English Language and Literature Commons^™

Examining State Development In West Africa, Through Senegal And Nigeria, Kasandra L. Housley

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper studies the relationship between the state and armed conflict in West Africa with an emphasis placed on the value, influence, and role of social institutions on the long-term stability of the West African state. The countries of the Republic of Senegal and Nigeria represent the primary focus of the paper. Comparisons are made of the history of each country/state and experience with socio-political conflict in an effort to explain the penultimate place of social as opposed to legalistic or political influences responsible for the long term survival of the independent state in West Africa. The central question explored …

Building Bibliographically: A Review Of To Make Negro Literature: Writing, Literary Practice, And African American Authorship By Elizabeth Mchenry, Susanna Ashton

Criticism

To Make Negro Literature: Writing, Literary Practice, and African American Authorship by Elizabeth McHenry. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2021. Pp. 296. $28.95 cloth.

La Viuda Del Panamá -- A Sixteenth-Century Novel, Maria Cecilia Herrera Astua

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

La Viuda del Panamá es una novela histórica acerca de Sir Francis Drake y su amante, María Isabel Domínguez--una viuda mestiza de quien él se enamora cuando ella lo salva de una muerte segura. Isabel oculta su ascendencia india porque, en el pueblito Nombre de Dios, esa circunstancia es un pecado social. Mas al corregidor don Pedro—un viudo quien ha tenido un matrimonio infernal—no le interesa la pureza de sangre. Nacido en un hogar judeo-musulmán, don Pedro se enamora de Isabel desde el día en que ella lo atiende en la posada La Costeña y decide ofrecerle un futuro impensable …

"I Will Write Mad Stories": The Hysterical "I" In The Diaries Of George Eliot, Charlotte Forten Grimke, Virginia Woolf, And Sylvia Plath, Jaclyn Marie Swiderski

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation focuses on the long history of hysteria and the ways in which it has been used to denigrate and silence disabled women. Women diagnosed as hysterical, by either the medical establishment or the court of public opinion, are denied the right to generate knowledge about and for themselves – they are epistemologically disabled. The author argues that hysterical women have unique ways of looking at and understanding the world which push back against their epistemological disablement. In order to uncover some of this history of hysterical women, this dissertation uses the diaries of four “hysterical” women over the …

Using Oral History To Explore The Migration Experience A Series Of Activities For Eng103: The Research Paper, Demetrios Kapetanakos

Open Educational Resources

This paper describes how I will implement an oral history component into my "ENG103: The Research Paper" course.

Shake Ya Ass, But Watch Yourself: An Intersectional And Decolonial Approach To Exploring The Sexualization Of Female Recording Artists And The Empowerment Of Women In The United States, H.B. Rebeka

Dissertations

This dissertation, titled Shake Ya Ass, But Watch Yourself: An Intersectional and Decolonial Approach to Exploring the Sexualization of Female Recording Artists and the Empowerment of Women in the United States, critically examines the phenomenon of sexualization of women in the music industry and its impact on female empowerment. Through an intersectional and decolonial feminist lens, the study delves into the historical and socio-cultural contexts that shape the portrayal and perception of female recording artists in the United States.

The research traces the roots of feminism and the commodification of racial stereotypes through music, exploring how female empowerment has been …

Memoriam, Mira Helena Darham

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The chasm between past and present is a constant reminder of the perilous journey one takes through the fissures of memory. While on this expedition the forms surrounding you, the memories themselves, are a constantly changing landscape that make navigation a difficult and dangerous task. Is a memory a recall or a remembrance, truth, or construction? Are all memories as they happened or are we the “rememberer,” the architect of their composition? This dilemma has been the impetus of my academic pursuits and creative endeavors. For Memoriam I have chosen an event in my past, a wildfire, as the catalyst …

The Artful Voyeur: Seamus Heaney As Parrhesiastes, Olivia Ransbottom

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Critics Edna Longley and Ciaran Carson have examined the complicated relationship between Seamus Heaney's poetry and the Northern Irish conflict, arguing that, in general, he refrained from clear political commentary. Despite this, Seamus Heaney was a revolutionary poet celebrated for his vivid imagery and commentary on ordinary life in Northern Ireland. While these critics say he held back on stating his political opinion or mystified the violence, this paper argues that he was a parrhesiastes (one who speaks truth to the rest of society for the sake of truth itself) of his time, choosing to practice the ancient Greek idea …

Increasing The Accuracy Of The Military‟S Post-Deployment Mental Health Screening Strategies, Daniel Fass

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The author investigated the prevalence rates of mental health problems reported by college students and compared them with previously existing data on active duty, reserve, and National Guard Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans. Participants completed the mental health portion of the Post-Deployment Health Re-Assessment and an additional questionnaire in which the effect of a drug use screen was explored. Subjects were also asked about their intentions to seek mental health or substance abuse treatment and how anonymity affected their treatment seeking and reporting accuracy. Results indicate similar and at times higher rates of mental health problems in the sample of college …

Generational Awareness Of Folk Figures In The American Midwest, Addison L. Jensen

