English Language and Literature Commons^™

Rogues In The Postcolony: The New Picaresque And The Making Of Modern India, Stacey Balkan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Rogues in the Postcolony looks at Indian picaresque novels that respond to and productively complicate dominant historical narratives by adapting formal conventions of the picaresque novel and by foregrounding the experiences of historically obscured figures, or “rogues.” The project is structured in such a way as to read colonial and postcolonial India through the lens of marginalized persons such as poppy farmers and, more recently, the citizens of Bhopal who continue to struggle with the toxic legacy of the Union Carbide fertilizer factory in their city. I argue that the unreliable narration and non-teleological structure of the picaresque form parody …

Hope For Susan: Moral Imagination In The Chronicles Of Narnia, Emily Rose Kempton

Theses and Dissertations

The fate of Susan Pevensie has been one of the most controversial and interesting topics of debate about The Chronicles of Narnia since readers realized that she was no longer a friend of Narnia. Many critics have condemned C. S. Lewis for being sexist, thus making the stereotypically feminine Susan with her love of parties, nylons, and lipstick ineligible for salvation. This thesis proposes to look at Susan's choices and fate from the perspective of moral imagination. It argues that Lewis did not bar Susan from heaven to belittle femininity, but rather to comment on the consequences of choice, belief, …

Language And Inter-Racial Harmony: The Battle For English As Singapore Lingua, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Against the backdrop of world religious violence, Singapore is as a beacon of inter-ethnic harmony: A 2015 poll, carried out in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, returned the unanimous verdict that it was Singapore that had made the most social progress among the four Chinese ethnic Chinese societies. In 2014, the Pew Research Center ranked Singapore at the top of their Religious Diversity Index. The nation's bilingual policy is critical to the integration of the multi-racial communities of Singapore. This position is highlighted in a discussion of how, in the early years after independence in 1965, the Singapore government …

The Archon(S) Of Wildfell Hall: Memory And The Frame Narrative In Anne Brontë’S The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Alyson June Fullmer

Theses and Dissertations

In the first chapter of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Gilbert Markham invites his reader to join him as he attempts to recall the past. Because Gilbert uses the journal of another to supplement his own memories, the novel's frame narrative structure becomes saturated with complex memory-based issues and problems. Thus, the complicated frame narrative provides fertile ground for exploring the novel through memory. In studying the frame narrative, scholars have typically devoted their criticism to Gilbert and how he shapes the frame. Few scholars afford the other primary narrator of the novel, Helen, any power in shaping …

The W. Ormiston Roy Memorial Lecture: Who Wrote The Scots Musical Museum? Challenging Editorial Practice In The Presence Of Authorial Absence, Murray Pittock

Studies in Scottish Literature

James Johnson’s Scots Musical Museum, published in six parts in Edinburgh over the period 1787-1803, is now inextricably linked to its greatest contributor, the poet, song-writer and song-collector Robert Burns. This lecture builds from Murray Pittock’s recent editorial work on Johnson’s collection, forthcoming in the new multivolume Oxford Edition of Robert Burns, based at the University of Glasgow. The lecture shows that the apparently-innocent question “Who wrote the Scots Musical Museum?” is a complex one, raising very fundamental questions about the nature of authorship and editorship in the necessarily collaborative and social enterprise of song publication, and it …

Tam O' Shanter And Aesthetic Cultural Nationalism, Gerard Lee Mckeever

Studies in Scottish Literature

Drawing on recent debates about Burns and Scottish romanticism, particularly comments by Murray Pittock, Nigel Leask, and Ian Duncan, discusses the pivotal scene in Robert Burns's poem "Tam o' Shanter," in which Tam's vision of the witches' carnival is framed by the window of Alloway Kirk, and argues that this can be read as a framing and aestheticization not only of folk heritage, but of a national self-image, a recalibration of nationhood.

James Hogg's The Brownie Of Bodsbeck: An Unconventional National Tale, Barbara Leonardi

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses James Hogg's historical novel The Brownie of Bodsbeck (1818), set in the time of the religious Covenanters in late 17th century Scotland, with particular attention to the central woman character, Katharine Laidlaw; traces contemporary comment on the novel; and contrasts Hogg's distinctive portrayal of marriage with its use by other writers (particularly Scott) to plot national (and historical) reconciliation, arguing that Hogg uses the marriage plot to critique the emergent ideology of the national tale.

"A Flame That Is Burning The World": Edwin Muir, War, And History, Margery Palmer Mcculloch

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the impact of successive wars on the Scottish poet, translator and critic Edwin Muir (1887-1959), with especial focus on his experiences in post-World War II Prague and his response to the threat of nuclear warfare and human annihilation.

Recovering The Reformation Heritage In George Mackay Brown's Greenvoe, Richard Rankin Russell

Studies in Scottish Literature

Suggests that attitudes to Presbyterianism and the Scottish Kirk in much 20th century Scottish literary criticism have been too negative, and explores the religious heritage and selected writings of the Orcadian poet and novelist George Mackay Brown (1921-1996), a Catholic convert, to argue that Brown's best-known novel, Greenvoe (1972), draws not only on Catholic, and older pagan, symbolism, but also on aspects of the Reformed or Calvinist tradition.

