Arts and Humanities Commons^™

On The Duty Of Uncivil Disobedience: Thoreau's Action From Principle, Alan F. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the uncivil disobedience evident in some of Henry D. Thoreau’s work, which is often regarded as the birth and foundation of what is today known as “civil disobedience.” Using the nature of Thoreau’s subtle language and his philosophy of action from principle in his writings, including “Resistance to Civil Government” (1849), Walden (1854), “Life Without Principle” (1863), “A Plea for Captain John Brown" (1859), and some of his real life actions, this thesis will examine the antagonistic and, perhaps, uncivil nature of Thoreau’s so-called “civil disobedience.” This thesis will also incorporate Sophocles’ play Antigone (441 BBC), Candice …

Finding The Why: Trauma's Origins And Effects In Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Hope Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the effects of Toni Morrison’s first novel, The Bluest Eye, on its readers and the public discourse surrounding the central issue of systemic racism and incest. The central focus of the analysis is trauma in the novel: how Morrison captures that trauma in writing, how the reader encounters and interprets that trauma, and the effects of that trauma on the narrative and the reader. To construct this argument, I apply the lenses of reader response criticism, psychoanalysis, and trauma studies to the novel.

Morrison expressed concern that readers would miss the crucial message of why the …

The Revolting Monster - A Consideration Of Existentialist Themes In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Through A Comparison To Albert Camus' The Stranger, Felipe Rodriguez Ii

Theses and Dissertations

This Master’s thesis is concerned with analyzing key themes and ideas in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through an existentialist lens which is made possible through a comparison to themes and ideas in Albert Camus’ The Stranger. I aim to make a contribution to my field by fulfilling a comparison that has long been made since the late 1960s when conversations about British Romanticism and Existentialism were still common. The purpose of my first chapter is to elucidate a new argument about the relationship between these two novels. There is a discernable element of Camusian Revolt exhibited by the Creature in …

Hawthorne’S Human Nature And Sin: Criticisms Of Puritanism And Progressivism, Oscar Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

One of America’s greatest authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne lived in a time of rapid scientific, material, and intellectual advancement. However, unlike many of his peers who went all-in on utopian reform movements, Hawthorne took a cautious and reserved approach to progress even though he supported the idea abstractly. Using six tales written acrossHawthorne’s career, this work will examine what each has to say about Hawthorne’s belief in human nature and why he takes such a skeptical position against movements aiming to fundamentally reshape people and society. The tales from the 1830s, “The Gentle Boy,” “Young Goodman Brown,” and “The Minister’s Black …

Simeon Hart, The "Milmo Affair," And The Confederate Cotton Trade On The Rio Grande, 1861-65, Leonel Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

The cotton trade on the Rio Grande played a crucial role in the transnational history of Confederate-Mexican diplomacy as well as the history of the American Civil War and the Second French Intervention in Mexico. The renowned merchant from El Paso, Simeon Hart, was an important figure in the cotton trade since he helped facilitate diplomatic and commercial relations between Mexico and the Confederacy. Due to his reputation as an emissary and supplier for the Confederate Army of New Mexico, Hart was appointed quartermaster of the Trans-Mississippi Department. During the winter of 1863-64, the son-in-law of the Governor of Nuevo …

Intertextualidad Y Cultura En La Traducción Literaria De Gods Of Jade And Shadow Por Silvia Moreno-García, Mayra Can

Theses and Dissertations

Language and culture are inextricably connected. This bond represents a constant challenge for translators. Novels and other literary texts add intertextuality to the mix, often complicating the linguistic transmission of all the pertinent elements from the source text to the target text. Current translation theories by Katharina Reiss, Lawrence Venuti, Christiane Nord, among others, offer analyses, explanations, strategies, and techniques to meet the challenges.

