Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Folk Medicine In Southern Appalachian Fiction., Catherine Benson Strain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The region of Southern Appalachia, long known for its colorful storytellers, is also rich in folk medical lore and practice. In their Appalachian novels, Lucy Furman, Emma Bell Miles, Mildred Haun, Catherine Marshall, Harriette Arnow, Lee Smith, and Charles Frazier, feature folk medicine prominently in their narratives. The novels studied, set against the backdrop of the rise of official medicine, are divided into three major time periods that correspond to important chapters in the history of American medicine: the 1890s through the 1930s; the 1940s through the 1960s; and the 1970s through the present. The study of folk medicine, a …

La Quête De L'Identité Dans Deux Romans Acadiens: Le Chemin Saint-Jacques Et Moncton Mantra [The Quest For Identity In Two Acadian Novels: Le Chemin Saint-Jacques And Moncton Mantra], Lisa Pelletier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In most people's minds the word "Acadian" is synonomous with "Deportation." Between 1755 ans 1763, the British government deported seventy-five percent of the French Neutrals of Acadia, an estimated 11,000 men, women, and children. Immediately after the Treaty of Paris of 1763 and from all parts of the world, Acadians started the return journey. Those who reestablished themselves in Nova Scotia (Acadia no longer existed as a geographic location since 1713) and southern New Brunswick were once again removed from their new lands as Loyalists flowed in by the thousands after their defeat in the American Revolution. The French Acadians …

Don't Put Your Shoes On The Bed: A Moral Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird., Mitziann Stiltner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Harper Lee wrote a remarkable novel which provides a great deal of moral insight for its readers; through a use of history, moral instruction, and character development, Lee establishes a foundation for how people in an often intolerant world should live peacefully together. Moreover, she reminds the reader that regardless of socioeconomic status or race everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. In establishing this moral analysis one must consider the historical source of Tom Robinson’s trial, the Scottsboro Trial; the Finch children’s consistent and exemplified instruction from their widowed father, Atticus, their housekeeper, Calpurina, and other close …

Connecting To The Feminine And To The Inner Self In Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country Of The Pointed Firs., Misty D. Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Dunnet Landing, Jewett creates a feminine world that is characterized by its depth and its moral and emotional significance. There is a foundation in the real world of human feeling, and while there is much grief and sorrow in this community, there are also possibilities for happiness. The connection to death and loss is what gives much in this feminine world meaning. Grief is only a part of the journey. Out of death and sorrow come strength and a restoration to wholeness. Mrs. Todd has learned this and she passes her knowledge down to the narrator. The narrator’s journey …

Ishmael: The Dissolution Of A Romantic And The Emergence Of A Poet., Allison M. Pepper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although Ishmael does not appear to be a main character in Moby Dick, his narration is integral to the text. Only through telling the story is Ishmael able to give himself a concrete identity, which is reflected not only through himself, but through the thoughts, speeches, and actions of the other characters, specifically Ahab and the shipmates. Ishmael represents the fragmented Romantic of nineteenth century American society. He is bound by a traditional patriarchal world where he must break away from the father to establish his own identity. He has lost his connection to nature, the primal source of his …

The Roles Of Patrician And Plebeian Women In Their Religion In The Republic Of Rome., Lesa A. Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper looks at the roles of patrician and plebeian Roman women in their religion. It investigates the topic during the period of the Republic (509-30 BCE) and pulls the information together in a concise manner.

The primary sources used were narrative histories and literature from the late Republic, as well as from the Imperial period up through the second century, that reflect the opinions of the Imperial period. The secondary sources precipitated further research into primary sources and comparisons of these studies.

It was found that women played private and secondary roles in their religion. Due to changes in …

Waiting For Mary Jane: A Collection Of Modern Appalachian Short Stories In The Joycean Tradition., Lorie Ann Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of a collection of short stories stylistically reminiscent of the works of James Joyce yet with an Appalachian and feminist voice. Waiting for Mary Jane should appeal to readers interested in experimental styles as well as feminist and Appalachian literature. The protagonist of the collection is Mary Jane, a female from present day East Tennessee. The reader experiences her life from age three to thirty. The introduction to the collection explores the link between James Joyce, Appalachia, Feminist writing, and the short stories. Structurally and thematically the collection reflects the works of James Joyce by using the …

Prevailing Winds: Radical Activism And The American Indian Movement., David Kent Calfee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1968 a number of Chippewa Indians met in Minneapolis, Minnesota to discuss some of the problems they faced in their communities. This meeting gave birth to the American Indian Movement. From 1968 to 1974, the American Indian Movement embarked on a series of radical protests designed to draw attention to the concerns of American Indians and force the Federal government into acting on their behalf. Unfortunately, these protests brought about a backlash from Federal law enforcement agencies that destroyed the American Indian Movement's national power structure.

Creative Book Arts Preserving Family History, Sarah Owen Tabor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For the project I have developed a series of four artist's books from material I have collected pertaining to my family history. Over the last four years I have collected written narratives, photographs, tape-recorded interviews, genealogies, letters, electronic communications, and other documents. The first book in the series is an accordion-style book contrasting a trip my Great Grandmother took to Yellowstone National Park by covered wagon from Oklahoma Territory in 1903 with my trip from Maine to the same park in 1978. Though technology had changed the mode of transportation, and the intervening years had seen changes in many other …

Why Mystery And Detective Fiction Was A Natural Outgrowth Of The Victorian Period, Sharon J. Kobritz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Master Project presents evidence showing why mystery and detective fiction flourished during the Victorian period and argues that this enduring genre was a natural outgrowth of this time. The project presents material on the culture of the Victorian period and shows how the roles of men and women are defined. This project will argue that mystery and detective fiction flourished because of the changes in popular culture; that the sweeping changes in education, medicine, literature, religion and business solidified the popularity of this genre. Along with this genre of fiction came a new way of publishing and reading. One …

Creating A New Genre: Mary Rowlandson And Hher Narrative Of Indian Captivity., Rachel Bailey De Luise

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the aftermath of King Philip's War, Puritan Mary Rowlandson recorded her experiences as an Indian captive. In a vivid story that recollects the details of these events, Rowlandson attempts to impart a message to her community through the use of a variety of literary techniques. The genre of the Indian captivity narrative is a literary construct that she develops out of the following literary forms that existed at the time of her writing. These are the spiritual autobiography, a documentary method meant to archive spiritual and emotional growth through a record of daily activities; the conversion narrative, which made …

The Detrimental Effects Of Organized Religion On Women In Lee Smith's Fiction., Jennifer Renee Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the detrimental effects of religion on characters in Smith's fiction, with special attention to three general areas of religious influence on women. It considers Smith's illumination of the social, psychological, and artistic harm that organized religion can inflict on the lives of women.

This study includes library research of religion and Lee Smith's fiction. The study also concludes that Smith's seemingly casual fiction raises unsettling questions about the negative effects that religion often has on individuals.

An Investigation Into The Current Status Of The Paradigm Shift In Technical Writing Textbook Pedagogy., Terre D.M. Byrd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether a paradigm shift is occurring or has occurred in technical writing textbooks since 1994. This study will further the work of Jerold J. Jeansonne, who chronicled the paradigm shift in technical writing textbooks from 1900 to 1994. Using product and process orientation guidelines, this thesis will examine several technical writing textbooks produced after 1994. The findings will then be calculated to determine the present status of the paradigm shift.

The thesis will also propose that the technical writing paradigm shift mirrors the paradigm shift in academic writing textbooks. To make this …

Dead Bones Dancing: The Taki Onqoy, Archaism, And Crisis In Sixteenth Century Peru., Sσndra Lee Allen Henson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1532, a group of Spanish conquistadores defeated the armies of the Inca Empire and moved from plundering the treasure of the region to establishing an imperial reign based on the encomienda system. The increasing demand for native labor and material goods forced fragmentation and restructuring of indigenous communities. The failure of evangelization efforts by the Spanish, the breakdown of their early bureaucratic apparatus, and the threat of the Neo-Inca State in exile generated a crisis among the Spanish in the 1560s. Concomitantly, indigenous Andeans experienced psychological and spiritual pressures found an outlet in a millenarian movement known as Taki …

Fiction As History: James Jones, From Here To Eternity., Penny Marie Sonnenburg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines one of James Jones's novels, From Here to Eternity,as more than a fictionalization of historic events. Juxtaposing the correspondence between the author and his brother, begun when James Jones enlisted in 1939, and the novel allows an understanding of the extent that the novel was a distillation of Jones' personality and experience.

