Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Jack London: Landscape, Love, And Place, Kristin Yoshiko Ladd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In Jack London: Landscape, Love, and Place, American Studies theories and methods formed the prime basis for analysis of London's biography, historical context, and literary significance. Particularly, the ideas of agrarianism, the Turner Thesis moment, Western literature, American masculinity, Victorian ideals, and sustainable farm practices in America were used to understand London's motivations for writing and creating his farm, his influence on American literature, and his texts' abilities to open avenues between literature and place-based education. Key concepts that influenced how London's works could be incorporated into and applied to didactic theory included David Sobel's seminal works in place-based education. …

Dams, Roads, And Bridges: (Re)Defining Work And Masculinity In American Indian Literature Of The Great Plains, 1968-Present, Joshua Tyler Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the study of contemporary American Indian literature, the definition of work and the characterization of Native and non-native laborers—farmers, ranchers, lawmen, smugglers, Indian Affairs agents, academics, activists, "traditionalists," tour guides, artists, among others—are rarely the lenses that scholars use to interpret the texts. Instead, issues of class and labor often take a backseat to those of cultural survivance and traditional and/or "mix-blood" identity, resistance to historical and ongoing acts of colonialism, reassertion of treaty rights and cultural practices, and reclamation of land and cultural artifacts. However, although the canon of contemporary Native literatures warrants close attention to these issues, …

Transcending The Material Self: Reading Ghosts In Samuel Richardson's Novel Clarissa, Jeffrey G. Howard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For thousands of years, many people have retained a belief in the existence of those supernatural entities known as ghosts, and the question of their existence has been vital to the political, religious, and personal ideologies of many interested parties. This thesis will not join that discussion because the question of the ghostly existence cannot be answered in a manner satisfactory to all sides. It merely acknowledges that such a debate continues and that the conflict between belief and empiricist logic can expect no real resolution any time soon. The issue at the heart of this project, however, actually involves …

Prayer, Sacrifice, And Service: Themes In The Mormon Folk Narrative Tradition, Jake D. Vane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to increase understanding about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by researching how prayer, sacrifice, and service operate in the lives of Latter-day Saints. I studied and analyzed these values and themes by interviewing Latter-day Saints and collecting stories of their personal experiences. I also researched these themes in Mormon history. The academic field of Mormon folklore has often studied topics that offer a slightly improved understanding of Mormons. My approach was to help focus Mormon folklore studies on the core values of this religious group—values that significantly broaden …

Farmer, Miner, Ranger, Writer: Interpreting Class And Work In The Writing Of Wendell Berry And Edward Abbey, Tyler Austin Nickl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study compares some of the essays and novels of two well known, environmental writers: Wendell Berry and Edward Abbey. Usually, these writers are discussed for their environmental politics and representations of nature, but this study examines the ways in which each of these writers discusses class and manual labor. This aspect of Abbey’s and Berry’s works has not yet received the attention it deserves. With this focus in mind, I make the following conclusions: 1) An author’s view of society (as expressed by their opinions of class and socioeconomic status) necessarily affects their view of nature. 2) Berry’s occupational …

"To Taste Her Mystic Bread" Or "The Mocking Echo Of His Own": Uses Of Nature In The Poems Of Emily Dickinson And Robert Frost, Ian R. Weaver

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The central question to this thesis is: how is knowledge about nature created? A comprehensive study to adequately answer this question would be impossible; therefore, this thesis focuses on two prominent American poets’ approaches to nature: Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost. These poets’ nature poems are comparable for several reasons with a few being that both lived the majority of their lives in New England; both have had a significant impact on American nature writing; and both use nature as central to their work. But most importantly, Dickinson’s and Frost’s poetry are comparable because they have seemingly opposed approaches to …

The Door-To-Door Mormon Pest Control Salesman: A Novel, John Charles Gilmore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis engages readers in a story about contemporary Mormonism. It is a novel that follows a fictional Mormon man engaged in a quirky summer job: door-to-door sales. The Mormon characters in this novel encounter a collapsing Florida housing market that stalls their efforts at peddling pesticide, while the main character experiences serious doubts in his personal religious faith.