The aim of this thesis is to provide a faithful, idiomatic, and authoritative English to Spanish translation of three selected chapters of Gods of Jade and Shadow, a historical fantasy novel by Mexican-Canadian writer Silvia …

Captivity In Melville, Oscar Sacriste

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Captivity in Melville (August 2022) Oscar Sacriste Jr, B.S., Southwestern Assembly of God University;

Chair of Committee: Dr. Nathaniel R. Racine

Initially, Melville’s works seem romantic and adventurous, and some may even argue that they are autobiographical. However, he also covers a wide range of serious subjects, including religion, philosophy, and socioeconomic issues. As such, Melville engages with a range of issues and conveys a deeper meaning through his writings, often through the use of allegory. This thesis examines Melville’s works through the lens of allegorical reasoning by also considering the numerous biblical allusions, which Melville employs throughout his …

Saving The Boys: Anticipating Moral Engagement In Lord Of The Flies, Tanya Alfaro

Theses and Dissertations

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954) is a paradoxical novel that highlights a constant conflict stemming from the inner-self of human nature promoted by the setting. Because adults often resemble children in many aspects and most of the time they don’t know what to do or make poor decisions, Golding formed his characters to be pre-adolescent children as a means to subtly point at humanity’s self-destructive traits. Therefore, if readers recognize the state of the boys’ morality, if they understand that they, like people, are imperfect beings, and if they acknowledge that they are prone to immorality, could they …

Domesticación Y Extranjerización En La Traducción Literaria De Uproot, A Memoir De Josefina Beatriz Longoria, Dania Saucedo

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Domesticación y extranjerización en la traducción literaria de Uproot, a Memoir de Josefina Beatriz Longoria (May 2022)

Dania Denin Saucedo, B.A., Texas A&M International University;

Chair of Committee: Dr. Lola Orellano Norris

Throughout history, translation and interpreting have been key in facilitating communication among peoples and in advancing our knowledge and understanding of literature, religion, and the law, among others. Literature is a passport to exotic lands and different moments in time. Without literary translation, our imagination would not be able to wander off to these distant lands, the readers would not be exposed to other cultures nor learn …

Maternidades Disidentes En La Hija Única (2020) De Guadalupe Nettel Y La Perra (2018) De Pilar Quintana: Una Mirada Crítica Hacia La Maternidad Como Constructo Social, Leocadia Villarreal

Theses and Dissertations

La maternidad es un constructo social establecido por el sistema patriarcal que somete a las mujeres relegándolas al espacio doméstico. A través de la historia, esta construcción ha sido la encargada de darle a la mujer el reconocimiento y la identidad dentro de los márgenes sociales. Mi tesis consiste en enfatizar las secuelas que el constructo social ha dejado en las mujeres en la actualidad, aún cuando se cree que la mujer contemporánea ejerce su maternidad en completa libertad. La autora Guadalupe Nettel en La hija única (2020), ejemplifica a través de sus personajes, la estigmatización que enfrentan las mujeres …

El Nuevo Cuento Latinoamericano: El ‘Terror Aparente Y Externo’ Versus El ‘Terror Real E Interno’ En Pelea De Gallos Y Grita De María Fernanda Ampuero, Y Las Voladoras De Mónica Ojeda, Alejandra Anahi Gaeta

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focusses on the new Latin-American short story; the ‘obvious and external horror’ vs. the ‘real and internal horror’ found in the works of Maria Fernanda Ampuero: Pelea de gallos (2018) and Grita (2020) as well as in Monica Ojeda’s Las voladoras (2020). The analysis encompasses situations that different protagonists experience in each short story to illustrate the message that the Ecuadorian writers intend to address the reader. Ampuero and Ojeda use their platform to expose the injustice that women and minors endure through their Latin American narratives. In the short stories that belong to the horror and the …

From The Corner Of One's Soul: The Methods Of Negotiating Tension In Cormac Mccarthy's Blood Meridian Or The Evening Redness In The West, Julian Pena

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a practical and meaningful reading of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West, one that is rooted in the claim that both Judge Holden and the Kid reflect two different methods for negotiating a tension impinged upon them by their external circumstances. Using a theoretical framework that is inspired by the social psychological Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, this thesis provides an extensive analysis of the novel’s fictional universe, Judge Holden, and the Kid. Such an analysis elucidates the violent nature of Blood Meridian’s universe and further reveals the character of Judge Holden …

Faulknerian Echoes And The Grotesque In Mccarthy’S The Orchard Keeper, William Haynes

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Faulknerian Echoes and the Grotesque in McCarthy’s The Orchard Keeper (August 2020)

William Leland Haynes, B. A., Texas A&M International University

Chair of Committee: Dr. Manuel Broncano

This thesis is an exploration of Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner’s craft through a focus on their works The Orchard Keeper and “Barn Burning.” This analysis charts the two dialoguing or conversing with each other across times through the art of their writings.

The basis of this project examines a key phrase from “Barn Burning,” where the problem of doing the right thing creates a conflict of identity within the story’s young …