Digital Commons Network^™

On The Instability Of Disciplinary Style: Common And Conflicting Metaphors And Practices In Text, Talk, And Gesture, Andrea R. Olinger

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This article explores how three writers in ecology understand and enact a disciplinary writing style. To accomplish this, it draws on theoretical approaches to style from sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, as well as analyses of drafts of coauthored texts and video-recorded literacy history and discourse-based interviews. This study finds that metaphor and embodied actions such as gestures are valuable sites for comparing writers’ stylistic understandings and practices. The three writers expressed broad agreement when describing the qualities of good scientific writing, using similar verbal and gestural metaphors, such as Communication as Journey and entailments of the Conduit Metaphor. Yet in …

‘My Freedom Is A Privilege Which Nothing Else Can Equal’: The Life And Writings Of Venture Smith And Phillis Wheatley, American Slaves, Donald Holmes Ii

Honors Theses

Slavery in the United States was an evolving institution that lasted nearly 400 years. To understand the colonial era of slavery within the United States, I examine the life and times of Venture Smith, as documented in his autobiography, A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, A Native of Africa (1798), and that of Phillis Wheatley using The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley (1988). Both Smith and Wheatley were African-born slaves brought to America during the eighteenth century. In Smith’s narrative, he concludes by proclaiming “my freedom is a privilege which nothing else can equal” (31). This statement …

Don’T You Be Telling Me How Tah Talk: Education, Ebonics, And Code-Switching, Laquita N. Gresham

Honors Theses

Ebonics, currently referred to as African-American English (AAE), is a highly-controversial topic inside and outside of the classroom. Many educators, scholars, and legislators debate how teachers should approach students who speak AAE and how they can fill the gap between African-American English and Standard English in a way that disbands the dialectal prejudices that may exist. This thesis focuses on code-switching as a pedagogical tool to help teachers instruct Black students in mastering Standard English on a proficient level, particularly Black students who speak AAE. This study explores current problems and practices in the way that English teachers approach AAE …

The Diathesis-Stress Model Of Corruption By The Ruling Ring: Nature, Power, And Exposure In J. R. R. Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, Faith R. Holley

Student Scholarship

In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the One Ring seems to exert power over some characters more than others. Though these differences could seem like an oversight or a lack of continuity, they also offer the opportunity to examine the effects of the differential power of the Ring. If the Ring is addictive, as Tom Shippey claims in The Road to Middle Earth, then it is possible to examine the etiology of addiction to the Ring (126). In this thesis, I present a psychological reading of Tolkien that relies on a modern psychological theory, namely the …

A Posture Of Removal: Mary Rowlandson’S Location, Position, And Displacement, Aaron Cloyd

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Drawing on work from autobiographical studies that distinguishes between but correlates position and location, this paper examines Mary Rowlandson’s situatedness in The Sovereignty and Goodness of God and argues that she is a figure of removal and displacement. Although Rowlandson seeks to position herself through voice, actions, and text, such expressions of agency occur within the locating structures of culture, expectation, and memory. The resultant tension between self- positioning and other-locating leaves Rowlandson perpetually removed as she is unable to fully reposition herself within any significant site.

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

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

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

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

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.

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

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Pillaging Middle-Earth: Self-Plagiarism In Smith Of Wootton Major, Josh B. Long

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

Examines the fraught concept of “self-plagiarism” in Tolkien’s works. Self-plagiarism or self-borrowing is something more than just repeating themes and motifs throughout one’s literary career, and Long details examples of scenes, dialogue, character traits, and so on echoing from one work to another, with particular attention to The Lord of the Rings and Smith of Wootton Major.

