Arts and Humanities Commons^™

"Playing Superhero": Agency And The Role Of The Teenaged Superhero, Jessica R. Saunders

Theses & Honors Papers

The discussion of agency within Young Adult Literature is an extensive topic that includes various criteria, such as power in various types of relationships and social ideologies. In the media form of graphic novels, the concept of agency is taken to a separate level because the primary teenagers depicted in graphic novels are titled as superheroes with abilities that surpass the norm. The role of being a teenaged superhero becomes conditional, depending on whether the teenager demands agency in the form of controlling his/her abilities or are assigned the role by their adult prototypes and society. The texts that this …

"What Man As Made Of Man": From British Romanticism To Neo-Romanticism, Melissa A. Pelletier

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis analyzes the history of English literature as it evolves due to the changing thoughts and ways of poets. Discussing conventions of this literature such as innocence, escapism, and hope, it also analyzes the works of various different poets from these time periods and how they shaped literature into what it has become.

From The Illuminating Moon To The Radiating Sun: The Philosophical Writings Of Emerson And Nichiren, Sharon Mitsue Blythe

Theses & Honors Papers

Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophical writings possess deep correlations to the writings of Nichiren, a 13th century Japanese Buddhist philosopher. Both Emerson and Nichiren conceive the inherent and unlimited potential of human beings, and stress the inseparability of life from its psychological, spiritual, and physical environment. Both Emerson and Nichiren address the cyclical and universal nature of all phenomena, an understanding that derives from the oneness of all facets of existence. The greatest variation between these two writers occurs in the implementation and practice of their philosophies.

The Preface provides a synopsis of Buddhism and introduces Nichiren. It also discusses the …

Re-Examining Vonnegut: Existential And Naturalistic Influences On The Author's Work, Marybeth Davis

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis looks at several Vonnegut novels through both the lenses of existentialism and naturalism, claiming that each is just as important and present in his work as the other. It examines his life, as well, and how his experiences and observations on life tie into his writing.

Pivotal Transformations: The Changing Voice In Anne Sexton's Poetry, Lara L. Plate

Theses & Honors Papers

Critics such as Ralph Mills, Suzanne Juhasz, and Jane McCabe have generally focused on the confessional or feminist aspects of Anne Sexton's poetry, most especially in To Bedlam and Part Way Back (1960), All My Pretty Ones (1962), Live or Die (1966), and Love Poems (1969). Those who have examined Transformations (1971)-and its fairy-tale world-have also paid particular attention either to its feminist approach or its confessional connections. These critics suggest that Sexton exists in her poetry as a confessional poet striving to move beyond parental restrictions and childhood experiences or they reveal Sexton as either "Madonna or Witch." These …

Faulkner's Mothers: The Relationship Of Fact To Fiction In The Sound And The Fury And As I Lay Dying, Spring P. Zuidema

Theses & Honors Papers

The author explores the relationship between actual events and circumstances in Faulkner’s own life and the fiction hat he wrote in his novels. William Faulkner was able to write his best work because he expected nothing from it. He was previously rejected by publishers, but furthermore rejected by his own family and two love interests. His mother was the only constant in his life. However she lacked love and caring and was domineering. These feelings of inferiority in Faulkner reflect in the children he wrote about and the traits of his mother reflect in the mothers in his novels as …

Setting The Hook Of Realism: A Study Of The Early Career Of William Dean Howells, George C. Lanum Iii

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis looks at the early writings of William Dean Howells and how they create and cement the ideas of realism both in himself and in his readers. It studies his transition from being a romantic writer to being a realistic writer, leading the way forward for other well-known realism writers.

Lee Smith's The Last Day The Dogbushes Bloomed And Family Linen: Children's Loss Of Innocence, Bree A. Poliey

Theses & Honors Papers

Author Lee Smith began writing years ago as a small child. She is now highly acclaimed and a distinguished author. Her works, including nine novels and many short stories, range in topics from Southern life and mountain customs to family feuds and profound relationships. Each of the topics offering resounding voices, unique perspectives, and spirited approaches to the world. The research explores Lee Smith’s the last day the dogbushes bloomed and family linen. Despite the difference in techniques and level of maturity evident in Smith’s novels, both her first novel and those later in her career explore many of the …

Faulkner's Narrative In The Sound And The Fury And Absalom, Absalom!, Gerard Lassahn

Theses & Honors Papers

In this, the author compares and contrasts the use of narrative in two of William Faulkner’s most famous works, The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom!. It also determines how narratives play a role in Faulkner’s work and how the reader understands the story. The author demonstrates how the narrative in Absalom, Absalom! seems to lead the reader farther away from characters while the narrative in The Sound and the Fury draws the reader closer to the characters as they are given insight into their thoughts and feelings.

