English Language and Literature Commons^™

A Close Look At The Function Of Slang, Ana Radonjic Sabbagh

Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition

Ana is an undecided major, born and raised in Boston to Serbian and Lebanese parents. Writing has always been a passion of Ana’s, and she created this research essay as a final project for her Composition II course. She notes that “it was a topic that became increasingly interesting the more I researched it. I was thoroughly surprised by the complex history and function of slang, and I gained a new perspective on the role of language in our daily lives.” Other than writing, Ana’s biggest passion is traveling, and she loves discovering new places, meeting people from all around …

Land And Language At St. Joseph’S Indian Industrial School And Beyond, Ciera R. Tucker

All NMU Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the impacts of the Indian boarding school era on Menominee people through using St. Joseph’s Indian Industrial School in Keshena, Wisconsin, as a focal point of study. Through analyzing the social and political contexts of the school, oral texts from St. Joseph’s survivors, and contemporary popular culture texts, this thesis examines the intergenerational impacts of the boarding school era on Menominee people and Indigenous people in general. I employ Indigenous methodologies from Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Anishinaabe), Kathleen Absolon (Anishinaabe), and Shawn Wilson (Cree) to ground my approach to research and engagement with survivor testimonies. Further, I draw …

The Furious Flower Poetry Center: Teaching The Worlds Of Black Poetry To High School Students, Mary Beth Cancienne Phd, Hermione Dewitt, Zoe Mcdowell, Kaleigh D. Phelps, Liz Shanks James Madison University

Virginia English Journal

This article titled The Furious Flower Poetry Center: Teaching the Worlds of Black Poetry to High School Students features lesson plans that high school English graduate candidates wrote in a high school English methods course after participating in the decennial Furious Flower Poetry Conference in September of 2024 at James Madison University. High School poetry lessons featured are based on the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, Jericho Brown, Nikki Giovanni, Sophia Elhillo, DaMaris B. Hill, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, and Yalie Kamara. Poetic themes and craft taught and discussed in the lesson plans include identity, language, culture, hope, symbolism, tone, diction, and …

Review: Poet: The Remarkable Story Of George Moses Horton, Rachel Schwedt

Ages 7-9

Fairness, Creativity, Initiative, Perseverance, Self-respect

Review: Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, And Rhythms, Janice Delong, Rachel Schwedt

Ages 10-12

Confidence, Competition, Cooperation, Craftsmanship, Determination, Discipline, Diversity, Encouragement, Endurance, Enthusiasm, Friendship, Hope, Humility, Humor, Initiative, Passion, Patience, Persistence, Pride, Resilience, Self-respect, Sharing, Work ethic

Reconstructing A Voice In The Diaspora: Language And Hegemony In Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dicteé, Ryann Bahnline

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

“Reconstructing a Voice in the Diaspora: Language and Hegemony in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dicteé” is a close reading into the experimental work Dicteé by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. The text explores the interplay of language, identity, and cultural hegemony and primarily focuses on how Cha deconstructs language and narrative to critique colonialism, patriarchy, and the diasporic identity that generations feel after losing their voice. The fragmentation of the text mirrors the effects of diasporic trauma, specifically with symbolic violence and the fragmentation of the self. Pierre Bourdieu, Antonio Gramsci, and Victor Turner’s theories — symbolic violence, cultural hegemony, and …

Transcendental Blooms: Margaret Fuller And The Radical Language Of Flowers, Jenna Mcclain

Honors Theses

Situated between the literary periods of American Romanticism and Transcendentalism, Margaret Fuller’s writings vary in their topic and medium, offering a unique fusion of literary style as well as a refined yet radical social perspective. Fuller’s work frequently employs flowers as tools for communication rather than as mere symbols, with flowers acting as transmitters of Fuller’s philosophical message in her many sketches and poems. In “The Magnolia of Lake Pontchartrain,” one of her most famous prose sketches, Fuller explores flowers in a nuanced way that exemplifies how floral representations function more like characters than objects in her work. While scholars …

Muzibogun Research Symposium Poster, Serena Parra, Maurissio Gonzalez, Renee Alonzo, Cj Spears

Team - Muzibogun - Documents

This is the research poster which we presented at the 2025 Research Symposium

Muzibogun Semantics, Serena Parra, Maurissio Gonzalez, Renee Alonzo, Cj Spears

Team - Muzibogun - Documents

This shows the different fields of words and valued concepts in our language that give it meaning.

Muzibogun Syntax And Grammar, Serena Parra, Maurissio Gonzalez, Renee Alonzo, Cj Spears

Team - Muzibogun - Documents

This shows how our sentence order, case system, conjugations, and different morphemes make sense of our language in a sentence.

