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- Title
- The power of subtext and the politics of closure: an examination of self, representation, and audience in 3 narrative forms.
- Creator
- Berzak, Adam., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
This thesis explores the ways that certain artists-including Joseph Conrad, Alan Moore, Richard Attenborough, and Francis Ford Coppola-break from their inherited traditions in order to speak from an alternative perspective to western discourse. Conventional narrative formulas prescribe that meaning will be revealed in a definitive end, but all of the texts discussed reveal other avenues through which it is discerned. In Heart of Darkness, the tension between two divergent narratives enables...
Show moreThis thesis explores the ways that certain artists-including Joseph Conrad, Alan Moore, Richard Attenborough, and Francis Ford Coppola-break from their inherited traditions in order to speak from an alternative perspective to western discourse. Conventional narrative formulas prescribe that meaning will be revealed in a definitive end, but all of the texts discussed reveal other avenues through which it is discerned. In Heart of Darkness, the tension between two divergent narratives enables Conrad to speak beyond his social context and imperialist limitations to demonstrate that identity is socially constructed. In Watchmen, Moore breaks from comic convention to illustrate ways meaning may be ascertained despite the lack of plot ends. The third chapter explores the ways that Attenborough and Coppola subvert technical and plot conventions to resist static constitutions of identity endemic to Hollywood film. The several texts discussed subvert the Self/Other duality by suggesting alternatives to the western narrative model.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683123
- Subject Headings
- Narration (Rhetoric), Closure (Rhetoric), Symbolism in literature, Postmodernism (Literature), Rhetorical criticism
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The "white male backlash" to diversity training: Rhetorical criticism using fantasy theme analysis.
- Creator
- Knutson, Kery., Florida Atlantic University, Durnell-Uwechue, Nannetta Y.
- Abstract/Description
-
This study investigates the diversity training industry that developed throughout the 1990's and continues to develop. Specifically, this analysis examines the resistance to diversity training that comes from the cultural group of white males. It seems that the way in which diversity training is communicated might cause part of this resistance. The present study seeks to determine why a "white male backlash" exists and what reasons are given to account for the resistance. Thus, a rhetorical...
Show moreThis study investigates the diversity training industry that developed throughout the 1990's and continues to develop. Specifically, this analysis examines the resistance to diversity training that comes from the cultural group of white males. It seems that the way in which diversity training is communicated might cause part of this resistance. The present study seeks to determine why a "white male backlash" exists and what reasons are given to account for the resistance. Thus, a rhetorical criticism using fantasy theme analysis is used. The essays/articles that are examined are mainly from news publications and trade journals but also include white males and diversity trainers. In examining articles that address the subject of the "white male backlash" nine themes are discovered which suggests that some white men construct a rhetorical vision of victimization in reference to diversity training: "Negative Feelings," "Targeted," "Uninformed," "Merit," "Blamed," "Stereotyped," "Must Change," "Uncertain Future" and "Other."
Show less - Date Issued
- 2002
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12884
- Subject Headings
- Diversity in the workplace, Men, White--Employment, Rhetorical criticism
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- "Room for you and me": an ethical critique of noncanonical labor literature.
- Creator
- McDermott, Rachel., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
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Labor literature is in popular and academic neglect. I argue that labor literature's neglect is unjust, and I provide a way of examining labor literature that can rescue it from neglect. I shall be concerned with labor literature's academic decline due to its apparent lack of value according to traditional standards of literary criticism. I will argue that ethical criticism - criticism of literature that considers the ethics of a work as a part of its literary value - can reveal new...
Show moreLabor literature is in popular and academic neglect. I argue that labor literature's neglect is unjust, and I provide a way of examining labor literature that can rescue it from neglect. I shall be concerned with labor literature's academic decline due to its apparent lack of value according to traditional standards of literary criticism. I will argue that ethical criticism - criticism of literature that considers the ethics of a work as a part of its literary value - can reveal new complexities in labor literature. An ethical critical analysis of the representation of American labor movements and workers in noncanonical texts will show the distinctive ethical value such texts hold. I will argue that labor texts possess ethical value insofar as they help readers develop awareness of complex ethical issues posed by labor and community, and that the ethical value of labor literature provides a new reason to value such works.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3342209
- Subject Headings
- Narration (Rhetoric), Authenticity (Philosophy) in literature, Criticism and interpretation, Labor in literature, Criticism and interpretation
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- An ideological analysis of the rhetoric of patriarchy in the Pentateuch.
