Arts and Humanities Commons^™

December 27, 2014: Brian Gogan Kicks Off Spring Season For Ellis Speakers Series, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Radical Rejections And Sloppy Seconds, Meaghan Dodson

English Student Scholarship

Jane Austen is famous for her heroines and their marriages; at the same time, however, she is also infamous for these same heroines rejecting proposals of marriage. This paper explores how Austen uses the failed marriage proposal to show how women need not fear putting their own happiness first - an idea that is just as radical in our own day and age.

The Folly Of Erasmian Scepticism In Shakespeare’S A Midsummer Night’S Dream, James Cafferty

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Transferential Poetics, From Poe To Warhol, Adam Frank

Literature

Transferential Poetics presents a method for bringing theories of affect to the study of poetics. Informed by the thinking of Silvan Tomkins, Melanie Klein, and Wilfred Bion, it offers new interpretations of the poetics of four major American artists: Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, and Andy Warhol. The author emphasizes the close, reflexive attention each of these artists pays to the transfer of feeling between text and reader, or composition and audience— their transferential poetics. The book’s historical route from Poe to Warhol culminates in television, a technology and cultural form that makes affect distinctly available to perception. …

“Readers’ Disappointed Expectations: Religious Symbols In ‘The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall’”, Rachel I. Gessel

Student Works

The short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter is the account of a devout Catholic woman on her death bed who dwells on being jilted at the altar sixty years earlier. It is commonly accepted among scholars that the “jilting” in the title also refers to a second jilting at the end of the story. Although it could be debated that the jilting referred to in the title could only refer to Granny’s jilting at the altar, over ten peer-reviewed articles about this short story suggest or acknowledge that the jilting also refers to Christ jilting …

December 11, 2014: Undergraduate English Majors Submit Papers To The Medieval And Renaissance Studies Colloquium 2015!, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Jane Austen And The 21st-Century Classroom, Maureen Jecrois

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Across the United States, educators and administrators have been discussing whether classical literature still has a place within the high school classroom. Included in this discussion are the works of Jane Austen. And while Jane Austen’s texts have much to offer as far as discussion on gender and familial dynamics, economic and political tension, and, of course, societal norms (what our communities expect from us individually and as a whole), the texts present many challenges within the frameworks of today’s classroom. What we have come to know as “our” time is a rapidly changing environment filled with experiences and technologies …

Yaari With Angrez: Whiteness For A New Bollywood Hero, Teresa Hubel

Department of English Publications

This chapter comments on the relative insignificance of whiteness to Hindi film narratives, with white characters turning up, when they do, often as peripheral figures to create the effect of historical accuracy. It argues that in Hindi cinema, whiteness cannot function as it does in the West, where the legacy of imperialism has made it an unmarked category, whose invisibility allows it to function as a norm against which the aberration of racial others may be measured. In Indian films, whiteness is marked; and it is, increasingly, markedly white—to be resisted, or desired, or dismissed.

Birth By Sleep: An Immersive Adventure Through Wonderland, Edd Bass

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

When Lewis Carroll wrote down Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland he never expected it to become a worldwide sensation. His work has gained a following as psychoanalysis has allowed people to dive deeper into Alice’s dream world. Many books and movies based on the Alice books have been released, such as Sucker Punch. On a seemingly unrelated topic, a company called Punchdrunk has created an immersive theatre piece known as Sleep No More in which the audience runs around a “hotel” following different actors and trying to unveil the story unfolding. Immersive Theatre allows for the audience to be swallowed up …

The Rape Of Blanche: An Examination Of Critical Analysis & Sexist Overtones, Audrey Thayer

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The first people to ever listen to the words of A Streetcar Named Desire were two women, Margo Jones and Joanna Albus. Tennessee Williams read them an uncompleted first draft of the play. Margo Jones was “supportive of the play but urged him to rewrite it and to soften Blanche's hysteria. He listened, and ignored her” (Rader 199). The very first people who were privy to the violent, sensual, chaotic world of Blanche and Stanley were two women who found fault in Stella's character. They saw her hysteria, no doubt an unbecoming trait, as “far out,” or perhaps unbelievable. Much …

The Supernatural’S Role In The Juxtaposition Of The Ideas Of Modernity, Traditionalism And Identity In Zakes Mda’S The Heart Of Redness, Thabo Lucky Mzileni