Muzibogun Morphology, Serena Parra, Maurissio Gonzalez, Renee Alonzo, Cj Spears

Team - Muzibogun - Documents

This shows how we turned our phonemes into morphemes and into words.

Muzibogun Legend, Serena Parra, Maurissio Gonzalez, Renee Alonzo, Cj Spears

Team - Muzibogun - Documents

This is a story about how the Muzibogun are processing what we know as climate change.

Muzibogun Pragmatics, Serena Parra, Maurissio Gonzalez, Renee Alonzo, Cj Spears

Team - Muzibogun - Documents

This shows how and when certain language elements and politeness strategies are used.

Volume 28 Issue 2

NEBO: A Literary Journal

This issue of Nebo: A Literary Journal, published in Fall 2014, is a diverse collection of poetry, short fiction, book reviews, and literary interviews, reflecting on the power of language, memory, and personal identity. The issue, archived as Volume 28, Issue 2, corresponds to the print edition labeled Volume 33, Issue 1. Due to necessary metadata adjustments in the digital archiving process, some volume and issue numbers in the online collection may not match those printed in the original journals.

In her editorial preface, Brittany Pickens, the editor of this issue, reflects on …

Volume 26 Issue 1

NEBO: A Literary Journal

This issue of Nebo: A Literary Journal, published in Spring 2011, highlights the talent of student writers from Arkansas Tech University and beyond, juxtaposing their work with experienced, published authors to explore the growth of literary craft. The issue is archived as Volume 26, Issue 1, while the print edition is labeled Volume 29, Issue 2. Due to necessary metadata adjustments in the digital archiving process, some volume and issue numbers in the online collection may not match those printed in the original journals.

The editorial preface by Katherine Williams explores the elusive nature …

Hell On Earth In Garth Nix’S Old Kingdom: Dark Jouissance And The Dead Mother, John Rosegrant

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

The Old Kingdom’s River of Death is a hell impinging on life: The Dead take hideous Boschian forms, and helped by necromancers wielding “Free Magic” they often emerge from Death. Necromancers, Free Magic, and the Dead are battled by Abhorsens wielding “Charter magic,” Free Magic that has been transformed by symbols. Immersion in the Charter gives a joyous experience of connection to all life. Symbolization must unite with Free Magic to create this experience; symbolization alone is inadequate, as we see in the example of mundanely rational people who dwell in a neighboring land. But the source of joyous access …

Indigenous Language Guidelines And Resources, Shelby Johnson, Katarina O'Briain, Willow White

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

These collaboratively written guidelines offer suggestions and resources for writing about Indigenous Peoples, knowledge, and histories ethically and respectfully. With an awareness that this work is ongoing, that terms and language are subject to change, and that no set of guidelines or essays can fully account for diverse Native histories, these guidelines and resources offer suggestions for best practices for eighteenth-century scholars who are considering engaging in this work. The authors and contributors of this document understand that language is always evolving and that these guidelines may not be relevant indefinitely and in all circumstances. At some point, we imagine …

Language And The Lord Of The Rings: The Expansion Of A Universe, Thomas Beutz

The Criterion

Tommy Beutz’s essay, “Language and The Lord of the Rings: The Expansion of a Universe” explores J.R.R. Tolkien’s world-building through the lens of linguistics. Beutz argues that Tolkien’s creation of Middle-Earth, anchored in his invented languages, extends beyond the bounds of the text. Drawing on Tolkien’s background as a philologist, Beutz contends that the languages of Middle-Earth are not mere literary devices but rather the foundation of its entire mythology. By examining linguistic markers embedded in the primary text, Beutz reveals how Tolkien hints at a larger world outside the narrative. Through an analysis of historical accounts and characters’ …

Visibility In The Redacted Space: What Censored Poetry Reveals About Guantanamo Bay Prison And The Individuals Trapped Inside, Chase Portaro

English and Creative Writing Capstone Projects

This paper discusses what readers can understand about Guantanamo Bay and the larger setting of America's Islamophobic "War on Terror" through the poetry of individuals detained inside of Guantanamo Bay Military Prison. In 2002, Mark Falkoff, with the help of a team of lawyers, translators, and human rights advocates published a collection of twenty-two detainee-authored poems, titled Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak. This paper discusses the emerging neo-colonial subjectivity of America's War on Terror, as it analyzes the available writings of Guantanamo poets. The new language of subjectivity of victims of contemporary American empire is defined by suppression, as …

Epistolary Glossopoesis Tolkien’S Letter Writing And Language Invention, Andrew Higgins

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper was given when I was the Guest Speaker at The Annual Meeting of the UK Tolkien Society on 13 April 2024.