- Creator
- Mallen, Mihaela E., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
- Abstract/Description
-
As the basis for major religions widely practiced in western cultures, the Pentateuch also has deeply influenced the structure of these societies. A short historical review demonstrates the secondary status women occupy in western cultures. This study focuses on uncovering the presumed existence of embedded patriarchal ideology within the Pentateuch's text. For the purpose of this study, the researcher draws on the Pentateuch as it appears in the King James Version of the Bible. By conducting...
Show moreAs the basis for major religions widely practiced in western cultures, the Pentateuch also has deeply influenced the structure of these societies. A short historical review demonstrates the secondary status women occupy in western cultures. This study focuses on uncovering the presumed existence of embedded patriarchal ideology within the Pentateuch's text. For the purpose of this study, the researcher draws on the Pentateuch as it appears in the King James Version of the Bible. By conducting an ideological rhetorical analysis of this text, this examination uncovers elements characteristic to patriarchal rhetoric promoting men's superiority and ideals as well as constricting and channeling women's identities. This ideology has contributed to depreciating women's status in western cultures, and awareness of its existence might help women in their struggle for equality.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3318672
- Subject Headings
- Rhetoric, Philosophy, Rhetorical criticism, Women in the Bible
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Grading the scholars: Measuring the impact of field dependence on rhetorical analyses of abortion arguments.
- Creator
- Gavino, Michael Anthony., Florida Atlantic University, Mulvaney, Becky
- Abstract/Description
-
This thesis describes the pitfalls of writing rhetorical analyses of abortion arguments that are not sensitive to field dependence as described by Toulmin (1958). It examines Lake's (1984), Tonn's (1996), and Railsback's (1984) rhetorical analyses in order to test whether the lack of attention these scholars display toward field dependence detracts from the reliability of their analyses. To accomplish this task, this thesis will compare the scholars' analyses against my analysis of amicus...
Show moreThis thesis describes the pitfalls of writing rhetorical analyses of abortion arguments that are not sensitive to field dependence as described by Toulmin (1958). It examines Lake's (1984), Tonn's (1996), and Railsback's (1984) rhetorical analyses in order to test whether the lack of attention these scholars display toward field dependence detracts from the reliability of their analyses. To accomplish this task, this thesis will compare the scholars' analyses against my analysis of amicus curiae briefs filed with the Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade (1973) and Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1988) cases. The results show that the Lake's, Tonn's, and Railsback's analyses are problematic when compared to the arguments in these amicus curiae briefs. Thus this thesis concludes that scholars need to pay close attention to field dependence when writing rhetorical analyses not only of abortion arguments but also field specific arguments in general.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1999
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15727
- Subject Headings
- Rhetorical criticism., Briefs--United States., Trials (Abortion)--United States.
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Writing nation(s): A trans-Atlantic analysis of academic writing instruction.
- Creator
- Cirillo-McCarthy, Erica., Florida Atlantic University, Galin, Jeffrey R.
- Abstract/Description
-
Only recently have US scholars looked at the rest of the world to see how other countries deal with the writing classroom, mainly because many other countries did not have a writing program or academic writing classes. However, the formation of the European Union (EU), particularly in 1992, brought about specific political and educational integration between member countries. The formation of the EU has changed the composition of the classroom in most continental European countries. In the US...
Show moreOnly recently have US scholars looked at the rest of the world to see how other countries deal with the writing classroom, mainly because many other countries did not have a writing program or academic writing classes. However, the formation of the European Union (EU), particularly in 1992, brought about specific political and educational integration between member countries. The formation of the EU has changed the composition of the classroom in most continental European countries. In the US, the effects of globalization in our classroom will change composition studies. Bringing in perspectives from countries that are dealing with globalization in a different manner will further the focus and research in the field. Government intervention, language barriers, student involvement, and multi-disciplinary influences continue to shape composition studies. By examining these issues in both national and international context, we can anticipate the results of a cross-national pedagogical exchange.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13374
- Subject Headings
- Academic writing--Criticism and interpretation, English language--Cross-cultural studies, English language (Rhetoric)--Study and teaching
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Festine Lente.
