“My Wonderful And Less Than”: The Inadequacy And Necessity Of Metaphor In Szybist’S Incarnadine,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
“My Wonderful And Less Than”: The Inadequacy And Necessity Of Metaphor In Szybist’S Incarnadine, Katherine Nelson
BYU English Symposium
Mary Szybist’s 2013 National Book Award–winning poetry collection, Incarnadine, re-envisions the encounter between Mary and the angel Gabriel, entering the same thematic space that early Annunciation artwork traditionally has in order to portray the human encountering the alien. In these poems, symbol systems—particularly metaphor and sometimes language itself—allow the speaker to approach understanding without full comprehension. In reexamining, rupturing, and recombining traditional elements of Annunciation representations and the respective tenets of Marian theology they signified, the poems in Incarnadine point to the persistent inadequacy but inescapable necessity of metaphor in the process of meaning-making. After briefly describing the history of …
Levinas’S “Face” And “Other” In The Idiot: Embodiment And Betrayal,
2015
Brigham Young University
Levinas’S “Face” And “Other” In The Idiot: Embodiment And Betrayal, Hannah Vinchur
BYU English Symposium
If we accept Vinokurov’s claim of the “series of face-to-face encounters,” then The Idiot should display Levinas’s principles, as well. In fact, of Dostoevsky’s works, The Idiot may be the best representative of Levinas’s theory of the face. By reading The Idiot through Levinas’s theory of the face and the responsibility it entails, we see that not only does Prince Myshkin perfectly embody the execution of Levinas’s theory, but the continued violation of this theory drives the plot of the novel. Additionally, Myshkin becomes a victim of others violating the face, as he is placed in a position in which, …
The Folks Of The Postapocalypse: The Road, Religion, And Folklore Studies,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
The Folks Of The Postapocalypse: The Road, Religion, And Folklore Studies, Megan M. Toone
BYU English Symposium
The postapocalyptic genre provides opportunity for examination of the most basic aspects of society considering this alone remains of humanity and culture after apocalyptic events. In a genre where much of societal structures and ideologies are lost, the destroyed concepts cannot adequately analyze postapoclayptic texts. Folklore—the study of human behavior and interaction including the communication and binding together of a individuals and groups—becomes necessary. When applying the revelatory aspect of the postapocalypse with the folkloric framework of analysis to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, religion comes to the forefront—not religion as expressed and understood by structured and mass religion, but …
Of Embers And Glass: A Cinderella Retelling,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
Of Embers And Glass: A Cinderella Retelling, Jenna Cooper
BYU English Symposium
People are often familiar with the Cinderella tales and retellings of a nearly-perfect, beautiful young woman, and yet think little of the fact that she subjected herself to being a servant for her family. For my master’s thesis, I wrote a Cinderella retelling featuring, Amelia, who is emotionally abused by her family, providing an explanation for her servitude with her low self-esteem. Cinderella is an ideal tale to retell in relation to finding one’s self-worth because of its rags-to-riches theme. While Amelia has a rags-to-riches tale of her own, the real wealth she acquires in the novel is realizing her …
The Treachery Of The Persistence Of Memory: An Analysis Of The Manipulative Narrator Of Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia",
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
The Treachery Of The Persistence Of Memory: An Analysis Of The Manipulative Narrator Of Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia", Chelsea Lee
BYU English Symposium
By taking a narrator-centric approach to Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Ligeia,” I analyze the story through the motif of memory and highlight the ways the narrator manipulates his memories to serve his dark desires. Concluding that the resuscitated Ligeia at the end of the narrative is merely a projection, and the Ligeia we are presented with throughout the narrative does not exist outside of the narrator’s memory. I argue that the narrator uses his manipulations of memory to set himself up as the god of his narrative, which reconciles the events of the story with the Glanvill epigraph that …
Wild Tongues In Education: Anzaldúa, Linguistic Oppression, And Power Culture,
2015
Brigham Young University
Wild Tongues In Education: Anzaldúa, Linguistic Oppression, And Power Culture, Alexandra Harker
BYU English Symposium
The issue of educating immigrants who do not speak English as their first language has been an extremely heated topic for decades. The American education system has chosen to deal with this issue in various ways, including the controversial English Only movement that has been implemented for some time in Arizona as well as other states. This research paper explores how linguistic oppression has occurred and continues to occur in the American education system using Gloria Anzaldúa's piece "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" as a primary resource. Anzaldúa's firsthand experiences with the American education system as well as the …
The Power Of Speech: Speech-Recognition Software In The Writing Process,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
The Power Of Speech: Speech-Recognition Software In The Writing Process, Lauren Fine
BYU English Symposium
