American Studies Commons^™

“Beating Back The Past”: The Psychological Justifications Of Violence In Toni Morrison’S Fiction, Catherine Buhse

English Honors Theses

This thesis examines the traumatic experiences that consume characters’ lives and, in the absence of psychological healing efforts, manifest into violent actions in Toni Morrison’s three novels The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved. I focus on the gendered experience of the female characters Pecola, Sula, Eva, and Sethe, except for the male character, Cholly in The Bluest Eye. Focusing on Morrison’s humanization of violent characters and her sharing of their full life stories, I establish the characters’ internal justifications for their violence to challenge the accepted depiction of all criminals as evil. The three chapters follow the manifestation of trauma …

The Millennial Novel: Examining A Generation Through Literature, Isabella Bokan

English Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis examines the relationship between contemporary social circumstances and fiction novels. Generational novels are focused on cohorts or individuals who share traits that reflect recognizable social conditions of a specific era. The new generational novel is the Millennial novel. These Millennial novels generally depict American characters in American settings, but the characters are increasingly ethnically and racially diverse. These characters are often in economic precarity, they are generally highly educated and invariably find themselves at odds with traditional romantic, occupational, and domestic expectations. In many of these novels, new technologies play an important role in the narrative and …

Bob Dylan And American Folk Music: The Pigeonhole Effect, Thomas J. Murray

Of Life and History

This article tracks Bob Dylan's early musical career and his relation to the American Folk music movement of the late 1950s into the early 1960s. The author grapples with the question of why Bob Dylan went electric and explores some of the stories around the seminal event in American Folk Music history. The author mainly uses Bob Dylan's personal interviews and songs to draw conclusions.

Indians In The Archives: A History Of Native Americans, Pakachoag Hill And Holy Cross, 1674-1973, Jack Hynick

Of Life and History

Native people are conspicuously absent from the official and popular history of the College of the Holy Cross. Extant records from the Holy Cross archives, the American Antiquarian Society, and digitized reports from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are filled with references to Native people at Holy Cross and the surrounding Worcester area. By addressing the history of the land, the experiences of Native people on Pakachoag Hill, the roles played by Holy Cross community members in settler colonialism, and the use of Native imagery, this paper hopes to correct a blinding omission in the story of the College.

Letting The Cat Out Of The Wall: Irrepressible Perversity In Poe, Kelly Gallagher

The Criterion

This paper examines several short stories by Edgar Allan Poe that feature the motif of immurement, the practice of imprisoning a victim within walls. Poe uses immurement in “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” to suggest psychological suppression as the narrators physically hide their victims while simultaneously hiding their own self-destructive natures, which he refers to as “perversity.” His stories “The Imp of the Perverse” and “The Cask of Amontillado” convey that attempting to suppress one’s capacity for self-destruction only guarantees self-destruction. Poe’s motif of immurement demonstrates how human beings tend to ignore their inherent perversity, but his stories …

Othering: An Analysis Of Expression In Hip-Hop And South Asian Literature Through Post-9/11 Discourse, Syed Tareq Alam

English Honors Theses

The critical question this thesis seeks to answer is how a relationship between hip-hop and South Asian literature can be developed in such a way that one is able understand and address both the present and future state of America in a post 9/11 context. To answer this question, three hip-hop songs will be analyzed through their lyrics and instrumentation with a specific focus on their expression of the other: “Cops Shot the Kid” by Nas, “Flag Shopping” and “Patriot Act” by Heems. One novel and play will be analyzed in similar form: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid and …

Of Life And History, Vol. 1 (May 2018)

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

Manufacturing Progress, Prosperity, And Pride: The Social Construction Of Worcester’S Industrial Identity, 1850-1910, Michael T. Desantis

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

Zycie W Ameryce: Life In America, Brynn A. Cotter

Summer Research Program

My project explores the history of the Polish-American community of Worcester, Massachusetts centered on the parish of Our Lady of Czestochowa and how its members responded to the forces of Americanization. Like many ethnic groups new to America, Polish-Americans and Polish immigrants in the twentieth century had to adapt in a world that demanded conformity in exchange for social mobility and departure from tradition and community. Over eight weeks, I conducted research in area archives such as the Worcester Historical Museum, the Worcester Public Library, and at Our Lady of Czestochowa’s rectory and its parish school of Saint Mary’s, as …

An Anthology Of Holy Cross Verse, College Of The Holy Cross

Holy Cross Bookshelf

A collection of poetry compiled from The Holy Cross Purple, a literary publication produced by the students of the College of the Holy Cross. The selections included in this anthology appeared in The Holy Cross Purple between 1920 and 1937.

The volume's endpapers are an illustrated map of the college campus circa 1937.

Spine title: Anthology of Holy Cross Verse: 1920-1937

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 November 15, Uncle Bob

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 March 17, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 March 9, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 March 8, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 February 26, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 February 24, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 January 29, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 January 23, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1877 January 11, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 December 5, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 November 23, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 November 16, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 November 7, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 November 1, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 October 25, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 September 29, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 September 9, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 March 28, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 March 9, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.

Letter To Louise Guiney, 1876 March 2, Patrick Guiney

Col. Patrick Guiney Letters

No abstract provided.