Digital Commons Network^™

The Making Of Monsters: Creativity And Morality In Gothic Novels Frankenstein And The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Elisa Klaassen

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study examined Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which foreshadows the Victorian period, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, which reflects on it. The two novels are both monster stories that share many similarities, including themes of creativity and morality. However, the two novels are distinctly different in surprising ways. This thesis serves as an examination of their differing treatments of creativity and morality. In its examination, it reveals the ways in which Shelley couples these themes, foreshadowing Victorianism, while Wilde decouples them, reflecting and refracting on Victorian themes. Thus, this study reveals some of the major cultural changes that …

Margins Of The City: Urban Masculinity And Identity Politics In British Social-Realist Queer Cinema, Yi Li

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation identifies and analyzes a history of queer politics and identities in British realist cinema from the early 1960s to the 2010s. Focusing primarily on filmmakers Sidney J. Furie, Stephen Frears, Hettie MacDonald, and Andrew Haigh, it traces British queer maleness of the working class by tracking its changing representations and demonstrates how urban cinematic realism proves central to British definitions of masculinity. The first chapter investigates how foundational films of the British New Wave address social inequalities as consequences of class and sexuality to consider how they embraced a sexual frankness and realism with coded and decoded homoeroticism. …

The Upstart Peril In The Nineteenth-Century English Novel, Lydia Craig

Dissertations

Responding to the French Revolution (1789-1799) with his widely read text Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), conservative Whig politician Edmund Burke influentially accused an ambitious bourgeoisie of inciting the lower classes to revolt against the aristocracy and Bourbon dynasty. He also insinuated that only the class hierarchy and feudal respect prevented a similar upstart peril in England from occasioning revolution. For the English middle classes, this demonization of upstarts, or parvenus posed an ideological challenge to their public consolidation as a political and cultural force. Bourgeois authors from Jane Austen to Charles Dickens utilized an upstart rivalry device …

College Skills Syllabus, Sheridan F. Honore

Open Educational Resources

The goal of these courses is to prepare students to meet the rigorous academic demands that they will encounter when they begin taking courses for credit at Lehman College. This course prepares students by giving them a strong foundation in writing, reading comprehension, speaking, listening comprehension and the fundamentals of English grammar.

Interlingual Morphology And Wakean Topology, Stephen Valeri

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

As an example of limit literature (literature that exhausts the entirety of what is possible in a given form), Finnegans Wake has been an inspiration for the theories of figures like Kristeva and Derrida to reveal the structural and linguistic operations of texts generally. In defamiliarizing the processes of word formation, the Wake compels us to attend to morphology’s structuring role in a work. My project focuses on Phillipe Sollers and Stephen Heath’s French translation of part of the concluding section of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake to observe how the attempt to approximate Joyce’s interlingual morphology in translation contributes to …

The Moxon Tennyson : A Landmark In Victorian Illustration, Simon Cooke

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

A new perspective on a book that transformed Victorian illustration into a stand-alone art.

Edward Moxon’s 1857 edition of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Poems dramatically redefined the relationship between images and words in print. Cooke’s study, the first book to address the subject in over 120 years, presents a sweeping analysis of the illustrators and the complex and challenging ways in which they interpreted Tennyson’s poetry. This book considers the volume’s historical context, examining in detail the roles of publisher, engravers, and binding designer, as well as the material difficulties of printing its fine illustrations, which recreate the effects of painting. …

A Field Guide To The Poetry Of Theodore Roethke, William Barillas

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

A constellation of essays that reanimates the work of this pivotal twentieth-century American poet for a new century.

This volume is the first to reconsider Roethke’s work in terms of the expanded critical approaches to literature that have emerged since his death in 1963. Editor William Barillas and over forty contributors, including highly respected literary scholars, critics, and writers such as Peter Balakian, Camille Paglia, Jay Parini, and David Wojahn, collectively make a case for Roethke’s poetry as a complete, unified, and evolving body of work. The accessible essays employ a number of approaches, including formalism, ecocriticism, reader-response, and feminist …

Madness And Sanity: Wisdom Of Madmen And The Wise Men Madness In The 19th Century, Norah Roudhan

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This research is based on a careful examination of the concept of insanity and reason. In addition to mentioning some examples from the nineteenth century in the literature to illustrate how each of them used the concept of insanity. Despite the different reason for describing each of the above names and personalities as insane, through analyzes and questions posed it becomes clear that insanity in the end may have a different meaning from what today’s concept represent. The research concludes with the main reason behind the presentation of literature to some famous figures of insanity in a manner that reflects …

Educating For Global Competence: Co-Constructing Outcomes In The Field: An Action Research Project, Kristina A. Van Winkle

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Capacity building for globally competent educators is a 21st Century imperative to address contemporary complex and constantly changing challenges. This action research project is grounded in positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship, relational cultural theory, and relational leadership practices. It sought to identify adaptive challenges educators face as they try to integrate globally competent teaching practices into their curricula, demonstrate learning and growth experienced by the educators in this project, and provide guidance and solutions to the challenges globally competent educators face. Six educators participated in this three-phase project, which included focus groups, reflective journal entries, and an exit interview. Data …

