English Language and Literature Commons^™

“Jane Eyre: An Ancestor Heroine For Contemporary Young Adult Dystopian Literature”, Emmanuela Ann Bean

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Young women make up a majority of young adult dystopian fiction readers, and these female readers can’t get enough of the strong, independent, inspiring female heroines taking center stage in popular young adult novels like, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Divergent by Veronica Roth, but through scholarly research and critical analysis I argue that many of these young adult novels feature heroines who descend at least in part from a Victorian heroine named Jane Eyre.

Irish Enough?, Jordan Marie Abbruzzese

English Student Capstone Projects - Creative Writing

"Irish Enough?" is an essay collection that primarily describes my travels to Ireland. Before leaving America, I was overwhelmed with the prospect that I would be touring the country for eleven days, exploring where my great-grandparents came from, and essentially journeying to “the homeland” (as my family referred to it at a wedding, months later). Through the collection I explore not only what it is like to travel through Ireland as an outsider, but also the expectations and realities of being an American with Irish heritage “returning” to Ireland. The collection tackles questions, such as “Why does our society romanticize …

Young Adult Dystopian Literature As Social Change Evolution, Rachel L. Scherzer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

In recent years, the mass popularity of young adult dystopian novels has led literary scholars to question the rise in popularity and the impact of such novels. This project explores the social justice potential of dystopian fiction, especially young adult dystopias, to act as a model for the way that rebellion can be an important and useful tool in standing up against injustice in society.

Using Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games, this project argues that young adult dystopian fiction can model for young people a personal evolution in understanding social change and the revolutionary possibility of actively standing up …

Michel Henry’S Phenomenological Christology: From Transcendentalism To The Gospel Of John, Jeremy H. Smith

English Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Shakespeare's Dictionary: One Playwright's Influence On The Modern English Lanugage, Jennifer Walton

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

William Shakespeare is considered to the be the father of Modern English, but what most people do not realize is that he influenced much more in English than just the language. The number of phrases and words he created is over-exaggerated, he borrowed from many other languages, and he was one of the first people to document modern medical disorders. Not to mention Shakespeare was writing during one of the most lexically innovative time periods, so he helped aid in the transition from using “thee” to using “you” when addressing another person. Moving away from language specifically, Shakespeare’s writing has …

The Summons Of Freedom: Fantastic History In Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything Is Illuminated", Paul Eisenstein

English Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Übermensch: A Feminist, Literary, & Artistic Rebuke To Modern Patriarchy In The Institution Of Liberal Arts Education, Virginia Valenzuela

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Übermensch: a Feminist, Literary, and Artistic Rebuke to Modern Patriarchy in the Institution of Liberal Arts Education is a multi-genre, multi-dimensional hybrid project that revels in and manipulates conventional forms of literary analysis, creative expression, and feminist politics. Through a feminist literary analysis of Tom Wolfe’s I Am Charlotte Simmons, accompanied by a creative companion of poems and personal essays, the author intends to elucidate society’s tactics of dominating, silencing and exploiting the female sex. In this way, her project intends to rationally and passionately describe the inescapable power of conformity in the lives of American college students, as well …