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The Impact Of Singing-Integrated Reading Instruction On The Oral Reading Fluency And Motivation Of Elementary Students In An Out-Of-School Time Program, Yvette M. Moorehead-Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of singing-integrated reading instruction on the oral reading fluency and motivation of elementary students in an after school program. Participants were third graders (n = 29) who attended the singing-integrated oral reading fluency (SI ORF) intervention twice a week for eight weeks. Components of the intervention included teacher-modeling of fluent oral reading, oral support, repeated reading and singing activities from a variety of children’s literature, and individual free-time.

The adapted Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS; McKenna & Kear, 1990) measured recreational, academic, and composite reading attitudes. The Qualitative …

An Exploration Of Costume Design For David Emerson Toney's "Frankenstein: Dawn Of A Monster", Emily Atkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the Costume Design process for David Emerson Toney’s Frankenstein: Dawn of a Monster at Virginia Commonwealth University. Toney’s original adaptation interprets Mary Shelley’s genre-defying novel as biography, directly influenced by the tragic events of her young life. Costumes differentiate the two narratives, with Mary Shelly in gray scale, regency-inspired modern dress and the novel in period and color. This follows the design process from concept to production to execution.

Teaching Technical Theater: Learning, Not Just Doing, Christian J. Hershey

Theses and Dissertations

I have seen a trend in the teaching of technical theatre towards a more practical and less theoretical education. This has brought about a change in viewpoint by professional technicians, as well as students, in regards to an academic degree. Due to this change and the rise of student debt, the impulse has been to encourage going directly into the field and learning the craft there instead of spending four years in an academic institution.

There has also been increased pressure on theatre departments to produce larger and more involved shows; both to draw in new students and to justify …

One Script, Two Perspectives: Generation Me And The Staging Of Really Really, Kirstin R. Hensley

Theses and Dissertations

Really, Really, by Paul Downs Colaizzo, is loosely based on the 2006 Duke University sexual assault scandal resulting from what proved to be a false accusation of rape made against three members of the men’s lacrosse team. After individually reading the play, Jorge Burmudez and I both arrived at differing opinions of who was the true victim, in turn inspiring this thesis, which is an exploration of two separate productions of the play demonstrating contrasting perspectives/outlooks regarding sex crimes within sports organizations in the university setting. It will describe our process from conceptualization to a post-mortem talking about particular …

Treat, Leeanna Rubin

Theses and Dissertations

The contents included here consist of the research, editing, rehearsal and performance process of TREAT. There is also an analysis of how I plan to proceed with the work in the future. The full script is included. The solo show provided me a way to synthesize everything I learned in my Masters of Fine Arts program.

Tropes Of Blood, Body And The Ground Of The Law: Becoming, Being And Beyond Wife On The Early Modern Stage, Emily Faye Murray

Theses and Dissertations

This project focuses on the representation of women on the early modern stage in three exemplary texts: the anonymous domestic tragedy Arden of Faversham, and two city comedies, Thomas Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Holiday and Dekker and Thomas Middleton’s The Roaring Girl. Whether playing the role of adulterous wife, performing the role socially striving wife, or resisting the role of laboring wife, these female characters were on stage not only for entertainment, but also for examination and scrutiny by an early modern audience. Playwrights used characterizations of women and wives and their relationships to the economy as vehicles through …

Lost In Austen: An Immersive Approach To Pride & Prejudice, Erica Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is an account of the Theatre VCU mainstage production of Pride & Prejudice, in which I played the roles of Mrs. Bennet and of the vocal coach. In order to address the various skill levels of the cast, I planned to coach the production in a manner inspired by immersion language learning programs, with the cast speaking in dialect throughout the rehearsal process so as to learn the necessary vocal skills and to grow together as a theatrical ensemble. When the director of Pride & Prejudice was not receptive to this plan, I had to compromise and adapt …

An Exploration On The Michael Chekhov Technique In Rehearsal, Performance And The Classroom, James P. Stover

Theses and Dissertations

• The Michael Chekhov Technique is a unique approach to acting that has been successfully used by professional actors for many years. This thesis explores finding a strong understanding of the technique as well as discovering ways to incorporate it into an undergraduate actor training program. The examination aims to further my aesthetic both as theatre teacher and practitioner. It includes training with master teachers in the technique, incorporating Chekhov exercises into undergraduate acting and movement classes and use of the technique on a production of Pride & Prejudice.