When Would You Feel Like A Writer? Exploring Writing With Newcomer Students, Sinélia Peixoto, Thea Williamson

English Faculty Publications

The authors share a story of a middle school writer's experience navigating across languages in an English for Speakers of Other Languages support classroom.

The Double Entry Journal, Doreen C. Bowens

Open Educational Resources

The Double Entry Journal is a note-taking technique for English Composition courses that encourages students to become active readers.

The Interplay Between Language And Culture In J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Mackenzie Wangberg

Masters Theses

The construction of detailed languages was a lifelong passion of J.R.R. Tolkien. While creating the world of Middle-earth, he assigned different languages to the various cultures which inhabit this fantasy landscape. He carefully matched languages and cultures to try to elicit particular responses from his audience. It is well known that J.R.R. Tolkien wanted certain languages of Middle-earth to sound beautiful and others to sound ugly. Research so far, however, has not answered why the specific phonemes, or sounds, which Tolkien chose for these languages might cause the specific reactions he intended. I have used Tolkien’s influences to explain why …

Hailey's Hearing Aids, Hailey Marie Garcia

Whittier Scholars Program

Individuals from the deaf and hard-of-hearing community are likely to experience more anxiety and depression due to defective cognitive, social, communicational, and emotional skills (Azizi et al., 2019). The word “disability” is embedded with historical negative connotations with phrases such as “deaf and dumb” because if they were deaf or mute then they were automatically labeled as inferior (Horovitz, 2007). Since the 18th century, the DHH community has been seen as incapable, even inhuman, hence the development of emotional deficiencies that bleed into one’s perception of society and their self esteem (Gallaudet, 1886).

How do you navigate a hearing world …

What's That Word . . . : The Real Reverse Dictionary, Giacomo Wholey

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

From “Calling” To “Just Talking": An Exploration Of Changing Relationship Terminology As A Linguistic Societal Phenomenon, Leora Wasserman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis will explore the correlation between societal and linguistic change,
specifically relating to the usage of the colloquialism “Just Talking” in 21st Century courtship vernacular. The usage of this term seems to be relatively new and does not appear in many scientific articles. In 2019, at the beginning of the research project which prompted this paper, there were no scientific articles that attempted to discuss this phenomenon. Since then, only two articles on the subject have been published. This thesis will attempt to understand why this term is being used and how it relates to the terms which have …

[Preview Of] Linguistics And Psychoanalysis A New Perspective On Language Processing And Evolution, Thomas Paul Bonfiglio

Bookshelf

This groundbreaking, provocative book presents an overview of research at the disciplinary intersection of psychoanalysis and linguistics.

Understanding that linguistic activity, to a great extent, takes place in unconscious cognition, Thomas Paul Bonfiglio systematically demonstrates how fundamental psychoanalytic mechanisms—such as displacement, condensation, overdetermination, and repetition—have been absent in the history of linguistic inquiry, and explains how these mechanisms can illuminate the understanding of the grammatical structure, evolution, acquisition, and processing of language. Reexamining popular misunderstandings of psychoanalysis along the way, Bonfiglio further proposes a new theoretical configuration of language and expertly sets the future agenda on this subject with new …

Teach Me The Language Of The Bear, Rachel Stanger

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Anthology Of A Mess, Yusuf Akman

Theses and Dissertations--English

Anthology of a Mess is a collection of poems by Yusuf Akman, written at the University of Kentucky. Poems in this thesis deal examine the journey of a poet in three chapters. The first chapter examines myth-making, ekphrasis, and language. While the second one is a genre-defying work in which the modes of mockumentary, lyric essay, and fairy tale co-exist. Last but not least, the final chapter contains autobiographical poems, starting in Turkey and continuing in Kentucky. These poems explore eco-homo eroticism, roadkill, religion, and what it is like to be a queer Turk in Kentucky/the South. Throughout these sections, …

Witness, Justice, And The Silent Confessional, Kortney Sebben

Great Plains Graduate Review

Stories depicting injustice are inherently complicated by the limitations of language. Jacques Derrida’s “Circonfession” uses deconstructionist theory to describe the flawed nature of the confession in that proximity becomes problematic: those who experience are unable to authentically deliver the truth of that experience. Language also becomes an imperfect channel through which to deliver the truth; the truth lies in both a person’s ability to bring meaning to individual experience, but also, in an audience’s ability to interpret that experience; however, both sides of the conversation are challenged through an imperfect channel of communication. Therefore, silence of human behavior may very …