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Articles 1 - 30 of 258
Full-Text Articles in English Language and Literature
Scientific Authorial Voice: Incorporating Explicit Instruction In Undergraduate Chemistry Courses, Emma L. Becker
Scientific Authorial Voice: Incorporating Explicit Instruction In Undergraduate Chemistry Courses, Emma L. Becker
Masters Theses
The effective development of undergraduate chemistry students for success in professional and academic careers involves emphases on content knowledge and on writing and authorial voice. Unfortunately, most undergraduate chemistry instruction wholly neglects writing and authorial voice instruction in favor of content knowledge instruction. This results in the development of chemistry students who know the content of their field but not how to communicate that knowledge or how to enter the chemistry discourse with their own research. This integrative review identified 71 pieces of scholarly literature and synthesized these sources to reconceptualize writing instruction in undergraduate chemistry and propose explicit instruction …
1930 Chicago, Irish American Life, And Its Adaptation Into Historical Fiction: The Ups And Downs Of Percival Dooley, A Novella, Katy Leigh Foster
1930 Chicago, Irish American Life, And Its Adaptation Into Historical Fiction: The Ups And Downs Of Percival Dooley, A Novella, Katy Leigh Foster
Masters Theses
The thesis examines and explains literary techniques of historical fiction. Observations and studies of historical photographs and handwritten letters, along with qualitative research through studies, journals, historical fiction pieces, and Chicago info-maps, provided accuracy for the historical fiction and a clear reflection of humanity, which is significant in understanding the argument.
Ultimately, the historical fiction shows not just 1930 American society, but where it is today. The thesis argues and proves that whimsical tones are appropriate and effective despite the uneasy time and setting and the foreboding conflicts during 1930.
The story is set in Chicago in the year 1930. …
When The Tide Comes: A Critical Examination Of The Novel-Screenplay Hybrid With Example Chapters, Morgan F. Taylor Moore
When The Tide Comes: A Critical Examination Of The Novel-Screenplay Hybrid With Example Chapters, Morgan F. Taylor Moore
Masters Theses
This thesis presents my research on the psychological realism genre, the stream of consciousness narrative technique, the usage of second person and the present tense, the biblical reasoning behind depicting the ordinary as extraordinary, the role of the demonic in domestic violence, the incorporation of screenplay styles, the scientific reasoning and personal findings of my project’s formatting, the examination of primary sources (novels) that have inspired my project, and finally, the research on ADHD, PTSD, and C-PTSD as the results of domestic abuse. Sample chapters of my project are included.
Lizzie: A Work Of Historical Fiction, Sandra Rouse
Lizzie: A Work Of Historical Fiction, Sandra Rouse
Masters Theses
This thesis was completed as a part of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Liberty University. The critical paper covers the genre of historical fiction. The creative piece contains the opening chapters of Lizzie, a novel of historical fiction covering the life of Elizabeth Evelyn Wright.