English 502: Research Methods

The supernatural is an entity found in many African literary texts as it is an important part of the African cultural fabric that informs and shapes the African way of life. In modern times the supernatural still informs these African cultures even though it is oftentimes defined by some unknown entity outside the realm of understanding, beyond reason. This paper explores the ideas presented in Zakes Mda’s The Heart of Redness—a novel sourced from the Xhosa cattle killings of 1856-1857, prompted by Nongqawuse’s prophetic message. Specifically, the paper examines how ideas of modernity, traditionalism and identity are influenced by …

Marcus Clarke: Confronting Spectacle With Spectacle In For The Term Of His Natural Life, Mary E. Perkins

English 502: Research Methods

While Marcus Clarke’s For the Term of His Natural Life is unquestionably a valuable contribution to Australian literature, his journalism career also deserves equal attention, particularly as an influential antecedent to the creation of his seminal text not only on a technical basis as John Conley details in “Marcus Clarke: The Romance of Reality”, but also as a social platform. In “Marcus Clarke and the Society of the Spectacle: Reflections on Writing and Commodity Capitalism in Nineteenth-Century Melbourne,” Andrew McCann demonstrates how the “Peripatetic Philosopher”— one of Clarke’s more successful journalistic endeavors—and other selections reveal Clarke’s critique of the colonial …

The Submissive, The Angel, And The Mad Woman In District 12: Feminine Identity In Suzanne Collins’S The Hunger Games, Kirstie E. Linstrom

English 502: Research Methods

The social roles women are given in literature are often debated by critics. This essay discusses the treatment and perceptions of female characters in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy. Throughout the trilogy, the male characters shape the identities of the female characters through language and enforcing Western gender roles. Katniss, Prim, and their mother each fill different roles typically assigned to women. Katniss is a submissive female; Prim is the innocent angel in the household; and their mother portrays a mad woman that cannot cope with reality. These characters—Katniss in particular—are often misconstrued by audiences and critics. Katniss is …

Running Away To Neverland: The Fear Of Adulthood In John Green’S Paper Towns And J. M. Barrie’S Peter Pan, Teri Klauser

English 502: Research Methods

In examining John Green’s young adult novel, Paper Towns, and J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, a theme of fear towards adulthood and social obligation is explored in the characters, Margo Spiegelman and Peter Pan. This fear causes them both to run away to their own Neverland. In doing so, both characters are hindered from truly growing, as they settle into a frivolous and forgetful lifestyle. Using critics, such as Michael Egan, Sarah Gilead, and Karen Coats, I will examine Peter Pan as the immortal child, having taken on the identity of death and time, as well as Neverland as the …

Glass Slippers, Fairy Dust, And Feminist Ethics: Perrault And Barrie’S Influence On J.K. Rowling’S Independent Heroine, Gennesis Roman

English 502: Research Methods

My essay delves into J.K. Rowling's character of Hermione Granger. Hermione is a feminist character that seems to have been created with influence from Charles Perrault's "Cinderella" and J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan". This essay details the similarities between Cinderella, Wendy Darling, and Hermione Granger, all while proving Rowling's feminist leaning when creating Hermione.

December 7, 2014: Nagle Essay On Sade Published, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Biological Vestiges In American Psycho, Russell K. Allen

English 502: Research Methods

In proposing that the use of violence as allegory in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho is warranted, this essay challenges a popular reading of the text, one found in many critical articles, that proposes otherwise. Specifically, this essay will break the novel’s cast into three factions, with each faction having a biologically definable origin: representations of the past, representations of the present, and representation of an ambiguous territory in between. Jean serves to depict a time when people communicated on a level beyond that which is comprehensible to most Generation Xrs. She has been transplanted into the novel’s present from …

Was Jonathan Harker Wearing A Red Hood?, A. Nicole Ferrell

English 502: Research Methods

An icon of Gothic literature and forerunner of vampire lore, Dracula is credited as being inspired by Stoker’s nightmare after eating a particularly rich crab dinner. It’s also evident that he was influenced by other British invasion tales, LeFanu’s tale “Carmilla,” and The Woman in White. However, no work is evident as of yet about the possibility of Dracula being influenced by fairy tales, specifically “Little Red Riding Hood” in structure, themes, and characters.