"I Think You Should Come Home": On Haunted Houses And Family Secrets, Sydni Masiello

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

None provided

Reproduction Or Replication? Deconstructing The Myth Of Maternal Glorification In Sexton's "Those Times" And "The Double Image", Kaila Sivan Finn

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis’s interpretation of “The Double Image” and “Those Times” explores the reproduction of gender norms between mother and daughter. These poems imagine motherhood as a rather grim replication of body image issues, lack of self-identity, and the internalization of sacrifice. When considering both the context of the 1950s as well as our current moment, the grotesquity of Sexton’s description of motherhood is particularly shocking. The renaissance of women in domestic roles troubled Sexton’s poetry and Sexton herself. Therefore, in considering these poems’ impacts on American culture, it is critical to imagine how shocking such a grotesque portrayal of “domestic …

What Man Artow?: An Exploration Of The Narrator Of The Canterbury Tales, Kimberly Cavalier

Honors Program Theses

“Also I prey yow to foryeve it me, / Al have I nat set folk in hir degree / Here in this tale, as that they sholde stonde; / My wit is short, ye may wel understonde” (Chaucer 35). These are the words written by Geoffrey Chaucer, who is considered the father of English literature, in the prologue to The Canterbury Tales, a work that has survived and remained relevant for over six hundred years. The juxtaposition of a man whose writing turned him into a household name begging his audience to forgive his short wit and lack of …

Phonology And Fluency: How Pronunciation Is (And Is Not) Taught In United States Esl Classrooms, Nik Hucke

Honors Program Theses

This thesis examines how explicit pronunciation instruction affects the ability to learn, understand, and produce English in non-native speakers, and how their teachers approach that instruction. The goal is to create a general overview of pronunciation teaching practices currently in use in K-12 English as a second language (ESL) classrooms in the United States and to gauge the general attitudes and approaches towards pronunciation instruction of ESL teachers. This will help create a picture of the current state of ESL pronunciation instruction in the United States, investigate the best ways to teach pronunciation as a part of a general ESL …

Possessive Structures And Genitive Case: Spanish And English Compared, Elizabeth Kelsey

Honors Program Theses

Although possessive constructions are formed differently in Spanish as compared to English, most notably through the insertion of the preposition de as compared to the Saxon genitive ‘s, both languages require that possessive Ɵ-roles must be assigned and possessive Case must be checked when possessive constructions are formed. This research follows authors such as Picallo (1994), Antrim (2003), and Bernstein (2005) to propose that possessive Ɵ-roles and possessive Case are assigned and checked, respectively, by specific, separate functional projections, which are only generated in instances of a possessive relationship. Using the principles of minimalism, examples of Spanish and …

Trouble Brewing: An Exploration In Parasocial Relationships With Fictional Characters, Isabelle Zeimetz

Honors Program Theses

In the 1940s and 1950s, television and radio had taken over as the dominant form of media (Understanding Media and Culture: an Introduction to Mass Communication). Anthropologist Donald Horton and sociologist R. Wohl noted a strange new relationship developing between the audiences and the hosts under this new dominant media. These relationships ranged from close friendships with radio hosts like Dave Garroway to people wanting to marry fictional characters such as the gal from the radio broadcast, Lonesome Gal. Horton and Wohl realized that these new relationships were not quite the same as interpersonal relationships as they could never be …

My Year With Digital Supremacists, Nick Baur

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Rhetorical Body Work: Professional Embodiment In Health Provider Education And The Technical Writing Classroom, Lillian Campbell

English Faculty Research and Publications

This article introduces “rhetorical body work” as a framework for understanding professional embodiment in health provider education and technical and professional communication (TPC) pedagogy. Using the case study of clinical nursing simulations and drawing on sociological theory, I provide a detailed analysis of three components of rhetorical body work as they manifest in three simulation scenarios: physical, emotional, and discursive. I conclude by considering the implications of these findings for the embodied teaching of TPC.

Debating Persuasion, Melissa J. Ganz

English Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Disability As Metaphor And Lived Experience In Samuel Richardson's Pamela And Sarah Scott's Millenium Hall, Jason S. Farr

English Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of Contest, Translation, And The Chaucerian Text, Elizaveta Strakhov

English Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Practitioner Attitudes Towards An Early Warning System: From Professional Distraction To Relational Support, Lillian Campbell, Amrita George, Shion Guha

English Faculty Research and Publications

As the general population ages and life expectancy increases in the United States, demand for virtual health care is on the rise. Undoubtedly, the next several decades will see increases in automated patient care and use of data-driven warning systems, trends which have already accelerated in the wake of Covid-19. Thus, understanding how traditionally trained healthcare practitioners respond to predictive analytics, like early warning systems, is vital for their successful implementation in the future.