- Creator
- O'Daly, Barbara Hosie, Mitchell, Susan, Florida Atlantic University
- Abstract/Description
-
The creative idea of this thesis did not start with a definitive theme. Instead, an appreciation of the modern Irish poets inspired the process. A creative endeavor has translated a bricolage of unconscious memories into a dream like flow of language. The visualization of dreams and the exploration of language measured in words, has become my muse. I like to let language shape itself from a visual realization inside the creative process and to whittle through words to breathe life into the...
Show moreThe creative idea of this thesis did not start with a definitive theme. Instead, an appreciation of the modern Irish poets inspired the process. A creative endeavor has translated a bricolage of unconscious memories into a dream like flow of language. The visualization of dreams and the exploration of language measured in words, has become my muse. I like to let language shape itself from a visual realization inside the creative process and to whittle through words to breathe life into the asynchronous sound of dreams. Most of this reconstruction is drawn from dormant memories. The journey has allowed me to dig down as if in an archeological site (of the mind) and use language in arbitrary words that come to express a subjective meaning. Transposing this to a more objective meaning will often result in an analytic conclusion. These conclusions are personal observations stemming from the root of the first flash of memory. The title suggests movement in a slow pattern that is often the way dreams occur. The result makes the journey that more imperative to reach a conclusion. At moments there is a repetition of the words, and that is what gives the bricolage substance if not theme. The journey has offered me a personal gift of time to slow down and grasp the essence of life. It is my hope that the reader will join my metaphorical caravan to find a dig of one's own in this creative language.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000943
- Subject Headings
- Irish poetry--Criticism and interpretation, English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching, Creative writing (Higher education)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The Rhetoric and Humanism of Cicero and Its Impact on the Humanists of the Early Italian Renaissance.
- Creator
- Shaw, James G., Smith, Voncile, Florida Atlantic University
- Abstract/Description
-
Marcus Tullius Cicero exerted a major influence on rhetoric: intellectual writings, oratory, and education in the Early Italian Renaissance. Cicero's humanism expressed a fellowship with society and included justice, reasoning, moral and social duties to the community. It eventually replaced traditional learning and established a pattern of classical studies that was to continue for centuries. The Early Italian Renaissance was basically a cultural, literary and scholarly movement that...
Show moreMarcus Tullius Cicero exerted a major influence on rhetoric: intellectual writings, oratory, and education in the Early Italian Renaissance. Cicero's humanism expressed a fellowship with society and included justice, reasoning, moral and social duties to the community. It eventually replaced traditional learning and established a pattern of classical studies that was to continue for centuries. The Early Italian Renaissance was basically a cultural, literary and scholarly movement that represented an important and new phase in the study and interpretation of the history of classical antiquity and played a unique role in Western cultural history. This paper explores the extent to which contemporary authors have identified the similarities and differences between Cicero's humanism and the humanism of the Early Italian Renaissance. The author suggests areas requiring further research.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1996
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000962
- Subject Headings
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius--Criticism and interpretation, Humanism, Rhetoric, Ancient, Renaissance--Italy, Italy--Intellectual life--1268-1559
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Dissipating hostility through feminine rhetorical style: Barbara Bush and the petitioners of Wellesley College.
- Creator
- Doran, Bethany Lynne., Gorbacheva, Raisa Maksimovna, Wellesley College, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
- Abstract/Description
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This study uses Karlyn Campbell's concept of feminine rhetorical style as a theoretical framework for analyzing the rhetoric of Barbara Bush's 1990 Wellesley College commencement address. Through a systematic evaluation of Barbara Bush's speech, this study reveals that her rhetoric exemplifies feminine rhetorical style. The analysis also concludes that Barbara Bush's personal tone, specifically her use of narrative and humor, is the most useful and effective characteristic of her feminine...
