The Nerd Hour Is At Hand: Portrayals Of Geeks And Nerds In Young Adult Literature Ad Popular Media, Jessica M. Stanley

Theses & Honors Papers

Turn on the television, open a book, or even walk down the street and you will no doubt notice at least one geek or nerd. Most Americans today have heard these terms, and each individual probably has his own working definition of what they mean. Unpacking those definitions, however, is tricky. What is a nerd? What is a geek? How does one identify a person as belonging to these groups? To analyze how modern culture understands geeks and nerds, one must first understand the history behind these terms. While most Americans today recognize and use the words "geek" and "nerd," …

Tolkien Sidelined: Constructing The Non-Combatant In The Children Of Hurin, Victoria Holtz-Wodzak

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Gives close attention to Morwen, Niennor, and Aerin, comparing them to Éowyn before she rode to battle and to Tolkien’s own mother Mabel and wife Edith. Also considers the situations of several male characters unable to or uninterested in serving in war, particularly Sador, Gwindor, and Brandir, and Tolkien’s own experiences on being sent home to England with trench fever.

Constructing Lothiriel: Rewriting And Rescuing The Women Of Middle-Earth From The Margins, Karen Viars, Cait Coker

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines the presence and absence of female characters in Tolkien, in the Peter Jackson films, and in fanfiction, paying particular attention to a “footnote character,” Lothíriel, and what the body of fanfiction built around her brief mention as the daughter of Imrahil and wife of Éomer reveals about reader engagement with Tolkien’s texts.

Isn't It Romantic? Sacrificing Agency For Romance In The Chronicles Of Prydain, Rodney M.D. Fierce

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Addresses the vexed question of Princess Eilonwy’s gesture of giving up magic and immortality to be the wife of Taran and queen of Prydain. Was it a forced choice and a sacrifice of the capable and strong-willed girl’s agency and power, or does it proceed logically from her depiction throughout the series?

Notes, Nancy Martsch, Janet Brennan Croft, Edith Crowe, Richard West

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Notes and Letters

Notes

• Thiepval Ridge and Minas Tirith. Proposes a specific source for certain imagery associated with the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. By Nancy Martsch

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• In Memoriam: Terry Pratchett in Mythlore. A listing of Terry Pratchett’s appearances in Mythlore as the subject of articles. By Janet Brennan Croft

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• In Memoriam: Tom Loback in Mythlore. A listing of artist Tom Loback’s appearances in Mythlore as illustrator or author. By Janet Brennan Croft and Edith Crowe

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Letters

• Corrects and expands on items in his Mythcon Guest of Honor speech (“Where …

Reviews, Emily E. Auger, Janet Brennan Croft, Mike Foster, Melody Green, Crystal Hurd, Eric Rauscher, Andrew Stout, Robert T. Tally, Jr.

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Christianity and the Detective Story. Ed. Anya Morlan and Walter Raubicheck. Reviewed by Melody Green.

The Shamanic Odyssey: Homer, Tolkien, and the Visionary Experience Robert Tindall with Susana Bustos. Foreword by John Perkins. Reviewed by Emily E. Auger.

Gaining a Face: The Romanticism of C.S. Lewis. James Prothero and Donald T. Williams. Reviewed by Crystal Hurd.

The A-Z of C.S. Lewis: An Encyclopedia of His Life, Thought and Writings. Colin Duriez. Reviewed by Andrew Stout.

Under The Mercy: Charles Williams & The Holy Grail. Robert Peirano. Reviewed by Eric Rauscher.

Tolkien and the Modernists: Literary Responses to the Dark New …

Chaoskampf, Salvation, And Dragons: Archetypes In Tolkien's Earendel, Tibor Tarcsay

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Study of world-wide mythical archetypes in relation to Tolkien’s Eärendil. Lays out a broad array of evidence attesting to a complex of characteristics associated with a mythical morning-star character, chief among them an association with water, horses, boats, constellations, being a messenger or herald, and monster-slaying, particularly of monsters associated with chaos.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

The majority of articles in this issue of Mythlore have to do with a selection of female characters in fantasy and their issues of agency, visibility, relationship, and gender roles.

