English Language and Literature Commons^™

Listening To Silence: A Rhetorical Examination Of Silence In The Tale Type The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers, Crystal Stephens

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Fairy tales are an integral part of our culture and have been for hundreds of years. Most of us grew up hearing certain stories, reading the Grimm brothers, watching Disney adaptations of classic tales, and passing these things on to the next generation. But even though we sometimes dismiss fairy tales as we get older as “stories for children,” that does not mean that fairy tales do not play an important role in our lives and cultures. Studying and understanding fairy tales can provide insight into our history, our cultures, and ourselves. As stated by Dan Ben-Amos, “The folktale has …

Online Credibility Testing In Small Organizations: A Case Study Of The Global Village Gifts Website, Natalie Cheney Homan

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A visitor's perception of the credibility of a website and the organization behind it is a matter of great importance to any business. A theory known as prominence-interpretation theory suggests that users make credibility judgments through a two-step process: "1. The user notices something (Prominence), and 2. The user makes a judgment about it (Interpretation)" (Fogg, et al., 2003). With this theory as a basis for support, Heidi Everett (2012) developed a credibility test for small businesses to assess the credibility of their website through a focus group.

Global Village Gifts (GVG) is a not-for-profit fair trade store in Logan, …

Reforming The Performance Of Masculinity: Stephen Crane's Critiques Of Riis's And Roosevelt's Civic Militarism, Cambri Mcdonald Spear

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Progressive Era (1890-1920) marks a unique period of social change in American history not only because of reformists' muckraking attacks against political machines and other corrupt social practices, but also because gender permeated every aspect of reform. The doctrine of separate spheres, which had been such a mainstay of Industrial Revolution-era America, was blurring rapidly, as many reformists, like suffragists, pressed for greater gender equality. However, an extremely fascinating characteristic of this period that is often overlooked is the inevitable way in which the performance of gender became essential for reformists to be successful.

Madwoman In The Living Room, Amber Christine Bowden Whitlock

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

As a young child, Tara Elgin Holley knew little of her mother’s actual character. Raised by her grandparents and then by her aunt, she desperately wanted to understand the mother who was institutionalized shortly after her birth. In her aunt’s attic she found an unexpected treasure trove: her mother’s preserved musical recordings and show dresses. At first the clothing was just a way for Holley to be near her mother, but once the costume was on, Holley’s sense of self fell away. She writes in her memoir, “I would clamber into the beautiful red dress, the long skirt pooling around …

Educating Wonder Away: Charles Dickens' And Lewis Carroll's Attack On Victorian Education, Kolbie Astle

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Charles Dickens lived during a time when great change was occurring for both the lower and upper classes in Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution brought on new technologies that made it possible to mass-produce products of all kinds, effectively eliminating the need for great amounts of independent workers and farmers. Children's education, too, was a controversial topic that underwent much consideration in Parliament, especially because many of the country's children were working alongside the adults in the factories. Beginning in 1833, new legislation gave government-funded grants to schools and allowed children breaks during work hours specifically for their education, and …

Best Practice Recommendations For Publishing A Student Anthology, Ariel Peterson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This document describes the publication process for student anthologies and provides a list of specific, actionable recommendations for students and instructors publishing student anthologies. These recommendations are based upon a literature review of anthology concepts and my own experience publishing a student anthology, Voices in Print, for Utah State University's Intermediate Writing classes. I will introduce the topic of student anthologies with a brief description of their uses and benefits and then describe the publication process with a list of specific recommendations.

Connecting To The Community: Service-Learning Methods In An Esl Classroom, Chelsey Sara Funk

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

High school English as a Second Language (ESL) students often feel separated from their schools and communities. These feelings of separation can lead to low engagement and low achievement despite the students' desire to do well in school. One method used to counter low engagement in mainstream classes is service learning, but there is little research on service learning with ESL students. In this study, an existing group of 9th grade ESL students was taught and observed to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of using service-learning methods. The project endeavored to tie academic work to community involvement and therefore increase …

Exploring The Potential Of Video Games As Educational And Story-Telling Tools, Kelsen Amy Kitchen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

For my honors thesis, I have attempted to explore the potential of video games as educational and storytelling tools. The central questions I formulated before beginning this project are twofold:

1. How can video games be used as tools to educate players?

2. How can video games be used to tell stories, and how are they unique from other storytelling methods?

In pursuit of the answer to the first question, I conducted a literature review of articles that explored the educational and cultural potential of various video games. The articles that I surveyed were diverse, ranging from studies of elementary …

The One Man Crew: The Creating And Sustaining Of A Master Folk Artist, Heidi Jean Williams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Folk art is the art of everyday life. Framing homes can be artistic when done with a degree of exemplary expertise. Jerry Saville is a master folk artist because of his special skills and techniques exhibited in his trade of carpentry. This research provides a glimpse into a carpenter’s life to discover what creates and sustains a master carpenter. Through desire, drive, dedication (time/practice), life experience/opportunity (apprenticeship), purpose, and a community of support, Jerry Saville became a master folk artist.