Show moreThis study uses Karlyn Campbell's concept of feminine rhetorical style as a theoretical framework for analyzing the rhetoric of Barbara Bush's 1990 Wellesley College commencement address. Through a systematic evaluation of Barbara Bush's speech, this study reveals that her rhetoric exemplifies feminine rhetorical style. The analysis also concludes that Barbara Bush's personal tone, specifically her use of narrative and humor, is the most useful and effective characteristic of her feminine rhetorical style. Using feminine rhetorical style, Barbara Bush successfully dissipates some of the tension she faced prior to the graduation ceremony at Wellesley College. Therefore, this study reveals that feminine rhetorical style is an attractive alternative for speakers seeking to build identification in hostile situations when identification is, or appears to be, lacking.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2100573
- Subject Headings
- Influence, Criticism and interpretation, Feminist theory, Narration (Rhetoric), Psychological aspects, Persuasion (Rhetoric)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Traduzione di una metafora: un ponte a Mostar come il processo di traduzione tra lingue e culture in Erri De Luca.
- Creator
- O'Neill, Jonathan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature
- Abstract/Description
-
This thesis shall produce the translation of six essays from Italian author Erri De Luca's collection PIanoterra (1995). De Luca's work often defies traditional attempts at translation due to its philosophical and polysemantic nature ; more than mere essays or accounts of, for instance, his involvement with humanitarian missions in Bosnia, his work consists of reflections on life and language itself. De Luca, himself a prolific translator from Ancient Hebrew, Russian and Yiddish, oftentimes...
Show moreThis thesis shall produce the translation of six essays from Italian author Erri De Luca's collection PIanoterra (1995). De Luca's work often defies traditional attempts at translation due to its philosophical and polysemantic nature ; more than mere essays or accounts of, for instance, his involvement with humanitarian missions in Bosnia, his work consists of reflections on life and language itself. De Luca, himself a prolific translator from Ancient Hebrew, Russian and Yiddish, oftentimes emphasizes the origins of specific words, making carefully studied choices in his own writing. Therefore, in addition to the six carefully produced translations with special attention paid to De Luca's word choices and an awareness of the etymological weight each one carries, this thesis shall also provide a theoretical framework emphasizing a sense-based translation which will allow the freedom necessary to explore De Luca's polysemy as well as commentary highlighting the challenges encountered in translating his work.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3358751
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Conduct of life, Narration (Rhetoric), Persuasion (Rhetoric)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Image Restoration in the Apologetic in the Apologetic Rhetoric of Professional Athletes: A Case Study of Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Phelps.
- Creator
- Epstein, Adam, Mulvaney, Becky, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
- Abstract/Description
-
This purpose of this study is to investigate the apologetic rhetoric of professional athletes’ off-field scandals. The three case studies used were Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Phelps. A genre analysis was conducted to determine the success or failure of the speech by examining the image repair strategies used during the rhetoric. Further research revealed that the audiences’ perception plays a large role in determining if the rhetoric was successful or not. Two factors that aid the...
Show moreThis purpose of this study is to investigate the apologetic rhetoric of professional athletes’ off-field scandals. The three case studies used were Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Phelps. A genre analysis was conducted to determine the success or failure of the speech by examining the image repair strategies used during the rhetoric. Further research revealed that the audiences’ perception plays a large role in determining if the rhetoric was successful or not. Two factors that aid the audience are the medium in which the public address was given, and the time it took to deliver the speech once the off-field scandal took place. The findings determined that Tiger Woods apologia was not successful, while Kobe Bryant’s was successful. The rhetoric of Michael Phelps’ speech lacked in delivery and strategies chosen. To have a successful apologia, one should have a clear use of strategies as well as a timely public address.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004878, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004878
- Subject Headings
- Woods, Tiger., Bryant, Kobe--1978-, Phelps, Michael--1985-, Sex scandals--United States., Verbal self-defense., Rhetorical criticism., Discourse analysis., Crisis management., Sports--Public relations.
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The Very Useful Notion: A Rhetorical History of the Idea of Human-Made Climate Change, 1950-2000.
- Creator
- Brooten, Gary, Marin, Noemi, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
- Abstract/Description
-
This dissertation tests an original hybrid methodology to explore the rapid spread of the idea of human-made climate change that began in the 1950s after the idea had lain dormant for half a century. It describes the 1950s rhetorical events that triggered the idea’s diffusion, then traces how its rhetorical uses gradually gave root to the end-of-thecentury political impasse over how to respond to the societal implications of the idea. The research methodology rests on the simple logic that an...
