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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in English Language and Literature
Mountains In The Deep, Andy Strauss
Mountains In The Deep, Andy Strauss
Honors Theses
When Evan, prince of the Fourth Quadrant, sees a vision of a ghost-like crown hovering over his father's head, he is sent on a dangerous mission to face the mystical shadow beast ravaging his kingdom--the same beast that has marked him as its prey and that will stop at nothing to hunt him down.
Balancing On The Edges: The Phenomenological Children Of Children's Literature, Zoe Stone
Balancing On The Edges: The Phenomenological Children Of Children's Literature, Zoe Stone
Senior Projects Spring 2023
Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature and The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.
A Perfect Escape: Fantasy, Place And Narrative In Adolescence, Cydney Cherepak
A Perfect Escape: Fantasy, Place And Narrative In Adolescence, Cydney Cherepak
MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture
This essay explores the realms of special places, the literary genre of fantasy, narrative, and comics. These topics are traversed alongside subjects of adolescence and the creation of stories for middle-grade readers. Framed with personal stories, as well as peaks into my process, I investigate these subjects through the lens of my own life and work, specifically my thesis project, a comic for middle-grade readers titled Beyond the Castle Walls. Beginning with adolescence in association with special places, I consider the work of developmental psychologists David Sobel and Edith Cobb as they pin-point the role of secret forts, nature, …
Night Of Awakening: Strength And Empowerment In The Young Adult Fiction Genre, Shelby Ann Davis
Night Of Awakening: Strength And Empowerment In The Young Adult Fiction Genre, Shelby Ann Davis
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The Young Adult Fantasy genre is often written off as a useless, or immature form of writing. However, there are studies that prove that this specific genre is not only engaging, but it is also empowering for young readers. By writing toward adolescent readers, authors are able to promote various ways in which their characters adjust or interact with their surroundings, which also influences their readers’ self and social awareness. By representing feminist perspectives and depicting the effects of trauma, YA literature fosters progressive social change and conveys the importance of mental health. In writing my own novel, The Night …
"Strong Female Characters"? An Analysis Of Six Female Fantasy Characters From Novel To Film, Valari Westeren
"Strong Female Characters"? An Analysis Of Six Female Fantasy Characters From Novel To Film, Valari Westeren
Honors Projects
This project is twofold. The first section analyzes six female fantasy characters in their literary and filmic incarnations—Dorothy Gale (The Wizard of Oz), Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Arwen Evenstar (The Lord of the Rings), Princess Buttercup (The Princess Bride), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), and Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)—noting adaptational changes made to each and placing the twelve incarnations in conversation with each other. This conversation centers around the concept of the “strong female character,” …
Feminist Theology And The Fantastic In Jewish Poetics And Children's Literature (1960s–Present), Meira S. Levinson
Feminist Theology And The Fantastic In Jewish Poetics And Children's Literature (1960s–Present), Meira S. Levinson
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This dissertation traces the development of Jewish fantasy rhetoric in post-WWII British and American literature, focusing on three genres: kabbalistic Beat poetry, children’s fantasy, and graphic novels/comics. Despite increasing scholarly attention to all these areas, little work has focused on fantasy rhetoric or issues of gender and sexuality within non-canonical Jewish literature, or on interplays of religion and fantasy in children’s literature. Jewish kabbalistic poetry and children’s fantasy speak to each other in their mutual engagements with the otherworldly, mystical and monstrous, interrogations of gender, and complex portrayals of feminist theological potentialities. I identify and analyze Jewish-hermeneutic themes and methodologies …
A Steady Journey - Critical And Self-Analysis, Ashley Gonzalez
A Steady Journey - Critical And Self-Analysis, Ashley Gonzalez
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
Analysis of the composition of A Steady Journey, a young adult fantasy novel featuring a disabled protagonist by Ashley Gonzalez.
A Merrier World:' Small Renaissances Engendered In J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium, Dominic Dicarlo Meo
A Merrier World:' Small Renaissances Engendered In J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium, Dominic Dicarlo Meo
Senior Honors Theses and Projects
After surviving the trenches of World War I when many of his friends did not, Tolkien continued as the rest of the world did: moving, growing, and developing, putting the darkness of war behind. He had children, taught at the collegiate level, wrote, researched. Then another Great War knocked on the global door. His sons marched off, and Britain was again consumed. The "War to End All Wars" was repeating itself and nothing was for certain. In such extended dark times, J. R. R. Tolkien drew on what he knew-language, philology, myth, and human rights-peering back in history to the …
Golden Fantasy: An Examination Of Generic & Literary Fantasy In Popular Writing, Zechariah James Morrison
Golden Fantasy: An Examination Of Generic & Literary Fantasy In Popular Writing, Zechariah James Morrison
Honors Projects
This essay attempts to analyze critical theory concerning the division between generic fantasy fiction and higher fantasy literature. In examining how these two different types of fantasy writing are identified by popular criticism, the space in-between is defined and labeled "golden fantasy". This kind of fantasy is identified by maintaining a balance between subversive originality, and derivative reproduction, and is generally popular among consumers and academics as a source of both entertainment and scholarly research. The essay is then followed by 3 original chapters by the essay writer, in an attempt to demonstrate some of the elements of golden fantasy …
Stealing Revelation: A Screenplay Of The Thief Accompanied By A Religious Analysis, Jean E. Sleight
Stealing Revelation: A Screenplay Of The Thief Accompanied By A Religious Analysis, Jean E. Sleight
Honors Projects
Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief follows the story of a thief who seeks to steal an item for fame and glory and to save his country. Though he initially does not believe in the gods, he finds that they exist and are more involved in his life than he would want them to be. The screenplay is a loyal adaptation of the book. The analysis follows the thief’s journey from skepticism to faith and draws a comparison between the gods in the novel and the Christian God.
The Lightbringer: A Novel, Brett L. Butler
The Lightbringer: A Novel, Brett L. Butler
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Lightbringer is about a collision of two worlds: the world of a contemporary South Florida town and the magical world of Zariel, bringing with it the universal threat of the Terra. Childhood friends, Breck and Tom, are thrown into the middle of an ancient conflict between the Terra—a collection of alien races that have been transformed by darkness—and the forces of good. After an encounter with a magical pool of golden water, the boys must learn to use their new abilities to protect against the growing Terranox army. In the midst of their struggle, however, a mysterious companion—the Lightbringer, …
Lies Breathed Through Silver: Mythological Constructs In Tolkien’S Works, Joshua Mccrowell
Lies Breathed Through Silver: Mythological Constructs In Tolkien’S Works, Joshua Mccrowell
Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects
It’s not hard to imagine the English air being warm the night John Ronald Reuel Tolkien brought Clive Staples Lewis hard won into Christianity. The image of their lengthy midnight talk has since become almost mythic to those who study those two authors because of the impact that Christianity (and the other) had on each other’s lives. Lewis’ most famous works - everything from Narnia to his Space Trilogy to his apologetics - all are based on and inspired by his faith. Similarly, Tolkien once said that “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic …