Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Cutting Back The Mask: Character And Coiffure In Fiction By F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, And Robert Penn Warren, Lisa Anne Powell

Masters Theses

Realistic fiction has recorded changing fashions of architecture and landscape, clothing and coiffure. For at least three centuries, writers of narrative have described the clothing and the hairstyles of their fictional women both to set them within a specific time ar place and to offer a key to their character. Hair as natural endowment and artificial adornment has served as an essential component to the character costume. Novelists have understood that women send messages, albeit sometimes unconscious ones, about themselves, their lives, and their feelings through the style, color and length of their hair. Writers have sometimes described women's hair …

Expanding Composition's Scope: Community-Based Literacy And Second-Language Writing, Carolina Pelaez-Morales

Masters Theses

There is little research from either Composition Studies or Second-Language Studies on the development of writing competence among English language learners, paiiicularly adult learners outside academia. In response to this need, I conducted a case study of a small group of Spanish-native speakers as they learned English through a volunteer-based community program in a small Midwestern town. This project establishes the role writing plays in a community of second-language learners-primarily motivated by economic factors to learn English-and it shows ways in which the development of writing competence can enhance overall language proficiency. Also, this study calls for further research in …

Passage Through The Ocean: The Female Heroic Journey In The Novels Of Anita Desai, Jaime Pedigo Hendrix

Masters Theses

This study examines the female heroic journey in relation to the protagonists in three of Anita Desai's novels: Maya in Cry, the Peacock, Sita in Where Shall We Go This Summer, and Bim in Clear Light of Day. The elements of the heroic journey as described by Joseph Campbell in Hero with a Thousand Faces illuminate the journeys of Desai's characters, as certain of these elements appear in all three of the characters' journeys toward adulthood. The work of C. G. Jung is also central to this study, as his theories on psychological development are utilized to show the growth, …

Evangelical Religion And Benevolent Reform In The Antebellum Urban Southwest: Natchez And Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1800-1860, Matthew S. Berry

Masters Theses

The United States' early history was marked by two periods of religious revival called "Great Awakenings." Beginning in the early nineteenth century grassroots Christian denominations began growing, mostly out of the Northeast, and spread throughout the country as land began to open in the West. This paper expands the historiography of the South during the Second Great Awakening. It adds to the broader discussion the interaction of two important urban areas with the churches and organizations of the Second Great Awakening. Most importantly it attempts to explain the discrepancy between explosive population and economic growth with the slow development of …

Capturing Opportunity: How The Conquest Of James I Shaped The Society And Culture Of Mallorca, 1229-1247, Patrick W. Harris

Masters Theses

The defeat of Muslim forces on the island of Mallorca by James I in 1230 determined the course of medieval history in the western Mediterranean, and later helped propel Spain into the Atlantic world. Because the settlement of Mallorca became a stepping-stone towards later expansion, historians have tended to portray this watershed event within the teleological narrative of the Reconquista. Consequently, we receive the image of James I as a farsighted ruler who is aware of the social and economic impact resulting from the conquest. Furthermore, James' favorable policies towards Jews and Muslims in comparison to those of his successors …

Driven To Distraction, Carissa Renee Hayden

Masters Theses

This compilation of personal essays is centered on the topic of driving. Many of my stories do not take place in ordinary tourist locations. However, my emphasis in each essay is to highlight details of the traveling experience, regardless of the destination. I chose to structure my thesis as a series of essays because each story has its own particular focus. Together, the subjects of each story interlock as pieces in a jigsaw puzzle to form a unified and overarching theme of appearance vs. reality. Often the appearance, or how we envision the trip, is romanticized, whereas the reality is …

The Beauty Of Her Survival: Being Black And Female In Meridian, The Salt Eaters, Kindred, And The Bluest Eye, Loretta N. Ullrich-Ferguson

Masters Theses

Individuals have been responsible for advocating equality for marginalized American groups since colonial times. From the nation's second First Lady Abigail Adams through former slaves such as Fredrick Douglass and Sojourner Truth to the activists in the social movements of the 20th century, many have fought hard to try to make the wealthy white-male power structure aware of and sympathetic to the rights of all citizens. Throughout these struggles, racist and sexist ideology dictated who the public leaders of these movements would be. The abolitionist movement's prominent leaders were males, most often white. The suffragist movement was led by, and …

"I See By This Woman's Features, That She Is Capable Of Any Wickedness": Murderous Women, Public Justice, And The Social Order In London, 1674-1799, Annie Tock