Music And Movement, Yvonne M. Lefrancois

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this project is to provide a musical hub for the learning, practice, and performance of music for students ages 10-18 in order to cultivate trust and education in the community. This project examines the role music plays as a vital part of our communities and city resources. The communities we live in should not only supply opportunities for the music but support the music. Support of the music can allow cultural learning in the community and create a new pattern of education between parent and child. Just as most school systems support the learning of math and …

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Creating The Foundation For Collaboration Amongst The Arts Disciplines, Powered By Tectonic Theatre Project’S Moment Work, Tara B. Weintraub

Theses and Dissertations

During this course, upper-level VCUArts students are invited to join forces to become a part of a cross-disciplinary, ensemble-based exploration. Powered by Tectonic Theatre Project’s Moment Work, students will create new works and gain insight into the philosophies, purposes, and processes of Moment Work and other devised theatre techniques. The class will culminate in short, devised pieces, created and performed by the students. The focus of the class is on the creation of a harmonious ensemble amongst a varied group of young artists. I believe that in order to create a generation of innovative and forward-thinking artists, the segregation of …

The Orphanage Of Things: A Narrative Of Abandonment, Malaz Elgemiabby

Theses and Dissertations

In Sudan, 110 babies are abandoned in the streets of Khartoum every month. The majority of abandoned children are born out of wedlock. Young women with illegitimate pregnancies are often ostracized by their families and society, and the lack of emotional, financial and legal support has led many to take desperate measures, including the abandonment of their children. Relinquishing mothers exist like ghosts in Sudanese society. The only evidence of the mother’s experience is her anonymous, abandoned child. In order to understand and examine this phenomenon, I used ethnographic performance art informed by design research practice (Performative Research Design). I …

One Script, Two Perspectives: Generation Me And The Staging Of Really Really, Jorge A. Bermudez

Theses and Dissertations

One Script, Two Perspectives: Generation Me and The Staging of Really Really is a reflection on the approach, pre-production, rehearsal and post-production phases of the play, Really Really by Paul Downs Colaizzo, which debuted in the Shafer Street Playhouse on February 20, 2015 on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The cast included Kaelie Ukrop, Adam Valentine, Ethan Malamud, Telos Fuller, Solomon Dixon, Molly Kaufman, and Katie Stoddard.

This paper looks at the processes involved with the creation of that piece. Focus is given to the problems and challenges involved with casting, production, rehearsals, post-production and effective directing methods.

Shifting Authority At The Confederate Relic Room, 1960-1986, Kristie L. Dafoe

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the Confederate Relic Room and its final years in the hands of the United Daughters of the Confederacy before the South Carolina state government fully took over the museum. This small, localized perspective on the organization shows that the UDC was still actively commemorating the Civil War well into the late twentieth century, which challenges the current historiography that consistently ends in the 1930s. By researching this museum, insight into how the UDC’s mission and public perception had changed can be gained. In order to fully examine the museum’s history in the late twentieth century, this thesis …

The Fancy Trade And The Commodification Of Rape In The Sexual Economy Of 19th Century U.S. Slavery, Tiye A. Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to examine the Fancy Trade—the buying and selling of mixed-race enslaved women for the primary purpose of prostitution and concubinage—through an intersectionality lens. Therefore, I will explore a culture of rape through the lived experiences of fancy maids, the women who were sold as sex commodities in the 19th century domestic slave trade. Who was she? Using an intersectionality framework to answer the proposed questions will achieve the following. First, it will highlight the social constructions of race, gender, and sexuality within the 19th century southern context. Secondly, an intersectional methodology will explore the …

Non-Reified Space: Henry James's Critique Of Capitalism Through Abstractness And Ambiguity, Elizabeth Aileen Barnum

Theses and Dissertations

Despite Henry James’s reputation as a novelist of upper class manners, many critics have argued that his work also contains well-grounded criticism of capitalism and consumer culture. An even larger number of writers have analyzed James’s idiosyncratic style, characterized by ambiguity and abstractness. Where these two analytic approaches overlap, the area examined in this dissertation, James makes a deeper critique of capitalism’s redefinition of human purpose and its reification of the human mind and consciousness. James suggests, through his ambiguous and abstract language, that open-ended language which rejects concrete and conceptual meaning can gesture toward a space in which people …