Honors Thesis

The popular folklore of a region can clearly reflect how its citizens understand themselves and their nation. The goal of this study was to determine the number of individuals who can be considered “well-versed” in traditional folklore and to speculate on the possible reasons for the differences in recognition that arise. Five figures (Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, Paul Bunyan, Annie Oakley, and Rip Van Winkle) were selected to serve as a representative sample of folk characters that have been historically significant to the country. An online survey of 279 Midwesterners and interviews with various age groups in South Dakota, found …

Chaucer’S Contradictory Representations Of Fourteenth Century Knighthood In The Canterbury Tales, Nicholas Cabrera

Theses and Dissertations

Differences in interpretation have long dominated scholarship regarding knighthood in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. But these differences fail to consider the nuance of the text and the historical realities of the period in which Chaucer wrote. Chaucer’s depiction of knighthood represents the institution as filled with tensions and contradictions.

The Villainess Does Damage Control: Cultural Rescue In The Man Of Law’S Tale, Lucy Esplin

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

In the late fourteenth century, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his masterwork, The Canterbury Tales, a satirical frame narrative centered on English society. The tales follow a group of pilgrims spanning a wide range of English society, who engage in a storytelling contest as they embark on their pilgrimage. One story is the “Man of Law’s Tale,” a crusader romance that follows the pious Constance in her missionary-like journeys. She first travels to Syria to marry a Sultan, after negotiations between the Roman and Syrian rulers demanded the Sultan be baptized and control over Jerusalem would be handed over to Christians (Chaucer …

Mixed Feelings: The Emotional Appeals Of Zitkala-Ša’S American Indian Stories, Kayla Joan Baur

Publications and Research

Zitkala-Ša (Lakota: Zitkála-Šá, meaning Red Bird) was among the first to write about the experiences of Native American children in the U.S. Indian boarding school program to an English-speaking audience. As a writer and political activist, Zitkala-Ša uses emotional appeals and cultural ideas she learned through her white education to expose the very boarding school institutions that taught her. In American Indian Studies (1921), Zitkala-Ša critiques the violence that the Indian boarding school system inflicts on young Native Americans. She presents these critiques through emotional appeals that take two forms: one, a more traditional sentimental appeal associated with middle-class white …

Bedeviled Beauty: My Journey Through White American Theater Institutions, J'Aila C. Price

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Game console: Oculus Quest

World: American Theater Institutions

Player: Minority

Place: United States

Level: “Ain’t no way.”

This thesis explores the contrast between the Westernized philosophies ingrained in my education and my identity as a Black female artist. It sheds light on the difficulties of pursuing higher education in the arts and the gaps that arise from limited exposure to culturally diverse Black resources, revealing the systemic issues in Western performance education. The paper also discusses the insights gained from my journey as a Black female artist, focusing on my thesis performance of Blood at the Root, which is …

Little Cricket On The Hearth: The Quiet Feminism Of _Little Women_, Caroline Anderson Klein

Honors Theses

Since the advent of the cult of domesticity, the stakes for female characters in domestic literature have been notoriously high. There was no room for flaws, rebellious decisions, and certainly no room for mistakes—whether of the woman’s own accord, or simply as collateral damage of a male character’s immorality. In this shallowly Calvinist domain, women were never more than one broken guardrail away from social ruin or death. In writing Little Women, Louisa May Alcott breaks these molds through unflinching kindness to her female characters from childhood to adulthood, even unto death. Alcott achieves this quietly feminist feat by …

The Affable Raphael: Milton's Surrogate Instructor In Paradise Lost., Beau Kilpatrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) is a beautifully written epic that continues to be a stalwart text in the English literary canon, with unlimited potential for interpretation. In this dissertation I propose that Paradise Lost can be read as a pedagogical lesson for Milton’s “fit audience,” where the author implements his views on education in the context of heaven, hell, and Paradise. In the poem, Milton presents three pedagogical methodologies: first, the wrong way to knowledge is presented through Satan’s manipulations of the fallen angels and Eve; second, the divine way to knowledge is illustrated via Michael’s prophecy to Adam …

Lincoln's Carnegie Library: A History Of Community And Philanthropy, Emily Blomstedt

Honors Theses

Nebraska received 69 Carnegie libraries from the Carnegie foundation between 1899 and 1922. The first and most expensive Nebraska Carnegie library was granted to Lincoln in December 1899, after a fire destroyed Lincoln’s previous library. Lincoln’s main Carnegie library served the community between 1902 and 1960 before it was torn down in 1961 to build the present-day Bennett Martin library. This thesis explores the 60-year history of Lincoln’s Carnegie library, how it connects to national trends surrounding Carnegie libraries, and the role community and philanthropy played in the development of Lincoln’s public library system. These themes are examined through a …

Georgia Ghosts: History, Folklore, And The Roots Of The Southern Gothic, Katherine M. Mcdowell

Master's Projects

There is something quintessentially human about ghost stories, yet particular regions tend to be more powerfully associated with haunted folktales than others. One of the regions is the southeastern United States. In fact, these oral traditions appear to have influenced the area's best-known literary subgenre: the Southern Gothic.

