English Language and Literature Commons^™

From Flapper To Philosopher: F. Scott Fitzgerald’S Hidden Cultural Evaluations Of American Society In “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” “The Passionate Eskimo,” “May Day,” And “The Hotel Child”, Lesley Brooks

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the treatment of Native American and Jewish American characters in four of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories: “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (1920), “The Passionate Eskimo” (1935), “May Day” (1930), and “The Hotel Child” (1931). Little critical attention has been given to these stories even though they illustrate Fitzgerald’s awareness of the negative ramifications of culturally destructive views and an exploration of new culturally pluralistic ideas. In these stories, Fitzgerald undermines common ethnic stereotypes and demonstrates tension between the intolerance of the American public and the fear of immigrant influence. Fitzgerald is able to re-image the representation of …

Student Engagement And Action In Classroom And Community: Place-Based Education And Social Action For The High-Achieving Student, Rachel M. Jank

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This paper briefly discusses the work done in a college-preparatory, Senior English class to combat the disengagement present in many educational institutions. This disconnect does not allow for learning retention and, therefore, does not allow for students to apply the moment of learning to life outside of the secondary classroom. The work I do is based off of Jessica Singer Early, Bruce Bigelow, Linda Christensen, and many other master teachers who work with the educational designs of Place Consciousness and Social Action within their respective classrooms. The theories of John Dewey and Paulo Freire suggest that a non-traditional style of …

April 24, 2014: Shakespeare's Jewish Women, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Sehnsucht, Dena Ten Pas

Theses & Honors Papers

Sehnsucht is German, referring to a longing or yearning, sometimes further qualified as the longing for something unknown or something that will never be possible.

American Slave Narratives And The Book Of Job: Frederick Douglass’S And Nat Turner’S Quests For Scriptural Authority And Authenticity, Hattie Francis

Theses and Dissertations

Slave narratives influenced nineteenth-century American religious culture and history; through the slave narrative, modern readers experience the African-American struggle for freedom and personhood in the antebellum South. While the slave narrative stimulated identity- formation, once identity was formed a narrator fought for authority and control of that identity throughout their narrative. This struggle for control is present in the narratives of Frederick Douglass and Nat Turner. Due to each slave’s religious allusions, African-American literary scholars repeatedly link Douglass and Turner to biblical books such as Jonah and Ezekiel. However, this thesis will examine Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the life of …

Emerging Themes In Dystopian Literature: The Development Of An Undergraduate Course, Devin Ryan

Honors Theses

Young adult (YA) dystopian literature is a trend that is taking the nation by storm. Since September 11, 2001, the genre has gained a strong backing from academics, authors, and YA readers; after Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (2008), however, YA dystopian literature has become the forefront of teen reading, especially with the recently adapted film versions of the widely renowned trilogy. In order to keep up with the times, a proposed course—YA Dystopian Literature: A Survey of Modern Book Series—has been created to be taught at Western Michigan University by Dr. Gwen Tarbox in the spring of 2015.

Before …

A Postmortem On Nanowrimo: Analyzing The Creative Process Of Writing Under Time Constraints, Mary Westveer

Honors Theses

This honors thesis project delves into the creative writing process of writing under time constraints. The time constrain employed for my thesis was National Novella Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which is an international online writing contest where authors join in and attempt to write a 50,000 word story in the month of November. The purpose of attempting such a feat was to see how limited time constraints affect creative writing. This thesis analyzes how narrative, character development, description, diction, dialogue and many other creative elements faired when striving to write 50,000 words in a month. This thesis dissects how the creative …

April 21, 2014: The Newberry Center For Renaissance Studies Presents, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Buffalo Bill’S Wild West And Cultural Ambassadorship, Robert Polo, Dr. Frank Christianson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

On Thursday, March 31, 1887, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody left New York aboard “The State of Nebraska.” He headed for England along with the Wild West, a band of “more than two hundred men and animals, consisting of Indians, cowboys…Mexican wild riders, celebrated rifle shots,” and various forms of livestock (Cody 18). This voyage to the motherland represented a new chapter in the showman’s life. His alleged triumphs as Colonel William Frederick Cody, guide and scout, did not compare to the potential victories on the new frontier of his career: England.

Reader Self-Perception And Mobile Technology, T. Jace Brown, Dr. Dawan Coombs

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The rate of technological advancement can seem dizzying, particularly for teachers who feel tasked with helping students learn about this technology. As technologies like the personal computer, the Internet and, now, smart phones and tablets, have become more powerful and more affordable, teachers have felt increasing pressure to incorporate these devices into classrooms as a way of preparing students for the future workplace.

Likewise Folio: A New Journal Of Contemporary American Poetry, Kylan Rice, Conner Bassett, Dr. Susan Howe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In a socially mediated age marked by competing identity politics, fractured and proliferating interests, and streamlined global connectivity, networking and community-building have become invaluable components of any venture /career goal. This is as true for lawyers or politicians as it is for poets and artists. The old adage, “it’s who you know,” is continuously validated and proven in job markets, in graduate schools, and in other sectors of the career-oriented world. To this end, Conner Bassett and I have used the funding provided us by an ORCA grant not only to expand the reach of our small online poetry journal, …

April 20, 2014: Award-Winning Writer Yoko Tawada Reading At Wmu, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

April 17, 2014: Newberry Graduate Scholar-In-Residence Opportunity!, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

False Enthusiasms: Pacifist Plays In The Pre-World War Ii Theater, Robert L. Mclaughlin

Faculty Publications – English

No abstract provided.

A Rare Species In The Midwest, Ruben Quesada

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

April 16, 2014: Nigerian Writer Chika Unigwe Visits Wmu, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Engl 100a: Writing Competency Through Genres Textbook Alternatives, Stacey Knapp

Textbook Alternatives Project Posters 2014

Poster summarizing cost saving textbook alternatives for ENGL 100A: Writing Competency Through Genres.

Jan Powers, Professor Emerita Of Interdisciplinary Studies And Women, Gender, And Sexuality Studies, Musselman Library, Janet M. Powers

Next Page

In this new Next Page column, Jan Powers, Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies shares her thoughts on what makes a great novel and where she believes the best literature in the English-speaking world comes from.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

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

No abstract provided.

Divine Surgeons At Work: The Presence And Purpose Of The Dream Vision In Till We Have Faces, Erin K. Wagner

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

Studies the metamorphosis of Orual, the main character of C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, under the “divine surgery” of the dream-visions sent by the gods.