Modern Literature Commons^™

La Importancia De Los Personajes Femeninos En Como Agua Para Chocolate Como Medio Para Entender El Papel De Las Mujeres Mexicanas En Dos Momentos Históricos, Jessica R. Sloan-Cooper

CMC Senior Theses

En la novela, Como agua para chocolate, escrito por Laura Esquivel, el personaje central, Tita, se encuentra a sí misma entre dos mundos completamente diferentes en su hogar; uno es restringido y estricto, y tiene que ver con su madre, Mamá Elena, y el otro es libre e ilimitado, relacionado con su hermana, Gertrudis. Cuando Tita no puede casarse con el hombre que ama, Pedro, se da cuenta que está atrapada en dos realidades en conflicto. ¿Cómo puede ser? Esta novela toma lugar en dos momentos históricos centrales: El Porfiriato y la Revolución mexicana. El Porfiriato es el prolongado régimen …

Les Blattes Orgueilleuses, Siham Amraoui

Journal of Amazigh Studies

N/A

Iguza N Wurfan Tasuqilt N The Grapes Of Wrath, Arezki Boudif

Journal of Amazigh Studies

N/A

De Feu Et De Sang : Le Désert De Hawad, M. Hawad

Journal of Amazigh Studies

N/A

Ibrahim Al-Koni. The Night Will Have Its Say, Translated By Nancy Roberts, (Cairo: Hoopoe, 2022), 269 Pp. Isbn 9781649031860, Mallory Nichan

Journal of Amazigh Studies

N/A

Tuareg Women’S Writing: The Works Of Zakiyatou Oualett Halatine, Cheryl Toman

Journal of Amazigh Studies

In 2013, Tuareg and Malian writer, Zakiyatou oualett Halatine, was forced to flee a conflict that rages on in Mali to this day, and her creative work, Passions du désert, along with a collection of proverbs and a book-length essay, became a means of reconstructing memory and identity of a people ultimately blamed for Mali’s divisions. Zakiyatou’s texts provide us with a rare look at the desert region of Northern Mali from a woman’s perspective. Zakiyatou’s writings are unique in a corpus of Malian literature mostly generated by Southern Malian authors. In many ways, she is the lone literary …

‘Poetry Is Not A Luxury’, Rage Should Not Be A Privilege: The Potential Power Of The ‘Racial Imaginary’, Georgia Mcgovern

CMC Senior Theses

Female rage exists outside of the constructed masculine ideal of anger. To examine female rage, one must analyze the intersections between gender and race. I examine white women's privilege and access to female rage in reality and the fictional world. I explore Black Feminist poetry as a form of storage for rage at gender-based prejudice, racial injustice, and their intersection. Using Myisha Cherry’s term “Lordean Rage”, I recognize this specialized manifestation of female rage as an artistic, intergenerational source of energy for change.

I examine Claudia Rankine’s term “racial imaginary” as an imaginative space in which white people draw lines …

Gamblers And The Game Of Life: A Literary Examination Of The Professional And The Addict, Annika Ozizmir

CMC Senior Theses

The gambler is a mysterious persona in life and in literature. Who is the gambler? While we can envision the gambler as many different kinds of people, this thesis seeks to answer this question by focusing on certain literary figures who gamble. Its author analyzes two archetypes in particular, that of the professional gambler and that of the addict. To illustrate these types, the author looks to four protagonists from a mix of four novels and short stories: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, “A Gentleman’s Game” by Jonathan Lethem, “Queen of Spades” by Alexander Pushkin, and The Gambler by Fyodor …

Climate Change In Fiction: The Evolution And Challenges Of Environmental Apocalyptic Literature, Lauren Gode

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the several aspects and variations of environmental apocalyptic literature, and its potential ability to mobilize action against the imminent threat of global climate change. It delves into the intersection between climate research and fiction, as well as the rhetorical techniques used in works such as The Death of Grass by John Christopher, The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and covers the complementarity between climate fiction and works of non-fiction such as The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh. Finally, this thesis will assess the effectiveness of …

Trial By Steam: A Lesson Plan For Using “Repent, Harlequin!” In The Steam Classroom, Olivia Burgess

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This lesson plan uses Harlan Ellison’s “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman” as part of an interdisciplinary first-year curriculum linking perspectives from the humanities with engineering design. Students participated in a “mock trial” based on two characters from the story as a way to reflect on good teamwork, the value of creativity, and on the nature of the engineering profession. Both Ellison’s story and the lesson explore the benefits of taking a “STEAM” perspective that integrates the precision and timeliness needed in engineering (represented by the Ticktockman) with the flexibility and creativity inspired by the humanities (represented by Harlequin).

