English Language and Literature Commons^™

Sylvie And Bruno And The Loss Of Innocence, Veronica R. Whelan

Student Works

This essay shows the correlation between innocence and guilt in the novel Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll. It looks into the major differences in perception displayed by both adult and child characters within the story, and explores the need for a balance of both an innate innocence and a gained sense of knowledge of the world. The author uses a number of sources ranging from psychological studies on innocence and knowledge to comparisons of knowledge as displayed in other fictional texts.

Mediated Technologies: Locating Non-Authorial Agency In Printed And Digital Texts, Andie Silva

Publications and Research

Early modern printers, publishers and booksellers not only influenced readers to purchase particular books but continue to shape our reception of printed books today. Through title-page advertisements, prefaces and indexes, these ‘print agents’ forged unique relationships with new and returning readers. Paying attention to paratextual structures can uncover strategies for marketing new books, corralling readers and outlining new genres. A consideration of framing devices can also further our understanding of digital resources: much as print agents mediated printed books, digital humanists help reinforce the value of new technologies for the study of early modern texts, guiding users to apply new …

Wes Chapman, 2016 Dougan Award Presentation, Brian Brennan, Iwu Chapter Of The Aaup, Illinois Wesleyan University

Dougan Award Winners

No abstract provided.

1st Place: "The Art Of Storytelling" Literature Collection, Lauren Cruz

John and Margaret Class Student Book Collection Contest

This is Lauren Cruz's submission essay, annotated bibliography, and annotated wishlist for the 2016 John and Margaret Class Student Book Collection Contest, which won first place.

Lauren is a graduate student at Chapman University in the War and Society program.

An Unfounded Universal Truth: A Contemporary Feminist Understanding Of Pride And Prejudice, Jenna Deforte

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Many people have deemed Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen a timeless tale. This story has been adapted through many different mediums and has been reimagined in all different contexts. One of the most recent reincarnations of this story is a web-series on YouTube that spanned 100 episodes. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries builds a whole new world for Austen’s familiar characters to grow and develop in. Using a feminist lens, the original novel and adaptation are examined in how both works represented the female characters. Through the analysis of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice it is clear that her …

“But I Must Also Feel It Like A Man”: Redressing Representations Of Masculinity In Macbeth, Caitlin H. Higgins

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

The most popular characters in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, second only to Macbeth himself, are the Weird Sisters. Despite being called “Sisters” the women are oddly androgynous and there is very little in their physical appearance or behavior to indicate their gender. Even more importantly, there is nothing to indicate their place in the Scottish patriarchy of which Macbeth and Banquo are firmly established. As the first actors to appear on stage and arguably the manipulators of Macbeth’s fate, the genderless Weird Sisters would have disturbed deeply rooted understandings of gender definition and hierarchy in viewers. This disturbance allows Shakespeare …

Session 1: Literature And Culture 1, Ed Edmonds, Craig This, Sharon Lynette Jones

Sultans of Swing Conference

Session one includes the following presentations:

“Gilbert Patten and the Development of Juvenile Baseball Fiction: Lefty Locke and the Legacy of Frank Merriwell” by Ed Edmonds

“Closing the Frontier? Zane Grey’s Baseball Fiction” by Craig This

“Highlighting Harlem Renaissance Texts: Baseball and Jazz in Literary Expression of the 1900s” by Sharon Lynette Jones

Three Ways In: Approaches To Teaching Visual Rhetoric Through Infographics Programs, Marisa Sandoval Lamb, Jenna Sheffield, Kristin Winet

English Faculty Publications

In this Kairos PraxisWiki webtext, we use Hill's three-part framework to address concerns like those espoused by Handa about rhetorical illiteracy in relationship to visual rhetoric and design, and we share three assignments of varying scope and sequence that respond to these challenges. Besides learning opportunities to explore and practice visual rhetoric, design, and writing, each assignment offers opportunities for students to explore Piktochart, a web-based drag-and-drop infographic program, which can be used to create infographics, posters, and presentations. Because of its drag-and-drop capabilities, our students generally find it easy to learn. With minimal guidance, students may learn program basics …

The Use Of The Vertical Plane To Indicate Holiness In C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, Sarah Eddings

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines the contrasting symbolism and imagery of perpendicular structures (mountains, trees, built structures, and so on) and waves in the Space Trilogy as a whole. Eddings finds more than simple gendered symbolism in these clusters of images; verticality indicates reaching for the heavens and waves show submission to the will of Maleldil. These symbols are reconciled in the arches of the temple Tor plans to honor Maleldil in Perelandra.