"That Damned Morality": Willa Cather's Reaction Against Victorian Female Roles In O Pioneers! And Tje Song Of The Lark, Sarah Elizabeth Moore Horne

Theses & Honors Papers

Reacting against Victorian ideal that influenced her childhood, Cather creates numerous gender reversal throughout her fiction. This thesis notes the gender ironies contained within her works to conclude that Cather was herself a liberal, demanding that society’s status quo be eliminated. While America’s political climate did affect Cather’s work, her political ideologies remain difficult to interpret when contrasted with her fiction. Throughout much of her fiction, Cather attempts to raise the social status of certain facets of society and dispels many myths concerning gender.

Cather's New World Cultural Exploitation Vs. Cultural Cohesion In Sapphira And The Slave Girl, The Professor's House And Shadows On The Rock, Alexandra Meighan

Theses & Honors Papers

Three of Cather’s works, Sapphira and the Slave Girl, The professor’s House, and Shadows on the Rock distinguish two civilizations in North America. This thesis examines the mental and physical abuses of African American slavery imposed on its victims in Sapphira and the Slave Girl. In The Professor’s House, the abuse and neglect with which America has treated Native Americans is revealed. Shadows on the Rock demonstrates the cultural superiority and cohesiveness of the French settlement described. In the works, Cather creates powerful contrasts between the American and Canadian societies within the New World. Her comparisons suggest that …

"Painted Fire": Fire Imagery In Life On The Mississippi And A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, Deborah T. Ketchum

Theses & Honors Papers

Fire imagery appears throughout Twain’s literature, becoming stronger as he matures. Twain’s novel reveals the trauma and guilt felt. Life on the Mississippi shows how the author turned a traumatic memory into various literary devices. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court uses a traumatic memory to develop complex imagery and symbolism. Both books demonstrate the complex writing skills of Mark Twain as he develops dire into a dual creation that represents both positive and negative events, sometimes simultaneously. Fire becomes and interesting element that provides laughter even as causes tears, that cleanses and creates even as it destroys, and …

Revolutionary Trickster Communities: Re-Presenting Folk Heroes In Contemporary African American Novels, Susan C. Stinson

Theses & Honors Papers

In this thesis, the three novelists, as tricksters, manipulate one’s reading process by overlapping the visible with the invisible world. This thesis explores the tricksters communities and will focus on the novelists as trickster. Sherley Anne Williams, Ernest Gaines, and Gloria Naylor parody the rebel or loner trickster tradition in literature and conceptualize a world in which African Americans, white Americans, and Native Americans work communally to deconstruct the stereotypes associated with race, age, and gender. The authors use parody as a humorous narrative technique. The humor enables the modern reader to look into the past at the wrongs imposed …

Giving Her A Voice: The Representation Of The Black Woman In Four Short Stories, Jennifer Sheeler

Theses & Honors Papers

Black women have had to work very hard to pull themselves up the social ladder. Literature reflects society, and the black female experience in the South is a part of American society which has not been overlooked by its literature. This thesis examines short stories by the similarities and tempered differences to develop a closer understanding of the true black female experience. The examination found that the gender and race of each author of the four short stories does not correspond to the amount of power each one gives to his or her black female character the way the reader …

Perspectives On History: New Orleans's Women In William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! And Anne Rice's The Feast Of All Saints, Stacey Morgan Ford

Theses & Honors Papers

The thesis examines the perspectives on history in New Orleans ' women in William Faulkner 's Absalom, Absalom and Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints. This thesis looks at historical sources, the most detailed and unbiased of which have been written within the last twenty-five years. The information is then applied to the works of Faulkner and Rice. The thesis concludes that both of the writes provide portrayals which serve their own purposes. Faulkner’s image of the world is vivid, but, it is still only an image, a picture. Faulkner’s purposes serve only as the symbol of slavery at …

Reading The Temporal Nature Of Lee Smith's Fair And Tender Ladies Through Oral History, Don L. Butler

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis looks at the work of Lee Smith and how he uses the theme of time to further the plots of some of his stories. These stories show the temporality of passing time and the resulting change in his characters and their stories.

