English Language and Literature Commons^™

The Enduring Austen Heroine: Self-Awareness And Moral Maturity In Jane Austen's Emma And In Modern Austen Fan-Fiction, Brittany A. Meng

Masters Theses

Jane Austen's novels continue to be popular in the twenty-first century because her heroines are both delightful and instructive; they can be viewed as role models of personal growth due to their honest self-examination and commitment to high moral standards. Chapter one establishes the patterns of personal growth that uniquely characterizes Austen's heroines in each of her six novels. Chapter two tests these conclusions by carefully examining the character of Emma Woodhouse. Though Emma is a unique heroine due to her wealth and social privileges, she follows the principles of personal growth possessed by Austen's other heroines. Chapter three further …

Hues, Tresses, And Dresses: Examining The Relation Of Body Image, Hair, And Clothes To Female Identity In Their Eyes Were Watching God And I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Alisha Priolo Castaneda

Masters Theses

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings convey powerful relations between body image, hair, and clothes. Because a proper understanding of the theory of womanism provides a basis for comprehending the African American female's relation to herself and the world around her, a working definition and description of the term and its general significance to African American critical theory is provided in chapter two. The third chapter focuses on the general topic of body image in relation to black female identity and includes a more specific analysis of the …

It's Not Catharsis, It's Cognition: A New Approach To Emotion In Composition, Caronia (Nia) Klein

Masters Theses

Therapeutic writing, or writing as a method of emotional healing, seeks to facilitate psychological healing through self-discovery as a result of analyzing, interpreting, and making conclusions about challenging life experiences. Likewise, in composition theory, expressivist, feminist, and collaborative pedagogies advocate the empowerment of students through discovery and articulation of voice as a way to make meaning and develop as persons and students. Both approaches to writing foreground the use of personal experience as a way to process the external world through the emotional landscape of the writer, yet critics ofemotionally expressive writing decry its usefulness to composition pedagogy because of …

An Economic Model Of Literary Studies, Devin Charles Black

Masters Theses

While much scholarly discussion exists on the future of literary studies and its value to society at large, much of this discussion revolves around economic terminology, such as value, without discussing the issues and concerns of literary studies in a larger economic framework. In this project, I look at the advent ofliterary theory as the catalyst that transformed literary studies into a capitalist economic system. This project aims to look at the complexity of value systems operating within the discipline without championing one theory over another or, indeed, championing or arguing against theory itself. Instead, an economic model allows us …

Monstrous Transformations: Loyalty And Community In Four Medieval Poems, Mary Lieske

Masters Theses

The thesis focuses on loyalty as performed by individuals within a social community and on how loyalty is a necessity for knights. The four poems I examined, Bisclavret, Guillaume of Palerne, The Wife of Bath's Tale and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, include a transformation that enhances the acts of loyalty either by forcing characters and readers to focus on the acts themselves or by complicating the acts with the addition of social expectations and additional promises. The thesis is separated into two chapters categorized by transformation type. The human-to-animal transformation focuses on the acts ofloyalty and their ties …

Strings, Willie J. Morris

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Genre Awareness In The Writing Center, Ashok Bhusal

Masters Theses

This thesis explores how genre theory is represented in writing center scholarship and practice by analyzing tutor training textbooks and also doing a case study of the EIU Writing Center to examine how genre awareness is perceived by writing consultants. This study concludes that increased awareness of genre features should influence the practice of writing consultants and writing centers. Based on the two surveys from my case study, the EIU Writing Center consultants did not appear to have a strong understanding of genre theory since their practicum course (English 5500) and tutor training textbooks have not explicitly provided them with …

Wordsworth, Emerson, And The "Art Of Loss", Nicholas M. Shaner

Masters Theses

The discussion in Robert Weisbuch's Atlantic Double-Cross about the ways in which American writers wrote both with and against their British contemporaries is analogous to the way Ralph Waldo Emerson is influenced by and connected to William Wordsworth through the "art of loss". Wordsworth is the poet of human suffering, and through many of his poems about dealing with loss and mortality, especially, The Excursion, and the "Intimations Ode," he has a profound impact on Emerson. Emerson's ability to deal with the loss of his young son Waldo is difficult, and he attempts to look to Wordsworth's poems on death …

In The Cold, Quiet Dark, Chris Ludwig

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Invisible, Not Invincible: A Fiction And Memoir Thesis On Domestic Abuse, Jennifer Kaylynn O'Neil

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

William Harper: A Story, J. T. Dawson

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Rhetorical Grammar And You: A Study Of First-Year Composition Papers, Kristi Mcduffie

Masters Theses

Traditional grammar instruction prescribes that you should be used only to address the actual reader of the text in academic writing; even the direct address is to be used sparingly. Yet an examination of published writing in a variety of genres shows that experienced writers use you in a variety of ways-to refer to the writer, a third person, anyone, and to illustrate a hypothetical, habitual, or proverbial situation, and more. Based on previous scholarship and published examples, I create categories of the referents and functions of you that are used today in spoken and written English. Then, I apply …

Frederick Douglass: The Man, His Words And His Legacy As A Master Rhetorician, Tameka Lashean Johnson

Masters Theses

This thesis offers a synthesis of existing research regarding not only Frederick Douglass· literacy in the slave narrative genre. but also an Aristotelian analysis of his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (1845). Dougiass' challenge is to reach an audience not only of abolitionists, but also of free blacks who are more grounded in the vernacular tradition than equal to his own considerable skills in rhetorical literary construction.