The relationship between speaking and writing, specifically how speech can help us improve writing, has been discussed extensively by composition scholars (Leander and Prior 2004; Elbow 2012). However, little empirical research has been done to support these theories of how speech affects writing. In this paper, I report on a preliminary study I performed to discover this connection, specifically looking at how speech-recognition software could be used to help inexperienced writers overcome problems like writer’s block or unnatural phrasing. By having students compose aloud for 15 minutes and then interviewing them about the process, I learned that speech recognition software …
Timshel: The Monomyth In East Of Eden,
2015
BYU
Timshel: The Monomyth In East Of Eden, Nikkita Walker
BYU English Symposium
Steinbeck’s East of Eden utilizes mythical and Biblical stories to create an allegorical bridge to understanding what he considered the fundamental story of mankind - man's conscious mastery of himself. Joseph Campbell, a literary theorist and contemporary with Steinbeck elaborated on this same concept in 1949 in his work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, wherein he posited that, universally, the story at the heart of mythology is an awareness of the human ability to consciously act. Steinbeck’s East of Eden acts as a contemporary myth through which Steinbeck communicates the eternal myth he considered the “one story in …
Redefining Atonement In The Eco-Dystopian World Of Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
Redefining Atonement In The Eco-Dystopian World Of Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake, Rachel Gilman
BYU English Symposium
What if there was no God? Margaret Atwood’s Oryx & Crake infiltrates a faithful reader’s mind to consider her eco-dystopian world with this question in mind. From a perspective of faith in God and in atonement, considering this dystopian world becomes an exercise in placing human identity in the context of self-creation and self-destruction rather than in divine origin. Without a spiritual genesis of animals and the natural environment, their purpose becomes more dictated by the progress of human need and their end becomes less intertwined with the fate of humanity. Characters that act as creators and destroyers who are …
Alive And Human: Situating Wallace, Lethem, And Russell In Contemporary Fiction,
2015
Illinois State University
Alive And Human: Situating Wallace, Lethem, And Russell In Contemporary Fiction, Carissa Kampmeier
Theses and Dissertations
This project will attempt to provide an outline of some of the most salient constructions of present-day literary fiction, where those constructions might overlap or conflict, and how various contemporary authors and their works might usefully fit within those constructions. This project will argue that fiction-writers following postmodernism are presented with a unique problem of how to write fiction in a way that acknowledges the problems of using language as a primary meaning-making structure without falling down a linguistic rabbit hole where a text ceases to be about anything other than itself. Beginning with David Foster Wallace, this project will …
Politics And Theology Of Flannery O’Connor: How They Coincide In “Everything That Rises Must Converge”,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
Politics And Theology Of Flannery O’Connor: How They Coincide In “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, Baylee Vasquez
BYU English Symposium
Michael L. Schroeder fastidiously argues that because O’Connor’s “Everything that Rises Must Converge” focuses on the dynamics of a relationship between a self-righteous white liberal and his “racist but not malicious” mother, it is a political parable reflecting O’Connor’s beliefs about the shared racial responsibility of the civil rights movement (Schroeder 45). However, he neglects the story’s important religious underpinnings, therefore failing to grasp O’Connor’s underlying attitude about the issues of desegregation and civil rights, and also the necessary juxtaposition between Christian values with racial tolerance. Through characterization and imagery, O’Connor shows that the ideals of racial equality and individual …
Memory—Midnight’S Children’S Locus Of Truth,
2015
Brigham Young University
Memory—Midnight’S Children’S Locus Of Truth, Brittany Strobelt
BYU English Symposium
This paper explores truth as it applies to Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, particularly how memory--a fallible human reconstruction of experience--conveys truth. I do so by drawing a parallel between memory and philosophy; whereas the French philosopher Alain Badiou sees philosophy as a locus for truth, I see memory as a locus for truth. Both philosophy and memory as locii of truth create spaces in which truth can expand, can go beyond fact, and can be deeper. I further strengthen the importance of imperfect memory's usage as a locus for truth by relating it to Rushdie's use of magical realism.
The Blind Can See: Revisiting Disability In Jane Eyre,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
The Blind Can See: Revisiting Disability In Jane Eyre, Gina Schneck
BYU English Symposium
Scholars have often criticized Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre for its antiquated approach to disability. However, these scholars tend to focus on physical or biological disability without delving into the possibility of metaphorical disability (such as Jane's naiveté). By looking at disability as both literal and figurative, we can see how both Jane and Edward are blind, and that their story is one of learning to see through breaking down the binaries associated with blindness and disability.