Show moreThis dissertation tests an original hybrid methodology to explore the rapid spread of the idea of human-made climate change that began in the 1950s after the idea had lain dormant for half a century. It describes the 1950s rhetorical events that triggered the idea’s diffusion, then traces how its rhetorical uses gradually gave root to the end-of-thecentury political impasse over how to respond to the societal implications of the idea. The research methodology rests on the simple logic that an idea can only spread by being used in human discourses. It combines traditions of rhetorical historiography with a philosophical view of intellectual history as the cumulative effect of a “natural selection” of ideas and their spread by human individuals over time and geography. It calls for sampling and analyzing rhetorical artifacts in light of the rhetorical situations in which they originate, focusing on how the idea of human-made climate change is used rhetorically in scientific and other discourses. The analyses form the basis of a narrative giving emphasis both to rhetorical continuities and to conversation-changing rhetorical events. They also show how these rhetorical dynamics involve interactions of human communities using or attacking the idea for their communal purposes. The results challenge science-focused understandings of the history of the idea itself and also suggest that the methodology may be more broadly useful. As to the history, the analyses highlight how changes in the rhetorical uses of the idea made possible its 1950s breakout in climate science, then led to uses that spread it into other sciences and into environmentalism in the 1960s, attached it to apocalyptic environmentalism in the 1970s, injected it into partisan politics in 1980s and shaped the political impasse during the 1990s. The data show that the methodology reveals elements of the discourses missed in histories emphasizing the “power of ideas,” suggesting that a focus on the usefulness of ideas may be more fruitful. A focus on rhetorical uses of ideas grounds the causation of intellectual change in human motivation and agency, expressed in material acts that multiply and disperse naturally through communities and populations.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004691, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004691
- Subject Headings
- Climate change mitigation, Climatic changes -- Philosophy, Climatic changes -- Social aspects, Global environmental change, Human beings -- Effect of climate on, Rhetorical criticism
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Let them run wild: childhood, the nineteenth-century storyteller, and the ascent of the moon.
- Creator
- Czerny, Val., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
Drawing from literary criticism, ecological philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the wisdom of the female principle - or what Paula Gunn Allen perceives as "Her presence," the "power to make and relate"- this interdisciplinary study challenges dominant assumptions that habitually prevail in western cultural thinking. Let Them Run Wild investigates alternative, "buried" articulations which emerge in nineteenth-and early twentieth-century narratives that especially engage an audience of both...
Show moreDrawing from literary criticism, ecological philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the wisdom of the female principle - or what Paula Gunn Allen perceives as "Her presence," the "power to make and relate"- this interdisciplinary study challenges dominant assumptions that habitually prevail in western cultural thinking. Let Them Run Wild investigates alternative, "buried" articulations which emerge in nineteenth-and early twentieth-century narratives that especially engage an audience of both children and adult readers. Recognizing the fictions inherent in linear-driven thought, these articulations celebrate narrative moments where reason is complicated and reconjectured, where absence is affirmed as presence, and where tale-tellers disappear behind the messages they relate. By spotlighting legendary characters, Chapter One, "The Jowls of Legend," explains how "wild consciousness" resists legendary status. Chapters Two and Three discuss the interweaving journey of the wild arabesque in the Arabian Nights and untamed desire within Anne's transformative language in L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. Chapter Four, examining the death drive in Frank Norris's The Octopus, describes how it is reconceived in E. Nesbit's The Railway Children. Lastly, the Epilogue explores Juliana Ewing's "Lob Lie-By-the-Fire," tracing the manifestation of the female principle through its most wild activity - not hindered by gender - of service rendered through mystery and adventure. Wild consciousness advances through the collective identity of what Frederic Jameson has called the "political unconscious"and commissions older, better approximations of ideology through willing, spontaneous service., It acknowledges Homi K. Bhabha's articulation of "cultural hybridity," while, simultaneously, it directs such hybrid constructions of history, space, and negotiation outward toward a wild feminist critic Elaine Showalter has characterized as the "wild zone," customarily understood as a borderland space, is further reinterpreted as a borderless, expressive, timeless calling forth of receptive minds to engage in wildly compassionate, nonsensical acts and cunning, non-heroic feats in order to transform the inert, polemic systems that define our western collective mind. In short, this study refigures what Vandana Shiva identifies as cultural "patents on life," where "civilization" becomes small - a mere idea in a forest's deep heart.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/209982
- Subject Headings
- Symbolism in literature, Ecofeminism and literature, Philosophy of nature in literature, Narrative (Rhetoric), Criticism and literature, Storytelling in literature
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- "And yet God has not said a word!": Robert Browning and the romantic killer in literature.
