Arts and Humanities Commons^™

“I Hope You Are Not Being Stupid About Children”: Transforming Literature Pedagogy Through Children’S Literature, Ashley Cheyenne Johnson

English Dissertations

In this dissertation, I assert that children’s literature is particularly productive for making the literature classroom a more engaging space for students in any genre or historical period of literature taught because it 1) fosters equity; 2) creates confidence; 3) garners student engagement; 4) is valuable; and 5) is an effective, productive, and accessible conduit for studies of literary theory. This dissertation argues for a paired-texts methodology, and incorporates pedagogy theory and scholarship, as well as cultural studies and literary analysis to explore the productive intersections of themes, topics, and modes of writing found in children’s literature that align with …

Otherworldly But Not The Otherworld: Tolkien’S Adaptation Of Medieval Faerie And Fairies Into A Sub-Creative Elvendom, Elliott Thomas Collins

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Through a comparative analysis of Lothlorien and the medieval stories of Lanval and Sir Orfeo, this article attempts to shed some light on how the inherently pessimistic and recursive nature of Tolkien's sub-creation affects his adaptation of medieval Faerie into a sub-creative elvendom born of the creative instincts of the elves. In doing so, the article also questions Tolkien's adherence to parameters of Faerie and characteristics of elves as laid out in OFS.

Marie De France And The Wife Of Bisclavret: A New Understanding, Katie Despeaux

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

Marie de France’s werewolf lai, Bisclavret, was met with immediate and long-lasting fascination, replication, and criticism. As part of what Caroline Walker Bynum calls “the werewolf renaissance,” the story breaks with traditional understandings of werewolves: Bisclavret is not the villain of the story but presents instead as a sympathetic character, victimized by his wife’s collaboration with another man who steals his clothes and prevents him from regaining his human form.

Modern scholarship generally falls within two opposite camps: those for whom the wife is disloyal to her husband; and those for whom Marie herself was disloyal to her gender. …

Evolving Identity: Hellenistic Greece Vs. Arthurian Legend, Irene A. Bougatsos

Publications and Research

This paper for a capstone class delves into two iconic figures from contrasting time periods. While Sir Gawain and Alexander the Great are two literary figures separated by several centuries, the theme of identity is present in the stories of The Greek Alexander Romance and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. How identity fluctuates is what this paper strives to answer.