"Woven Into The Deeps Of Life": Death, Redemption, And Memory In Bob Kaufman's Poetry, Peter Davis

Pomona Senior Theses

The scholars who have taken up the task of writing about Bob Kaufman have most often done so in response to a perceived demand: the lack of Kaufman scholarship, readership, anthology, publicity, canonization. The basis of this need is clear: Kaufman is almost never included as even a third-string Beat, a fringe Surrealist, or an underappreciated Jazz performer. To the committed readers of Kaufman – and almost all of his readers seem to be committed ones – it’s unforgivable. These various canons, major (mid-century American poets, Beat poets) and minor (Jazz poets, American Surrealists), are clearly missing one of their …

The Germ Theory Of Dystopias: Fears Of Human Nature In 1984 And Brave New World, Clea D. Harris

Scripps Senior Theses

This project is an exploration of 20^th century dystopian literature through the lens of germ theory. This scientific principle, which emerged in the late 19^th century, asserts that microorganisms pervade the world; these invisible and omnipresent germs cause specific diseases which are often life threatening. Additionally, germ theory states that vaccines and antiseptics can prevent some of these afflictions and that antibiotics can treat others. This concept of a pervasive, invisible, infection-causing other is not just a biological principle, though; in this paper, I argue that one can interpret it as an ideological framework for understanding human existence …

The Obstacles To And Solutions Of Female Characters' Speech: Beatrice In Dante's Vita Nuova And Purgatorio And Susan In J. M. Coetzee's Foe, Tamara Savage

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes the speaking and silencing of two female characters, Beatrice from Dante’s Vita Nuova and Purgatorio and Susan from J. M. Coetzee’s Foe. The texts are viewed through postcolonial and feminist lenses to show the problems with male characters speaking for female characters and the obstacles the female characters face when attempting to speak. Dante’s solution to this problem is to transform Beatrice from a silent and demure woman into a character who issues commands with a powerful voice. Coetzee’s solution is instead to refuse to provide a solution, since no one but Susan can speak for …

Joining ``The Mathematician's Delirium To The Poet's Logic'': Mathematical Literature And Literary Mathematics, Rita Capezzi, Christine Kinsey

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper describes our team-taught interdisciplinary mathematics and literature course, Mathematical Literature and Literary Mathematics, which invites students to consider Raymond Queneau's challenge: "Why shouldn't one demand a certain effort on the reader's part? Everything is always explained to him. He must eventually tire of being treated with such contempt.'' We study works by Berge, Borges, Calvino, Perec, Queneau, Robbe-Grillet and Stoppard, among others. From a literary critical perspective, the course highlights the play of language rather than the primacy of meaning. We choose texts where mathematical concepts are subjects or structuring elements of the literature, and ideally both. …

Hiroshima. At The Intersection Of Sciences, History, And Personal Narratives. A Personal Reflection., Gloria R. Montebruno Saller

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

In the city of Hiroshima, Japan, sciences, history, and personal narratives meet. Atomic bomb survivors became the keepers of this town’s history and one of the most tragic chapters in the history of humankind; and as their voices fade to old age and death, there is a sense of urgency to keep their narratives alive. These are my personal reflections.

From The Inside Out, And Through., Dominique Ovalle

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

These photographs describe “Science” born of consumerism, hijacked by me, economically disenfranchised, or rather—temporarily embarrassed, artist. I was putzing around Malibu—my old college stomping ground, looking for free food; maybe a sample of some gourmet $5 chocolate, and all I got were these photographs.

Creating 'Reflection And Refraction', Tara Prescott

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This essay offers personal narrative about the creation of Reflecting and Refracting, a collage artwork integrating literary and scientific texts regarding light. Reflecting and Refracting was made specifically for the STEAM journal’s first issue and elements were incorporated into the issue’s collaborative cover image, Equations of Light. The current essay, however, is the first time the original artwork is being published in its entirety.

