English Language and Literature Commons^™

Threading The Needle: Teaching Critical Reading And Writing In The Age Of Ai, Emily A. Durham, Andrea A. Berta

Humanities

All instructors--but particularly instructors who must teach students specific disciplinary ways of reading and writing--face a difficult position with AI. Students will need to use AI in collegiate and professional writing, but using AI for assignments can hinder critical thinking skills crucial to analyzing and correcting AI output. This presentation demonstrates three practices from our developmental English classrooms: a critical reading and writing summary assignment, AI-resistant rubrics, and an exercise to help students evaluate AI-generated suggestions on how to review their work. These activities are designed to help students develop crucial AI-literacy skills to help them succeed in an increasingly …

Dispossession, Adoption, And (Dis)Inheritance: The Sympathetic Sublime In George Eliot’S Fiction, Beth Ann Jones

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation is to explore the promise and the peril of George Eliot’s sympathetic sublime in her fictional writing. To arrive at this designation for Eliot’s literary project, the dissertation synthesizes three distinct yet interconnected strands within Eliot scholarship: her emphasis on building absorbing sympathetic relationships between individuals, communities, and readers; her use of inheritance plots to develop the personalities and destinies of her protagonists; and her dependence upon the sublime aesthetic inherent in the poetry of William Wordsworth and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Edmund Burke, and Ludwig Feuerbach. Eliot’s drive to create sympathetic connections which …

Ideas For Papers Or Term Papers On John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy Of Dunces, The Occasional Series, Final Version, H. Vernon Leighton

Library Faculty Works

This document lists thirty-three ideas that the reader might use for the basis of a literary study of the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, or its author, John Kennedy Toole. Some ideas, such as the first few, are minor and might warrant a five-page undergraduate paper. Others, such as the final one, might warrant a peer-review article or a graduate thesis. These ideas were originally posted between 2010 and 2025 on the John Kennedy Toole Research blog by H. Vernon Leighton.

Lady Macbeth's Maternity And Morality, Lauren Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the ways in which adaptations of Lady Macbeth from the seventeenth century to modern day have functioned to vilify or redeem Lady Macbeth based on her connection with her maternity as well as on the contextual, cultural, and political opinions surrounding both a woman’s place in society and the importance of maternity. This thesis examines William D’Avenant’s 1674 stage adaptation of Macbeth, Han Tae-Sook’s 1998 stage adaptation Lady Macbeth, and Lisa Klein’s 2009 novel adaptation Lady Macbeth’s Daughter to capture a range of cultures and the evolution of the character.

The Best Children's Books Of The Year In Spanish [2025 Edition], Bank Street College Of Education. Children's Book Committee

The Center for Children's Literature

An annotated list of the best children's books in Spanish published or translated in 2024. In English and Spanish.

Spanish title: Spanish title: Los mejores libros infantiles del año 2025.

A Stout Heart And A Good Blade: An Examination And Reconsideration Of Éowyn In J.R.R. Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, Angela L. Loving

Children's Literature (MA) Theses

Using dramatic elements and patterns from the traditional literatures of his Northern European culture, including the Old English poem Beowulf and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, J.R.R. Tolkien tells an ancient tale anew in The Lord of the Rings, the tale of a dragon slain by an unlikely hero, in this case the Shield Maiden, Éowyn, and an even more unlikely assistant, a Hobbit named Merry.