My research addresses the problem that existing research inadequately considers the degree to which Douglass uses his awareness of the audience and employs rhetoric in …

You're Not Really Black Unless You've Been Shot-- Or So Says Black Urban Fiction, Erin A. Talley

Masters Theses

This essay seeks to identify the injurious and hedonistic patterns that emerge from contemporary black urban fiction, reinforcing negative stereotypes. This essay comments on codes that establish a sense of authenticity as well as trends of isolationism and essentialist narratives published as the unsuccessful progeny of didactic novels written to highlight conditions in underrepresented minority communities. Through a critical examination of earlier literary movements, this essay proposes that contemporary black urban literature grows less culturally conscious and less aesthetically aware in its pursuit of commercial success than the African American canonical texts that grounded cultural realism and literary experimentation.

Performance, Spectacle, Text: The Court Masques Of Samuel Daniel, Donica Martin Miller

Masters Theses

This thesis is an examination of two early seventeenth century court masques commissioned by Queen Anna and composed by the court poet and playwright, Samuel Daniel. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter presents a brief history of the court masque as a genre and examines the context of each of Daniel's masques. The second and third chapters focus on The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses and Tethys' Festival in relation to the dancers, costumes, sets and politics surrounding the performances. By exploring the political events behind the composition of each masque, readers may gain a more …

Going Home, Glen Davis

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Teller Of Tales: Narratology And The Works Of Sherwood Anderson, Jamie Patton

Masters Theses

The publication of Winesburg, Ohio in 1919 introduced Sherwood Anderson as an American author with great potential, but when critics attempted to evaluate Anderson's legacy following his death in 1941, most concluded that his career beyond that book and a few short stories failed to deliver on that promise to permanently establish Anderson as a writer with a lasting impact. However, Anderson's direct influence on key players of the modernist period, most notably Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, suggests the need for scholars to take a closer look at his work in order to better understand his impact and the …

Marketing Campaign For Soup Stop, Nfp, Inc., Chelsea M. Mcbride

Masters Theses

For the applied thesis in professional communication, I created marketing documents for Soup Stop, NFP, INC., a non-profit organization located in Charleston that provides free lunch Monday through Friday to anyone who asks for a meal. Soup Stop does not require its clients to provide any information in order to receive service. It is one of Charleston's longest running mission projects and has operated out of the First Presbyterian Church for ten years, serving over 30,000 meals. Because Soup Stop is funded entirely through donations and volunteer efforts, board members have found it challenging to keep documents up-to-date and to …

Disenchantment: The Formation, Distortion, And Transformation Of Identity In Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, Lydia K. Christoph

Masters Theses

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1861) stands apart from his other works as a powerful expression of his later social and theological views. Rife with rich characterizations, fairy-tale elements, grotesque and bizarre plot twists, Victorian social issues, and a beautifully thoughtful and imaginative commentary on the universal human themes of loss, guilt, abuse, identity, money, social status, and love, this novel remains an outstanding example of truly great art, both popular and classic. This story of identity formation in a nineteenth-century English context demonstrates how Dickens' life and writings, influenced by spurious and inconsistent theological beliefs, express the idea that sin …

An Examination Of William Faulkner's Use Of Biblical Symbolism In Three Early Novels: The Sound And The Fury, As I Lay Dying, And Light In August, Richard North

Masters Theses

During the years 1928-1932, William Faulkner wrote and published three novels containing varying but significant amounts of Biblical content and symbolism: The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), and Light in August (1932). In The Sound and the Fury, the characters of Benjy and Quentin Compson share some characteristics of Christ figures, but receive irony-laden treatment. The novel, however, presents the purest Christian character of this period of Faulkner's writing--the Compson family's Negro servant Dilsey. The Bible holds a similar influence over As I Lay Dying, specifically in the Old Testament. The Christian characters in this …

Translating Anglo-Saxon Poetry: Foreignized Translations Of The Seafarer And The Wanderer, Andrew Timothy Eichel

Masters Theses

Few scholars argue that medieval literature retains the same prestige today it once held as the foundation of almost every school's English literature/language department. One reason for this fall could be the lack of proper integration of newer literary approaches into the field. Why, despite the recent swell in the use of more contemporary schools of theory-Marxism, feminism, and deconstructionism, for example-do many medieval scholars still endorse traditional strategies of historical and empirical analysis? Focusing on the translation methodology of foreignization, I present Ezra Pound's translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Seafarer" and my translation of "The Wanderer." Both serve …

The Letters Of Elizabeth I: Rhetoric For Ruling, Anna M. Patton

Masters Theses

This thesis is an investigation of the rhetorical skill of Elizabeth I of England, focusing primarily on her letters. Elizabeth's rhetorical prowess is well documented; scholars have spent ample time dissecting her political speeches as well as her historical significance in literary, political and historical studies. Although her speeches provide a firm foundation from which to examine Elizabeth and her relationships with her people, her letters are even more pertinent when examining those relationships Elizabeth sought to establish during her reign. Elizabeth's politics and relationships are enhanced and developed by her ability to manipulate those around her with her words. …