Masters Theses

Crime held a certain fascination for eighteenth-century Londoners. They devoured case summaries, ballads, broadsides, pamphlets, and collections of criminal biographies. In addition, they flocked to Tyburn Tree to witness the malefactors hang for their crimes. Then, like now, murders were appalling, but murders committed by women were especially shocking. While part of the interest in murderesses is attributable to their relative rarity, eighteenth century Londoners were also concerned with the implications of deviant women on the state of their society. This was a culture that firmly believed that women's subordination to men was critical to the maintenance of order. In …

Music Therapy With High-Risk Youth: An Exploration Of Current Practice, Beth A. Clark

Masters Theses

This study explored the practices of music therapists in the United States and Canada who had worked with high-risk youth within the previous ten years. High-risk youth were defined as those likely to experience a decline in global level of functioning due to one or more issues related to mental health, substance misuse, or other social, economic, or cultural disadvantages, including correctional system involvement, street-involvement, or unstable home environment. An online survey of credentialed music therapists was conducted to explore the areas of demographics, clinical practice and information-seeking. Music therapists working with high-risk youth were asked to identify the most …

The Effect Of Auditory-Motor Synchronization On Physiological Responses And Perceived Exertion During Treadmill Running, Tracy J. Kiel

Masters Theses

Synchronous, asynchronous, and no music were compared to determine the effect of synchronization of musical tempo and running cadence on physiological and perceptual responses to exercise. Eight subjects, three males and five females, participated in one assessment trial and three experimental trials. During the assessment trial, subjects performed a VO_2max test, and researchers then calculated running cadence at a velocity approximating 70 percent of VO_2max.

During the three experimental trials, subjects ran for 20 minutes at approximately 70 percent of VO_2max on a motorized treadmill with synchronous, asynchronous, and no music, where the order of trials …

In Relation: Marguerite De Provence And Her Many Roles, 1221-1295, Cristina Dawn Moody

Masters Theses

This thesis uses a body of letters between Marguerite de Provence, a thirteenth-century French Queen, and others to discuss her role as a link between several European courts, assisting the French crown to be free of major wars in this period. It investigates Marguerite's attempts to reverse the will of her father, which gave Provence to her youngest sister, Beatrice. Marguerite's life speaks to a variety of topics and themes, including but not limited to, queenship, monarchy, political discourse, letter-writing, and the social construction of gender. Since relatively little work has been done on her life, this thesis seeks to …

Beowulf, Anthony Alvarado

Masters Theses

My composition is a tone poem based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf Specifically, this piece depicts Beowulf s three battles with three diverse monsters. The first Grendel, second Grendel's mother, and last a dragon. In this composition, the music does not follow any specific or traditional forms. Instead, each episode is presented as a picture of each event.

The choice to depict the story of Beowulf was an interesting choice. While historically the story is significant, it is not a very popular one. The poem is the oldest surviving manuscript written in Old English. However, more recent (relatively) …

Orchestra Sketch, Lei Li

Masters Theses

This orchestra piece consists of two movements inspired by the beauty and power of nature. The entire piece uses colorful orchestration and sensitive harmonic language as a palette to draw nature's colors.

As I began sketching out the first movement in early spring, every living creature was gradually emerging from its winter slumber, bringing bright colors into the world. The green grass appeared under the white snow, brown trees tum green, and many yellow daffodils and white tulips started to blossom. This first movement uses lyrical dialogues between strings and the orchestra to express the romantic emotions of spring's blossoms. …

The Music Of A Kalinga Peace-Pact Celebration: Making Place Through The Soundscape, Glenn Ress Stallsmith

Masters Theses

Music and place are two phenomena that have been objectified by researchers in the past. This thesis treats both as social processes created by subjects in local, specific contexts. The Kalinga peace pact system forms an intricate web of bilateral agreements between forty or more culture groups in the northern Philippines. Each agreement is celebrated when it is formed or when a peace pact holder from one group passes the responsibility on to his son. This thesis examines eight musical scenes at one peace pact ceremony celebrated in the Mangali culture area in April 2005. It analyzes the music performances …

Punk'd Lives: Or, The Effects Of White Folks, Black Folks, And Breeders On Punks, Maurice L. Tracy

Masters Theses

Punk'd Lives: Or the Effects of White Folks, Black Folks, and Breeders on Punks is a collection of short stories in the vein of Langston Hughes' The Ways of White Folks; each story looks at contemporary American, mainly middle class, society and exposes some particular, and not always pleasant, truth about those represented within its few pages. As a collective whole and at its core, Punk'd Lives examines what it means to be a young homosexual African-American male living inside of the larger (mainstream) American culture that is often White and always heterosexual.