Performing The Role Of Sylvestro In Scapino!, Zachary Cal Lee

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to successfully portray the character of Sylvestro in Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale's Scapino!, an adaptation of Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin. In order to fully grasp the comedy of the script, an analysis of the comedy of Scapino! was conducted using French philosopher Henri Bergson's essay Laughter. This helped to find what made situations and characters funny in the script. It also influenced an analysis of the character of Sylvestro. By using Bergson's philosophies and applying them to the research, the third chapter illustrates that the rehearsal process of Scapino! has been successful …

An Analysis Of The Title Role In Scapino!, Joe D. Bussey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to serve as documentation of the performance of the title role in Scapino!. It is separated into three parts including a play analysis, a character analysis, and a summation of the rehearsal process. Each section is linked directly to the plays commedia roots, and draws a link between Moliere’s original play Les Fourberies de Scapin, and the work that resulted from the Young Vic’s production Scapino!. The conclusions that are reached serve as an informational tool for the performance of the character of Scapino.

The Fatal Lamp And The Nightmare After Christmas: The 1811 Richmond Theatre Fire, Amber Marie Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE FATAL LAMP AND THE NIGHTMARE AFTER CHRISTMAS: THE RICHMOND THEATRE FIRE OF 1811

By Amber Marie Martinez, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Pedagogy at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015

Director: Dr. Noreen C. Barnes, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Theatre

“How strange a preface the loud laughter excited by a pantomime, to volumes of smoke and fire” (The American Standard, 27 December 1811). Building fires were not exactly uncommon back in the …

“Frailty, Thy Name Is Woman”: Depictions Of Female Madness, Julianna Little

Theses and Dissertations

Concepts of mental health and normality cannot be understood apart from cultural norms and values. The most significant of cultural constructions that shape our view of madness is gender. Madness has been perceived for centuries metaphorically and symbolically as a feminine illness and continues to be gendered into the twenty-first century. Works of art and literature and psychiatric medicine influence each other as well as our understanding and perception of mental illness. Throughout history, images of mental illness in women send the message that women are weak, dangerous, and require containment. What are the cultural links between femininity and insanity, …

Imaging The Early Cold War: Photographs In Life Magazine, 1945-1954, Kathryn L. Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes Life’s early coverage of the Cold War (1945-1954) in order to explicate this publication’s creation and reinforcement of prescriptive attitudes about this ideological engagement through photographically illustrated news. By uncovering Life’s editorial approach this project proposes a new diagnostic for evaluating documentary images by re-configuring Hayden White’s incisive theory of emplotment—the process of engendering historical narratives with meaning— through semiotic models proposed by Louis Hjelmslev and Roland Barthes, thereby offering a useful tool for future scholars to re-examine modern media’s transition towards prizing visual immediacy over critical engagement.

Life’s editors’ link narrative devices …

Examining Therapists' Perceptions Of Strategies For Overcoming Barriers To Treatment With Youth And Their Families, Lyndsay Brooks

Theses and Dissertations

Youth who are untreated for mental health problems are at risk for a number of consequences, including academic underachievement, substance use, delinquency, and future mental illness in adulthood. Nearly 80% of youth who need mental health services do not receive them, and of those children and families referred, it is estimated that between 30 and 80% terminate from therapy prematurely. Some common barriers to treatment retention for youth clients and families have been identified in the literature, including financial barriers, transportation and other logistical barriers, as well as therapeutic barriers, such as poor therapeutic alliance. Therefore, it is imperative to …

National Vs. International Schools: Factors Influencing School Choice In Egypt; The Voices Of Parents And Students., Yasmine Alaa Khorshed

Theses and Dissertations

There are many national and international schools in Cairo today, and every year lots of parents make educational choices for their children. Those choices are based on various factors. This research explores the factors that influence parents to select a certain school type and not the other. It is an initial step into school research as an attempt to help educators and administrators understand parents’ and students’ priorities, needs and expectations when choosing a school. The research questions are: (1) What are the most and least important factors that parents consider when choosing a national/ international school for their children? …

A Soul Composed Of Harmonies: George Herbert's Life, Writings, And Choral Settings Of His English Poetry, Benjamin Todd Ebner

Theses and Dissertations

George Herbert’s poetry is among the greatest religious poetry written in the English language. His introspective and nuanced understanding of the human soul and his beautiful style of writing have earned him his place among the great poets. His catalogue is filled with poems ready to be set to music, and dozens of them have been. However, there is no document that seeks to gather an annotated list of these compositions in one place. Further, while a few of these compositions are performed often, there are dozens of other worthy compositions that should be heard on a more wide and …