This essay will be considering Dracula’s background, why Stoker wrote it and its Victorian influences. Then I will examine Bettelheim’s fairy tale structure as …

The Price Of Growing Beyond Innocence: Examining The Literary Lineage Of Mark Haddon’S The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, James A. Clark

English 502: Research Methods

Through a thorough examination of textual clues in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, particularly those moments in the narrative in which Christopher Boone begins to develop an understanding of his own emotional and developmental limitations, as well as the results of that burgeoning understanding, this essay seeks to establish Haddon’s novel as a subtle homage to—if not the direct progeny of—Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and other noteworthy works of literature in which a fictional protagonist, originally limited mentally or intellectually, suffers emotional anguish brought on by self-awareness resulting from either internal action …

December 2, 2014: Green Rose Prize, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Seventeenth-Century Social Hierarchy And Character Interpretation In "The Country Wife", Andrew Vorder Bruegge

College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty Publications

Analysis of characters in the drama within their cultural context. Four of the principal female characters succeed in attaining upward mobility in social class over the course of the action. The URL for the full-text document is: http://dx.doi.org/10.15640/ijmpa.v2n2a3

Voys Lessons: Whirling Words In Chaucer’S “House Of Rumour", Nicola Blake

Publications and Research

“Voys Lessons: Whirling Words in Chaucer’s ‘House of Rumour’” examines the lability of sound and its use in the dissemination, transposition, and authorship of stories within The House of Fame, a text exemplifying the mobility and flexibility of misused or unhinged words, as expressed through sound as opposed to text. By engaging the use and interpretation of sound in contrast to words, this new reading concentrates on the idea of narrative as material artifact with limited stasis. Geffrey’s pseudo-authorship, through his voyeuristic stance, engages the textuality of sounds and shows the related subtlety, elasticity, and democratic sociohistorical aspect of …

Fan-Funded Film: How Audience Participation Is Shaping The Future Of Motion Pictures, Renee E. Moody

Honors College

A look at intellectual property rights in the Internet Age. Fan-Funded Film examines the omnipresent issue of piracy and the financial strategy of crowdfunding. Both have existed in film for decades, but have increased dramatically in recent years. Through the use of several theories and real life examples, I explore the problem of piracy's popularity and how audience participation through crowdfunding could be the answer.

Webster's Geometry; Or, The Irreducible Duchess, Benjamin Bertram Phd

Faculty Publications

This study of geometry, gender, and skepticism in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi argues that the play leaves us in a hall of mirrors, a horror show of optical tricks, delusion, narcissism, and perspectivism from which there seems to be no escape, no masterpiece of God’s creation upholding reality beyond sensory images. In the absence of a transcendental referent, the Duchess’ willful and fearful journey «into the wilderness» – the life she leads as a result of her furtive marriage to her steward Antonio – becomes an alternative to both the public sphere mapped by divine patterns of order …

The Broadsheet- Issue 10, Merrimack College

The Broadsheet

Merrimack College's English Department newsletter.

This issue features:

• Senior Seminar Reflection
• Alison Leonard Profile
• Maleficent Film Review
• Dracula Untold Film Review
• Guest Book Review of Let’s Take the Long Way Home
• English Fall Excursion 2014

Finding The "T" In Lgbtq: Esl Educator Perceptions Of Transgender And Non-Binary Gender Topics In The Language Classroom, Teresa Lynn Witcher

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

While there is a “T” in the acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ), the focus in both academia and the real world often shifts solely to sexuality. Even though the real world discussion of sexuality (and perhaps academia’s as well) is also much lacking in both attention to all sexualities (not simply heterosexual and homosexual), there is also a distinct lack of awareness about subtleties all along both the sexuality and gender spectrums. Although sexuality can depend on gender to some extent, particularly where limiting prefixes related to the preference for a specific binary gender (such as …

Critical Memoir And Identity Formation: Being, Belonging, Becoming, Nancy Mack

English Language and Literatures Faculty Publications

Critique can function as more than a scholarly pursuit; it can become a valued skill for surviving as an outsider within an academic context. Because universities are complex, largely reproductive systems, being a hard worker and following the rules does not necessarily lead to reward or even much notice. Increasing demands and multiple layers of political machinations foster disillusionment and alienation. Participating in programs, grants, and other initiatives only increases the perils, not to mention running the gauntlet of publishing and tenure. As egotistical as I may be, it is best to remember that the academic universe is not the …

Radost Rangelova, Assistant Professor Of Spanish, Musselman Library, Radost A. Rangelova

Next Page

In our newest Next Page column, featured reader Radost Rangelova, Assistant Professor of Spanish, shares with us what she reads for fun and the course it inspired (she had to warn the students NOT to read ahead!); one of the influential works that solidified her passion for the study of gender and the cultural construction of space; and her recommendation of a contemporary Colombian author to read next – perhaps something to add to your holiday wish list?

November 24, 2014: Comparative Drama Essay Wins Award, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

November 18, 2014: Traub Visit Big Success, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.