Black, White, And Gray: The Veiled Politics Of Race And Slavery In Antebellum Literature, Emily Ramage

Masters Theses

The American slavery crisis reached a pinnacle during the time from postrevolution to the mid-nineteenth century, resulting in the most devastating loss of American life to date - the Civil War. Emotions about race and slavery ran high during this antebellum period, and many extremists on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line used the power of written language for their cause; many Americans, conversely, appeared indifferent to a race of people who neither directly affected them nor engaged their interest. That indifference itself played a role in the debate of race and slavery, which progressively reached a vast audience in …

The Interdialect Approach To Second Dialect Acquisition: Theory, Process, And Results, Shauna K. Cromwell

Masters Theses

This project outlines the theory, process, and results behind an original approach to second dialect acquisition termed the "Interdialect Approach." To begin, the historical origins and development of the non-standard dialect African-American English (AAE) are outlined, focusing particularly on the evolution of the dialect and the importance of its historical examination in relation to current studies, research, and emerging nontraditional teaching methods for second dialect acquisition. This multi-faceted approach is clearly defined and offered as an effective method for teaching non-standard English speakers, particularly AAE speakers as is noted in the discussion of two dialect studies in which the "Interdialect …

The Philosophical Quest Of Tom Joad In The Grapes Of Wrath, Eun-Young Lim

Masters Theses

When the merciless Dust Bowl sweeps through Oklahoma in The Grapes of Wrath, the major questions of what can be achieved by thinking and how can ordinary men overcome these critical circumstances pervade the entire novel. This thesis focuses on how Tom Joad, the protagonist in this novel, grows in his philosophical quest, based mainly on Steinbeck's assertion that "Need is the stimulus to concept, concept to action."

Although Tom Joad is portrayed as a cynical, convicted killer who responds to stimuli or from impulse at first, he undergoes his journey both literally and metaphorically from Oklahoma to the promised …

The Myth, Paul Meske

Masters Theses

The Myth chronicles a few days in the life of a young man in search of his place in the world. Through flashbacks and discussions concerning choice and purpose, Adam tries to carve out a life for himself after everyone he knows melts away. Adam discovers many things about himself and how the people around him come to embrace their choices. In the end, Adam attempts to make his own choice and to land somewhere nice and peaceful.

Home Invasions: Victorian Domestic Space And The Figure Of The Outsider, Kathleen Rodems

Masters Theses

Victorian fiction often represents a domestic space that is designed both architecturally and psychologically to protect its residents from the external harsh and hostile world. Novelists ofthe period perceived a weakness in the domestic fortress and incorporated characters that could enter these homes in various ways, whether invited or not, and threatened to expose the families to the world they represented. This thesis investigates characters able to disrupt this domestic idea ofprivacy including the orphaned outsider Heathcliff from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1847), the impostor Lucy Graham in Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley 's Secret (1862), and the detective Sergeant …

The Medieval Influences Of Shakespeare’S Richard Iii: Morality Plays, Miracle Plays, And The Chronicles, Elizabeth Jane Shelley

Masters Theses

There are many striking similarities between Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of King Richard III and several types of medieval works. The morality play genre is most distinctly represented by Richard’s representation as the Vice, a popular figure first characterized as the devil’s helper who eventually eclipsed the devil and became the sole figure of evil. Riehard also shares characteristics with the miracle or mystery play figures of Cain and Herod, figures who commit evil deeds and are rightly punished by God. Shakespeare was also strongly influenced by the chronicle accounts of Raphael Holinshed and Edward Hall, who base their accounts of …

In The Middle Of Somewhere, Lisa Anne Walker

Masters Theses

I have written a creative non fiction piece concerning my experiences living amongst the Tarahumara people of Mexico. The piece utilizes the combination of standard prose with a letter format. The letters are addressed to my sister Alex, but none were actual letters in the form they appear in the thesis. The letter format was chosen because it allowed me to share events without the need to explain in great detail either the events or my feelings concerning the events. The prose format then allowed me to contemplate the events directly and indirectly that are brought up in the letters. …

The Search For Authentic Identity In Three Novels By West Indian Author Earl Lovelace, Todd A. Cornwell

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I examine the evolving concept of authentic identity, individual, cultural, and national in the post-colonial Caribbean context embodied in West Indian author Earl Lovelace's The Schoolmaster, The Dragon Can't Dance, and Salt. These three novels when analyzed together demonstrate Lovelace's emerging vision of a future for the Caribbean rooted in indigenous values, self-possession, historical reclamation, and, ultimately, true independence.