"Freedom In Working": Representations Of Working Women In Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton, Ruth, And North And South, Amy King

Masters Theses

In my M.A. thesis, I explore Elizabeth Gaskell's representations of women workers in her three novels, Mary Barton, Ruth, and North and South through the context of Victorian domestic ideology and social class. I argue that Elizabeth Gaskell supported and challenged the accepted gender roles for women. Through a close reading of her novels and short stories, I analyzed the reasons behind her conflicting and ambiguous portrayals of working women. I argue that while Gaskell clearly advocated domestic work as the "natural" work for women, her views on wage-earning labor varied; however she suggests that women, regardless of class, could …

Exploring Social Class And The Rural/Urban Dichotomy: A Critical Approach To Rural Community College Student Empowerment Through Composition, Amanda Groves

Masters Theses

Rural community college students arguably face more barriers to socioeconomic class mobility than their urban peers. Rural students who attend college where the prevalence of working-class status is much higher and deal with the hindrances their geographical location inflicts have typically remained in their respective classes with little chance of change. However, just as their geographical location presents physical barriers to mobility, so does the rural/urban dichotomy which contains and urban biased definition of the elements of middle- and upper-class status. Part of the problem with this system of social class lies in the definitions that would have rural students …

Exploring At-Risk Student Writers In Academic Success Programs And The Role Instructors Play In Their Evaluation, Katrina Monique Dunbar

Masters Theses

Little scholarship in Composition Studies has focused on the writing of students who are placed in academic success courses due to the fact that they are academically at-risk. To assess this writing I conducted a study examining writing of at-risk students and the evaluation strategies used by instructors. As a result of the outcome of the study, this project establishes both the consistent and inconsistent ways that instructors evaluate the writing products of these types of students. Also this thesis calls for proposed solutions to this problem to be implemented.

The First Adventure Of Raspberry And Lime: A Futuristic Screenplay, Sarah E. Mims

Masters Theses

This thesis consists of a short screenplay coupled with an introductory essay. The focus of the story and the essay is an examination of the "hero" and the hero's journey as deciphered by Joseph Campbell. My focus was on the heroic elements of the American superhero as depicted on both the big and small screen.

The essay outlines Campbell's cycle or journey that all heroes have in one way or another. I profile prominent examples of the "classic" heroic journey as depicted in modem American cinema. I use Luke Skywalker as the most basic example. I then examine less "typical" …

Where We Can't Follow: A Collection Of Short Stories, Megan Holt

Masters Theses

This humorous collection of short stories revolves around the lives of the patrons and employees who frequent the bars. When men and women come together to congregate over drinks, their conversations turn towards every topic except the important aspects of their various relationships. As underlying conflicts rise to the surface, and the situations become more comical, the characters are faced with a brief epiphany about the true nature of their personalities. Rather than becoming inspired by these moments of clarity, these men and women resist the urge to change. The liquor continues to flow, inhibitions flounder, and these characters hurtle …

The Bearded Man, Scott Lutz

Masters Theses

The Bearded Man is a collection of poems conceived around the theme of mythmaking. Mythmaking in these poems manifests itself as a means of translating or filtering the outside world through a fantasist lens that creates an alternate interpretation of the natural world. However, the project quickly grew beyond myth and evolved into tall-tale-like poems. My purpose in writing or constructing these modem-day tall-tales or fabricated takes on reality, is to enable the reader to reacquaint themselves with the impossible, and to remind the reader that not everything needs to be explained through logic or science. But I suppose ultimately …

Female Freedom Fighters: The Impact Of Kate Chopin's The Awakening And Edith Wharton's The House Of Mirth On The American Suicide Discourse From 1870-1900, Jenny Cortez

Masters Theses

Chapter one traces the discussion of suicide that was taking place in America between the years 1870-1900. Some psychologists attributed suicide to insanity and imitation, while others ascribed the act of suicide to those individuals with an intelligent disposition. Other theorists, however, saw the act itself as being in direct connection with social consciousness and the plight of women. Chapter two takes up Kate Chopin's The Awakening, published in 1899, as a response to this conversation over women who take their own lives, contending that a woman commits the act of suicide not because, as American society suggested between 1870 …

Cyber Tribe: The Rhetorical Implications Of The Daily Kos Political Filter Blog Community, Rachel Lutz

Masters Theses

My thesis analyzes the ways in which blogs are changing the accumulation and exchange of knowledge both within and outside of the blogosphere. To this end, I closely examine the features and activities of the blog site Daily Kos and use these observations to extend the orality-vs.-literacy theories of Walter Ong and the media theories (particularly that of de- and retribalization) of Marshall McLuhan. My application of ideas presented by these rhetoricians, together with more recent Internet research that has addressed blog analysis in terms of knowledge-formation and intellectual authority, helps bring greater clarity to a dynamic and complex phenomenon: …