Breaking The Dragon's Gaze: Commodity Fetishism In Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Steven Kelly

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines Tolkien’s treatment of economics in Middle-earth, using tobacco as an example of a Lukácsian fetishized commodity, and explains why this is important not just as an example of world-building but as an indicator of the power and danger of unexamined economic assumptions.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

A Spenserian Returns To Earth: The Faerie Queene In That Hideous Strength, Paul R. Rovang

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Continues to explore Spenserian parallels in the Space Trilogy, following his work on Perelandra in Mythlore #123. Traces The Faerie Queene’s clear influence on That Hideous Strength, particularly on the characters and relationship of Mark and Jane Studdock, drawing a line connecting Spenser’s intent that his poem should “fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline” to Lewis’s point in The Abolition of Man that modern education produces “men without chests.” Spenser’s Amoret and Scudamour particularly parallel Mark and Jane, and Busirane’s castle as a source for Belbury.

The Black Speech: The Lord Of The Rings As A Modern Linguistic Critique, Cody Jarman

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Uses the theories of Owen Barfield to analyze the language and rhetoric used in the service of evil in The Lord of the Rings as a critique of modernity and the divorce of true meaning from speech. Ted Sandyman, Saruman, and the Mouth of Sauron are used as particular examples.

Seven For Seven: The Voyage Of The "Dawn Treader" And The Literary Tradition, Thomas L. Martin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines the motif of the seven cardinal sins within Voyage, linking each of the seven lost lords of Narnia to a particular vice and showing how the crew of the Dawn Treader resists the vices to which they succumbed. This essay is meant to be read with Schuknecht, Mattison “C.S. Lewis’s Debt to Dante” in the same issue, as each comments on the other.

C.S. Lewis's Debt To Dante: The Voyage Of The "Dawn Trader" And Purgatorio, Mattison Schuknecht

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Compares imagery of sun and water in Voyage and Purgatorio; contrasts the horizontal structure of Voyage with the vertical orientation of Purgatorio. This essay is meant to be read with Martin, Thomas L. “Seven for Seven” in the same issue, as each comments on the other.

C.S. Lewis's Two Satyrs, Joe R. Christopher

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Two very different satyrs appear in C.S. Lewis’s works, one in his early pre-conversion poem “The Satyr” in Spirits in Bondage and one in his more mature Narnia books (Mr. Tumnus, but Narnia is also home to a whole race of Fauns). Lewis handles the imagery and associations of the satyr or faun quite differently at these points in his writing career, but both represent a split in the psychology of the human male.

The Helmholtz, The Doctor, The Minotaur, And The Labyrinth, Buket Akgün

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Compares the use and resolution of Minotaur and Labyrinth themes and imagery, and the identification of the Theseus hero-figure with the monster, in Victor Pelevin’s novel The Helmet of Horror and the sixth season Doctor Who episode “The God Complex.”

Mapping Gender In Middle-Earth, John Miller

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines the geography and both natural and created landscapes of Middle-earth in terms of what they reveal about gender and race, and how Tolkien used landscape to “[map] alternative masculinities onto […] different races” and emphasize contrasting depictions of femininity through female characters and races that either “stay put” or wander.

Notes And Letters, John Rosegrant, Debra Polesiak, Ryder W. Miller

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

• A Comment on "1904: Tolkien, Trauma, and its Anniversaries".

A letter responding to Nancy Bunting’s provocative article on Tolkien’s traumatic family history in Mythlore #127.

By John Rosegrant.

• Jean Louise to the Dark Tower Came.

Explicates a pattern of references to Browning’s “Childe Roland” in Harper Lee’s recently published Go Set a Watchman.

By Debra Polesiak.

• American Survivor: William Faulkner's A Fable.

Draws our attention to American World War I veteran William Faulkner’s A Fable as an example of the fantastic in response to the war’s trauma.

By Ryder W. Miller.

Reviews, Rebekah Choat, Joe R. Christopher, Cait Coker, Janet Brennan Croft, Mike Foster, Melody Green, Kristine Larsen, Scott Mclaren, Emily Moniz Mirova, Kelly Orazi, Brian Roberts, Andrew C. Stout

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Charles Williams: The Third Inkling. Grevel Lindop. Reviewed by Scott McLaren.

The Chapel of the Thorn: A Dramatic Poem. Charles Williams. Edited and Introduced by Sørina Higgins. Reviewed by Scott McLaren.

Women and C.S. Lewis: What His Life and Literature Reveal For Today’s Culture. Carolyn Curtis and Mary Pomroy Key, eds. Reviewed by Rebekah Choat.

Tolkien Among the Moderns. Edited by Ralph C. Wood. Reviewed by Andrew C. Stout.

Tolkien. Raymond Edwards. Reviewed by Cait Coker.