Midwife, Young Maiden, And Physician: Image And Authority In Karen Cushman's Female Healers, Angela C. Turnbow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study focuses on the characterization of Cushman’s healers in her three medieval novels The Midwife’s Apprentice; Catherine, Called Birdy; and Matilda Bone. I specifically look at the physical descriptions, medical practices, and the healer’s role within the community as an accepted medical authority. Cushman’s portrayals illuminate the different locations and situations in which women practiced medicine during the Middle Ages, thus she presents more historically accurate portrayals of female healers.

The significance of this project is that Cushman challenges the stereotype of the isolated and disfigured old crone that has been, perhaps inadvertently, perpetuated by authors and …

Child Labor - Moral Choice, Caitlin Lagasse

UCUR

In many instances, child labor is a way to exploit the cheap labor a child has to offer. Although in many situations, the exploitation of child labor is not normally the case, such as families living in a developing country. What individuals raised in Western cultures fail to realize is that in some nations and for some families, child labor is a necessary resource to survive, children act as an exceptional resource in these situations. Without the extra income a child could make working in the fields, on the street, or the diamond mines, the family would suffer. Families in …

Voices Of Usu: An Anthology Of Student Essays, 2014, Utah State University Department Of English

Voices of USU

This collection of student writing represents the voices of over 2,000 students who enroll each academic year in Utah State University’s second-year composition course, Intermediate Writing: Research Writing in a Persuasive Mode. Voices of USU celebrates excellence in writing by providing undergraduate students of diverse backgrounds and disciplines the opportunity to have their work published.

Asking And Understanding Questions: An Inquiry-Based Framework For Writing Teacher Development, Jessica Rivera-Mueller

English Faculty Publications

Teachers develop when they critically examine the questions they ask about their work because questions make pedagogical beliefs visible and available for critical reflection and revision. In a standards-based educational climate—a time when writing becomes a set of measurable skills rather than a complex social practice—teachers may feel that a critical examination of their questions is (at best) a luxury or (at worst) a distraction to work they need to accomplish. Therefore, writing teacher educators may find it increasingly challenging to help teachers engage in reflexive inquiry. This essay describes a Deweyian-informed framework that shows how addressing inquiries and critically …

Shots In The Dark: The Presence Of Absence In Imaginative Literature (Iw), Gene Washington

English Faculty Publications

Western metaphysics and IW can be described as a search for "first" presences, not absences. With the exception of philosophers like Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Aristotle, writers like Lord Rochester (John Wilmot), Jonathan Swift and Philip Larkin, no one, to my knowledge, has taken absence as a "first" and consequently as also a "last." This essay is a modest attempt to open the door, if only a crack, for investigations into the metaphysics and meaning of absence as a means of creating, and understanding an interesting IW—from the perspective of the presence of absence as "first" and as "last."

Park Valley, Utah's Shivaree Tradition: A Rite Of Social Acceptance, Rosa Lee Thornley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This investigation of the ritualized tradition of shivaree found in the isolated ranching community of Park Valley, Utah presents a unique version of the practice. The marriage custom of charivari/shivaree evolved from a punitive form of social control in Europe and Great Britain, to a raucous American celebration that welcomed newlyweds into a community. The cultural landscape combined with the contemporary rural society sets the backdrop to argue that Park Valley’s impromptu performances went beyond just offering a hand of welcome; their shivarees, performed after the formal marriage festivities, functioned as a complex rite of social acceptance.

The analysis of …

Sports Literature In The Secondary Classroom, Hannah Thompson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

When I first began thinking about focusing my thesis on sports literature, my initial research was not promising-many of the studies that have been done in the past focused on using sports literature to encourage reluctant readers. Reluctant male readers in particular were encouraged to try sports literature as a ploy to get them to read. Professor Linda Purdy Carter examines the reasons why reluctant readers tend to connect with sports literature. Overall, Carter concludes that sports literature can be a viable and valuable part of a classroom, but continues to emphasize the use of sports literature for students who …

Jack London: Landscape, Love, And Place, Kristin Yoshiko Ladd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In Jack London: Landscape, Love, and Place, American Studies theories and methods formed the prime basis for analysis of London's biography, historical context, and literary significance. Particularly, the ideas of agrarianism, the Turner Thesis moment, Western literature, American masculinity, Victorian ideals, and sustainable farm practices in America were used to understand London's motivations for writing and creating his farm, his influence on American literature, and his texts' abilities to open avenues between literature and place-based education. Key concepts that influenced how London's works could be incorporated into and applied to didactic theory included David Sobel's seminal works in place-based education. …

Dams, Roads, And Bridges: (Re)Defining Work And Masculinity In American Indian Literature Of The Great Plains, 1968-Present, Joshua Tyler Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the study of contemporary American Indian literature, the definition of work and the characterization of Native and non-native laborers—farmers, ranchers, lawmen, smugglers, Indian Affairs agents, academics, activists, "traditionalists," tour guides, artists, among others—are rarely the lenses that scholars use to interpret the texts. Instead, issues of class and labor often take a backseat to those of cultural survivance and traditional and/or "mix-blood" identity, resistance to historical and ongoing acts of colonialism, reassertion of treaty rights and cultural practices, and reclamation of land and cultural artifacts. However, although the canon of contemporary Native literatures warrants close attention to these issues, …

On Edifice, Joseph D. Bradbury

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This collection of essays intends to draw out the complex relationship between structure and identity in the American West. Specifically, this collection considers the inherent connection between Mormon meetinghouses and the Salt Lake City Downtown Rising project completed in 2012, and both Mormons and non-Mormons who choose to establish a home and an identity in the West. Although the obvious addressees are Mormon and non-Mormon, the applicable audience is far-reaching in that the identity of a specific region established primarily by one faction of people is, much like all things, subject to change. This change and this identity crisis resemble …

Transcending The Material Self: Reading Ghosts In Samuel Richardson's Novel Clarissa, Jeffrey G. Howard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For thousands of years, many people have retained a belief in the existence of those supernatural entities known as ghosts, and the question of their existence has been vital to the political, religious, and personal ideologies of many interested parties. This thesis will not join that discussion because the question of the ghostly existence cannot be answered in a manner satisfactory to all sides. It merely acknowledges that such a debate continues and that the conflict between belief and empiricist logic can expect no real resolution any time soon. The issue at the heart of this project, however, actually involves …

The Face Of Bedlam: Madness, Gender, And Social Mores In Jacobean Drama, Amelé Welliver

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Spectacular images of madness and villainy characterized the Jacobean stage. Amidst the grief of losing beloved Queen Elizabeth I and the turmoil of James I's early years as king, the spirit of drama shifted so that, as Una Ellis-Fermor explains, Elizabethans' love of life transformed into a Jacobean preoccupation with death. Her book The Jacobean Drama: An Interpretation examines this transition, exploring Jacobean playwrights' heightened dramatic presentations as social commentary. During this period, Machiavellian villains became standard on the stage; dramatic plots became overtly violent, even satanic. One of the most striking and well-studied developments during this time was the …

Deconstructing The Supernatural In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Britney Marler

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Of all Shakespeare's tragedies, Macbeth is by far the most supernaturally charged. The play opens with three witches who give Macbeth and Banquo a prediction that lays out the plot of the rest of the play. Macbeth sees a phantom dagger, hears voices, and is haunted by the ghost of his murdered comrade. The vast amount of supernatural events comes as no surprise considering that Shakespeare almost certainly wrote the play as a tribute to King James I, the British monarch whose belief in the power of witchcraft ran so deep that he led several witchhunts throughout Britain, in addition …

Demystifying The Cowboy Through His Song: How Cowboy Poetry And Music Create A Common Language Between Multiple-Use Conservationists And Forever-Wild Preservationists To Meet The Goals Of Sustainable Agriculture, Kristin Y. Ladd, Roslynn Brain

English Faculty Publications

Though multiple-use conservationists (use the land for multiple purposes) and forever-wild preservationists (solely set aside land for non-human species) seem to be at odds, this article argues that key figures such as Gifford Pinchot and John Muir discredit this perceived discordance. As well, it probes into the unexplored arena of cowboy music gatherings as productive places for cooperation between the two groups. First, mystique of the cowboy is examined and unraveled through true stories of cowboy-environmentalist collaboration. The article addresses how cowboy poetry festivals function as entertainment and meeting places to support sustainable behavior through communitybased social marketing techniques.