Why is the South considered haunted? Are there particular qualities in historical events that make them more likely to engender ghost stories? What makes the South's folkloric spirits so powerful that they appear even in modern literature? Most of all, what connects the region's history and folklore with the Southern Gothic? By …

Noticing The Brush Strokes: Literary Markers In Hebrew Narratives, Shelbey Hunt

Masters Theses

As the people who set out to write, edit, and form the Bible may have used embellishments to enhance their narratives, could they also have left literary markers to help the reader chart a course between the historical and the enhanced? The purpose of this thesis is to find these literary markers. Exposing any potential grammatical or syntactical signpost can help the reader understand how they should view a given Biblical story and help reveal the messages the authors behind the scripture were sharing. The book of Jonah will be used as a case study to both discover and elaborate …

Listening To "Silence": Alternative Modes Of Communication In Korean And Korean American Women's Literature, Judy Joo-Ae Bae

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

South Korean feminist activity may be relatively unknown to many Western readers; however, a distinct form of feminist activism can be seen when considering alternative modes of communication that are not less than, simply different from “speech” or “voice” as forms of agency celebrated in the West. Alternative modes of communications such as silence, song, touch, and performance also speak important messages which can be heard when understood through local knowledges. In the three cases of South Korean and Korean American women’s fictions used in this dissertation, I unpack these alternative modes of communications used by the female protagonists through …

Arthur Before The Romances: Exploring Arthur's Evolution As A Literary Figure, Austin Long

History Undergraduate Theses

In 411 CE, the Roman legions left the island of Britain, never to return. This led to the slow decline of the Romano-Britons until their ultimate defeat at the hands of the Anglo-Saxons invaders. The Anglo-Saxons would remain on the island slowly supplanting the native Celtic language and culture until the Old English emerged. Out of this era emerged stories of a Celtic hero that would drive out the foreign invaders and reclaim Britain for the Celtic Britons. This story would later become very popular on the continent of Europe and the Celtic legend of Arthur would change. Using a …

Daughters And Fathers In Memoirs: Najla Said And Fatima Bhutto, Yasmina Bakry

Theses and Dissertations

The father-daughter relationship has always been crucial in shaping the identity of the daughter. Daughters inevitably inherit their fathers’ personal trauma, and in the case of the daughters of activists, national trauma as well. Throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, daughters struggle to depoliticize their famous fathers, as well as assert their individuality amidst the overshadowing activism of their fathers and conflictual history of their nations. To heal the daughters’ identity fissures, they embark on a journey to chronicle memories of their fathers throughout their lives and critically assess their fathers’ cultural, social and political heritage and identity. This thesis will …

The Romani People In The European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée And Virginia Woolf, Nadya Siyam

Theses and Dissertations

Scholarly literature on Roma is scarce compared to other racial groups as a lack of academic interest, financial limitations, and other social and political factors has constrained it. This resulted in a cross-cultural circulation of misinformation about Romani people and the reproduction of Romani myths and stereotypes in fiction. This project aims to analyze selected literary works on Gypsies from three Eastern and Western European countries and two periods to unpack the cultural and political roots of Romani literary misrepresentation. This research employs a range of theoretical frameworks chosen to put the Gypsy protagonists under maximum spotlight without unnecessary repetition, …

Miscellaneous, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Announcements:

Call for papers (The Abolition of Man 80 Years On)

The C. S. Lewis Correspondence Project

The Inaugural Undiscovered C.S. Lewis Conference (George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon September 5-8, 2024)

Submission guidelines, style guide, copyright notice, and order form.

Review Of Further Up And Further In, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Further Up and Further In. Written and performed by Max McLean. Phoenix, AZ: Herberger Theater, 18 March 2023.

Review Of Bareface, David Bates

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of C. S. Lewis, Bareface (Proposed title for Till We Have Faces). Produced by Ballet 5:8. Choreography and Lighting by Julianna Rubio Slager. Costumes by Lorianne Robertson. Props by Sarah L. Freeman. Chicago, United States: Harris Theatre, 22 April 2023.

Review Of The Nature Of Middle-Earth, Brenton D.G. Dickieson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of J. R. R. Tolkien, The Nature of Middle-earth, ed. by Carl Hostetter (New York: Mariner Books, 2021). 464 pages, including appendices and index. $32.00. ISBN 9780358454601.

Review Of A Narnian Vision Of The Atonement: A Defense Of The Ransom Theory, William Gentrup

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Charles Taliaferro, A Narnian Vision of the Atonement: A Defense of the Ransom Theory (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022). 134 pages. $37.00. ISBN 9781666796537.

Review Of The Lion's Country: C.S. Lewis's Theory Of The Real, David N. Beckmann

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Charlie W. Starr, The Lion’s Country: C. S. Lewis’s Theory of the Real (Kent, OH; Kent State University Press, 2022). 132 pages. $18.95. ISBN 9781606354537.

Review Of The Man Born To Be King: Wade Annotated Edition, Barbara L. Prescott

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Dorothy L. Sayers, The Man Born to Be King: Wade Annotated Edition, ed. by Kathryn Wehr (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023). 464 pages. $43.49. ISBN 9781514005330.