Jones felt fiction must be pieced from real experiences, but also contain original emotions disguised in the pages of a novel. Analyzing Jones's personal letters, interviews, and experiences offers, with some degree of certainty, the understanding that From Here to Eternity is more than …

White Knowledge And The Cauldron Of Story: The Use Of Allusion In Terry Pratchett's Discworld., William Thomas Abbott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last twenty years, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series has become very popular. Pratchett's success hinges in part on his use of allusion, in what Tolkien called the "Cauldron of Story," and what Pratchett refers to as "white knowledge." This paper explores the Discworld novels and illustrates Pratchett's use and success of storytelling through a few key directions: folk tales, fantasy literature, movies, and rock music.

Pratchett has received limited critical review, mostly of a negative nature, while producing a strong literary series, one crafted with both obvious and subtle recognition of his genre's sources. While standing on the shoulders …

A Portrayal Of Gender And A Description Of Gender Roles In Selected American Modern And Postmodern Plays., Bonny Ball Copenhaver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe how gender was portrayed and to determine how gender roles were depicted and defined in a selection of Modern and Postmodern American plays. This study was based on the symbolic interaction theory of gender that suggests that social roles are learned over time and are subject to constant reinforcement. The significance of this study was derived from the broad topic of gender because gender issues are relevant to a variety of fields and exploring the effects of gender in one field contributes to the understanding of gender in another field.

The plays …

The First Battle For Scottish Independence: The Battle Of Dunnichen, A.D. 685., Julie Fox Parsons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is an examination of the historiography of the ancient-medieval texts that record events related to the Northumbrian and the Pictish royal houses in the seventh century. The Picts, the Scots and the Celtic Britons fell into subjugation under the control of the expansionist Northumbrian kings and remained there for most of the seventh century. Northumbrian expansion was halted by Bridei, king of the picts, when he put down the advancing Northumbrian forces of king Ecgfrith at the Battle of Dunnichen, also known as Nechtansmere, in the year A.D. 685. The outcome of the battle not only stopped Northumbrian …

"So Strangely Misrepresented”: Rethinking John Bell Hood And The Fight For Civil War Memory, Brian Craig Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the role of memory in the American Civil War. More importantly, it discusses the relationship between history and memory and the role that historians play in carving out that relationship. It looks at how historians and the collective memory shaped the reputation of John Bell Hood, a Confederate Civil War officer, who experienced both the glory of victory and the agony of failure. I have reexamined Hood through historiography, a wide base of memories found in newspapers, memoirs and the writings of the Southern Historical Society, as well as archival materials from across Tennessee, Georgia and Pennsylvania. …

Winter Tears: A Study In Computer Animation, Daniel Whinnery Bissell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project is a study into the art and science of Animation. Specifically, this project focuses on the development of story and character through the use of Computer Animation. From beginning to end, this animation comprises work done completely by the author. The main goal of the project was to understand the development process of an animated short through concentration on Story Development, Character Creation, and Character Animation. In totality, the completed work comprises 10 months of individual labor that began in July 2001 and ended in April 2002. These 10 months of work have resulted in the creation of …

Why Is America So Blue? A Performance Analysis Of The Blue Man Group That Demonstrates The Deeper Cultural Significance Within The Structure Of Its Performance, Sean A. Fidler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The performance artists known as the Blue Man Group have taken America by storm in their performances through the clever use of household products ranging from Twinkies to toilet paper and not through the traditional presentation of a play script. The Blue Man Group started in the late 1980's as three mute, bald-capped street performers clad entirely in black except for their heads, necks and hands that were covered with cobalt blue paint. Keeping the blue body paint but moving off the street, the group has grown and they have now established themselves in legitimate theatres in four major cities …

Michael Chekhov And His Approach To Acting In Contemporary Performance Training, Richard Solomon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Michael Chekhov was an actor, director, and teacher who was determined to develop a clear and accessible acting approach. During his lifetime, his ideas were often viewed as too radical and mystical. Over the past decade however, the Chekhov method of actor training has enjoyed an expansion of interest. The following thesis will examine who Chekhov was, and what the major points of his technique were. It will also consider why and where his techniques are experiencing growth in our contemporary performance environment. Chekhov was a student of the great acting teacher Constantin Stanislavski. After studying with him for several …

Merry-Go-Round., Lydia Allois Carter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Merry-Go-Round is a realistic adolescent novella that looks at true problems young adults can face.