An Infusion Of The Modern Spirit Into The Ancient Form:’ Textual Objects And Historical Consciousness In George Eliot’S Romola., Mattie Burket

English Faculty Publications

In George Eliot’s Romola, manuscripts represent the ability of objects to embody the past. Through various characters’ interactions with manuscripts, Eliot explores competing ways of using and valuing history, from Bardo’s obsessive collecting to Savonarola’s ideological co-optation. As the story progresses, however, manuscripts all but disappear and are replaced by printed texts. Through this depiction of technological change, Eliot advances her case for a particular kind of historical consciousness, one that engages critically—rather than fetishistically or opportunistically—with the past. Print, Eliot suggests, allows history to become widely accessible for public consumption, thereby weakening the aura of the past and allowing …

Prayer, Sacrifice, And Service: Themes In The Mormon Folk Narrative Tradition, Jake D. Vane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to increase understanding about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by researching how prayer, sacrifice, and service operate in the lives of Latter-day Saints. I studied and analyzed these values and themes by interviewing Latter-day Saints and collecting stories of their personal experiences. I also researched these themes in Mormon history. The academic field of Mormon folklore has often studied topics that offer a slightly improved understanding of Mormons. My approach was to help focus Mormon folklore studies on the core values of this religious group—values that significantly broaden …

"To Taste Her Mystic Bread" Or "The Mocking Echo Of His Own": Uses Of Nature In The Poems Of Emily Dickinson And Robert Frost, Ian R. Weaver

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The central question to this thesis is: how is knowledge about nature created? A comprehensive study to adequately answer this question would be impossible; therefore, this thesis focuses on two prominent American poets’ approaches to nature: Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost. These poets’ nature poems are comparable for several reasons with a few being that both lived the majority of their lives in New England; both have had a significant impact on American nature writing; and both use nature as central to their work. But most importantly, Dickinson’s and Frost’s poetry are comparable because they have seemingly opposed approaches to …

Farmer, Miner, Ranger, Writer: Interpreting Class And Work In The Writing Of Wendell Berry And Edward Abbey, Tyler Austin Nickl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study compares some of the essays and novels of two well known, environmental writers: Wendell Berry and Edward Abbey. Usually, these writers are discussed for their environmental politics and representations of nature, but this study examines the ways in which each of these writers discusses class and manual labor. This aspect of Abbey’s and Berry’s works has not yet received the attention it deserves. With this focus in mind, I make the following conclusions: 1) An author’s view of society (as expressed by their opinions of class and socioeconomic status) necessarily affects their view of nature. 2) Berry’s occupational …

Review: Peter Mcdonald, "The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship And Its Cultural Consequences", Shane Graham

English Faculty Publications

Censorship has, of course, been much discussed in South African literary studies. But Peter McDonald's The Literature Police is a groundbreaking book in two ways: first, it is to my knowledge the first book to attempt a comprehensive historical overview of censorship in apartheid South Africa and its effects, not just on writers, but on publishers, literary journals, writers' organizations, and other key institutions. Second, it is the first text to look closely and methodically at the paper trail left behind by the Board of Censors to analyze precisely which texts were banned and the reasons given. The Literature Police …

Corporate Style Guides: Understanding And Construction, Riley Ann Ashcroft

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Style guides have existed for many years and yet there is almost no information concerning how to write one. Since corporations are so different from one another, each could have its very own style guide. Most, however, use an existing style guide and fill in any gaps with customer specific information. One such corporation is the Utah State University Research Foundation (USURF). To answer the question “how to write a style guide,” this paper compares five style guides with similar content to what would appear in a USURF guide. The paper then discusses interviews from USURF’s technical writers to determine …

Why And How To Increase The Amount Of Writing In Utah's Schools, Sarah Orme

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The writing culture in elementary schools and secondary schools needs to change if students are going to be equipped for their future academic and career goals. An ideal writing culture promotes advanced writing by encouraging more writing, sharing, and a sense that everyone in the classroom is a developing writer. The writing students produce shows that this type of writing culture is not being nurtured in many secondary schools. It is apparent that the ideal writing culture in secondary schools is not being achieved because of the writing students produce. Arthur Applebee and Judith Langer, in connection with the National …