Arts and Humanities Commons^™

"There Is Nothing Else Like It": The Innovative Personality Of Lowney Turner Handy, Nathan Crews

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Racialized Slacktivism: Social Media Performances Of White Antiracism, Tim Engles

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This chapter is an analysis of common white netizens' responses to the killing of Trayvon Martin and to the viral video, "Kony 2012." It argues that such responses are a form of "racialized slacktivism," that is, an effort to return to a sense of oneself as a good, happy white person by going through the motions of demonstrating an antiracist online version of oneself.

"Boys Learn The Teacher, And Then They Learn The Subject": The Importance Of The Teacher-Student Relationship In Engaging High School Boys In The Writing Classroom, Leslie Ellis

Masters Theses

This thesis explores methods for engaging high school boys in the writing classroom. Chapter one describes the differing beliefs scholars have about boys' educational situation, specifically in English language arts. Several researchers and scholars describe boys' situation as dire because boys have failed to improve as girls have over the last sixty years. These researchers cite various reasons for boys' academic stagnation, such as learning styles, hormones, brain structure and development, the feminization of the classroom, motivation, engagement, and teaching styles. These factors may contribute to the gender gap in writing. Other scholars deny the urgency of boys' lack of …

To Teach Reading And Writing Well: "Genre Awareness" In Basic Writing, Tara Peck

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I argue that a "genre awareness" approach should be implemented into basic writing instruction because it enables students to unpack ideologies and beliefs inherent in genres that basic writing students read and write. Because basic writing students often have little to no prior knowledge reading and writing in academic genres, instructors should teach basic writing students how to broaden their understanding of reading and writing to include readers, writer, context, and text; even more, instructors should teach basic writing students to see the connection between the larger scene and situations in which genres arise. My argument's foundation …

Creative Writing Pedagogy: The Autobiographical Narrative In Hybrid Projects As A Means To Explore Intersectionality, Tana G. Young

Masters Theses

My thesis addresses the role of creative writing methods in fostering close observation, attention to detail, critical thinking and a keener awareness of intersectionalities in writing classrooms across disciplines, but most especially the humanities and social sciences. I contend that the "real work" of the academy is critical thinking. Further, using creative writing, specifically autobiographical narrative in FYC, anticipates multimodal projects and digital storytelling, all of which fosters creative and critical thinking.

Reuniting Old Allies: A Case For Creative Composition, Stephen M. Jefferies

Masters Theses

Since the split between creative writing and composition that largely occurred in the late 1920s, the two departments have wrestled with boundaries that have defined and challenged both courses. Despite the occasionally contentious relationship between creative writing and composition/rhetoric scholars, the two disciplines have served as strong allies in the past. "Reuniting Old Allies" argues that returning to such an alliance could provide a fruitful, blended approach to writing.

This thesis traces the history of this schism from Aristotle to the modern English department, attempting to reconcile the two departments with a middle-ground approach called critical-creative composition that emphasizes the …

The Risks And Rewards Of Personal Writing In The High School Classroom, Dannette L. Williamson

Masters Theses

In light of the Common Core State Standards, more research is needed on the importance and transfer value of personal writing high school classrooms. These standards have brought a more rigorous focus to student learning. With a stronger emphasis on argument and source-based writing, high school educators need to reexamine if or how personal writing should fit into curricula. For this study, approximately thirty students from each grade at Effingham High School were surveyed. The entire English department, as well as staff members from other disciplines at Effingham High School, were also surveyed. Prominent findings of the data show that …

Stop! Think! Grade!: Developing A Philosophy Of Writing Evaluation, Terri A. Fredrick

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

n the first day of my graduate course in evaluating student writing, I ask the students to describe their evaluation philosophy. After a few moments of silence, the students, a mix of graduate assistants and full-time K–12 teachers, begin by telling me what they expect from students’ writing. When prodded to focus on their own evaluation, they list writing issues they mark in student papers. Some describe evaluation practices: “I don’t pick up my pen until I’ve read through the paper at least once,” says one teacher. “Why?” I press. Eventually someone will venture a claim like this one: “I …

Stop! Think! Grade!: Developing A Philosophy Of Writing Evaluation, Terri A. Fredrick

