English Language and Literature Commons^™

E. M. Forster And Women, Kaila Toce

Honors Scholar Theses

E. M. Forster was a British author in the early 20th century. He was heavily influenced by the women in his life, and this influence is reflected in the women characters of his novels--especially A Room with a View, Howards End, and A Passage to India. But, he only wrote women two ways, either as the bright, young thing, or the wise, older woman. The one character to surpass this was Margaret Schlegel of Howards End.

“The Language Of Another World” Lord Byron’S Therapeutic Journey, Jake C. Spangler

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

A chronicle of Lord Byron's literary work from his 18th year until his death in 1824. This project examines the origin of the Byronic Hero in a therapeutic light.

Contesting Victorian Beliefs: The Unintended Effects Of Victorian Novels, Christina Barquin

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Victorian society reproduced polarized gender roles known as the ideology of the separate spheres in order to confine the authority of women. However, as the Victorian Era progressed social norms were gradually contested, and the consequences of the assertion of female authority led to reform. In reinterpreting the Victorian women’s movement, I will interpret the effects of the writers of the late nineteenth century who argued explicitly against proposed changes in the traditional position of middle-class women. I will most closely examine how the late Victorian novels, A Marriage Below Zero by Alan Dale and The Revolt of Man by …

Exposing Narrative Ideologies Of Victimhood In Emma Donaghue’S Room And Gillian Flynn’S Gone Girl, Meredith Jeffers

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Stories about abducted women and murdered wives are sadly common on cable and network news programs, from Nancy Grace to Dateline. These at the center of Emma Donaghue’s Room (2010) and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (2012). These contemporary novels manipulate the narrative conventions of popular true-crime stories to expose the

In the each chapter, I examine the interesting narrative perspectives of Room and Gone Girl to understand the ways that these novels deconstruct mass media narratives of violence to reveal ideas about gender. In Room, Donaghue dislocates the narration by narrating the novel not from the perspective of …

On The Psalms As A Primary Source For The Old English Exodus, Ricky L. Nolen

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

An argument for the biblical Psalms as a primary source for the Old English poem "Exodus".

The Crystal Necklace, Haley Hawkins

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alexis and Stacy are sisters who share a strong bond. They support each other during difficult times, but when Stacy is struck with an illness, Alexis begins to distance herself. The reality of Stacy's situation takes its toll on Alexis as she struggles to stand by Stacy.

Haskell, Emilie Tallent

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

A small collection of short stories.

Literature Of Societal Trauma: A Study Of Literature Following The Holocaust And The Dirty War, Jane Sarah Phillips

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

This is a study of the tangible effects of societal trauma that manifest themselves in the literature of a community in the years and decades following said traumas. This paper focuses on literature that follows the Holocaust from World War II Germany and the Dirty War from 1970's Argentina.

Holocaust Etiquette, Myth, And Metanarrative : Representations Of Nazism In Contemporary Comics., Tessa Withorn

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

The Domestic Interior, The Female Body, And The Metaphorical Irish Nation In The Works Of James Joyce, Ellen Scheible

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

2015 Forces, Scott Yarbrough

Forces

No abstract provided.

Writing Is Learning, Aubrey M. Kennedy

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper examines composition in the secondary English classroom; specifically, the paper addresses common problems associated with composition curricula, and attempts to determine the best methods for teaching composition that strive to foster learning and authorial agency. The paper underscores the importance of incorporating personal experiences and insights into the composition process, and stresses that writing cannot only be taught, but that writing is learning. Moreover, writing is a way to make sense of experiences and insights. The paper includes the scaffolding for a secondary composition curriculum, and outlines the most effective pedagogical practices to teach writing that is meaningful …

The Self-(Un)Made Mother: Jungian Archetypes In Dickens's Little Dorrit, William David Love Jr.

Master's Theses

Charles Dickens’s novel Little Dorrit (1857) depicts an abundance of surrogate mothers while simultaneously revealing an absence of biological motherhood. The primary female characters become surrogate mothers in their own ways in order to bypass the legal and physical dangers associated with biological motherhood. To do this, they embrace various alternate forms of femininity—the crone, the maiden, the woman warrior, and the seductress. These women negate themselves willingly in actions that would seem to reinforce the gender norms of their time, but their self-negation actually leads to empowerment and sustainability for themselves and for others. Furthermore, a Jungian interpretation of …

The Importance Of Appearances In Literature: What Does It Mean To Be A Redhead In Literature?, Chelsea J. Anderson

Honors Theses

In literature, appearances always seem to play a major part of each character. The physical descriptions of each character are important to the development of the story. Therefore, it seems that a character’s physical appearance becomes an important part of character development, and his/her physical traits help to determine the type of character he/she will be. Often times, different hair colors carry associations along with them. Redheads have been associated with certain temperaments and personality traits throughout history. In literature, red-headed characters often have the temperaments, traits, and negative connotations associated with redheads. One of the major assumptions made about …

Out Of The Attic: Agency And Narratives Of Mental Illness By David Foster Wallace And Lauren Slater, Erin L. Mcleod

Honors Theses

Studies of Prozac Diary and Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir illustrate how Slater adapts conventions of fiction to the memoir form to create agency for the mentally ill subject. This study will apply this approach of narrative therapy to David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest to determine if the autobiographical conventions of mental illness may be adapted to fiction. An analysis of these primary texts seeks to address issues related to the therapeutic dimensions of autobiography as these are complicated by the narrative conventions that distinguish memoir and fiction.