An Engineering Approach For The Design Of Archaeological Reburial Systems, Angel Ari Perez Mejia

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological sites are a non-renewable resource which is often our only link to the past. However, sites are under constant threat of destruction due to construction activities. Civil engineers and archaeologists must the work together to ensure both the continued survival of archaeological sites while allowing for development to continue. Reburial systems, when properly designed and constructed, allow for the protection of archaeological sites while allowing the continued use of the land. However, because reburial as an intentional conservation technique is relatively modern, practice is fragmented and there are no universally accepted guidelines. Current reburial system design relies on prescriptive …

Science Fairs Before Sputnik: Adolescent Scientific Culture In Contemporary America, Sarah Michel Scripps

Theses and Dissertations

"Science Fairs before Sputnik: Adolescent Scientific Culture in Contemporary America" traces the formation and evolution of science fairs in America, focusing on the ways in which adolescents established communities of practice by engaging in these competitions. Over the course of the twentieth century, generations of American children conducted their first experiments by crafting science fair projects. The dissertation evaluates this understudied phenomenon against the backdrop of American fascinations and fears of science and evolving notions of adolescence. It argues that science fairs were central to shaping an adolescent scientific culture in the United States during the early to mid twentieth …

All But Thesis: On Dealing With Academic Anxiety At The Graduate Level, Angela Schnabel

Theses and Dissertations

"All But Thesis: On Dealing with Academic Anxiety at the Graduate Level" is a marriage of autoethnography and memoir framed in principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that recounts my struggle with academic anxiety at the graduate level. I found no other first-person narratives on this topic, so my thesis sets out to bridge that gap. Psychology and the library, educational, and informational sciences fields discuss perfectionism and procrastination as causes of academic anxiety, so here I explore the roles those concepts play in my own anxiety issues. A reflexive journal quantified my progress throughout the semester, it rates my anxiety …

Bolshevik Voices: Radio Broadcasting In The Soviet Union, 1917 - 1991, Bradley Trinkner

Theses and Dissertations

Radio broadcasting has a long and varied history in many industrialized nations yet research into radio in the Soviet Union has been given little attention from scholars. Radio offers the power to unite distant people and reinforce the party agenda yet also leaves the door open to unauthorized transmissions. The story of radio must be understood as two sides of the same coin, namely the motivation and purpose of broadcasting by the regime as well as the effects on those who listened. The dual purpose of broadcasting was represented both by the potential it offered party authorities as well as …

Design And Evaluation Of Dual-Expander Aerospike Nozzle Upper Stage Engine, Joseph R. Simmons Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the Dual-Expander Aerospike Nozzle, a modification to traditional engine architectures, is to find those missions and designs for which it has a competitive advantage over traditional upper stage engines such as the RL10. Previous work focused on developing an initial design to demonstrate the feasibility of the Dual-Expander Aerospike Nozzle. This research expanded the original cycle model in preparation for optimizing the engine's specific impulse and thrust-to-weight ratio. The changes to the model allowed automated parametric and optimization studies. Preliminary parametric studies varying oxidizer-to-fuel ratio, total mass flow, and chamber length showed significant improvements. Drawing on modeling …

Ekphrasis And Skepticism In Three Works Of Shakespeare, Robert P. Irons

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the claim that “The truest poetry is the most feigning” by examining ekphrasis and its relation to skepticism in Shakespeare. Two fundamental claims comprise my argument: first, Shakespeare uses ekphrasis to acknowledge doubt in order that his poetry might become most true; second, ekphrasis is the unique means by which the spectators–at times both within and outside of the play– may question their own skepticism and additionally consider their role and place as audience.

In the introduction, after discussing key characteristics of ekphrasis conveyed in the Shield of Achilles, I argue that the spatial focus of Horace’s …

Facilitating Embodied Instruction: Classroom Teachers’ Experiences With Drama-Based Pedagogy, Peter B. Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that drama-based pedagogies significantly contribute to improved teaching and learning. Furthermore, there is important research that demonstrates the impact on teachers when they learn about neuroscience. This research project developed six professional development sessions for six elementary school teachers to provide training on both drama-based instruction and research on embodiment. Combining these two fields presented a problem. Arts-based research is qualitative in nature where cognitive science research depends on post-positivistic assumptions of reliability and trust-worthiness. Missing from these standard measures of research (fMRI studies, STROOP Tests, reaction time tests), however, is the impact …