Magical Me: Self-Insertion Fanfiction As Literary Critique, Melody Strmel

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the traditions of textual interaction that impact the forms of reading engaged in with fanfiction. This thesis continues by exploring how self-insertion fanfiction functions as a medium through which authors express their reading of the text primary through the emotional impact of the text through wish fulfillment, and the interaction of their cultural moment and the text. Furthermore, it argues that self-insertion fanfiction is a mode of literary critique in which the author acknowledges the effect of a mediated world on their perception of self and reality. Through this recognition of a constructed self, the author rejects …

Silicon Valley Startup Companies: A Question Of Culture, Nora E. Studholme

CMC Senior Theses

In recent years, Silicon Valley has become virtually synonymous with startup companies. These companies are defined by their famous "startup culture." An interesting and unanticipated outcome of this research was the finding that the discourse of Silicon Valley startups is framed centrally in terms of culture. I use discourse analysis to understand the way people create and perpetuate structures of power, gender, and culture. By studying the way people in startup companies talk about their expectations and experiences, this analysis hopes to gain a deeper understanding into the normalized cultural discourses surrounding startup organizations, as well as the way individuals …

The Word Made Flesh, Tyler S. Lamon

CMC Senior Theses

A version of the life of Christ.

Power And Relationships In The Plays Of Neil Labute: Directing And Performing In Some Girl(S), Mary Peyton Griffith

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the major works of Neil LaBute's career as a playwright and screenwriter, including the criticism he has received on theatrical and literary levels. The themes most prevalent in the thesis are the use of power and manipulation in the relationships between LaBute's characters and the ongoing maturation of his characters that coincides with the maturation of his work. The second section of the thesis follows the production, directing, and acting in LaBute's play Some Girl(s).

Unbreakable Glass Slippers: Hegemony In Ella Enchanted, Tori Shereen Mirsadjadi

Scripps Senior Theses

The way Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted simultaneously conforms to its late-20^th-century American standards and rebels against its Cinderella origins is analyzed in this thesis. As an analysis of a piece of literature written for children, the thesis works to defend the notion that playful literature produces a serious dialogue with its readers, and that young female readers are a particularly apropos group for the dialogue about hegemony that Ella Enchanted allows.

Death's Brother, Gayle Greene

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Nietzsche And Schopenhauer On Hermann Hesse, Kathryn Punsly

CMC Senior Theses

In my first chapter, I will discuss the mark of Cain at greater length and introduce the idea of daemon. In the second chapter, I will discuss how it functions as part of Nietzschean active nihilism. Finally, in the third chapter, I will explore the problem of somberness and the problem of fanaticism, and see how Hesse tries to resolve these two problems.

Spectacular Shadows: Djuna Barnes's Styles Of Estrangement In Nightwood, Erica Nicole Bellman

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines Djuna Barnes's Modernist masterpiece, Nightwood, by exploring the author's particular styles of writing. As an ironist, a master of spectacle, and a visual artist, Barnes's distinct stylistic roles allow the writer to construct a strange fictional world that transcends simple categorization and demands close reading. Through textual analysis, consideration of how Barnes's characterization, and engagement with key critical interpretations lead to the conclusion that Nightwood's primary aim is to present the reader with an image of his or her own individual estrangement.

Numenrology: A Poetic Exploration Of The Lives And Work Of Famous Mathematicians, Mari-Lou Rowley

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Who Is Afraid Of The Canon?, Marie-Denise Shelton

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

The Canon: Who loads it? Who fires it? Why? These questions have been posed, I believe, to challenge the universalist claims of a eurocentric intellectual tradition in American universities. In the ludic conflation of the homophones: canon and cannon, the organizers of this forum sought, no doubt, to uncover the power politics underlying the intense debate on educational ideology in recent years.

Book Review: Eloquent Obsessions: Writing Cultural Criticism, James Morrison

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

An initial impression of Eloquent Obsessions is that of a heady randomness, a bracing variety, from accounts of personal intellectual history to more conventional critical forays, from lively autobiography to trenchant polemic. It is, perhaps, only on second thought, once that impression of randomness settles into a more legibly systematic pattern, that the book's real significance begins to emerge.

Nabokov's Third-Person Selves, James Morrison

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Many previous efforts to come to terms with the problem of autonomous consciousness and of self-construction in Nabokov's work have done so in the sphere of psychoanalysis, and have therefore found it necessary to make a foray into Nabokov's tireless polemic against the school of thought. Perhaps, however, an examination of what may be called "the third-person self" provides a way of apprehending Nabokov's conception and representations of consciousness in such a way that a detour through that well-travelled territory may be avoided.

Book Review: Subversive Pleasures: Bakhtin, Cultural Criticism, And Film, James Morrison

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

...Subversive Pleasures implicitly critiques the dominant parochialism of contemporary film study with the bracing electicism of its method. Both for its basic enterprise of installing Bakhtin as a touchstone fro film scholars and for its rangy, intellectually restless methodological alternative to the constricting specializing of current film theory, Stam's book is among the most important recent contributions to film study.