The Implementation Of Common Core: Graphic Novels In The Classroom, Chesnie R. Keeler

Honors Theses

The Common Core State Standards are alive and thriving in schools across the nation, and teachers are constantly looking for the best possible ways to implement these rigorous standards with student interests in mind. These standards set goals, or benchmarks, for students to reach at any specified grade level throughout their primary and secondary education; school districts, administrators, and teachers have the choice of deciding how students meet these standards. As a pre-service teacher who will enter the teaching profession, I examine how graphic novels can be implemented into the English Language Arts classroom by analyzing Maus, Persepolis, …

Bakhtin’S Problems Of Dostoevsky’S Poetics And The Ideological Problem Of The Brothers Karamazov, Natalie N. Griner

Honors Theses

Dostoevsky’s final novel, The Brothers Karamazov, strives to resolve the question of God’s existence. But many critics have acknowledged that Dostoevsky seems to present Ivan’s skeptical voice with equal, if not greater, force than Alyosha’s affirmative voice—a feature of the novel that is difficult to explain in the context of Dostoevsky’s avowed Christianity. There is an overwhelming consensus among critics that The Brothers is a thesis-novel. But in order to establish the novel as a defense of faith, the critic must ultimately dismiss the strength of Ivan’s voice; and in attempting to demonstrate that the voice of doubt prevails, …

The Pandemonium Of Change: Endurance Of The Carnivalesque Mode, Jeremy K. Horton

Honors Theses

The carnivalesque is a literary mode that takes the characteristics of medieval carnivals and brings them to literature. Academic study of the carnivalesque has thus far been relatively limited, leaving the researcher to explore a largely untapped field of literary analysis. The carnivalesque is most easily observable in the more celebrated mode of literature known as magical realism, which is a mode generally associated with Latin American authors, including several Nobel laureates. Magical realism deals with the insertion of traditional supernatural elements into otherwise natural worlds, which is the point where this mode intersects with the carnivalesque (though the two …

A Queen’S Reputation: A Feminist Analysis Of The Cultural Appropriations Of Cleopatra, Chamara Moore

Honors Theses

While there is no doubt that Cleopatra is considered a notable historical figure and popularly regarded character throughout modern media, there is a distinct pattern in her portrayal throughout time as a woman whose power is defined by her sexual promiscuity. Even throughout periods of powerful female monarchs, political change, and social progress her prowess as a leader has been assumingly attributed to her affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. The purpose of this study is to examine how literature and media has contributed to this sexualized reputation of a queen who yielded authority over such a prosperous nation. …

The Repressive Role Of Technology In American And British Dystopian Novels Of The Cold War, Gabriela Wolk

HIM 1990-2015

The Cold War was a time of extreme conformity, with an equally extreme reaction against forced conformity. Representations of such reactions were not to be omitted in the literature of the time. Throughout the novels, the characters and society itself are repressed into an alternate state of being. This investigation analyzes the role that technology plays in this process in Fahrenheit 451, Sirens of Titan, 1984, Lord of the Flies, and A Clockwork Orange. The novels were all written during the Cold War and follow a dystopian society. Society is controlled and maintained in its respective disarray through the utilization …

Minding The Gap: Connecting The Mirror Cities Of London In The Novels Of Neil Gaiman And China Miéville, Miranda Hill

Honors Theses

Cities in reality that are transformed into cities in literature create the opportunity for two thematic elements: firstly, the Gothic feeling of the uncanny is created because the two cities are similar and yet dissimilar to one another. Secondly, satirical elements are introduced when the author uses the city within literature to expound upon issues within the city in reality. Neil Gaiman and China Miéville employ different perspectives to recreate the historical city of London within their novels, but their results are the same, and both the uncanny and satire are achieved. In Gaiman’s Neverwhere (1996), and Miéville’s Perdido Street …

Underworld Journeys In The Faerie Queene And The Lord Of The Rings: Exploring The “Belly Of The Whale” Of Joseph Campbell’S Monomyth And The Effect On The Hero’S Return From Adventure, Kayla M. Kirkendall