Children into Swans: Fairy Tales and the Pagan Imagination. Jan Beveridge. Reviewed by Brian Roberts.

Trilby/The Crumb Fairy. Charles Nodier. Translated and adapted by …

Women's Memoirs In The 20th Century, Alexandra Fradelizio

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

Memoirs have long been a valuable way in which individuals share and reflect on their past experiences. The genre of memoir writing especially had a tremendous impact on a range of American female writers. This thesis explores memoirs written by women throughout the 20^th century. With the shift in women’s roles during the 1900s and early 2000s, the memoirs examined emphasize the importance of feminine identity. The analysis provided within this thesis centers on each memoirist’s unique path in determining her sense of self. Moreover, the memoirists each use the process of writing to relay the value of personal …

How Proto-Feminist Was George Eliot?, Ellie L. Feis

UCARE: Research Products

The Mill on the Floss shows the struggle of Maggie, a woman who values education over beauty, in a judgmental society. Maggie is shamed by her society after her cousin’s fiancé, Stephen, tricks her into running away with him. Maggie is forced to live in shame and only escapes public oppression when she dies.

Romola is the story of how a young woman who is forced rely on men for a sense of purpose and safety. Her husband is conniving and has extramarital affairs. Romola finds a happy ending when she is free from patriarchal influence and relies solely on …

Victorian Counter-Worlds And The Uncanny: The Fantasy Illustrations Of Walter Crane And Arthur Rackham, Amzie A. Dunekacke

UCARE: Research Products

I will prepare an in-depth examination of the different, often opposing ways illustrators Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham portray elements of fantasy in their fairy tale illustrations. Fantasy in fairy tales became very popular during the “Golden Age of Illustration” in Britain, which lasted from the mid nineteenth century until the First World War. Fantasy served as a form of escapism from the rigidity of Victorian society and the increasingly industrialized culture. In my examination, I will focus on how Crane and Rackham’s separate styles use or abandon elements of fantasy such as the horrific and grotesque, anthropomorphism of animals …

Always The Feminine Fool, Shelby L. Dana

Student Works

Women have often been cast as mentally unstable throughout history. It is assumed that since they are the "weaker sex," they are psychologically inept. However, many times they act irrationally because they are filling a role in which society has already placed them, not because they are insane. Author Charlotte Perkins Gilman illustrates this in her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, as readers can watch narrator go insane after being told time after time that she already is. Some people are born mad, some achieve madness, but women have madness thrust upon them.

Editor-In-Chief Of The Laureate, Michael Bodinger

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

Animal Farm Corruption, Justin Rich

Student Works

This paper details how Animal Farm is not just a literary work comparing a farm of beast to the Soviet Union, but it has a much deeper meaning. It explains how the author, George Orwell, uses the character and the plot line to show how leadership and power corrupt a person. It also discusses how power is more easily obtained than used correctly.

"Man's Greatness": Steinbeck's Evaluation Of Nature And Nurture In His Epic Novel East Of Eden, Courtney Smith

Student Works

In his epic novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck explores the ideas of agency and morality. He presents the idea of timshel, or “thou mayest,” to show that every person makes their own choices. He expands on this idea by evaluating the age-old debate of nature vs. nurture throughout the novel as the characters interact with their “nurtures” or environments and respond based on their natural personalities. Steinbeck shows that our choices are our own, but they are influenced more by our natures than our nurtures. This is seen poignantly in his characters Cathy Ames and Caleb (“Cal”) Trask …

The Goose Girl: The Importance Of Understanding Self-Concept, Elizabeth R. Perkins

Student Works

This paper delves into the psychology behind a beloved Grimms Brothers story as retold by Shannon Hale. What makes the story so timeless? The development of the main character as she grows into her own skin and overcomes her thinking errors makes this book attractive for YA audiences who are going through similar issues.

April 10, 2016: English Department Alum Premiers 40th Feature Film, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

Chuck Bentley's latest film features a host of WMU alum as well as several current faculty members. The premiere is free to the public and will appear on PMN and YouTube shortly thereafter for those unable to attend the screening.

“See Ourselves As Others See Us”: Empathy Across Gender Boundaries In James Joyce’S Ulysses, Madison V. Chartier

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Many critics originally attacked James Joyce’s Ulysses for its dark representation of gender relations. Today, many scholars consider this criticism prematurely formed and recognize that these early critics responded more to Stephen Dedalus’s antagonistic, misogynistic views in the novel’s opening chapters than to the rest of the epic and the views of the novel’s main protagonist, Leopold Bloom, who displays a much more receptive, appreciative attitude toward women. These scholars now believe that gender relations as portrayed in Ulysses actually undermine preconceived notions of a gendered hierarchy. However, this difference in character perspective is not the only or even the …