Movin' On Up: Sodomy In Service In The White Devil, Kevin Brown, Joanne Diaz, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Renaissance England was marked by change. From the late 15^th century through the early 17^th century, the social atmosphere in England was thrown out of order. The rise of the middle class gave people money who weren’t supposed to have money. This deteriorated the established hierarchies of the time, blurring the lines between classes. Critics of John Webster’s The White Devil (1612) have yet to address these issues in conjunction with the homoerotic tones throughout the play. Webster is using sodomy as a trope to illuminate how mobility in service is a destructive, chaotic force. By exploring these …

April 11, 2014: Where Is The Neil Degrasse Tyson Of The Humanities?, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

April 8, 2014: Bradburn To Participate In Neh Seminar, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Out Of Bounds: Contemporary English Studies, University Of North Florida

English Graduate Organization Conference

No abstract provided.

April 5, 2014: Wright Lecture Wraps Up Speakers Series, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of The Villain In American Cinema, Kelsey Mcclure

Honors Projects in English and Cultural Studies

The villain character has evolved greatly throughout American cinema. Post World War II, the evolution is most striking by comparing films from the 1950s, 1970s, and 2000s. With a selection of four movies from each respective decade, the villains will be contrasted to identify any similarities and differences across decades to determine if the political environment has an impact on the way in which the villain character is portrayed.

Objective:

The purpose of this project was for me to determine if villains were constructed based on views of the American people at the times in which the films were created. …

Teaching Grammar-In-Context In College Writing Instruction: An Update On The Research Literature, Zak Lancaster, Andrea R. Olinger

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Does grammar instruction help to improve students’ writing? Should writing instructors focus on grammar in first-year composition or other university-level writing courses? These questions persist among writing professionals despite a long tradition of research-based conclusions that explicit grammar instruction has no effect or even a harmful effect on students’ writing development (e.g., Braddock, Lloyd-Jones, and Schoer, 1963; Harris, 1962; Hillocks, 1986; McQuade, 1980; Wyse, 2001).

These conclusions, of course, have had considerable influence on writing scholars’ views of grammar instruction. Some writing scholars, furthermore, have found theoretical backing for the case against grammar instruction in the linguist Stephen Krashen’s argument …

Volume 06, Kristen Gains, Amanda Willis, Holly Backer, Monika Gutierrez, Cara O'Neal, Sara Nelson, Sasha Silberman, Jessica Beardsley, Jamie Gardner, Edward Peeples, Matthew Sakach, Tess Lione, Emily Wilkins, Kelsey Holt, Jessica Page, Jamie Clift, Charles Vancampen, Gilbert Hall, Jenny Nehrt, Kasey Dye, Amanda Tharp, Jamie Leeuwrik, Ashley Mcgee, Emily Poulin, Michael Kropf, Nick Pastore, Austin Polasky, Morgan Glasco, Laura L. Kahler, Melinda L. Edwards, Brandon C. Smith, Mariah Asbell, Cabell Edmunds, Amelia D. Perry, Alyssa Hayes, Irina Boothe, Perry Bason, James Early

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Caught Between Folklore and the Cold War: The Americanization of Russian Children's Literature by Kristen Gains

Graphic Design by Amanda Willis

Graphic Design by Holly Backer

Prejudices in Swiss German Accents by Monika Gutierrez

Photography by Cara O'Neal

Photography by Sara Nelson

Edmund Tyrone's Long Journey through Night by Sasha Silberman

Photography by Jessica Beardsley

Photography by Jamie Gardner and Edward Peeples

The Republican Razor: The Guillotine as a Symbol of Equality by Jamie Clift

Graphic Design by Matthew Sakach

Genocide: The Lasting Effects of Gender Stratification in Rwanda By Tess Lione and Emily …

Developing Social Consciousness Through Multicultural Young Adult Literature, Megan R. Abbate

Honors Theses

In this study, the novels We Were Here and Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, works which feature male protagonists struggling tolocate their multicultural identities, will be analyzed. This research will legitimize the use of multicultural young adult literature, specifically these three texts, in the classroom, despite the presence of controversial themes. This research will demonstrate the value of these texts due to their potential to foster social consciousness and aid the establishment of identity within a global context. This thesis will demonstrate ways in which young …

Teaching The Writing Methods Course: A Multiple Case Study Of Teachers’ Professional Journeys, Teaching Contexts, Theoretical Frames, And Courses, Kristin A. K. Sovis

Dissertations

This study, situated within the fields of English education and writing teacher education, illustrates not only what is happening in writing methods courses but why in its examination of writing methods courses and instructor influences. The writing methods course is identified by English educators and writing teacher educators as “pivotal” in K-12 English teacher preparation, and the purpose of this study is to better understand multiple versions of this course and how teacher influences affect the design and implementation of the course (Grossman, 1990; Smagorinsky and Whiting, 1995; McCann, 2005).