'As I Walk'd By Mysel': A Burns Autograph Manuscript And The Problem Of Attribution, Patrick G. Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Describes and illustrates Robert Burns's autograph manuscript of the song "As I walk'd by mysel'" (Kinsley 686), reviews the issues and problems in attributing manuscript songs to Burns, traces the provenance of the unique manuscript, and compares the Burns version to that published by David Herd's Antient and Modern Scotish Songs (1776 etc.), concluding that the manuscript was sent by Burns to James Johnson for possible inclusion in the Scots Musical Museum, and that, while the song is not original with Burns, he may have tinkered with specific phrases to improve it.

Scotland In European Perspective: The Mainz-Germersheim Conference Before The Referendum, Patrick G. Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Reviews the published papers on political, literary, and cultural aspects of Scottish cultural identity from a conference held at Johnannes Gutenberg University-Mainz at Germersheim, Germany, in October 2013, before the narrowly-unsuccessful Scottish Independence referendum of the following year ["Indyref"], and discusses their continuing relevance in Scottish attitudes to the upcoming United Kingdom referendum on British withdrawal from the European Union ["Brexit"].

Adam Smith For Our Time, I: Necroeconomics, Patrick G. Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Reviews a wide-ranging new American study of the Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith (1723-1790), examining its treatment of Smith as critic and rhetorical theorist, as well as of his better-known writings on moral philosophy in his Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and economic theory in The Wealth of Nations (1776), and discusses briefly the value for Scottish cultural history of interpretative practices developed originally in other national traditions, concluding that the book is "important for scholars of 18^th century Scottish literature... because it approaches Smith’s work through disciplinary practices that are common enough in other literary fields but …

Books Noted And Received, Patrick G. Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Brief reviews of twenty-five recent publications in Scottish literary studies, including editions of works by Burns, Hogg, and Stevenson, and biographies of John Moore, John Pinkerton, and Alexander Smith.

Review Of Joyce Carol Oates's The Doll-Master And Other Tales Of Terror, Eric K. Anderson

Bearing Witness: Joyce Carol Oates Studies

Review of Joyce Carol Oates's book of short stories The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror, focusing on elements of genre and the tradition of American storytelling.

Preface To Ssl 42:1, Patrick G. Scott, Anthony Jarrells

Studies in Scottish Literature

No abstract provided.

A Defense Of Offred's Agency, Camille Weber

Senior Theses

Although her novel falls within the 20^th century dystopian fictions such as Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984, Margaret Atwood refuses to label The Handmaid’s Tale that way, believing it minimizes the real focus of her work: the struggle her protagonist, Offred, must go through in order to maintain her individuality in a totalizing society. Instead, Atwood regards this novel as a work of speculative fiction, as all aspects of the narrative were inspired to some degree by events that have occurred throughout the course of human history.

The goal of this thesis is …

Nuanced Translations: The Search For Unity Between Text, Image, And Self In Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales, Jana Purington

Senior Theses

Few scholars have invested much time studying Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, focusing primarily on their place within the fairy tale genre, their morality, and queer themes latent in the stories. Fewer still examine them as visual, rather than merely literary, texts. Many of these ways of understanding his tales provide valuable insight, convincing interpretations, worthwhile avenues for thought, but by considering the artistic elements of Wilde's work, we can appreciate the cross-fertilization of his abstract, theoretical Aesthetic principles and the tangible objects he produces. Even among the subset of critics who do emphasize the visual aspects of Wilde's books, attention …

Split Wounds: Diverging Formations Of Trauma In The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders V, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, And The Rat Laughed, And Once Were Warriors, Emily R. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

Split Wounds interrogates naturalized, normalized trauma wisdom—particularly the individualization and pathologization of sexualized trauma. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of discursive formation, explicated in The Archaeology of Knowledge as a set of conditions that enables history, this dissertation elucidates differing discursive formations of trauma in contemporary medical documents, literary texts, and films. The introductory chapter explicates how founding texts in the field of trauma theory construct trauma as a preverbal, psychological experience that can only be represented through fragmented, non-linear, anti-narrative textual strategies. Chapter two exposes such Euro-American modernist ideology in the American Psychiatric Association’s clinical definition of posttraumatic stress disorder …

Learning Through Reading: A Handbook Of Literature-Based Lessons For Esl, Lota I. Rygiel

Master's Projects and Capstones

Learning through Reading: A Handbook of Literature-based Lessons for ESL A Field Project written by Lota Rygiel in the spring of 2016. This project is a handbook of lessons for adult ESL students at intermediate or advanced proficiency levels of English as a Second Language. The handbook offers the use of authentic materials in the form of short stories and poems in English. The authentic materials serve as a challenge to students (Krashen's "i + 1" level): with careful guidance of the instructor they will be interesting and meaningful to students. The use of various literary genres corresponds to the …

The Sword And The Dove, Natalie Grazian

Canterbury Scholars

The opening chapters of a young adult historical fiction novel set in 16th-century Spain. Drawing on the tradition of Spanish picaresque literature, The Sword and the Dove is the story of a young girl who runs away from home. On the road, she makes friends and finds adventure, but also witnesses the corruption and cruelty that has taken root in her country. She must both disguise her identity and find strength in it to stay a step ahead of the evil forces that surround her.