Éowyn enters Tolkien’s complex narrative in the middle, where she is caught politically between the bright deeds of her ancestors and the darkness and doubt that surround her king and kin, caught geographically between the …

Muriel Rukeyser In Analysis: Body Of Waking, Elisabeth Däumer

Essays & Other Scholarship

In 1953, after the death of her mother Myra, Rukeyser began an analysis with Jungian analyst Frances G. Wickes and engaged in intentional, rigorous “work on the self” that culminated in the publication of Body of Waking, her first book of poems after a 10-year silence. Rukeyser captured parts of her work on the self in a detailed account of her analysis, included in The Inner World of Choice, Wickes’s third book (1963), which Rukeyser researched and anonymously co-wrote. Entitled “The X in the Calculation,” the chapter follows the case of an unnamed woman who suffered from debilitating …

Reading Through The Eyes Of Faith: Introducing A Catholic Literary Lens To The English Language Arts Classroom, Julia French, Michael Macaluso

Journal of Catholic Education

Despite the proliferation and use of literary lenses in English Language Arts classrooms, one lens still seems to be missing from theorization, formulation, and thus practical implementation: religion. This absence is well-noted in the field, as positive depictions of Christian themes in books are rare and religion is rarely discussed as an identity marker that fosters growth and development. This article attempts to address that absence in two ways: first by conceptualizing and developing a Catholic literary lens that could be used in middle and secondary classrooms and second by offering practical suggestions for using this Catholic lens in ELA …

Take Shrigley’S Word For It, Mary Gurley

MA Theses

This essay investigates the complexities of text-based art and contemporary conceptualism by focusing on David Shrigley’s work. By exploring the origins, evolution, and function of language-based practices, Take Shrigley’s Word for It emphasizes the artist’s use of text across various mediums, all of which occupy textual fields, blurring the line between commercial and fine art. Despite Shrigley’s extensive career, limited scholarship exists on his eccentric pairing of words and visuals, as well as his abundant spaces dedicated to sales. This paper also considers how Shrigley transformed the practice of text-based art by making it accessible and relatable to wide ranging …

The Art Of Masking And Performing For The Perfect Marriage In William Shakespeare’S The Taming Of The Shrew, Rita Oliva

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores how William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew exaggerates the art of masking and performing as necessary social techniques for women surviving the patriarchal culture of Padua. Through close analysis of Katherine and Bianca Minola, both sisters adopt performative identities, the “shrew” and the “ideal woman,” that reflect, resist, and expose the restrictive gender norms governing female behavior, qualifications for marriage, and worth. While Bianca’s apparent passivity and rhetorical femininity promote her to manipulate societal expectations to her advantage, Katherine’s refusal to submit to the societal and cultural standards of Padua results in her categorization of a …

Cather, Silko, Hunt: Rethinking Prosperity Twentieth-Century Explorations Of Interiority, Materiality, And Transcendence, Aileen Montoya

Dissertations and Theses

• Interiority
• Materiality
• Transcendence
• Prosperity
• Modernism
• Subjectivity
• Narrative Identity
• Spiritual Landscapes

All That May Become A Man: Dynamics Of Gender And Violence In Macbeth, Lauren M. Schuster

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The text of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is rife with the language of gender crisis, with the titular character and his wife struggling against the repressive nature of patriarchal gender norms. It is this conflict between individual gender expression and societal ideals of gender that underscores the play’s central conflict, with Lady Macbeth’s rejection of typical femininity as an inciting force for the murder of King Duncan and the chaos that follows. In my reading of Macbeth, I focus on the rhetoric of material sex and gender performativity. In doing so, I examine what such rhetoric suggests about the patriarchal structures …

L1 Chinese Learners’ Interlanguage Of English Infinitive And Gerund Verbal Complements, Sixin Qin

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research, following the Interlanguage Hypothesis (Selinker, 1972), examined L1 Chinese learners’ interlanguage of English infinitive and gerund constructions and probed into the psycholinguistic factors influencing the development of their interlanguage. The targeted verbs were verbs that can be followed by both infinitive and gerund complements, depending on the contexts, i.e., forget, remember, stop, and regret. A guided story oral production (GSOP) task and a semi-structured interview were conducted individually with 31 L1 Chinese learners, whose English proficiency was at an intermediate level. The results showcased that L1 Chinese learners’ interlanguage of English infinitives and gerunds was motivated by multiple …

