Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Robin Hood And Jesse James And The Basis Of Outlaw Hero Traditions In English And American Folk Balladry, Jacquline Burton

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Allegory In The Novels Of Isaac Bashevis Singer, Norbert Louis Elliot Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

When Isaac Bashevis Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1978, he was still largely an unknown artist, and his work certainly had not been given the critical attention it deserved. At best, books on Singer are appreciative criticism that lack a systematic frame of reference through which the artistry of the novels may be approached.

My approach in the present study is essentially that of a formalist critic. I have sought to define the shaping artistic principle of each of Singer's novels, and in doing this I have been able to isolate Singer's allegorical tendencies. Thus Singer …

A Study Of The Auchinleck Manuscript: Investigations Into The Process Of Book Making In The Fourteenth Century, Timothy Allen Shonk

Doctoral Dissertations

Our knowledge of book production in the fourteenth century is sketchy. Historical evidence provides us with some general information about a few men involved in the dissemination of literature, but there still remains a gap in our knowledge about the business aspects of pre-Chaucerian book production. In an effort to provide some information to fill this gap, I have investigated one of the first volumes of miscellaneous material produced in the fourteenth century, the Auchinleck manuscript, to see what could be learned about the production methods behind this book and, by inference, what could be learned about the production of …

"A Higher Degree Of Manhood" William Hoffman's Novels Of Initiation, Mary Hinton Davis

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

"Painting In Half-Light" And Other Poems, Jane Eklund

Senior Scholar Papers

Through the course of the year, I have been writing and revising poetry with a concern for the growth of my work. To that end, I took advantage of the time afforded me by the Senior Scholars Program not only to devote myself to writing, but to reading the poems of American, European and South American poets from the point of view of craft. Poets whose work has been important and influential in my writing this year include Pablo Neruda, Yannis Ritsos, Francis Jamroes, Charles Simic, Larry Levis and Pamela Stewart. The poems in my collection, "Painting in Half-Light" and …

Sister Carrie And An American Tragedy: The Publishers' Judgements, Barbara A. Martin

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the Graduate Faculty School of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in English by Barbara A. Martin in May of 1981.

A Parabolic Explanation Of Flannery O'Connor's Short Fiction, Sarah E. Toombs

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to integrate seemingly disparate and divergent criticisms of Flannery O'Connor's short stories. The method chosen to achieve this end involves comparison of selected short stories with the parables of Jesus. Criticism of both parables and short stories will be compared in order to find simularity of characteristics, function, theme, and artistic intent. The characteristics will be compared to determine what simularities can be found in the internal mechanisms of the stories; in plot, in structure, in characters, in setting, and in those elements which seem to defy what otherwise looks like realism. The function …

The Post-Postmodern Aesthetics Of John Fowles, Claiborne Johnson Cordle

Master's Theses

Because a thesis is by definition a proposi­ tion to be argued, I feel some obigation to make strong assertion--either John Fowles is a post­ modernist writer, or John Fowles is not a postmodernist writer. What is immediately "problematic" about such an either/or proposition is that each side can be argued convincingly by a careful process of selection of examples to support the prospective cases (and omission of those which refute them). I cannot easily dismiss the wisdom of Northrop Frye's statement that, "They think of ideas as weapons; they seek the irrefutable argument, which keeps eluding them because all …

Allegory And Nietzschean Values In Kafka, Camus, And Kazantzakis, Paul Kenneth Naylor

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this these is to explore Nietzschean values as they appear in three modern allegories: Franz Kafka's The Castle, Albert Camus' The Plague, and Nikos Kazantzakis' Zorba the Greek. The intent is to illustrate Friedrich Nietzsche's three stages of the overman as they apply to Kafka, Camus, and Kazantzakis.

Myth And History In Max Frisch's Don Juan Or, The Love Of Geometry, Shahira Fikry Kelesh

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Narrative Technique In The Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway, Wafaa Koussi

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Function Of Language In The Plays Of Arnold Wesker, Hanaa Moustafa Shehata

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Dramatic Adaptation Of William Hoffman's Novel "A Death Of Dreams.", La Vinia Delois Jennings

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

The Great Name Of God: A Study Of The Element Of Kabbalah In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Theogony And Its Influence On The Theodicy And Cosmogony Of His Major Poetry, William Richard Ploplis

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Kaleidoscopic Vision: Multiple Perspectives In Four Plays By Thomas Middleton, Harry Robert Burke

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Structures Of Ritual Sacrifice In Abraham And Isaac And Afore Night Come, Misty Baumann

Honors Papers

In part, this study is a response to a frightening reality-- humans acting to take human life. It is an attempt to understand better how, why and when that act is deemed holy. It is an examination of ritual sacrifice, its symbolic structure, its use and its perversions in two very different dramatic works, the Brome version of the medieval Abraham and Isaac and David Rudkin's modern, British Afore Night. In respect for the eldest, I begin with the former.