The protagonist, Amy, is ten-year-old girl who meets a boy, Ben, of the same age at the hotel where her mother works. Amy and Ben become fast friends. Amy's mother is involved in an abusive relationship and Ben's mother is dying of cancer. Through the relationship formed between the children, they learn how to survive by sharing their difficulties and working them out.

The realistic, troublesome situations faced by the main characters of Merry-Go-Round will help readers graduate smoothly on the next level of reading.

"In Death Thy Life Is Found": An Examination Of The Forgotten Poetry Of Margaret Fuller., Staci E. Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the recent scholarship that has been performed on Margaret Fuller, very little has focused on the varied body of poetry she composed during her brief life. By dividing her poetic works into three categories – those written to an early “lover,” those focusing on the theme of androgyny, and those written during her “mature period” of 1844 – one is better able to follow Fuller on the emotional and intellectual journey that served as the foundation for all of her writings. In addition, the study of Fuller’s poetry provides a clearer understanding of how this erudite woman transcended gender …

Completing The Circle: A Study Of The Archetypal Male And Female In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter., Kathy H. Hallenbeck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the archetypal images therein. The Scarlet Letter is discussed extensively with references made to The Blithedale Romance. Characters in the following short stories are referred to: “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Birthmark.” An overall analysis of feminine repression in both male and female characters is explored. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl are the subjects of lengthy discussion. Journeys, both inward and outward are explored in the characters. The context is nineteenth-century culture of which Hawthorne is a product. The characters in The Scarlet Letter search for a complete …

"Love Is Lak De Sea": Figurative Language In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God., Kalina Saraiva De Lima

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The principal objective of this paper is to investigate the use of Hurston’s figurative language in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Metaphors, symbolism, and personification have always been present in the African American language. Hurston uses the richness of figurative language to depict the African American experience in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. Figurative language is observed in various instances in the novel, such as when the author places special importance on the porch and the “lies” told there. Other significant examples of figurative language include the kiss and the bloom. Hurston …

Pseudo-Democracy In America, 1945-1960: Anticommunism Versus The Social Issues Of African Americans And Women., Fashion S. Bowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the period 1945 - 1960, the United States developed an intense fervor of anticommunism and strove to prevent the spread of communism to other nations, particularly the Indochina region. As a result, the government ignored or responded inadequately to key social events at home affecting both women and African Americans. This thesis will explore the extent of the active involvement in Indochina to prevent the spread of communism and the effects of that involvement on major social issues at home concerning African Americans and women. The United States had numerous opportunities to discontinue its involvement in Indochina, but it …

Congregational Singing: An Attitudinal Survey Of Two Southern Protestant Churches., Randall G. Bennett Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When public schools began teaching music in the 19th century, the church took a secondary role in the education of the church parishioner. The purpose of this study was to examine congregational attitudes about singing before and after an experimental treatment. Two different Churches participated in "hymn of the month" programs, but different approaches were used at each church. The congregation of Erwin Presbyterian Church learned a new hymn through repetition, while the congregation of First Baptist Church learned a new hymn through congregational practice. Surveys using a Likert-type scale were administered at each church prior to and at the …

American Immigration Policies And Public Opinion On European Jews From 1933 To 1945., Wesley P. Greear

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the role and scope of the American public’s opinion on European Jews in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Significant attention is placed on several aspects of American politics and public perceptions at this time. The ideas that developed from the Great Depression through World War II on refugees and immigrants are closely scrutinized.

The approach to this study focuses on sources from renowned Holocaust scholars including Raul Hilberg, David S. Wyman, Martin Gilbert, Henry Feingold, Hadley Cantril, Robert Divine, and Deborah E. Lipstadt to name a select few of the authors referenced. Several newspapers and journals such as …

Echoes Of The Lost Cause : Civil War Reverberations In Mississippi From 1865 To 2001, Sally Leigh Mcwhite

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholars of the Lost Cause have tended to end their examinations of the Confederate commemorative movement before the 1920s. Citing a variety of indicators that range from veterans' mortality rates to national reconciliation, these historians have assumed that the Lost Cause became increasingly irrelevant in southern society. Yet, veterans organizations and their auxiliaries put a great deal of energy into constructing an historical interpretation that would vindicate their actions to future generations. This dissertation therefore extends the examination of the Lost Cause movement throughout the twentieth century. Limiting the geographical scope of the research to a state study of Mississippi …