- Creator
- Burns-Davies, Erin., Florida Atlantic University, Faraci, Mary
- Abstract/Description
-
Robert Browning's dramatic monologues often characterize the darker aspect of romantic love through speakers who demonstrate their devotion to violence. Exploring the innovations in discourse, Browning gives his narrators voices that allow them to speak from an ancient literary tradition. For Browning's speakers, words make the silencing of the lover either the act of ultimate devotion or the result of disappointed expectations. The narrator speaks of the absence of God, as when Porphyria's...
Show moreRobert Browning's dramatic monologues often characterize the darker aspect of romantic love through speakers who demonstrate their devotion to violence. Exploring the innovations in discourse, Browning gives his narrators voices that allow them to speak from an ancient literary tradition. For Browning's speakers, words make the silencing of the lover either the act of ultimate devotion or the result of disappointed expectations. The narrator speaks of the absence of God, as when Porphyria's lover holds her body to him: "and yet God has not said a word!" With the poet's strong speech---in all his attractiveness, his destructive display of love and his dismissal of God---Browning has helped to create a discourse that has sculpted the literary force of the romantic killer. Three novelists in particular employ the literary force of Browning's experiments: Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat, Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho and Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter novels. Intertextual comparisons among these narratives delineate how Robert Browning's innovation of the seductive antihero has persisted in literature.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13140
- Subject Headings
- Browning, Robert,--1812-1889--Influence, Browning, Robert--1812-1889--Criticism and interpretation, Violence in literature, Narration (Rhetoric), Rice, Anne,--1941---Vampire Lestat, Ellis, Brett Easton--American Psycho, Harris, Thomas,--1940---Criticism and interpretation
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Polysemy in John Milton's Paradise Lost.
- Creator
- Harrawood, Suzanne., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
This is a study of the polysemous language in John Milton's Paradise Lost. Unlike some of his seventeenth-century contemporaries, Milton did not harbor a mistrust of highly symbolic and interpretable language, and the fact that he did not has deep repercussions in Milton's great epic. I examine the porous and mutable nature of Edenic language, and how it challenges the idea of prelapsarian language as devoid of polysemous gloss. Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve's perfect acquisition of...
Show moreThis is a study of the polysemous language in John Milton's Paradise Lost. Unlike some of his seventeenth-century contemporaries, Milton did not harbor a mistrust of highly symbolic and interpretable language, and the fact that he did not has deep repercussions in Milton's great epic. I examine the porous and mutable nature of Edenic language, and how it challenges the idea of prelapsarian language as devoid of polysemous gloss. Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve's perfect acquisition of knowledge is not undermined by the symbolism of language. Nevertheless, Satan cleverly exploits the polysemy of Edenic language in order to effectuate Adam and Eve's transgression. Ultimately, Milton's Paradise Lost departs from common seventeenth-century theories about language and knowledge. Milton's view is unique in that it retains a positive view of symbolic language and suggests that postlapsarian humanity is bereft of divine guidance and left to struggle for knowledge through experience.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/332913
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Narration (Rhetoric), Polysemy, Semiotics
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Ecoqueer: Moving Beyond Ecocomposition's Heteronormative Binaries.
- Creator
- Hoover, Megan L., Barrios, Barclay, Florida Atlantic University
- Abstract/Description
-
An examination of ecocomposition reveals that despite being careful to embrace all humans, it is still operating from a heterononnative standpoint. This perspective has led to an exclusion of gay male writers from its place-based approach to the study of the production of writing. By including the work of gay nature writer James Schuyler, the boundaries of ecocomposition are expanded to include yet another way of moving beyond restrictive cultural dualisms. Schuyler's work shows that...