Communication And Algorithmic Decision Making In A Virtual Healthcare Context: Extended Abstract, Lillian Campbell, Amrita George, Shion Guha

English Faculty Research and Publications

This qualitative study draws on interviews and observations with nurses working in a virtual intensive care unit and using algorithms to track patient progress. It overviews how health practitioners navigate algorithmic systems to build relationships with other providers and patients, with attention to strategies for accountability and advocacy in virtual healthcare contexts.

Book Review: Dread Nation And Deathless Divide By Justina Ireland, Phillip Fitzsimmons

Faculty Articles & Research

The books, Dread Nation and Deathless Divide, by Justina Ireland, are the first two volumes of the Dread Nation series, an alternative history in which the American Civil War ended “when the dead rose up and started to walk on a battlefield in a small town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg.”

Teaching Persuasion In Multiple Contexts, Peter J. Capuano

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Teaching Persuasion in Multiple Contexts by Peter J. Capuano, a chapter in Approaches to Teaching Austen's Persuasion, edited by Marcia McClintock Folsom and John Wiltshire, published by the Modern Language Association of America, New York, 2021.

Introduction

Jane Austen's more well-known fiction has inspired strong attachments from many people (instructors and students alike), but Persuasion might be Austen's most dynamic and teachable novel. In fact, one of the many advantages of teaching Persuasion is that so many students-even the ones who come into my courses already professing their love for Austen's works-have never read the text before. They are …

Mental Illness Representation In Young Adult Literature, Ashley Aberle

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this qualitative content analysis is to study the portrayal of characters who have a mental illness in award-winning young adult books for teacher librarians to recommend for young adult readers and for teachers to use in teaching and curriculum for mental illness acceptance. The research questions asked the following: how does award-winning young adult literature that includes characters with mental illness portray interactions with peers and adults; This study used qualitative content analysis to examine 10 novels portraying multiple mental illnesses and that were published from 2013 to 2020. This research identified three themes: Theme 1 is …

Examining Diversity In The Iowa Goldfinch Award, Jill M. Doyle

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this quantitative content analysis was to evaluate the race/ethnicity of the main characters and authors in the picture books on the 2015-16 and 2020-21 Iowa Goldfinch Award lists, a student-nominated book list. The books were evaluated using coding that was adapted from earlier research. Then the statistics were compared to ascertain whether the portrayal of diverse cultures changed. Results indicated that the diversity of both the main characters and the authors increased by 25%, to include races other than White. The number of White main characters decreased from 6 to 3, while non-human characters decreased from 15 …

“I Shall Watch Their Progress”: The Observer Effect And Information Theory In Literary Systems, Michael L. Shohet

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This treatise will fully embrace the interdisciplinary approach and will attempt to apply theoretical physics to works of literature. There is no escape from the search for an ultimate connection between all disciplines of human thought. Culture, progress, their relationships with material things are all inevitably connected, even if this connection is its all-prevalent absence. Recent developments in quantum physics and post-human philosophy have provided the key to the intimate substance of all things – information. Although, the numerous branches of information structures are to be studied separately to grasp, appreciate and use their manifestations, to truly understand reality it …

"To Work Without Stopping": Masculinity And The Midwestern Farm Novel, Andy Oler

Publications

Ruth Suckow's Country People (1924) and Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres (1991) feature hard-working young farmers who develop their land and gain the esteem of their community. As they age, however, their abilities decline and their reputation erodes, not only revealing their personal flaws but also exemplifying the harms of American masculinity on farmers and their families. By incorporating scholarship on aging farmers and farm economics, this chapter shows how, when August Kaetterhenry and Larry Cook attempt to hand over the farm to the next generation, they miss the sense of ownership and control they had as working farmers. The …

Estudio De Las Barreras Lingüísticas Y Culturales De Los Estudiantes De Intercambio Tailandeses En México Y Elaboración De Materiales Audiovisuales Preparatorios, Atapon Krajangjai

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research consists of a triple objective: 1) to study the language and cultural difficulties experienced by Thai exchange students in Mexico, 2) to analyze the causes and effects of such difficulties towards the adaptation of Thai students in Mexico, and 3) to elaborate a proposal of preparatory audiovisual materials that help these students to overcome both language and cultural barriers in Mexico. The research methodology consists of the data collection from the questionnaire taken by a sample group of 84 Thai AFS exchange students in Mexico during the academic year from 2009 to 2019, and the interviews conducted with …

Octavia E. Butler’S Dawn And “Bloodchild” : From Human To Posthuman, Nicole Fields

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Octavia Butler authored many science fiction novels and short stories, almost all of which have been associated with race and/or slavery. I argue that two of her works, Dawn and “Bloodchild,” are not specifically about race and can be approached from a posthuman perspective. I discuss the place of black literature in the Western Literary tradition, and I highlight the literary reception of Butler’s work. Since her novels and short stories have been compared to slavery, which I argue against, I point out the disparity between the lives of the characters in Butler’s texts and historical accounts of the slave …