The Persuasiveness Of Point Of View, John Brandon Keever
The Persuasiveness Of Point Of View, John Brandon Keever
Masters Theses
An obsession with the point of view, POV, as a craft element, drove the impetus of this research. The artist's statement highlights a love affair with escapism through the written word in fiction. The critical paper reviews evidence of the persuasiveness of point of view, POV, as a critical craft element as seen in the nuances of POV in The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury and in first-person testimony in journalism. While some research into POV exists for literary classics, like Pride and Prejudice, this …
The Tongue Schizochronick: Linguistic Archaism In Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, Timothy Perry O'Connor
The Tongue Schizochronick: Linguistic Archaism In Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, Timothy Perry O'Connor
Masters Theses
In Thomas Pynchon's novel Mason & Dixon, Reverend Wicks Cherrycoke regales his family with tales of the titular pair. The novel is written in a pastiche of late-Enlightenment-era English, which expresses an attack on modernity. Modernity, according to Pynchon, explores entropy and excludes Christ. Subjunctivity and storytelling provide a way to make contact once again with a more hopeful paradigm. The novel joins premodernity and postmodernity through its language's aurality, variability, and polysemy. The pastiche serves to undermine modernity's ambitions by satirically embracing archaic language; adopting Enlightenment parlance gestures ironically at the outmodedness the era's -theorized progress. Aurality appears in …
Empathy In The Classroom: How Great Books Create Meaningful Discussion, Courtney Whitaker
Empathy In The Classroom: How Great Books Create Meaningful Discussion, Courtney Whitaker
Masters Theses
Every day it seems there is another news story detailing our problem of division and polarization, especially where race is concerned. In this thesis, I will explore the ways in which teachers can facilitate empathy within their students, especially through utilizing literary works that address prejudice and division. I intend to approach this topic through the lens of a biblical worldview and draw from current scholarship in making a case for literature as a lesson in empathy. I will conclude with addressing a variety of well-known literary works and the practical ways in which teachers can utilize them in the …
Thesis Proposal And Project: The Christmas Fiddle, Tamara N. Canty
Thesis Proposal And Project: The Christmas Fiddle, Tamara N. Canty
Masters Theses
The thesis discusses how Christian creatives can create art that glorifies God, while shining light into a dark world by highlighting the contributions of Christian creatives in the entertainment industry. The research heralds the testimonies of several notable Christian creatives and how they have successfully navigated their way through a largely secular industry.
Noticing The Brush Strokes: Literary Markers In Hebrew Narratives, Shelbey Hunt
Noticing The Brush Strokes: Literary Markers In Hebrew Narratives, Shelbey Hunt
Masters Theses
As the people who set out to write, edit, and form the Bible may have used embellishments to enhance their narratives, could they also have left literary markers to help the reader chart a course between the historical and the enhanced? The purpose of this thesis is to find these literary markers. Exposing any potential grammatical or syntactical signpost can help the reader understand how they should view a given Biblical story and help reveal the messages the authors behind the scripture were sharing. The book of Jonah will be used as a case study to both discover and elaborate …
Secondary Characters As First-Person Narrators: A Study Of Empathy, Lily Walter
Secondary Characters As First-Person Narrators: A Study Of Empathy, Lily Walter
Senior Honors Theses
One of the greatest functions of literature is its ability to make readers attuned to the emotions of others. Specifically, literature promotes the practices of both empathy and sympathy. Point of view has a strong effect on how emotion is directed, and the secondary character as the first-person narrator functions as a literary device to direct the reader’s sympathy toward an unlikable, fatally-flawed protagonist. Secondary characters draw the reader close to the emotional world of the narrative through an others-orientation, their status as survivor, and their relationship to the protagonist. Ishmael in Moby Dick and Nick Carraway in The Great …
The City Clerk And The Body In The Basement, Celeste J. Mcfall
The City Clerk And The Body In The Basement, Celeste J. Mcfall
Masters Theses
Writing has been not only my source of income, but also an avenue to display my own thoughts through the words of others for the past four decades. Being able to incorporate my own personality across the genres in written form has given me, and many readers, an expanded knowledge and enjoyment. While it is well known that writing has physical and mental health benefits, quite often writers don’t realize how much of themselves is poured into their work. This theory was especially true for me during the COVID years, when I worked, mostly alone, as the City Clerk for …
Where The Blue Flowers Grow: Sehnsucht And Eucatastrophe In Christian Fantasy Literature, Ashley Shepherd
Where The Blue Flowers Grow: Sehnsucht And Eucatastrophe In Christian Fantasy Literature, Ashley Shepherd
Senior Honors Theses