Battling The Dragons: The Heroic Journeys Of The Ladies Of Avalon In Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists Of Avalon, Dawn E. Owen

Theses & Honors Papers

This study uses Pearson’s theory of twelve archetypes and the heroic journeys of the ladies of Avalon in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon to determine which archetypes are active in the lives of the ladies Avalon wrote about. In the book, women are seen as more than obstacles, aids, or rewards to males. They are the heroes who refuse to be defined by patriarchal terms. The female characters go on their own quests and seek to transform themselves and the world. Although culture and society affect each of the women, the success of each woman’s journey is determined …

Strength Within--Love: The Story Within The Story, Wanda T. Talbott

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

From Belle To Whore: Southern Stereotypes In John Pendleton Kennedy's Swallow Barn And William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury, Sandra Compton Simmons

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Women And Family In The Fiction Of Barbara Kingsolver, Laura Ann Gussett

Theses & Honors Papers

Realizing the situations facing the American family and the changes it underwent, Kingsolver chooses to use her works as a means to explain how nontraditional families can succeed in American society. Kingsolver describes the evolution of Taylor Greer from a woman trapped in a hopeless situation into one with opportunities for success. Taylor discovers who she is but additionally learns through her relationships and from nature’s cycles that her interdependence with others permits the simultaneous growth of her identity and family. Her new found acquisition of an abused child, her new-found motherhood, and her decision to establish close ties with …

Burdens And Blessings: An Examination Of The Works Of Ernest J. Gaines From An Agrarian Perspective, Ellen Gray M. Hogan

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

The Past And The Family Experience: Traditional Southern Themes In The Work Of Lee Smith, Theresa Martin

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Madness And Hope: Military Experience As Theme And Symbol In Contemporary African-American Drama, Ashley Reed Warren

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Ayn Rand, Female Misogynist: A Study Of Androgyny In Atlas Shrugged, Sara Kristin Parker

Theses & Honors Papers

Ayn Rand, renowned author of such titles as Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, based many of her heroines on her androgynist views derived from her upbringing and lifestyle. Parker balances her research mostly between Rand’s life and her female protagonist in Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart. Taggart possesses some disdain for a few female characters in the novel, which reflects some of Rand’s lack of female friends due to anti-feministic opinions, the most notable identifying her own sex as weak and submissive. Ayn herself said that she based all of her characters off of a male hero in a children’s …

Pearl Buck Reconsidered: The House Of Earth Trilogy, Qishu Li

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

An Illumination Of The Damned: Psychoanalytic Exploration Of Character Through American Naturalism In Harold Frederic's The Damnation Of Theron Ware, Steve Randall Spain Jr.

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Women Pioneer Diaries, 1820-1920: A Selected Annotated Bibliography, Sonia Alvarez Wilson

Theses & Honors Papers

The works of twenty women whom participated in the westward expansion at some time between 1820 and 1920 are represented. The women have participated by immigration, emigration, homesteading, or simply living a trans-Mississippi community during the aforementioned time period. The work as a whole provides a variety of examples of the lifestyle and challenges of the period, which may highlight the uniqueness of each woman, while at the same time showing some common experience. Diaries have been selected to represent as many states as possible, in as many time periods as possible within the one hundred year time span, in …

Lee Smith's Protagonists: Moving Beyond Stereotypes Of Southern And Appalachian Women, Roxie Amos Johnson

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Reader, Take A Letter: The Reappearance Of The Epistolary Form In Alice Walker's The Color Purple And Lee Smith's Fair And Tender Ladies, Carla S. Huskey

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets And Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Study In Literary Naturalism, J. Katherin Huffman

Theses & Honors Papers

During the 1890’s, two American novels, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (A Story of New York) written by Stephen Crane and The Awakening written by Kate Choplin, deal with the lives and death of two surprisingly similar young women living in different social standing and regions. Even though the novels are written by opposite sexes with opposite setting and have quite culturally different protagonists, they share the Naturalistic themes of biological determinism, which is expressed through the use of animal imagery and animal symbolism. Crane does not allow Maggie to have positive aspirations, making her appear less human and …