“Recognizable Goodness” A Response To Beversluis’ Understanding Of God’S Goodness, Emily Mccarty

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

In her rebuttal to John Beversluis’ C. S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion, Emily McCarty makes the following arguments. Lewis maintains throughout these three works that God’s goodness is recognizable. In The Problem of Pain, what seems unlike or even not good to us, is upon reflection, good. In fact, there are similar human examples that show God’s goodness is not so very unlike our own. In “The Poison of Subjectivism,” Lewis does not empty good of meaning: rather he sources that meaning in the divine so that our morals have enduring meaning. In A Grief Observed …

The Slow, Necessary Death Of The Research Paper, Timothy Henningsen

English Faculty Scholarship

In this article, the author discusses the benefit of Wikipedia writing assignments compared to traditional term papers.

Certain Kinds Of Understanding: English Professors Win Award For Article On Teaching Fiction And Film, Danni Francis

Andrews Agenda: Campus News

No abstract provided.

Spectacular Skepticism: Visual Contradiction On The Early Modern English Stage, Lauren Robertson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Early modern English culture was marked by a prolonged and multi-faceted struggle with uncertainty. This epistemological crisis took place on several fronts, crossing elite and popular discourses: in the clash of confessional convictions, the ramifications of Calvins doctrine of election, the long complications of Elizabethan succession, and the threat to traditions of natural philosophy by the burgeoning field of experimental science, to name a few sites of disturbance. A restless cultural awareness emerged that certainty, whether in earthly matters or those of God, might not be possible. In Spectacular Skepticism: Visual Contradiction on the Early Modern English Stage, I show …

Wilde's Final Act, Justine Ilissa Sha

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis examines Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, the prison-written letter to his ex-lover, as a work created with the signature Wildean dramatic conventions of composition, style, the writing process, and formal structure of which make up Wilde’s theatrical plays “Lady Windermere’s Fan” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.” This shows how De Profundis was written not as an autobiographical work, a love letter, or a portrait of a tormented, imprisoned mind, but as a performance: paradoxical play in the same style as his dramatic repertoire, and desperately intended for publication. First, the Wilde’s dramatic writing process is examined. Then, using …

Less Valued Knights: Disability In Modern Fiction Of The Middle Ages, Elizabeth Wawrzyniak

Foley Library Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Animals As Projections Of The Self In “The Raven” And “The Black Cat”, Samantha Payerl

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In both “The Raven” and “The Black Cat,” Edgar Allan Poe has the narrator project himself into an animal in order to fulfill the manifestation of his desire. Each animal is a projection of the narrator’s subconscious desire, which allows him to embrace his manic, sadistic tendencies. The manifestation of desire through animals in these stories can be best understood through two lenses: Jacques Lacan’s theory about the mirror stage and contemporary animal studies. Poe’s narrators are stuck in the mirror stage, which hinders them and does not allow their egos to grow and mature. Rather than developing crucial coping …

Linework, David Felton

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This collection of poems engages the experience of the workplace in the changing telecommunications field.

Talking Some Sense Into Chaucer: Bodies In “The Miller’S Prologue” And “The Miller’S Tale”, Jacqueline Joewono

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

If there is one question that underpins the evaluation of any great literary work, it is the following: How does the text make us feel? Through affect and textural studies, the answer becomes more complicated than any old adage might readily convey, for “feeling” here becomes a matter of simultaneous tactility and sentiment. Under this lens, perhaps no historical period becomes more desirable to feel than the Middle Ages; it is here, after all, that readers’ responsibilities with texts are pluralized: readers move from listeners born from oral traditions to participants of all kinds. Feeling, then, may be found in …

The Adolescent Grotesque: Transgressing Boundaries Of Female Sexuality In Edwidge Danticat’S Breath, Eyes, Memory And Jamaica Kincaid’S Annie John, Telia Bennett

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Adolescence is a transitory time in human development, characterized by internal and external bodily changes. Edwidge Danticat and Jamaica Kincaid employ the first-person narrative style in their respective debut novels, Breath, Eyes, Memory and Annie John, to amplify the female adolescent voice and provide unmitigated access to the female adolescent experience. During adolescence, the female body is in sexual flux – steadily losing its amorphousness as puberty runs its course. The adolescent female body peregrinates the biological threshold that distinguishes males from females. In Rabelais and His World, Mikhail Bakhtin describes the grotesque body as “a body in the …