Though Mormons are a small fraction of the United States’ population, they have drawn considerable interest from the American public in recent years, in large part due to the success of the 2011 musical The Book of Mormon and the 2008 …

Developing Global Communication Skills For Technical Communicators In The 21st Century: Researching The Language Of Collaboration And Cooperation In The Bologna Process, Diane L. Martinez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Globalization presents opportunities, but also challenges for all professions, most especially for professional communicators. Likewise, professional communication programs must be aware of the complexities and nuances of contemporary global communication and adapt their instruction to reflect these realities. Thus, there is a need for research efforts in global communication that provide insight into the intricacies of this type of communication.

This dissertation is a study of the language of collaboration and cooperation in professional and global contexts. Using Burke’s theories of identification and terministic screens, cooperation theory, activity theory, and a brief historical perspective on the European Union, I conducted …

Magical Realism And The Space Between Spaces, Dallin J. Bundy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Magical realism comes from Franz Roh, a german art historian and critic, who first used the term to describe the Post-Expressionism movement in visual art. His seminal writings and definitions on Post-Expressionism, then known as magical realism, were translated into Spanish and made available to Latin America in the mid twentieth century. Authors like Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez adopted Roh's writings and re-appropriated magical realism into literary art, and from there the new genre proliferated through the Latin American Boom and magical realism in literary fiction reached global recognition, inspiring authors across the world to take it …

“It’S Wraylynn – With A W”: Distinctive Mormon Naming Practices, Jennifer R. Mansfield

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to investigate ways in which names among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are distinctive and the reasons behind those distinctive names. While many before me have noted that Mormons often possess distinctive names, there are few studies that attempt to determine the reasons why. Existing research has neglected to include perspectives from members of the LDS Church who practice distinctive naming. Through interviews with LDS Church members, I analyzed what they hoped to accomplish through naming and the larger cultural themes visible in distinctive LDS names. I also …

Dystopian Literature And The Novella Form As Illustrated Through Side Effects, An Original Novella, Bryan W. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This master’s degree thesis exists in two parts: a critical introduction and an original novella entitled Side Effects. The critical introduction introduces and explains the theories on, literature surrounding, and literary uses of dystopian fiction, the novella format, and drug-based psychotherapy. Current opinion on dystopian fiction sees it characterized by a seemingly perfect societal setting that ultimately contains hidden or suppressed moral flaws. The ultimate purpose of dystopian fiction is commentary on contemporary society through a defamiliarized setting. The novella format is shown to exist in a middle-ground state between the short story and the novel, yet the format …

"Struggling" Adolescent Writers Describe Their Writing Experience: A Descriptive Case Study, F. Jean Mcpherron

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Four adolescents identified as struggling writers in an English language arts classroom were interviewed about their perceptions of a writing task--how they judged their capability to succeed, how they ranked their passion, persistence, and confidence about writing, and how they responded to classroom activity. Student perceptions of self-efficacy and the related self-beliefs of motivation and interest as well as self-regulation were stated and implied as students described a planning worksheet, instructional scaffolding, peer interactions, and ownership of their writing. Wersch's view of mediated action and Engestrom's model of activity systems were the lens through which the students' descriptions were analyzed. …

The Shape Of Grief: A Generational Legacy Of The Vietnam War, Benjamin A. Quick

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A well-known memoirist once said that a true war story never seems to end, that it just keeps going and going. The question begs: If the war story never ends, then how does it manifest in future generations? In my case, as the first-born son of a Vietnam veteran, the war story has played out physically, within my body, in the form of an Agent Orange-related disability and a resulting set of limitations and adaptations. Fortunately, for me the limitations have been few and the adaptations many. But despite this, I’ve known, since a relatively young age, that I am …

Hold, Hold, My Heart, Andrew Berthrong

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis consists of a traditional introduction followed by a first-person, fictional story told in seven chapters. The story begins with the protagonist in his apartment preparing to write, a brief account of his stalling, and then his beginning to write. Those chapters taking place in the vicinity of the apartment are in the present tense and those relating past adventures are written in third person, one chapter for each adventure: Africa, sailing, and Navajo Mountain. After each adventure, the narration returns to the apartment.

This piece is the embodiment of both the vigorous internal work in search of understanding …

Perilous Pilgrimage: A Lady’S Flight Into The Rocky Mountain Wilderness, Jane Koerner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

“Perilous Pilgrimage: A Lady’s Flight into the Rocky Mountain Wilderness” is comprised of four thematically linked essays set in the Colorado Rockies. In these essays I probe my fascination with masculinity at an early age, the impact of my rape at age twenty-two, the dependency and resentment that undermined my marriage after the rape, and my quest after my divorce fifteen years later to define myself on my own terms. The link joining these strands is the tension between my drive for independence and my disassociation from my mind and body as a result of the rape.

