atkinson

Honors Theses

The most important American poet since Walt Whitman is the New Englander, Robert Frost. People who have never thought of reading poetry take to Frost. His words are simple words; the images are simple, most often country, things. The music of his poetry is the sound of everyday talk, and the ideas, on the surface, anyway, are plain and straight. Subjects of Frost's poetry are such things as nature, love and friendship, self-trust, fear, and courage.

Thus, Robert Frost occupies a unique position in modern poetry. Unlike most contemporary poets, he has managed to win a wide popular audience while …

Francis Scott Fitzgerald: Voice Of The Twenties, Rebecca Ann Barron

Honors Theses

With all the flamboyant, glitter, and riotous excitement one can muster up, the age of the Twenties brought to America an era not to be forgotten. Gansters, flappers, and two-bit saloons were all encompassed in this "Jazz-Age" which spread its influence from shore to shore. Americans became, in a sense optimists and as optimists looked toward their social and financial situation as fundamentally sound and triumphant over its predecessors. They identified themselves with their century. Its teens were their teens, its world war was their war, and its Twenties were their Twenties. Launching forward they looked about for a spokesman, …