A Monstrous [Un]-Becoming: Defining The Final Boy, Rhys Crumpton

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Through an exploration of horror theory, monster theory, queer theory, and disabilities studies, this thesis defines a 21st century archetype within the serial horror narrative, known as “the Final Boy.” This character is a manifestation of a queer, often neurodivergent man in peril at the hands of a monstrous society. This harmful socionormativity is narratively represented by a monster wearing the face of a man, one whom the Final Boy must subdue and overcome if he wishes to survive. The seven tenets found in this project highlight the fluctuating morality the Final Boy is forced to engage in per the …

True Crime Podcasts As A Scene Of Feminist Reckoning: A Comparative Analysis Of My Favorite Murder And Sistas Who Kill, Rachel C.C. Matteri

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research examines the cultural impact and ethical implications of true crime podcasts (TCPs). In recent years, TCPs have become a powerful cultural force, with White women often emerging as the primary storytellers and most visible participants in the genre. Their dominance in this space is not neutral and it carries representational weight. It explores the potential for feminist activity made possible by the auditory, self-publishing genre of podcasting. This work focuses on the buddy-comedy subgenre of TCPs. The concerns of this text are that TCPs are dominated by White feminist values and are not an intersectional feminist project. Textual …

The Experience Of Child Language Brokering In Latin/Hispanic Students: Understanding How Clb Shapes Attitudes Towards Higher Education, Noemi Maldonado

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Immigrants often pursuing a better life than that in their own places of birth migrate to the states. In order to make lives in the states they bring their families with them or begin to create their own already inside the host country. With little knowledge of the place, they arrive and with nothing more than the help of their children, they seek to find a place in the society they became a part of. Immigrant children or those who come from migrant families often must help their parents, caretakers, or extended family manage the English language and American culture …

Breaking Barriers: The First-Generation Experience In Pursuit Of The American Dream, Milagros Ortega

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project examines the common misconceptions surrounding First-Generation Latino college students and challenges the dominant narrative that portrays them as unprepared, unsupported, and unmotivated. Through narrative and content analysis of the short films, Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá and Turns in the Road, this project explores the overlapping challenges that complicate their educational journeys. These challenges, financial instability, lack of guidance, and sociocultural dissonance, represent three core barriers commonly faced by first-generation Latino college students. Guided by theoretical frameworks such as the Immigrant Optimism Hypothesis, W.E.B Du Bois’ theory of double consciousness, Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of Nepantla, and Yosso’s …

"Queens Of Ghost-Land" 134 Years Later: Un-Masking An Appalachian Witchcraft Accuser, Aíne Norris

English Faculty Publications

In 1891, newspapers across America printed a story about witches in the Appalachian Mountains and the alleged powers they possessed to control their small farming community. The article was scathing in accusation and ultimately contributed to continued othering of the women profiled, increasing their visible vulnerabilities of class, gender, and societal status. Despite an implied familiarity with the region, the article was published with initials for its byline, an act that simultaneously identified the author to locals as historian Eva Grant while offering her anonymized national protection as a subject expert. For over five years the accusations were re-printed in …

Queen: The Remaking Of Character In The Modernist Novel, Ann L. Wilson Green

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Virginia Woolf famously declared that, “on or about 1910 human character changed,” prompting her to call for a change in the way novelists depicted character. I study one such character, Queen Victoria, to trace how Woolf and James Joyce reimagined how to depict a historical figure in a novel. What is Queen Victoria in the Modernist novel and why does she begin to appear? She is a symptom and symbol of a problem the Modern writers were trying to work out. Despite having an ambivalent or even hostile relationship with the Queen, she is one of the most represented historical …

Tracing The Lines In Comics And Life: Genealogies And My Place Within Them, Audrey M. Loo

Honors Theses

My thesis is a hybrid English Lit/Creative Writing project on comics. The English Lit half is an Artist’s Statement comprised of scholarly research and both analytical and personal writing, and this work will necessarily inform and be informed by the Creative Writing half, in which I create my own comics.