“Perilous Pilgrimage” revisits …

The Effect Of A Narrative Intervention On Preschoolers' Story Retelling And Personal Story Generation Skills, Trina D. Spencer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Narration, or storytelling, is an important aspect of language. Narrative skills have practical and social importance; for example, children who tell good stories receive attention and approval from their peers. When children accurately recount events surrounding an injury or dispute, vital information is passed to parents and teachers. Additionally, early childhood narrative skills are moderately correlated with reading comprehension in primary grades. Because narration is socially and academically valued, language interventionists often address it. The research literature on narrative intervention has most often included school-aged participants and those with language or learning difficulties. Only a small number of studies have …

Cascade Lake: A Novel, Camille Marian Pack

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Twenty-two-year-old Macy Oman narrates the book in retrospect from Cascade, Oregon, where she is visiting her mother. Macy's father moved with her to Portland shortly after the accidental death of her brother, Nick, seven years before the narration begins. Macy's mother stayed behind in Cascade. Thematically the work centers on the emotional repercussions of these losses. Macy's, and her older lover Jason's, involvement with Nick's death is unknown to everyone. Her guilt and her mother's perceived betrayal are disabling. Taking her longing for closeness to nature and to her reclusive friend Celia, Macy discovers folklore that inspires a vision quest …

Disordered: A Tale Of The Body, Elizabeth M. Benson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While a body of creative nonfiction writing exists regarding experiences with various psychological disorders, few personal accounts have been written about the physical complications of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Some memoirs tell a tale of serious illness in a straightforward narrative line. On the opposite end of this spectrum, other memoirs intentionally blur the lines of truth and heighten the confusion of a disorder. This thesis is as much a narrative of my experience with Generalized Anxiety Disorder as it is a response to the void in creative nonfiction surrounding this specific disorder and the narrative forms others have chosen to …

Music From The Dead: The Tune-Making Of John Macdougall, Robert Macdonald

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia has been a stronghold of active and integrated community traditions of Scotch-Gaelic music and dance since it was settled by large numbers of Scottish emigrants in the nineteenth century. Though these emigrants brought with them an extensive store of tunes common to the Highlands of Scotland, the majority of them were carried in the collective oral memory. Consequently, the traditional Scottish repertoire of Cape Breton fiddlers steadily declined as generations of fiddlers who never learned to read or write music died. In the nearly two centuries that Scots have populated the island, there have been many …

The Cult Of True Motherhood: A Narrative, Jacoba Lynne Mendelkow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis consists of five chapters including a traditional introduction and four chapters, which investigate cultural interpretations of motherhood within the genre of memoir and personal essay. In the introduction, I discuss my research as it relates to the larger collection and detail how this work is different from other works within the "mother memoir" genre. Chapters II thru V, then, are all essays which begin to explore the major themes of cultural motherhood: ambivalence, loss, legitimacy, morality, and sin. These chapters, especially chapter II, identify and detail the traits of true motherhood as patience, compassion, sacrifice, and strength.

Chapter …

Storytelling Through Brushstrokes: Minerva Teichert's Visualization Of The Mormon Pioneer Experience And Messages To Her Audience, Amy L. Williamson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

"We must paint the great Mormon story of our pioneers in mural decorations so that 'he who runs may read,'" remarked Minerva Teichert. When she created her pioneer panorama, Teichert attempted to do something different; whereas other Mormon artists had drawn on their personal pioneer experiences or sought inspiration from Church-approved publications regarding the trek, her visual inspiration came from the oral narratives she heard as a child. Because she used these narratives, Teichert portrayed the Mormon pioneer experience from a woman's perspective and voiced their experiences to male and non-Mormon audiences. Not only did Teichert offer a counterpoint to …

The Last Honest Man, Daniel Arpad Nyikos

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Born to a Hungarian mother and a father of Hungarian descent, I have spent my life trapped between two worlds, never quite able to be entirely part of either. As such, it seems fitting that for thesis I chose to do a novella, an art form that is neither short story nor novel. The novella is, I argue, a form that is uniquely suited to the task of examining a single theme at length, which I do in my thesis. It is through this little-studied form of fiction that I create a story through which I examine my own identity …

