Other English Language and Literature Commons^™

Midwestern Writers Need Midwestern Historians, Bonnie Jo Campbell

Studies in Midwestern History

These remarks were given on a plenary panel titled "Writing on the Midwest," held at the Fourth Annual Midwestern History Conference in Grand Rapids on June 6, 2018. Bonnie Jo Campbell received her MFA in creative writing from Western Michigan University. Her 2009 book, American Salvage, published by Wayne State University Press, was a finalist in fiction for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Freshman Inquiry Writing Seminar: Literature And Psychoanalysis, Sonja J. Killebrew

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

At The Edge Of Monstrosity: Melville, Shelley, And Crane’S Monsters In 19th-Century Literature, Jenna M. Seyer

Student Publications

What is a monster? For contemporary readers, monsters conjure images of things from horror films. My capstone addresses the question of whether monsters, the monstrous, and monstrosity are inside the human or elsewhere. I argue that monsters, when compared side-by-side in literature, are fundamentally the same with some exceptions: evil behind a human body. Through close-reading and theoretical analyses of 19th-century texts, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Stephen Crane’s The Monster, I examine how their authors create monsters as a response to societal anxieties and fears. My capstone expands on passages where human characters surrender to their …

Course Syllabus (Fa18) Coli 110--World Literature I: "Worlds Of Absurdity And Nothingness", Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Course Description:

An approach to the question of absurdity through world literature and a few philosophical and critical texts with a view towards possible modes of resolution

Creating Herstory: Female Rebellion In Arundhati Roy’S "The God Of Small Things" And "The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness", Priyanka Tewari

Theses and Dissertations

In The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness novels, the author Arundhati Roy is not only attempting to give feminist weight to the multiplicity of locations in which gender is articulated by recasting her female characters in their quest for selfhood, she is also focusing on women and women-identified characters as agents of history, thereby contributing to an ongoing project of feminist historiography.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Lib 3065 (Research Methods And Resources For Writers), Christopher Tuthill

Open Educational Resources

This course explores the theoretical and practical impact of information research on writing. Students develop proficiency in evaluating, identifying, and using relevant print and web sources to locate business, government, biographic, political, social and statistical information necessary for in-depth journalistic reportage and other forms of research and writing.

Final Ma Portfolio, James Lamb

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This is the portfolio submission for my Master's in English with a specialization in English Teaching.

On The Fringes: The Monsters, The Voiceless, The Abominations, And The Exiled, Virginia Davis Wyeth

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Peripheral characters/characteristics frequently serve to highlight the problematic societal situation of marginalized groups, even though these characters on the fringes of the text or main characters with unusual attributes are seemingly irrelevant to the primary plot. This portfolio examines, through a teaching unit, the monster archetype and its representation as a means to suppress Other or other within ourselves. The literary analysis pieces also examine the repression of historically marginalized groups, such as women, homosexuals, and children. And the last piece even takes a look at what happens when powerful groups are usurped by socio-economic and cultural shifts.

An Investigation Of Performance In National English Language Examinations In Tanzania: A Curriculum Processes Perspective, Gastor Mapunda

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper is a result of observations of teachers, employers and language researchers that many Tanzanian students who are at the ordinary level of secondary education have not been doing well in their national English language examinations. The results became worse in the 2012 examinations. The current study focused on curricula processes, namely syllabus preparation, teacher preparedness for handling syllabus demands, examination processes, and how all these are coordinated. Using semi-structured interview, questionnaire, and documentary review methods, the findings reveal that there are inefficiencies when it comes to engaging some important stakeholders such as teachers, parents, and learners. Additionally, the …

Fiqws Fall 2018: Phase 2 Assignment Prompt The Exploratory Essay, Sabina Pringle, Missy Watson

Open Educational Resources

This phase two writing assignment prompt for FIQWS 10003 - HA1 WCGI History & Culture and FIQWS 10103 - HA1 Composition for WCGI History & Culture (fall 2018) provides guidelines for writing an Exploratory Essay in which students will consider the ideas of course readings and compose an essay that demonstrates their engagement with those ideas. The rhetorical purpose of this assignment is for students to demonstrate the ways in which their thinking about language and literacy has developed so far in the course, using evidence based on interpretations, ideas, and examples as well as passages from four or five …

Misassembled Monsters, Jenn Brown

Graduate School of Art Theses

This thesis is a narrative of personal and material history. Through my work in painting, sculpture, and installation, I seek to share my story of emotional armoring in an attempt to connect to an audience. In my work, I look to my personal memories of growing up in a small, midwestern town and armoring myself with emotional barriers against its social construct of “normalcy.” Inspired by Medieval suits of armor and the characteristics of Goth culture throughout history, I employ my work to present the stage of a theatrical battleground. Creating each of my pieces is a fight for the …