Additionally, this thesis explores Lovelace's paradox of the mask, in its many different physical and psychological forms, that simultaneously liberates and imprisons, and the consequences of masking on West Indian identity. In Lovelace's own words, these three novels …

Rocking The Kenyan Cradle: Colonial Conditioning In Ngugi Wa Thiongo's Njamba Nene Stories, Jonathan Moore

Masters Theses

This thesis analyzes Ngugi wa Thiongo's critique of the colonial influences on the Church, the British educational system and the Kenyan middle class in and around the time of Kenya's State of Emergency of the 1950s. Specifically, I examine these colonial legacies through his two children's books Njamba Nene and the Flying Bus and Njamba Nene's Pistol. More than simply exploit the poor, all three condition the people into a state of submissive acceptance of British superiority. The middle class, a self-replicating product of the first two, is of particular concern to Ngugi because, in this case, Kenyans exploit Kenyans …

To The Beat Of A Different Drum: Inside The Mind Of An "Aspie", Kristopher Allyn Jones

Masters Theses

This thesis is a collection of the author's memoirs regarding his struggles and achievements of living with the condition of Asperger's Syndrome. The purpose of this thesis is for the material to serve as a gateway for those individuals living and coping with the condition, and, likewise, to serve as a pedantic tool for those who don't understand its esoteric aspects. By writing these memoirs, the author wishes to prevent unnecessary persecution toward those living with Asperger's Syndrome, and he wishes to emphasize to those living with the condition that it is alright to be different. This thesis serves as …

Comfort Food, Anita Zimmerman

Masters Theses

Comfort Food is a work of culinary-themed creative nonfiction based on my personal and professional cooking experiences. My purposes in writing these memoirs, to preserve my family's gastronomic history and intimate my cooking experiences, are ultimately infused with a single desire: to encourage others to view food in terms of nourishment, of comfort, and not simply sustenance.

The work is divided into eight chapters; the first two focus on my family's history and my childhood on a farm in Wisconsin. The third through seventh chapters are a chronologically-organized account of each of the places I've worked: a bakery, café, supper …

Holding Her Hand, Chris Ellen Lamb

Masters Theses

The history of GLBTQ YA (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning Young Adult) literature has seen the introduction of very small amounts of fiction over the years. Publication of the first YA gay novel in 1969 opened the doors for many writers interested in pursuing the genre. However, even since this year (the year of the semi-liberation of gays during Stonewall) we have only seen a small amount of titles provided to young readers. In the past decade, interest has begun to turn to a more accepting, emotional and physical based portrayal of GLBTQ teens in their literature.

Since the onset …

Color-Blind Or Seeing White: A Pedagogical Approach To Critical Whiteness Studies, Rebekah K. Volk

Masters Theses

Critical whiteness studies is a primary component of multicultural education that is frequently absent from curricula at all educational levels. This deficiency in the core philosophy of education produces white and non-white students who lack an analytical understanding of the true impact of whiteness on American society, culture, and media. Through lessons infused and influenced by a whiteness perspective, educators may begin the process of creating anti-racist white allies who will continue to change society with a positive impact. Additionally, teachers should help students view their world through the lens of critical whiteness studies in order to promote a more …

Brasil With An S: A Memoir, Lee Isaacson Roll

Masters Theses

This thesis consists of six essays written in the genre of creative nonfiction. The focus of the work is my experience of living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and teaching at the American School from 1969-1971 when I was in my early twenties. The essays are sourced in 104 letters I sent to my family; entries in two daybooks; photos; and my roommate's diary. The events suggested by these primary sources have been enriched by information acquired through academic research and by details provided by conversations and correspondence with the people who shared the experiences with me. The essays shift …

Dancing Through Film Musicals: Narratives In Motion, Dara Phillips

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to discover if and how dance communicates vital plot and character information nonverbally. The example analyzed was the film Singin’ in the Rain. This thesis examined the six dance sequences in the film to determine if the dancing is an integral, powerful, and significant communicative addition to the film. Walter Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm was used in conjunction with Seymour Chatman’s concept of kernels and satellites to determine if the dances communicated significantly to the film’s viewers. The Narrative Paradigm, though loosely framed, provided the concepts of coherence and fidelity. These concepts helped determine if …