Sehnsucht is a longing for Heaven that cannot be fully described or fulfilled in this world. Eucatastrophe is an unexpected turn of events in a story that brings about incredible joy and a happy ending. This thesis examines how fantasy authors George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien explore both of these spiritual phenomena in many of their works. This thesis also discusses how sehnsucht and eucatastrophe appear in Scripture and can be used in stories to point readers to Heaven. Biblically, sehnsucht is a longing for Heaven, and eucatastrophe serves as the fulfillment of that longing. …
Analyzing The Cynical Perspective Of Death In The Book Thief, Dorothy Elizabeth Hollar
Analyzing The Cynical Perspective Of Death In The Book Thief, Dorothy Elizabeth Hollar
Masters Theses
In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, death is used as a theme and a character to convey the plot of the story. The character of death is used as a device to show the life of a young girl living in Nazi Germany through the eyes of something more sinister and pessimistic. The story explores trauma, friendship, and the power of words when it seems all hope is lost. This thesis will explore the aspect of death as a character and will examine how it works in the story. The creative portion of my thesis will examine the themes …
A Source-Critical Analysis Of The Synoptic Resurrection Accounts, Austin W. Blunt
A Source-Critical Analysis Of The Synoptic Resurrection Accounts, Austin W. Blunt
Masters Theses
This thesis applies the Four-Source Hypothesis to the study of the resurrection accounts in the Synoptic Gospels. Scholars have addressed the Synoptic Problem in a variety of ways. Some have sought to harmonize the Gospels into one cohesive narrative, while others have concluded that the writings are contradictory and irreconcilable. Addressing the challenges associated with the Synoptic problem, this study evaluates the claims that each Gospel writer makes about the resurrection of Christ while assessing the unique characteristics and points of emphasis in each account. The resurrection narratives are used as a case study because of their importance to Christianity …
The Transformation Of Rural Elementary Classroom English Language Teachers During Distance Learning: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Cecilia Frazier Salzer
The Transformation Of Rural Elementary Classroom English Language Teachers During Distance Learning: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Cecilia Frazier Salzer
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the transformation of rural elementary classroom teachers who transitioned to distance learning with English learners (ELs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the California Central Valley. The theory guiding this study is Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. At the same time the conceptual framework is Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK), as both will ascribe meaning to how EL teachers transformed their perspectives, assumptions, feelings, and judgments while conducting distance learning. The research question guiding this study is: What transformation did teachers experience while providing distance learning instruction to rural elementary English …
Using Memoir To Explore And Heal Trauma Inflicted By Emotional Abuse, Accompanied By Excavating Me, A Memoir, Amy G. Partain
Using Memoir To Explore And Heal Trauma Inflicted By Emotional Abuse, Accompanied By Excavating Me, A Memoir, Amy G. Partain
Masters Theses
"Using Memoir to Explore and Heal Trauma Inflicted by Emotional Abuse, accompanied by Excavating Me, A Memoir" by Amy G. Partain details the use of the memoir's literary genre to process trauma resulting from emotional abuse incurred during childhood and adulthood. The paper includes comparisons of three published memoirs about abusive childhoods. It culminates with the author's memoir recounting emotionally abusive experiences with both her parents and her former spouse.
Characterizing The Female Main Character, Addison Leana Butler
Characterizing The Female Main Character, Addison Leana Butler
Masters Theses
The strong female character is a term tossed around writing groups, book clubs, and TikTok as something to both strive to see and critique in literature. This research paper transformed throughout the actual research as it went from a study on cozy fantasy emergence and its effects to strong female characters and how to write them well, to its current iteration along similar lines of writing strong female characters. Qualitative and quantitative data was gathered through the use of a survey that I wrote and put to the field, research done primarily through JSTOR, and interviews conducted with experts in …
Empires Rise: An Approach To Worldbuilding In Modern Fantasy Fiction, Anthony John Rudd
Empires Rise: An Approach To Worldbuilding In Modern Fantasy Fiction, Anthony John Rudd
Masters Theses
Worldbuilding is a critical element to storytelling and involves much more than creating a setting for a narrative – it serves to establish a credible foundation on which authors give life to their creation. There are many great authors who have mastered the art of worldbuilding and their creations can serve as a primer for aspiring authors. This thesis explores critical elements of worldbuilding, provides examples from notable fantasy and science fiction authors such as Tolkien, Jordan, King, and others and explores my approach to incorporating those elements into my own writing.