Player-Response: On The Nature Of Interactive Narratives As Literature, Lee Feldman

English (MA) Theses

In recent years, having evolved beyond solely play-based interactions, it is now possible to analyze video games alongside other narrative forms, such as novels and films. Video games now involve rich stories that require input and interaction on behalf of the player. This level of agency likens video games to a kind of modern hypertext, networking and weaving various narrative threads together, something which traditional modes of media lack. When examined from the lens of reader-response criticism, this interaction deepens even further, acknowledging the player’s experience as a valid interpretation of a video game’s plot. The wide freedom of choice …

The Mythological Perspective Of Modern Media: Cross-Cultural Consciousness And Modern Myths, Rebecca E. Evans

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This piece assesses the cultural implications of modern narratives that incorporate classical mythology, specifically focusing on the hero’s journey. When the similarities of different myths across different cultures are analyzed, it becomes clear that there are modern analogs that incorporate mythic qualities and cultural values. These mythic foundations are analyzed here in popular works like Harry Potter, Star Trek, and Legend of Zelda, where the hero’s journey becomes an almost universal experience that inspires cross-cultural consciousness. The hero’s journey has evolved from a simple literary tool into a cross-cultural touchstone that shapes narratives into familiar works of cultural significance across …

“The Idea Of Self In The Land Of Self-Help”: Globalization And A Structure Of Feeling In Mohsin Hamid’S How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, Sharmeen Mehri

Theses and Dissertations

Focusing on the novel, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, this paper examines Mohsin Hamid’s experimentation with narrative structure and the idea of the split self through the context of Frederic Jameson’s dialectic of the cultural and economic dimensions of globalization and David Harvey’s take on Postmodernism.

Final Ma Portfolio, Danielle Mehlman-Brightwell

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio contains the following: training manual, editing portfolio, teaching pedagogy, and grammar research.

The Communal "I": Exclusion And Belonging In American Autobiography, Melissa Coss Aquino

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Communal “I” in American autobiography emerges as an aesthetic response to the pressure of using “the master’s tools” to write from a community on the margins to disclose identity in the conflicts of exclusion and belonging. In this case “the master’s tools” to refer to several distinct elements the communal “I” is tasked with navigating: the use of what we have come to identify as standard English, the form and function of European autobiography as a celebration of individual exceptionalism, and the contradictory pressures on these autobiographies to both elevate and protect the communities in question from further marginalization. …

They Say It Where I’M From: Using The Language Of Idioms To Compare The Characteristics Of Individualism Vs. Collectivism, Marissa Wiese

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Idioms, proverbs and other metaphorical language are a base component to how people communicate that has to be mutually understood. Slang and common sayings are a fundamental part of language. With language being such a large factor of culture, it’s natural to assume that it would mimic cultural ideals and norms. This study focuses on the cultural dimension Individualism/Collectivism and if the orientation correlates to language usage. The goal of this research is to conduct an analysis of the use of idiomatic expressions in comparison to Individualistic or Collectivistic orientation and setting.

Research of expressions and phrases has been done …

Application Of Narrative Principles To Effectively Communicate Through Graphic Design, Joseph Wright

Masters Theses

From folk tradition to film, story has played a critical role in connecting one person to another. The principles that undergird the construction of exceptional stories may apply to other forms of communication, including visual mediums. Although studies show that storytelling communicates more effectively than simply stating information, the field visual arts has neglected to apply this tactic in its craft. What makes a great story, and why does it have the capability of emotionally moving a person? Why not use the same principles that connect a person to a narrative within the field of graphic design? Because of this …

Looking At The Onlookers: The Attitudes Of Women's Wwi Poetry, Kaitlyn M. Hodges

Honors College Theses

The poems concerning WWI written by women reflect different attitudes about the concept of war and can be grouped into categories based on their stances toward the Great War. The most familiar feminine voice in the poetry of WWI illuminated a nationalistic and glorified view of war, where fighting (and dying) for a just cause outweighs any possible loss of life or limb. Running counter to this sentiment is a strain of poetry that calls into question the jingoistic and ill-informed opinions of the former group. Alongside these antipathetic groups there was a third, more meliorated, set of voices. These …

17th Edition Of The Laureate, Jessie Fales

Honors Theses

The Laureate is an undergraduate literary journal sponsored by the Lee Honors College at Western Michigan University. As Editor in Chief of the 17^th Edition, I coordinated the journal’s publication over the course of an academic year. The editorial process follows methodical stages, which have become standard over The Laureate’s lifetime—recruiting submissions, selecting submissions, coordinating with the design center, and hosting a launch party, etc... Of course, every editor has a unique experience, but we must honor the journal’s entity as something larger than ourselves—this journal has existed long before my time, and I hope it keeps on …