This study builds upon scholarship that explores individual versions of …

“(Who Discovered) America”: Ozomatli And The Mestiz@ Rhetoric Of Hip Hop, Cruz Medina

English

This article examines the rhetoric of Mexican-American hip hop through the analysis of the music by the multicultural hip hop fusion band, Ozomatli, from Los Angeles. The objective is to examine how Ozomatli performs linguistic, epistemic, and musical-rhetorical border crossing that provokes cultural and social consciousness. As a cross-cultural site of analysis, Ozomatli embodies cultural mestizaje, mestiza consciousness, and mestiz@ rhetoric that illuminates social justice issues beneath surface-level beats and rhythms. Appointed cultural ambassadors by the U.S. government, Ozomatli navigates dominant systems of power while performing music that contests hegemony. Their mestiz@ hip hop draws from diverse musical traditions like …

The Enchantments Of Circe: Translation Studies And The English Renaissance, Joshua S. Reid

ETSU Faculty Works

Book review of:

Barker, S. K. and Brenda M. Hosington, eds. Renaissance Cultural Crossroads: Translation, Print and Culture in Britain, 1473-1640. Boston: Brill, 2013. xxix + 253 pp. ISBN 978-9004241848. $146.00 cloth.

Braden, Gordon, Robert Cummings, and Stuart Gillespie, eds. The Oxford History of Literary Translation in English, Volume 2: 1550-1660. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. xiii + 599 pp. ISBN 978-0199246212. $250.00 cloth.

Hosington, Brenda et al. Renaissance Cultural Crossroads Catalog: An Analytical and Annotated Catalogue of Translations, 1473-1640. ISBN 978-0955787652.

Reynolds, Matthew. The Poetry of Translation: From Chaucer & Petrarch to Homer & Logue. Oxford: Oxford UP, …

Dionysus Torn To Pieces: An Examination Of The Sound And The Fury In Light Of The Philosophy Of Friedrich Nietzsche, Scott R. Dubree

Student Publications

Over the course of this thesis the author considers the problem of truth in life as manifested in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury by means of the Nietzschean conception of the Dionysian. The examination unfolds in a sequential analysis of the novel’s four sections, an analysis framed by Nietzsche’s four theses on “‘Reason’ in Philosophy:” the author considers the first section (Ben) symbolic of man’s subversion to what is directly before his eyes, and yet discovers in Ben’s idiocy a refutation of that same apparent reality in a presently-realized past, personified in Ben’s sister, Caddy; the bounds and …

March 30, 2014: Nagle Presents On Queer Theory In The 18th Century, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

March 29, 2014: Maisha Winn Visit A Success, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

March 23, 2014: Maisha Winn Visit To Wmu, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

March 19, 2014: New Issue Of Comparative Drama, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

March 18, 2014: Grad Student Featured In New Publication From The Newberry, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Linguistic Vomit Ferments The Brain: Exploring The Boundaries Of Narratives, Katherine Dubois

Theses and Dissertations

Our minds require binaries to process and categorize information. A given piece of knowledge is either true or false. It helps us to process narratives as fiction or nonfiction. Narratives are neither wholly true or wholly false. Rather the borders that separate them are artificially constructed. By breaking down these barriers, authors break the traditional scheme for understanding literature, but they also lead us to question why the author is making the choices. The confusion leads to a constructive questioning of the purpose of the breakdown. Through this we develop a means of examining experimental narratives..