Lessons In Humanity: A Memoir, Chelsi Joy Sutton-Linderman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the opening pages of his work, Dog Years; A Memoir, Mark Doty explains: Love for a wordless creature, once it takes hold, is an enchantment, and the enchanted speak, famously, in private mutterings, cryptic riddles, or gibberish. This is why I shouldn't be writing anything about the two dogs that have been such presences for sixteen years of my life. How on earth could I stand at the requisite distance to say anything that might matter? (1)

In this thesis I argue that Doty, among other respected contemporary writers, is saying something that matters when he writes of …

Teaching Creativity In Technical Communication Curricula, Curtis Robert Newbold

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis addresses the need to claim creativity as an essential component to our technical communication curricula as we prepare students for what their managers want. While many technical communication programs at universities across the country have recognized a need to teach skills beyond "writing technically," few, if any, have addressed or "claimed" a concept such as creativity that helps build these skills. I argue that creativity is what managers are looking for and what technical communication programs are already implementing. Claiming this concept will help us further define a discipline that is becoming much richer and help students develop …

Rereading And Rewriting Women's History, Jacqueline Harris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In Margaret Atwood’s nonfiction book Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing (2002), Atwood discusses the importance of the female writer’s responsibility, that to write as a woman or about women means that you take upon yourself the responsibility of writing as a form of negotiation with our female dead and with what these dead took with them—the truth about who they were. By rereading and rewriting our communal past, women writers pay tribute to our female ancestors by voicing their silent stories while also changing gender stereotypes, complicating who these women were, and acknowledging their accomplishments.

In her …

The Labour Of Her Own Hands: Nineteenth Century Gardening Discourses And The Work Of Jane Webb Loudon, Kelli Lee Towers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Jane Webb Loudon, wife of eminent horticulturist and landscape architect John Claudius Loudon, has been largely ignored by historians and literary critics. Yet in her brief career she produced some of the most practical and influential gardening works of the early nineteenth-century. Beginning with Gardening for Ladies in 1840, Loudon published seventeen books and edited two magazines on gardening, botany, and natural history, most of them specifically directed to a female audience. These books would educate an entirely new class of gardeners, and allow women in particular to engage not only with gardening, but also with aesthetics, social reform, morality, …

Cultural Analysis Of The Indian Women's Festival Of Karvachauth, Puja Sahney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The festival of Karvachauth is celebrated by upper class married women of North India and occurs in the month of October or early November. On this day married women fast to ensure the long lives of their husbands. They wake up before dawn and eat a meal. After sunrise they do not drink water or eat any food until they see the moon at night. The moon is watched through a sieve and prayed to before breaking the fast. An important part of Karvachauth is a ritual that is performed by women in the afternoon. This ritual is hosted by …

"The Darkness Is The Whole Thing": Environment, Belief, And Community In The Wampus Legend Of The Retsof Salt Mine, Ashley Gorrell Purser

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

"The Darkness is the Whole Thing" is an examination of a legendary animal known as the wampus that makes its home in the Retsof salt mine. Various forms of wampus creatures found in other settings are introduced, followed by discussion of the ways in which environment influences the adaptation of occupational legend. The article considers how belief in the wampus facilitates the expression of fear, an increased sense of awareness, and the development of community in a unique and dangerous work environment. The telling of the wampus legend is considered a narrative tool for solidifying and preserving occupational identity.

Nature Writing And Healing: Recovering The Wild Soul, Denice H. Turner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this study, I explored how nature writing could be seen as healing text. I described some common problems associated with the construction of trauma and grief narratives and examined how nature writers dealt with them. The study began with my frustration at being unable to write a healing narrative for myself and progressed as I integrated research that informed my own writing.

The literature I read included a variety of perspectives, from Jungian and traditional psychotherapy to current writing theory. I used the theory to comment on the nature writing texts as I discovered them. Using the words and …

The Cultural Perspective Of Albert Wendt's Novel Pouliuli, Fa'alafua L. Auva'a

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wendt's accomplishments as an artist of Polynesia and positions he held at different universities are presented in Chapter I. This marks the significant contributions he has made in different genres in which he has written, like novels, short stories, and poetry, that make him a major influence in the Pacific.

Chapter II analyzes the theoretical framework within the fa'a-Samoa in which a matai (chief) is presented, a revered office filled by respectable individuals. To make this point clear, I present the theoretical groundwork in Appendix A of how an individual becomes a matai.

Chapter III explores how Faleasa Osovae, …