"What A Strange And Wonderful Story!": Literary Research And College Writing, Chloe Beam, Payton Charmichael, Amara Dike, Abigail Stewart

Collin College Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Student Research Conference

Panel Chair: Scott Cheney, Collin College

From Heo To Zir: A History Of Gender Expression In The English Language, Brodie Robinson

Senior Honors Theses

With the growing presence of the LGBTQ+ community on the global stage, the matter of gender has been rushed to the forefront of the public consciousness. News outlets have hotly debated the topic of gender expression, a topic which has motivated mass demonstrations and acts of violence, and this has promoted a linguistic conversation at the international level.

This thesis is intended to provide the historical context for the contemporary debate on gender expression in the English language, and explores both the grammatical background (the Indo-European origins of linguistic gender, the development of the modern pronoun system, etc.) and the …

Visitor Parking Only, Jeremy Caldwell

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

VISITOR PARKING ONLY is a thesis comprised of 40 poems and a fifteen-page introduction that travels simultaneously through the climatic seasons and familial generations, creating a cyclical effect of inevitable loss and regrowth. The poems start in late spring, early summer and dive into adolescent wonder, vulnerable, and loss of innocence. Gradually as the seasons change so does the speaker, diving into young adulthood and parenting and the sense of responsibility, guilt, and confusion that has played such a large role in developing me as a person. The poems transition into the winter months where older generations, such as my …

Re-Embodying Our Discipline, Chelsea Dryer

Theses

This Master's Thesis uses personal narrative and scholarly works to examine the benefits of embodiment in literary studies. Special attention is given to how lived experience can provide legitimate sources of academic evidence when examining texts and that texts can be used to integrate, examine, and reframe lived experiences.

Michalski Ma Portfolio: Finding My Path, Victoria L. Michalski

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio is the culmination of my work in the English Teaching specialty Master's program at Bowling Green State University. In addition to the works I produced for my classes and subsequently re-wrote for my portfolio, I've added an analytical reflection about my growth and evolution during my studies in the English MA program, and about overcoming my difficulties until I finally found the connection between English and historical interests that I sorely needed in order to heighten my enthusiasm and motivation. This reflection brings together the reasons I chose the works in my portfolio to represent my initial discomfort …

The Women Of Brave New World: Aldous Huxley And The Gendered Agenda Of Eugenics, Jessica Eylem

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies (2015-2021)

Eugenics is the belief that the human race can rid of unwanted characteristics by using science. As this belief became more widely known through the Nazi’s raise to power and their use of ideologies maintained by fear, scholars began to take note of its rise in academic circles and the followers behind it. Authors began incorporating these ideas into their novels as a way of commenting on the future of our world if eugenic practices continued. In this article, I discuss how the concept of eugenics is used in dystopian novels, especially during the interwar period. It explores Aldous Huxley’s …

A New Way Of Speaking: Jonathan Safran Foer’S Everything Is Illuminated And Effective Forms Of Holocaust Literature, Elizabeth A. Bentley

Honors College Research

This paper examines the use of broken English, magic realism, and nonlinearity in the novel Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, arguing that such nontraditional narrative techniques are appropriate for depicting the Holocaust, which cannot be represented by conventional narrative form. This paper also examines the ethicality of creating a fictional work about the Holocaust: I argue that Foer distinguishes well between that which is meant to be taken literally and that which is meant to be understood symbolically, and that he in no way compromises the essential core of truth of what occurred during the Nazi genocide.

Existence, Emotion, And Expression: Tragic Elements Within Shakespearean Sonnets, Luisa Pennington

2018 Award Winners

No abstract provided.

Fiqws: Writing And Social Justice, Thomas Peele, Caitlin Geoghan

Open Educational Resources

The syllabus describes a FIQWS course in which students explored social justice themes.

Notes From Underground: Fugitive Ecology And The Ethics Of Place, Sarah L. Lincoln

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this essay, I argue for “fugitive gardening” as a form of “poaching” or “resignifying,” a radical appropriation of hegemonic spaces and practices that both deconstructs the logics of mastery and hygienic possessiveness that underpin colonial culture, and articulates what we might call a fugitive ecology: a dispossession of self in relation to the environment, a refusal to conceive of land, soil or planet in terms of property. Fugitive gardening sets itself in opposition to the prisons, camps and forts that index South African political history, restorying place, environment, and the self as grounds for community formation, dialogue and cooperation. …