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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in American Studies

The Fluid Pastoral: African American Spiritual Waterways In The Urban Landscapes Of Harlem Renaissance Poetry, Maren E. Loveland Apr 2018

The Fluid Pastoral: African American Spiritual Waterways In The Urban Landscapes Of Harlem Renaissance Poetry, Maren E. Loveland

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

In 1921 Langston Hughes penned, “My soul has grown deep like the rivers” in his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (Hughes 1254). Weaving the profound pain of the African American experience with the symbolism of the primordial river, Hughes recognized the inherent power of water as a means of spiritual communication and religious significance. Departing from the traditional interpretation of the American pastoral as typified by white poets such as Robert Frost and Walt Whitman, the African American poets emerging from the Harlem Renaissance established a more nuanced pastoral landscape embedded within urban cultures, utilizing water in particular as …


The Pastor's Theology Of Uncertainty In Lila, Ben Lehnardt Apr 2016

The Pastor's Theology Of Uncertainty In Lila, Ben Lehnardt

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Marillynne Robinson’s most recent novel Lila depicts a preacher, John Ames, whose personal theology is studded with uncertainty. Rather than being a weakness to his faith, however, his insecurity is actually his greatest strength. This unusual theological trait becomes especially applicable when placed in the context of the philosophical struggle between scientific positivism and humanistic reasoning. This article explores the nuances of Ames’ theology of uncertainty and expands its philosophical importance in a greater context.


Flannery O'Connor's Protestant Grace, Emily Strong Apr 2016

Flannery O'Connor's Protestant Grace, Emily Strong

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Flannery O’Connor has long been known for the didactic Catholic message in her literature. However, upon closer study we may find that there are Protestant themes in O’Connor’s portrayal of grace. This paper explores the differences between Catholic and Protestant grace, examines the Protestant themes that can be found in her texts “Greenleaf,” “Revelation,” and “The Lame Shall Enter First,” and offers possible explanations as to why these Protestant themes exist in her literature.


Profiles Of Selected Mormon Athletes In Professional Sports, J. Michael Hunter Jan 2013

Profiles Of Selected Mormon Athletes In Professional Sports, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

“Profiles of Selected Mormon Athletes in Professional Sports” provides profiles with career highlights of over 200 Mormon athletes in professional sports, including baseball, basketball, bodybuilding, boxing, football, golf, hockey, racing, running, volleyball, and wrestling. This chapter appears in the second volume of Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon (Praeger 2013), a comprehensive treatment of Mormons and popular culture, providing an introduction and wide-ranging overview of the topic.


Sundance Film Festival / Computer Generated Imagery / Video Game Industry / Battlestar Galactica / Pageants / Stereophonic Sound, J. Michael Hunter Jan 2013

Sundance Film Festival / Computer Generated Imagery / Video Game Industry / Battlestar Galactica / Pageants / Stereophonic Sound, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

Many people are unaware of how influential Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), have been on American popular culture. Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon parts the curtain and looks behind the scenes at the little-known but important influence Mormons have had on popular culture in the United States and beyond. Included here are six sidebars that reveal some of the more fascinating contribution Mormons have made to American popular culture.


Profiles Of Selected Mormon Actors, J. Michael Hunter Jan 2013

Profiles Of Selected Mormon Actors, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

“Profiles of Selected Mormon Actors” provides brief profiles of over 80 Mormon actors and actresses, including some biographical information and career highlights. This chapter appears in the first volume of Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon (Praeger 2013), a comprehensive treatment of Mormons and popular culture, providing an introduction and wide-ranging overview of the topic.


Mormon Contributions To Young Adult Literature, Toni Pilcher Aug 2011

Mormon Contributions To Young Adult Literature, Toni Pilcher

Student Works

Mormon authors are making big splashes in the world of young adult (YA) literature, a relatively young genre that is targeted at readers from age 12 to age 18. Since 1967, when the American Library Association officially recognized YA literature as separate from children's books, writers and publishers have been trying to define the genre. It is, in a sense, coming of age. Generally, to be considered YA, a book has to have a teenage protagonist in situations with which a teenage reader can identify. Like literature for adults, there are a few limitations to subject and theme, but unlike …


The Women Of The Bee-Hive: Depiction Of Mormon Women In Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing, Christopher Jones, Stanley Thayne Jan 2008

The Women Of The Bee-Hive: Depiction Of Mormon Women In Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing, Christopher Jones, Stanley Thayne

Student Works

By the time the Latter-day Saints had settled in the Great Basin, travel writing had become a major genre of American literature. During the nineteenth century, a mass-reading American public who wished to experience the exotic vicariously were consuming book-length travel narratives and articles in American periodicals at a prodigious rate. Naturally, many travel-writers making their way West to chronicle the overland passage and capitalize on the tastes of the eastern readership paused in Utah to capture in prose the strange religion and peculiar people they observed there. The Mormons thus became a subject of great interest in Western travel …


"Properly Presented": The Autobiography Of Parley P. Pratt, Taunalyn Ford Rutherford Jan 1995

"Properly Presented": The Autobiography Of Parley P. Pratt, Taunalyn Ford Rutherford

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of the autobiography of Parley P. Pratt in light of current American autobiography research, intended to assert its worthiness for greater consideration by scholars of American culture. The findings suggest that the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt is comparable to other works now included in the canon of American autobiography such as Jonathan Edward's "Personal Narrative," Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Critical theories on the above autobiographies are applied to the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt in order to show its applicability to the current dialogue of American autobiography. Finally, the …


A Study Of Rock Music To Determine Its Declared Position Relative To Unchastity, The Use Of Drugs And The Departure From Traditional Concepts Of Family And Religion, E. Lynn Balmforth Jan 1971

A Study Of Rock Music To Determine Its Declared Position Relative To Unchastity, The Use Of Drugs And The Departure From Traditional Concepts Of Family And Religion, E. Lynn Balmforth

Theses and Dissertations

One of the social phenomena of our time (1960s) has been the popularization of a kind of music among the youth known as rock 'n' roll. It was the intent of this study to determine if the medium of rock did, in fact, maintain a posture of promulgating unchastity, the use of drugs and departure from traditional concepts of family and religion.

Supported by statements from leading rock musicians it was found that the big beat had a cultural root in the Negroid race. Coupling the big beat gospel rhythms of the south with the white country and western music, …


A Study Of The Political Involvements In The Career Of Joseph Smith, Edward G. Thompson Jan 1966

A Study Of The Political Involvements In The Career Of Joseph Smith, Edward G. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

It is the purpose of this study to examine the political elements and issues in the United States from the latter part of 1838 to June 27, 1844, to determine their relationship to the death of Joseph Smith. This study includes an analysis of national, state and local issues and sentiment during that time, as they have a bearing upon the subject.
The primary period of study is the Illinois era of Latter-day Saint history which includes the events that transpired from the winter of 1838-39 to June 27, 1844. A less intensive study includes events after June 1844, to …