Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

Seeking Infinity: Exploring The Meaning And Potential Of Young Adult Literature, Jacinta Yanders

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The category of Young Adult (YA) Literature has experienced tremendous growth in terms of readership and works produced over the course of the last fifteen years or so. While there has been some scholarly work done on the category, the research pales in comparison to almost any other facet of literature. For whatever reasons, scholars have largely decided to ignore the changes that have occurred in YA. However, that has not stopped readers from continuing to read these books. In fact, this paper not only addresses the background and what I believe to be the defining characteristics of YA, but …

Subverting Mythopoeic Fantasy: Miyuki Miyabe's The Book Of Heroes, Grzegorz Trebicki

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

Introduces us to Miyuki Miyabe, who deliberately rings changes on Tolkien’s concept of sub-creation in his thought-provoking The Book of Heroes, a story that turns the virtues of storytelling itself on their heads.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

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

No abstract provided.

Tolkien In Love: Pictures From Winter 1912-1913, Nancy A. Bunting

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

Makes a case for examining Tolkien’s work as an amateur visual artist as key to understanding the important stresses and changes in his life over the winter months of 1912–1913, as he anticipated reuniting with Edith Bratt after their forced separation.

Tolkien's Faërian Drama: Origins And Valedictions, Janet Brennan Croft

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

Attempts to define the characteristics of faërian drama through the way it changes the lives of dreamers such as Scrooge, the Pearl poet and Sir Gawain, and Smith of Wootton Major.

"They Have Quarreled With The Trees": Perverted Perceptions Of "Progress" In The Fiction Series Of C.S. Lewis, Deborah Klein

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

Uses the tools of eco-criticism to read Lewis’s attitudes towards nature, hierarchy, and the changes wrought by technological progress in the Narnia books and the Cosmic Trilogy.

Artemis At Ragnarok: E.R. Eddison's Queen Antiope, Joseph Young

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

Building on his paper in Mythlore #117/118, calls for a change in critical attitudes towards E.R. Eddison, revealing a deep philosophical and spiritual foundation at the base of the lush, glittering surface of the Zimiamvia trilogy. A careful unraveling of mythological references and evidence from previously unpublished Eddison letters at the Bodleian back up his conclusion.

From Children’S Book To Epic Prequel: Peter Jackson’S Transformation Of Tolkien’S The Hobbit, Frank P. Riga, Maureen Thum, Judith Kollmann

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

Makes the case that Jackson’s sometimes controversial screenwriting decisions actually echo Tolkien’s own abortive attempt to revise and change The Hobbit to bring it into line with the mood and milieu of The Lord of the Rings.

Pillaging Middle-Earth: Self-Plagiarism In Smith Of Wootton Major, Josh B. Long

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

Examines the fraught concept of “self-plagiarism” in Tolkien’s works. Self-plagiarism or self-borrowing is something more than just repeating themes and motifs throughout one’s literary career, and Long details examples of scenes, dialogue, character traits, and so on echoing from one work to another, with particular attention to The Lord of the Rings and Smith of Wootton Major.

The Art Of Detection In A World Of Change: The Silver Chair And Spenser Revisited, Charles A. Huttar

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

Reflects on mutabilitie in the Narnian tale; weaves together an examination of the characteristics of the classic detective tale, Spenser’s Two Cantos of Mutabilitie, and the plot and style of Lewis’s novel into a satisfying whole.

Reviews, Sharon L. Bolding, Janet Brennan Croft, Kazia Estrada, Mike Foster, Bonnie Gaarden, Jon Garrad, Melody Green, Perry Neil Harrison, T. S. Miller, Holly Ordway, Christopher Tuthill, Joe R. Christopher

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

George MacDonald: Divine Carelessness and Fairytale Levity. Daniel Gabelman. Reviewed by Bonnie Gaarden.

The Gender Dance: Ironic Subversion in C.S. Lewis's Cosmic Trilogy. Monika B. Hilder. Preface by Matthew Dickerson. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: In a Modern English Version with a Critical Introduction. John Gardner. Reviewed by Perry Neil Harrison.

Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal. Joseph Campbell. Reviewed by Christopher Tuthill.

The Riddles of the Hobbit. Adam Roberts. Reviewed by Jon Garrad.

The Modern Literary Werewolf: A Critical Study of the Mutable Motif. Brent A. Stypczynski. Reviewed by Sharon L. …

Divine Surgeons At Work: The Presence And Purpose Of The Dream Vision In Till We Have Faces, Erin K. Wagner

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

Studies the metamorphosis of Orual, the main character of C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, under the “divine surgery” of the dream-visions sent by the gods.

Wimps, Dorks, And Reluctant Readers: Redefining Literacy In Multimodal Middle Grade Diary Books, Rachel Lee Rickard

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Since the release of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the multimodal, middle-grade diary book has gained popularity. The series features “handwritten,” journal entries and drawings and has elicited many imitators, the most prominent of which is Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries. While the diary form is not new to children’s literature, these series reinvent the established conventions through drawings and supplementary online environments. Both series are routinely identified as for reluctant readers; however, their diversity of form actually leads to complex reader engagement. My purpose is to refute the idea that the books are useful only …

Letters To Make-Believe: An Afterschool Survival Kit, Jessica Maginity 14

Honor Scholar Theses

None

Subteen, Preteen, Tween: Preadolescent Literature Inside And Out, Bethany Fort

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the inside and outside of preadolescent literature, a subgenre that has been widely neglected by literary scholars, educators, and book publishers. In Chapter 2, I analyze the themes within The Giver by Lois Lowry and use the developmental stage of preadolescence to define a subgenre of preadolescence, which has distinct characteristics that separate it from the other subgenres of children’s literature. In Chapter 3, I focus on the outside of preadolescent literature, using the results of bookseller and author surveys and research on the history of the tween retail market to uncover the subtle messages being …

Creating Socialization And Empathy Through Athletics In Chris Crutcher’S Fiction, Joseph P. Korwin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis aims to highlight the ways participation in athletics promote greater physical, psychological, and social health for adolescents in Chris Crutcher’s fiction. In his novels, Ironman and Whale Talk, published in 1995 and 2001 respectively, Crutcher uses athletically minded protagonists and the teams which form around them to display the benefits of being involved in athletics, especially team sports. In Ironman, a mandatory high school anger management group embodies all the aspects of team support and camaraderie in their attempt to assist Bo in achieving his athletic goals. Crutcher’s Whale Talk depicts the ways that official team …

"Every Child In Our World Will Know His Name!": Malcolm Gladwell's Theories As An Explanation For The Cultural Phenomenon Of Harry Potter, Alicia Morgan

Masters Theses

When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone hit stores in the United States in 1998, children and adults alike went wild. Not only had Rowling's first book made huge waves in the UK, but Americans were talking about the struggling, single-parent who had penned a children's classic before the book even reached American stores. American audiences accepted Rowling's first novel with open arms, making it one of the first children's books to reach and occupy The New York Times best-seller list for so long. While certain marketing techniques and the rise of the Internet did contribute to Harry Potter's initial …

Brave New Forms: Adaptation, Remediation, And Intertextuality In The Multimodal World Of Hugo Cabret, Chelsea Marie Bromley

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Digital technologies have changed the way readers approach, experience, and respond to texts. In our hyper-mediated culture, images and texts converge and disseminate across multiple media platforms, changing once-passive readers and spectators into active agents in the intellectual and creative process of interpretation. This thesis examines the multimodal world of Hugo Cabret—the hybrid graphic novel, the film adaptation, and the novel’s official website—in an effort to better understand how intertextuality, convergence culture, and remediation play with media forms, represent an ideological shift toward participatory culture, and rework older, traditional media in the creation of new media and new media users. …

Let’S Hear It For The Girls: Resilient And Remarkable Women In Today’S Ya Literature, Pauline Skowron Schmidt

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Shannon Hitchcock: A New Voice In Historical Fiction, Kaavonia Hinton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.