Honors Theses

This paper examines Joseph Campbell’s theory of the monomyth—the idea that great myths (heroes’ journeys) throughout history adhere to a single, basic structure. The most important step of this structure is arguably the Belly of the Whale/Descent into the Underworld, as can be seen in the Redcrosse Knight of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (Book One) and Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. These individual heroes reveal that the way in which they overcome (or fail to overcome) their underworlds determines the success or failure of the character as a Campbellian hero. Most importantly, …

A Few Good Men And Women : The Rhetorical Constitution Of Military Personnel Identity., Ashly Bender Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine the public negotiation of service member identity by multiple stakeholders as a way to better understand the available rhetorical strategies for affecting ideological constructions of identity. While current Rhetoric and Composition research attends mostly to student-veterans, I draw on cultural and rhetorical theorists, such as Louis Althusser, Kenneth Burke, Maurice Charland, to identify the rhetorical approaches used to construct military personnel identity, particularly in the post-9/11 era. Through analysis of films, recruiting materials, and the publicly-shared stories of personnel, I extend current understandings of constitutive rhetoric and rhetorical identification—which tend to focus on the work …

The Broadsheet- Issue 12, Merrimack College

The Broadsheet

Merrimack College's English Department newsletter.

This issue features:

• Gail Caldwell Interview
• English Awards
• Aherne Poetry Contest Winners
• Next to Normal Review
• Grand Budapest Hotel Review
• Senior Reflection

Beyond Constructing And Capturing: An Aesthetic Analysis Of 1968 Film, Chandler Warren

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study revisits conversations surrounding the global moment of 1968 and the forms of radical filmmaking that occurred during that time. Focusing on the Newsreel collective and the Dziga Vertov Group from the United States and France respectively—groups that utilized very distinct filmmaking methodologies and produced disparate aesthetics—the study argues that traditional leftist film critique must be rethought by acknowledging the revolutionary opportunities afforded to filmmakers through aesthetic elements like voiceovers or intentionally manipulated relationships between image and sound of specific shots. Instead of judging radical films within a spectrum of revolutionary efficacy, the reflexivity afforded to the filmmaker by …

A Qualitative Historiographical Case Study Of The Educative Properties Of Eugene V. Debs And John Dewey: 21st Century Implications For Education, Bradley Countermine

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to shed light on the current state of educational reform rhetoric through an analysis of previous attempts to shape public education for the benefit of all. Analyzing Eugene V. Debs’s and John Dewey’s views on democracy and education during the Progressive Era promotes a version and vision of education that inspires people to think critically, to navigate contemporary society, and to acknowledge current issues within public education and United States society at large. Because education both reflects society and has the power to transform it, the struggle for fair, equitable, and enlightening education is paramount to the …

Teacher Involvement In Implementing State Personal Finance Mandates, Deanna Franklin

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined strategies teachers are implementing for personal finance instruction in answer to the state financial-literacy mandates in Central Texas. One-on-one interviews, focus groups, and document analysis found that teachers are relying on personal experience, community resources, and Internet resources to instruct in personal finance in absence of personal finance curricula. No data emerged that school districts were providing resources; however, administrators are willing to provide resources if they were available. Teachers are using a variety of creative methods to enhance personal financial literacy in the classroom. Sporadic in-service/professional-development opportunities were available to train teachers in personal financial-literacy instruction; …

Fatherless Homes And Implications On Student Achievement, Timothy James Garland

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a relationship between fatherly involvement in students’ lives and select factors of student descriptors and school success. Specifically, the study sought to discover if there is a significant relationship between fatherlessness and student success and if there is a significant relationship between fatherlessness and select student descriptors. Descriptive statistics and linear regression were used to interpret and analyze the data for the study. There were 1,780 respondents who participated in the study. Respondents included seniors from rural, suburban, and urban public schools. In conducting this study, the …

Independent Publishers And Transition To Nonprofit: Distress Call Or Mission-Based Evolution?, Meagan Lobnitz

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

It has been widely reported in recent years that a few independent publishing houses, which were formed as for-profit organizations, have adopted nonprofit status. Given the sheer quantity of independent publishing houses in the United States and the complexities involved with establishing and maintaining nonprofit status, it is worthwhile to explore whether or not there has in fact been growth in nonprofit publishing houses in recent years, to consider if that growth is indicative of a trend, and to inquire what factors may lend to the success or failure of nonprofit independent publishers. Furthermore, it is useful to consider the …

Changing Publisher-Author Relationships In The Midst Of Developing Crowd-Funded Publishing Platforms, Margaret Schimming

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

With the growth in crowd-funded publishing houses and imprints, it is high time to consider the implications of this type of publishing arrangement for author–publisher relationships. What are some of the factors that drive an author to this type of publishing arrangement? How do these relationships differ from traditional author-publisher relationships?