English Language and Literature Commons^™

Stories From A Millinery, Allie Maynard

Honors Theses

In 1911, Clydenia Jewett and her daughter, Bertha Martin, moved from Detroit to St. Joseph, Michigan. In 1995, 84 years later, Clydenia’s great-great-grandson, Brian, and his wife, Barb, moved with their three young daughters to the same small town on the lake. What the young family didn’t know was that they had a connection to their new hometown. Time had forgotten Clydenia and Bertha’s story in Saint Joseph. It wasn’t for another several years that the family found out about their lost family members.

Clydenia is my great-great-great grandmother. I am her direct relation through my paternal grandmother. It’s easy …

"She Left The Web, She Left The Loom": The Extent Of Agency In "The Lady Of Shalott", Christina M. Cox

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Alfred, Lord Tennyson began writing "The Lady of Shalott" in a time of tremendous social and political change for England. Ten years after it was written, in 1842, a new, heavily-revised version of the poem was published. The Lady's agency (or lack of it) within the two versions of the poem fluctuates; in parts of the 1842 poem, she gains more control over herself, only to lose some of the agency she possessed in the 1832 poem. This paper shows that even after his major editing, Tennyson's depiction of the Lady, while exhibiting some signs of power, perpetuates the lack …

Black Dreams: Sight And Sound In African American Life Stories, Karintha Lowe

English Honors Projects

This project examines the work of Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, Ann Petry, and Langston Hughes, in conjunction with the work of literary and psychoanalytic theorists including Mikhail Bakhtin, Jacques Lacan, and Laura Mulvey. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin’s conception of the “American Dream” as emphasizing a linear, progressive understanding of time and space, I argue that Douglass, Hurston, Petry, and Hughes all reshape this narrative of upward mobility to include the experiences of marginalized communities. By analyzing how each author used multiple genres, including autobiography, parody, song, and poetry, to form a single narrative, I contend that these life stories …

Lingua Franca: An Analysis Of Globalization And Language Evolution, Abigail Watson

Honors Projects

This project details the evolution of languages and how globalization and advances in communication have effected smaller language groups. A world community in which communication is standardized by a Lingua Franca is in most cases harmful for isolated language groups without many speakers. The extinction of language is harmful for human society and culture, and there are many different ways to help prevent language extinction.

This project includes an essay, an animation, six illustrations, and a coloring book that all relate to endangered languages.

Uncovering America’S Horror Story: A Content And Critical Analysis Of American Horror Story., Jessica Maio

Honors Projects in Communication

The popular television series American Horror Story has captivated millions of Americans with its shocking and twisted plotlines that never fail to surprise. Perhaps one of the reasons that the show has become so popular is that it uses the horror genre as a way to explore controversial topics. The purpose of this project is to examine the controversial topics that are presented in American Horror Society and compare them with the current views of mainstream society to determine whether the show primarily reflects the views of the larger society or challenges them. In other words, how does American Horror …

Cultural Studies, Pedagogy And Jane Eyre, Kaitlyn R. Berube

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The field of cultural studies is one that has received much academic attention. However, a vast majority of the research applies to higher education and college, with occasional forays into foreign teaching and writing classes. The idea of cultural studies teaching as it applies to secondary education is almost completely unexplored, especially the ways in which it can be placed into practice. The lack of study in this field is a serious problem due to the positive effects cultural studies can have on the critical thinking skills of students. Keeping cultural studies locked behind the gate of higher education keeps …

Wives' Gain And Husbands' Losses: The Imbalance Of Marital Power In Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire And Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Kaitlin Gates

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper explores how playwright Tennessee Williams depicts marriage within two of his most central plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and examines the power dynamics between the married couples Stanley and Stella, Brick and Maggie, and Big Daddy and Big Mama. Through a discussion of how their respective husbands use age and sexuality to manipulate the younger wives, Stella and Maggie, I argue that it is only through the decline of the husband, in this case Big Daddy, that wives gain any marital power. These disproportionate power relationships ultimately reflect Williams' own experiences …

God And Man, Nicole A. Ratliff

Student Works

An analysis of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath in regards to Samuel Johnson's "The Vanity of Human Wishes." The paper's argument is structured as the book progresses. In regards to Samuel Johnson's piece, both pieces of literature progress in the same way- starting off with very vain characters and ending with a change towards a more religious side. This paper tries to expand upon the religious aspects of The Grapes of Wrath, and come up with a theory that defies the socialist aspect.

Harry Potter And The Analysis Of A Hogwarts Education, Kayla M. Nelson

Student Works

A Hogwarts education is one that is coveted by many young (and old) people. The idea of a magical school is tantalizing. However, the magic only goes so far. This article exposes the flaws of a Hogwarts education.

Folklore, Stories, And Truth, Rebekah Hartshorn

Student Works

An exploration of Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story through the lens of the academic discipline of Folklore. Where is the line between reality and imagination? Stories are true because they influence lives and people interact with them. Many stories believed to be true have origins that are lost to time and their truth is questionable at best. However, when an audience interacts with a story, the story begins to exist within the timeline of the audience members’ lives. The story becomes part of the truths that they live.

Morbid Science & Monstrous Literature: Degeneration & Eugenics In R.L. Stevenson & Oscar Wilde, Justin H. Cook

Student Theses and Dissertations

The Victorian fin de siècle was a tempest of scientific discovery. These findings were largely set in motion by Charles Darwin’s research, but they were propelled by a vast number of scientists and writers who were constantly pushing the boundaries of what it meant to be human. My research explores the tension between these scientific and literary discourses. I argue that the locus for monstrosity of both Mr. Hyde and Dorian Gray is in that very tension. Many scholars have attempted to locate this monstrosity in other places, and I do not undercut their findings. However, I do suggest that …

Animacy And Alienability: A Reconsideration Of English Possession, Jaimee Jones

Senior Honors Theses

Current scholarship on English possessive constructions, the s-genitive and the of-construction, largely ignores the possessive relationships inherent in certain English compound nouns. Scholars agree that, in general, an animate possessor predicts the s-genitive while an inanimate possessor predicts the of-construction. However, the current literature rarely discusses noun compounds, such as the table leg, which also express possessive relationships. However, pragmatically and syntactically, a compound cannot be considered as a true possessive construction. Thus, this paper will examine why some compounds still display possessive semantics epiphenomenally. The noun compounds that imply possession seem to exhibit relationships prototypical of inalienable …

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 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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

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

No abstract provided.