Turning Heartache Into Hope: How Fantasy Reveals Spiritual Truth About Sin, Suffering, And Redemption, Sophia Raffaelle Bricker
Turning Heartache Into Hope: How Fantasy Reveals Spiritual Truth About Sin, Suffering, And Redemption, Sophia Raffaelle Bricker
Masters Theses
This paper examines the problem of evil and suffering through the literary genre of fantasy. Seminal texts written by Christians in this genre present the problem of sin and death through themes and representative characters but also tempers the reality of suffering with the presence of Christ figures, who bring redemption to the characters and story world through an act of sacrifice. Following the examples of these seminal fantasies and building on my personal experience of loss, I approach the problem of sin and suffering in excerpts from my novel in progress, The Mountain Pass Keeper, by presenting an older …
“A More Perfect World”: Posthumanism And Technological Integration In A Memory Called Empire, Garrett R. Johnson
“A More Perfect World”: Posthumanism And Technological Integration In A Memory Called Empire, Garrett R. Johnson
Masters Theses
This thesis considers the relationship of technology to the human through a posthumanist lens, questioning what will become of the human an increasingly more-than-human world through an examination of the novel A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine. Through an examination of the imago device from the novel, the thesis evaluates the human experience of memory and the influence of empire. The thesis advances four key concepts: 1. The collapsed divide between the human and the technic through memory and imagination; 2. Technology’s development and use; 3. The user that is integrated with the technic; and 4. The poisonous influence …
The Zone Of Proximal Development And Content Area Instruction For Middle School English Language Learner Students: A Phenomenological Study, Amy Lundgren
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of middle school content area instructors (CAIs) who teach English language learners (ELLs) in public schools in ELL-heavy districts. The theory guiding this study was Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD), as research studies indicate the ability of ELLs to access content area instruction when teachers effectively scaffold them in their ZPD to use discipline specific literacy strategies. Data were collected using one-on-one interviews with 10 content area teachers in six ELL-heavy public-school districts to participate in the study. Further data collection was completed using …
Alanda Macmaster & The Realm Of The Faes, Allana Lynn Walker
Alanda Macmaster & The Realm Of The Faes, Allana Lynn Walker
Masters Theses
Though there are exceptions to this rule, today’s bestselling Young Adult (YA) fantasy novels tend to be riddled with gratuitous sex and violence—material far too mature for developing minds. While this kind of content is hardly new to adult fiction, it has, over the last few years, crept steadily and insidiously into books for younger readers. Reading today’s fiction, one would think these were essential elements of a good story. The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of The Rings clearly prove otherwise. Through The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien demonstrated …
Cruisin' The Coast: A Practice In Passionate Observation, Laura Jean Keriazakos
Cruisin' The Coast: A Practice In Passionate Observation, Laura Jean Keriazakos
Masters Theses
The term Passionate Observation is presented as an ability that improves creative writing. It requires a writer to absorb details, noticed or perceived, with intense imagination and reasoning. I present a three-pronged case for acceptance and development of this skill for writing mystery fiction. Examined in this paper are the literary talents of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, along with the supposition both authors were passionate observers. Moreover, through the lens of education, I connect visual literacy, kinesthetic research, and passionate observation. Then, I show the philosophical correlation between observation in science and passionate observation in creative writing. …
The Interplay Between Language And Culture In J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Mackenzie Wangberg
The Interplay Between Language And Culture In J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Mackenzie Wangberg
Masters Theses
The construction of detailed languages was a lifelong passion of J.R.R. Tolkien. While creating the world of Middle-earth, he assigned different languages to the various cultures which inhabit this fantasy landscape. He carefully matched languages and cultures to try to elicit particular responses from his audience. It is well known that J.R.R. Tolkien wanted certain languages of Middle-earth to sound beautiful and others to sound ugly. Research so far, however, has not answered why the specific phonemes, or sounds, which Tolkien chose for these languages might cause the specific reactions he intended. I have used Tolkien’s influences to explain why …