Terri A. Fredrick

n the first day of my graduate course in evaluating student writing, I ask the students to describe their evaluation philosophy. After a few moments of silence, the students, a mix of graduate assistants and full-time K–12 teachers, begin by telling me what they expect from students’ writing. When prodded to focus on their own evaluation, they list writing issues they mark in student papers. Some describe evaluation practices: “I don’t pick up my pen until I’ve read through the paper at least once,” says one teacher. “Why?” I press. Eventually someone will venture a claim like this one: “I …

Stop! Think! Grade!: Developing A Philosophy Of Writing Evaluation, Terri Fredrick

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

n the first day of my graduate course in evaluating student writing, I ask the students to describe their evaluation philosophy. After a few moments of silence, the students, a mix of graduate assistants and full-time K–12 teachers, begin by telling me what they expect from students’ writing. When prodded to focus on their own evaluation, they list writing issues they mark in student papers. Some describe evaluation practices: “I don’t pick up my pen until I’ve read through the paper at least once,” says one teacher. “Why?” I press. Eventually someone will venture a claim like this one: “I …

Upvoting The Audience: A Burkean Analysis Of Reddit, Doug Urbanski

Masters Theses

My thesis examines the Internet community Reddit through the rhetorical framework of Kenneth Burke, specifically his work with identification between individuals and how identification shapes communities. I focused on three sections of Reddit: World News, Ask Reddit, and Politics, and analyzed the best-voted comments of top posts from each section, focusing on how anonymous users communicate with one another and how their anonymity might influence the ways they interact. Additionally, I propose a method for instructors to use Reddit in the classroom, taking advantage of the medium's systematic anonymity.

Subsemy: Using Subversion To Create Multiple Meanings In Rhetorical Texts, Kane Madison Click

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on the use of subversion to create multiple meanings in rhetorical texts. Subversion, an element focused on by Fiske (1986, 1987) and McKerrow (1988) in their early contributions to the rhetorical study of multiple meaning texts, has been an ongoing lacunae in the study of polysemic texts. I wish to provide a correction to this problem by offering the concept of subsemy. By examining the role of strategic ambiguity and irony in the functioning of subversion, the concept of subsemy provides a missing picture of how popular cultural texts, film in particular, can function subversively.

African-American Life Writing: Harriet Jacobs And Bell Hooks, Luo Yi

Masters Theses

Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and bell hooks' Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood share a common concern with emancipation and employ complementary rhetorical strategies. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl presents Harriet Jacobs' journey of personal self-discovery through various relationships with others, and her personal narrative finally serves the larger goal of emancipation for her people. Jacobs' narrative is full of other voices, or personae. Even the narrator, Linda Brent, is pseudonymous, or "other," in this sense. Jacobs invokes these personae in her autobiography; she explores her experiences as a web of …

Integrating Student Expectations Into Writing Center Theory And Practice, Mary J. Bonevelle

Masters Theses

When students go to a writing center to be tutored, they expect a certain type of instruction based on their prior experiences. Many students are perplexed to find that the parameters of writing center instruction are quite different than they anticipated. The resulting conflict between student expectations and actual center methods often induces tensions which can impede the effectiveness tutorial instruction. This thesis explores the basis of student expectations, strategies for addressing student expectations in practice, and the importance of acknowledging these expectations in writing center theory.

Chapter 1 discusses the incongruous relationship between writing center theory and practice and …

Computer Assisted Instruction And The Basic Writer, Kathy Ford

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Children Learning To Write: A Progression Through Predictable Stages, Shirley D. Vestal

Masters Theses

A first-grade teacher documents her students' progression through predictable stages as they learn to write: distinct units of scribbling and/or ground line and profile in drawing, letters, words, sentences, story structure (character, setting, problem, solving the problem, and ending the story/telling how the characters felt), and conventions (capital letters, punctuation, and conventional spelling).

Criteria based on readability at each stage by a knowledgeable and sensitive reader are an important aspect of this study.