The “Wonderment” Of Oz: Theosophy And Religious Leadership In Oz,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
The “Wonderment” Of Oz: Theosophy And Religious Leadership In Oz, Heather M. White
BYU English Symposium
Too often when analyzing L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Baum’s spiritual beliefs are not applied to perceiving the meaning behind the novel. I argue that Baum’s belief in the spiritual movement of Theosophy is imbued throughout the novel to show how one cannot rely on corrupt religious leaders and must have a personal connection with spiritualism. Through these aspects of Theosophy in the novel, Baum exhibits how to attain one’s potential through personal spirituality. I continue on to explain how the novel and Theosophy have a symbiotic relationship: the novel outlines Theosophy in a more easily understood …
“I Could Do With Less Caressing”: Sexual Abuse In The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall,
2015
Brigham Young University
“I Could Do With Less Caressing”: Sexual Abuse In The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Andrew S. Doub
BYU English Symposium
Anne Brontë’s 1848 novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall has long been called a seminal text in the feminist literary canon. Although a fair amount of recent scholarship has been written on the element of domestic violence found within its pages, most critics concede that Brontë stops short of depicting actual physical abuse between Helen Huntingdon and her husband Arthur. However, this paper suggests that scholars have overlooked Helen’s explicit reports of being sexually assaulted by her husband and their significance. By including the element in her story, Brontë entered her description of marital sexual abuse into the public discourse …
Evil Deity: How White Racist Christians Made God Bad,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
Evil Deity: How White Racist Christians Made God Bad, William Guajardo
BYU English Symposium
Zora Neille Hurston, Stephan Haynes, and Langston Hughes address African-American literature’s relation to traditional, Christian, white-American beliefs. Black literature consistently shows a deep distrust of Christian teachings due to the historic attempts to force blacks into an oppressive ideology of willing servitude. The pressure to conform to an antagonistic religion produced various reactions from African-Americans, including: assimilation, subversion, and even rejection of white Christian beliefs. These black authors struggle to come to terms with a seemingly empty religion thrust upon them by a hostile and oppressive racial force driven by a biased, white-master-favoring god (lower-case). They are unable to find …
A Man Of This Time: Memory And Sheriff Bell’S First-Person Narratives In Cormac Mccarthy’S No Country For Old Men,
2015
Brigham Young University
A Man Of This Time: Memory And Sheriff Bell’S First-Person Narratives In Cormac Mccarthy’S No Country For Old Men, Marie-Reine Pugh
BYU English Symposium
Critics often focus on the violence in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. But the function of memory in Sheriff Bell’s first-person narratives has yet to be examined. Bell may claim to be defeated by the events of the story and the changing times, but the structure of the novel bespeaks a greater importance: his voice marks the beginning and ending of the novel, of each new chapter. His narratives reveal the struggle between his collective and personal memories. In the end, Bell is able to settle in a less conflicted place mediated by his closest relations—his family—where he …
Seeing And Not Believing: A Critique Of Post-Civil War America’S Loss Of Faith Through A Spectral Medium,
2015
Brigham Young University - Provo
Seeing And Not Believing: A Critique Of Post-Civil War America’S Loss Of Faith Through A Spectral Medium, Alan J. Hickey
BYU English Symposium
This paper examines the use of ghosts in three pieces of post-Civil War American literature, namely, Herman Melville's Clarel, Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, and Robert Frost's "Ghost House." Specifically, I use Srdjan Smajic's critical theories on ghosts to formally analyze how these authors use aspects of ghost-seeing to critique science's dependence on empirical evidence. I find that ghosts in these pieces of literature serve as a tool to question the maxim, "seeing is believing," showing that empirical evidence should not overshadow faith.
Images Of Horror: Tracing Frankenstein’S Fear-Myth Through Comic Books And Graphic Novels,
2015
Brigham Young University
Images Of Horror: Tracing Frankenstein’S Fear-Myth Through Comic Books And Graphic Novels, Audra Coleman
BYU English Symposium
When compiling information for my presentation, I found that there were many different visual representations of Frankenstein’s monster. While these differed in a few ways, each depiction of the monster’s physical body still traced its roots back to the original novel. Each new artist still attempted to create a bodily image that invokes a specific fear: mainly that what we fear the most are our own bodies. In my essay, I explore these various ways the visual representation of Frankenstein’s monster both represents this fear-myth and creates new images for the monster. Due to their heavy visuals and tradition of …
What Of "Kubla Khan"?,
2015
Brigham Young University
What Of "Kubla Khan"?, Pablo I. Tapia
BYU English Symposium
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, "Kubla Khan," tends to avoid interpretation. Years of scholarship have approached the poem differently, and many critics have dismissed Coleridge's "Preface" to the poem, stating it is merely an explanation for the poem's incompleteness. This paper looks over several popular interpretations of the poem, but it attempts to establish the the "Preface" has become part of the poem, not only for its description of the conditions the poem was written in, but also for Coleridge's process of creating poetry. Although some of the popular approaches shed light on bits and pieces of the poem, they fail …