Finding Hope, April Renae Musekamp
Finding Hope, April Renae Musekamp
Masters Theses
Hope Diaz is a young military spouse who prefers baking to people. Her husband has just died while he was serving overseas. In her overwhelming grief, Daisy has to decide where she will live after her time in base housing runs out and what she will do to support herself. She finds solace in a local grief support group, but will her tenuous relationship with her mother comfort her through continuing loss? Hope accepts a job offer from an old baking instructor, but that means leaving behind her support system and places full of memories with her husband. Things don’t …
Making And Meaning In The Study Of Biblical Stories: A Case For A Unified Approach To Narrative Criticism, Todd Michael Oakes
Making And Meaning In The Study Of Biblical Stories: A Case For A Unified Approach To Narrative Criticism, Todd Michael Oakes
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this study is threefold and involves looking across the disciplines of literary theory and criticism, hermeneutics, exegesis, and theology in the analysis of biblical literature. In the areas of literary theory and criticism this involves looking at poetics, modern linguistic theory, structuralist criticism, mimetic theory, and the elements of narrative storytelling. For hermeneutics we will measure how one might best interpret a story comparing the differences between text-centered, reader-centered, and author-centered approaches. Regarding exegesis we will advance an argument for the adoption of the grammatical-historical method over any other. This will allow us to make a case …
Psychological Criticism And Shakespearean Allusions In J.M. Barrie’S Dear Brutus: A Neverland For Adults, Kathryn Alley
Psychological Criticism And Shakespearean Allusions In J.M. Barrie’S Dear Brutus: A Neverland For Adults, Kathryn Alley
Senior Honors Theses
In Peter Pan, Sir James Barrie welcomes readers into Neverland, the realm of eternal youth. Barrie’s lesser-known play, Dear Brutus, ushers audiences into a supernatural garden free of responsibility, reality, and permanence. Referring to Cassius’ words in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the 1917 tragedy explores the consequences of romantic escapism and the seductive power of second chances. Through the lens of Freud’s and Lacan’s psychological criticism, and Barrie’s connection to his might-have-been daughter, Margaret, Dear Brutus unveils the plight of eight mysterious strangers by illustrating that all adults are lost children. Dear Brutus feels in many ways like …
The Cross And The Crime Scene: The Convergence Of Writing As A Christian And The Mystery Genre, Ellie Talalight
The Cross And The Crime Scene: The Convergence Of Writing As A Christian And The Mystery Genre, Ellie Talalight
Senior Honors Theses
This creative thesis begins with a discussion of the different approaches to writing as a Christian. It describes the evangelistic approach, the integrative approach, and the thematic approach, which vary in the degree to which the author’s faith is explicitly or implicitly included. The thesis then focuses on the way Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton incorporated their faith into their mystery stories. It then includes excerpts from an original mystery novel. Finally, it considers the value and purpose of this project.
Sherwood Anderson And The Industrial Corruption Of Midwestern Individualism, Hudson Rice
Sherwood Anderson And The Industrial Corruption Of Midwestern Individualism, Hudson Rice
Senior Honors Theses
Sherwood Anderson’s literary Midwest reflects many of the idealistic characteristics resulting from the region’s frontier, agrarian origin. The most prominent of these characteristics is the region’s emphasis on and appreciation of human particularity. His novels Winesburg, Ohio and Poor White document the region’s unique relationship with individual particularity and how this particularity clashed with a new industrial lifestyle. The two novels reflect the Midwest’s unique understanding of individuality and offer an explanation for why the region’s response to an industrial cultural overhaul was so damaging for the Midwest’s identity, as the traditional identity was supplanted by an industrial one.
Personal Touches: Translation Poetics In Chinese Translations Of Shakespeare Plays, Gabriella Smith
Personal Touches: Translation Poetics In Chinese Translations Of Shakespeare Plays, Gabriella Smith
Masters Theses
Translation, rather than a process of equivalency, requires linguistic and cultural mediation on behalf of the translator. Thought of in this way, the translation process becomes a process of rewriting to fit the sociolinguistic context, and the translator becomes the most important factor in determining how well a translation can fill in gaps present in the knowledge of the target audience. To provide a better understanding of how those with no training in translation seek to fit a translation to the linguistic audience they are provided, I conducted a study of two native bilingual Chinese students on the Wadsworth version …