The Homecoming And The Cherry Orchard: Pinter's Inversion Of Chekhov's Subtextual Method, Art Borreca

Honors Papers

The ever-present tension between literary criticism and performance analysis makes one wary about suggesting a cause and effect link between the work of a single dramatist and the development of a major acting method. And yet, it is impossible to separate the original concept of subtext, which emerged upon Stanislavsky's stage, from Anton Chekhov's revolutionary dramaturgy, which made startling demands upon that stage. Chekhov wanted specifically to narrow the gap between real life and stage life--to do away with the worn-out well made play formula that permitted actors to declaim and gesticulate broadly, shouting incredible passions and externalizing larger-than-life desires. …

Satire On Mankind: The Nature Of The Beast, Thomas Patrick Tierney

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Interweaving Of Poetry And Dance In Ben Jonson's Masques, Ted Gradman

Honors Papers

The masked noblemen prepare to preform one of their intricate dances for King James I and his court; they aim to make the complex floor patterns and body movements appear ordered, adroit, and effortless. Their dances are just one element of the highly elaborate Stuart court masque with integrates dance, poetry, scenic design, costume design and music into a three-hour dramatic spectacle. All that remains today of the lavish event is a text of twelve pages, some short descriptions of the choreography, a handful of sketches, and several short pieces of music. Although we can never fully reconstruct Pleasure Reconciled …

The Distinctive Character Types In Henry James' New England Fiction, Karen E. Pilson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

"The Criterion" 1922-1939, Margaret Beckman Benton

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Richard Wright's Depiction Of The Black Experience: A Study In Stereotypes, Charles Evans

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Physical And Attitudinal Metamorphoses In "The Wife Of Bath's Tale", Lynn Mowry

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Shock Of Brass On Porcelain: Egotism And "The Sacred Fount", Georgia Taft Pye

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Dramatic Criticism: Theory And Practice, Kenneth M. Locke

Honors Theses

This paper is the result of four hours of senior level study, and as such completes the requirements of the honors program for graduating with honor. A brief explanation of it is certainly in order.

I envisioned this paper as a series of essays, much along the same format as one of the "Twain Series," or "Twentieth Century Critical Reviews." As befits the title of this paper, they deal with both the theory and practice of Dramatic Criticism.

In several places I have opted to use the vocabulary of the original author in order to avoid Pen Warren's "heresy of …

A Voice From The Shadows: The Novels Of Toni Morrison, Ardith A. Muse

Honors Theses

The three novels of Toni Morrison to date deal with elements of both the feminine and the African consciousness. The dominant characters developed in her novels act within a socially isolated black community, and often in a largely or wholly female household. The values embodied in her novels, as well as the imagery and language, are derived in large part from African culture and archetypes of the feminine unconscious.

Clinton Larson's "The Witness": The Quest For A Mormon Mythic Consciousness, Dennis R. Perry

Theses and Dissertations

"The Witness" can be viewed as Clinton F. Larson's poetic manifesto that points the direction for much of his subsequent work. Although his poetic "mormonism" has been questioned by several of his critics, this thesis shows that Larson definitely expresses his Mormon faith in "The Witness" as a metaphorical quest for mythic consciousness. While searching in the poem for sacred space and time, Larson seeks to become closer to the divine and powerful center of being, creating at once a metaphor for his quest to understand and assimilate Christ's atonement and a poetic voice from which he can speak for …

The Theme Of Rebirth In Modern Poetry, Cherien S Lennie

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Marlowe's Doctor Faustus Finds Reality: In The Comic Mask, Eva Marie Enis

Masters Theses

Scholars have considered the protagonist of Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus from nearly every perspective, but, at the same time, they have been hesitant to recognize the humorous incidents, particularly the so-called clownish scenes, as having a legitimate place even though much comic incident appears in Marlowe's source. Though scholars have acknowledged Marlowe's play to be a morality, they have not viewed Faustus as a morality character whose comic mask is his reality.

An examination of the morality tradition, with Marlowe's debt to the morality in mind, justifies the inclusion of much …

The Endlessly Elaborating Poem: A Comparative Study Of Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, And The American Experimental, Long Narrative Poem, Paul Freidinger

Masters Theses

Up to the middle of the nineteenth century, British and American poetry was expected to employ rigid metrical and rhythmical patterns. Any verse that did not conform was considered devoid of aesthetic merit. In addition, some critics, Edgar Allan Poe being one of those, argued that there was no place for a long poem in poetry. Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens, two proponents of the long narrative poem, both wrote in free verse and, thus, directly confronted these traditional theories.

This study demonstrates that the verse of Whitman and Stevens constitutes a new approach to poetic style and structure. A …