The class writes every day using a five-day story format:

Day One: Character Pink paper

Day Two: Setting Blue paper

Day Three: Problem Yellow paper

Day Four: …

An Analysis Of Writing Across The Curriculum, M. Katherine Haight

Masters Theses

Between 1900 and 1925 several changes took place which modernized American universities. One of the most significant involved a different curriculum. The new program was, in part, geared toward preparing students for specialized careers. This approach, however, made it possible for teachers outside of English to eliminate writing from their courses and, more generally, to develop distorted and limited views of the uses of writing. Today, Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs are being incorporated into many colleges and universities across the country in an attempt to correct misperceptions and to bring writing back into non-English courses.

WAC stresses the …

The Rhetoric Of Documentation: Two Approaches, Walt Wisnewski

Masters Theses

In an attempt to clarify how a beginner who has not yet mastered a software program is to learn to use word processing programs, this thesis examines two examples, WordPerfect and W.W. Norton's TEXTRA from the standpoint of their documentation. Software developers have adopted conflicting rhetorical strategies in their documentation: some have sought clear instruction via a rule-based rhetoric with a reliance on jargon-free standard English, and others have pursued an inferential rhetoric. These two strategies parallel two models in modern communications theory: a decoding model and an inferential model. WordPerfect seems to follow a decoding (rule-based) approach and TEXTRA …

Evolution/Creation Debate: A Rhetorical Analysis, James V. Miteff

Masters Theses

During the course of human history, many social issues have come and gone. One argument that caught the writer's eye is the argument about how man came to exist.

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study is to analyze an evolution/creation debate that took place at Columbus College, Georgia, on May 6, 1981. Evolutionary theory was supported by Dr. Schwinner, a paleontologist from Columbus College. His partner was Dr. Frazier, a professor of geology at Columbus College. Creation theory was supported by Dr. Henry Morris, President of the Institute for Creation Research, San Diego, and Dr. Slusher, an astronomer …

Tutoring German Esl Students, Sabina Mussgnug

Masters Theses

Tutors of American university writing centers can be invaluable advisors for German ESL students who come to study in the United States. The tutors can directly assist German students in coping with their particular academic and cultural difficulties.

German students must adapt to the American academic conventions to become successful students at their U.S. universities. The tutors can point out to them the features of the American academic standard and show them effective methods for learning and studying in the American environment.

The American academic standard includes the students' almost perfect reading comprehension. Students must be prepared for heavy reading …

A Weaverian Analysis Of The Secular Humanism/Christianity Arguments, Colleen Deborah Ryan

Masters Theses

Since the Renaissance, the unclearly defined movement known as "Humanism" has been a part of society. However, it is only recently that the movement itself has caused significant controversy. What is responsible for this sudden outbreak of humanism hysteria? Is it even to be classified as a problem? To many, especially the Catholic church and many fundamentalist groups, it presents an overt threat.

A vital area of controversy centers around education and the fight between a religious-based curriculum and the more recent secular studies. The issues, it appears, are often obscured by the rhetoric. Indeed, Karl Wallace sees rhetoric as …

A Comparative Study Of Filipino And American Student Essays: Common Errors And Sentence Length, Paz Navarro Canilao

Masters Theses

Error analysis and modified contrastive analysis were used to examine what type of writing difficulties were common to a selected group of De La Salle University (Philippines) and Eastern Illinois University freshman students, and what the average length and range in variation of length of the essays were in each group. The essays analyzed in the study were descriptive, and written within a span of fifteen minutes.

The results of the analysis showed that De La Salle and Eastern Illinois students have the following major difficulties: syntax, spelling, agreement, the use of comma, and the use of the s marker. …

Creating An Environment Which Produces Improved Student Writing, George David Brown

Masters Theses

Plato said, “When the mind thinks, it talks to itself.” The mind must use words when developing ideas, when formulating concepts, when digesting and assimilating information. When the student writes, the mind should think. However, this does not always occur. The main problem in student writing is that the student does not think. For writing is thinking, the most exact and exacting kind of thinking.

This thesis suggests that in order to improve student writing, the conditions for improved thinking must exist. These conditions would include a change or environment from the traditional, authoritarian one to an open, self-appraising one. …

A Synoptic History Of Classical Rhetoric, Richard C. Blakeman

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.