Magical Genders: The Gender(S) Of Witches In The Historical Imagination Of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Lian Sinclair

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Fruitfully explores the similarities between Pratchett’s theory of narrative causality and the gender theories of Butler and Foucault; all deal with an urge to fit gender performance into an established story. Pratchett’s witches engage in a balancing act between the gender expectations of their society and their own quests for agency and power.

"Because I'M A Girl, I Suppose!":Gender Lines And Narrativeperspective In Harry Potter, Melanie J. Cordova

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Explores one of the interesting challenges in reading the Harry Potter series: the reader must eventually face the fact that Harry is not a totally reliable narrator or viewpoint character, especially as far as the female characters closest to him are concerned. Hermione especially suffers from his “teenage boy myopia.”

Brienne Of Tarth And Jaime Lannister: A Romantic Comedy Within Hbo's Game Of Thrones, Inbar Shaham

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

“Romantic comedy” is not a genre whose conventions one would readily associate with the television series Game of Thrones, but this article makes a case for the evolving relationship between Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister as an intrusion of the “green world” of spring and summer into the bleak winter of the show. The unconventional ways in which both characters perform their genders are part of the interest and challenge of this relationship.

St. Jerome's Narnia: Transformation And Asceticism In The Desert And Beyond The Wardrobe, John Gavin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Compares “two exercises in Christian myth-making”—C.S. Lewis’s Narniad and The Life of Paul the Hermit, the earliest work of the ascetic St. Jerome. Both are entertaining, and even whimsical at times, and feature communication with intelligent animals and a restoration of Paradise. Both also feature characters who model the value of asceticism and the solitary contemplative life.

Tolkien's Dialogue Between Enchantment And Loss, John Rosegrant

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines the tension between the theme of loss underlying so much of the content of The Lord of the Rings, and the enchantment of the form of the work; the balance between the two generates a melancholy beauty that brings readers back to the book over and over again. Tolkien’s own biography is used as an example of this balance of loss and enchantment playing out in real life.

"My Own Little Home": Historical Places Of Peace In British Literature, Erin Kayla Choate

Tenor of Our Times

No abstract provided.

Mother's Bed: Gender Representation In Children's Literature, Karin Hanni

Senior Theses

This children's book and accompanying research paper both address gender inequity in children's literature. There is a significant imbalance of gender representation in children's literature, with the number of central male characters almost doubling that of central female characters. Additionally, the roles of males and females still tend to be stereotypical: boys are action-oriented and heroic, while girls are nurturing and passive. Further, it is believed that boys will only enjoy books about boys, while girls will enjoy books about both boys and girls. This imbalance in children's literature hurts both genders. Children not only learn to read from books, …

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 …

Asunder, By Jodi Meadows. Reviewed By Shiloh Carroll., Shiloh Carroll

Mythprint Book Reviews

Mythprint is the quarterly bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society, a nonprofit educational organization devoted to the study, discussion, and enjoyment of myth and fantasy literature, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. To promote these interests, the Society publishes three magazines, maintains a World Wide Web site, and sponsors the annual Mythopoeic Conference and awards for fiction and scholarship, as well as local discussion groups.

Station Eleven, By Emily St. John Mandel. Reviewed By Jason Fisher., Jason Fisher

Mythprint Book Reviews

Mythprint is the quarterly bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society, a nonprofit educational organization devoted to the study, discussion, and enjoyment of myth and fantasy literature, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. To promote these interests, the Society publishes three magazines, maintains a World Wide Web site, and sponsors the annual Mythopoeic Conference and awards for fiction and scholarship, as well as local discussion groups.

The Best Children's Books Of The Year [2016 Edition], Bank Street College Of Education. Children's Book Committee

The Center for Children's Literature

Includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2015. In choosing books for the annual list, committee members consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.

The Best Children's Books Of The Year [2015 Edition], Bank Street College Of Education. Children's Book Committee

The Center for Children's Literature

Includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2014. In choosing books for the annual list, committee members consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.