Show moreAn examination of ecocomposition reveals that despite being careful to embrace all humans, it is still operating from a heterononnative standpoint. This perspective has led to an exclusion of gay male writers from its place-based approach to the study of the production of writing. By including the work of gay nature writer James Schuyler, the boundaries of ecocomposition are expanded to include yet another way of moving beyond restrictive cultural dualisms. Schuyler's work shows that definitions of masculinity need to be expanded to include gay males, and also highlights how sexual identity and setting interact to produce various interpretations of the self in one's writing. An expansion of ecocomposition results in a truly liberatory theory and pedagogy, one that encourages interactions that promote of all kinds of writing by all kinds of writers.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000929
- Subject Headings
- Human ecology in literature, Literature, Modern--Criticism and interpretation, Environmental literature--Authorship--21st century, Homosexuality and literature--United States, English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching--Social aspects--United States
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The telegraphist's odyssean journey in Henry James's "In the Cage".
- Creator
- Olson, Peter J., Florida Atlantic University, Pearce, Howard D.
- Abstract/Description
-
Henry James's In the Cage offers a character, a young female telegraphist, who constantly applies theories to and comes up with interpretations of the people, objects, and events that make up the world outside her cage. The experiences she undergoes with the telegrams' ambiguous messages and her customers' strange actions compel her to weave an intricate drama that not only clears up the ambiguities but also allows her to play an important role. She creates a subjective reality through which...
Show moreHenry James's In the Cage offers a character, a young female telegraphist, who constantly applies theories to and comes up with interpretations of the people, objects, and events that make up the world outside her cage. The experiences she undergoes with the telegrams' ambiguous messages and her customers' strange actions compel her to weave an intricate drama that not only clears up the ambiguities but also allows her to play an important role. She creates a subjective reality through which she can embark on an exciting, dangerous adventure. This reality, however, is not immutable. When faced with new sets of circumstances, new flashes from the outside world, she struggles to re-work her interpretations and re-create her fiction; like Odysseus, she is forced to submit to an overwhelming external power and find a new path on which to travel.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1996
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15346
- Subject Headings
- James, Henry,--1843-1916--In the cage, James, Henry,--1843-1916--Criticism and interpretation, James, Henry,--1843-1916--Technique, Homer--Odyssea, Ambiguity in literature, Narration (Rhetoric)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Rhetorical "Mosaicism" and Intractable Conflict: George W. Bush on Stem Cells.
- Creator
- Brooten, Gary, Marin, Noemi, Florida Atlantic University
- Abstract/Description
-
President Bush's 2001 speech on stem cell research showed unusual intermixing of rhetorical bits from past arguments of proponents and opponents, suggesting that such mixing is a distinct rhetorical strategy. Analyses revealed two communities that had engaged each other over reproductive biology issues for decades, developing distinct vocabularies and argumentative patterns in that interaction. The speech mixed fragments ofthese usages. Traditional textual analyses and analyses ofthe mixing...
Show morePresident Bush's 2001 speech on stem cell research showed unusual intermixing of rhetorical bits from past arguments of proponents and opponents, suggesting that such mixing is a distinct rhetorical strategy. Analyses revealed two communities that had engaged each other over reproductive biology issues for decades, developing distinct vocabularies and argumentative patterns in that interaction. The speech mixed fragments ofthese usages. Traditional textual analyses and analyses ofthe mixing itself showed that the mixing seems to reinforce traditional approaches to divided audiences by opening up many possibilities for the communities to draw different meanings from what is said. Analyses of responses to the speech showed such split understandings, and followup analyses to 2007 suggest that the speech helped freeze the character of the debate in the form Bush gave it. Mixing is a viable rhetorical strategy to help manage intractable issues with deeply divided audiences.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000902
- Subject Headings
- Bush, George W.--(George Walker),--1946---Political and social views., Medical genetics--Research--Moral and ethical aspects., Stem cells--Research--Moral and ethical aspects., Rhetorical criticism., Mosaicism., Developmental genetics--Moral and ethical aspects.
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- William Shakespeare and Herman Melville: emotional manipulation through verbal performance.
- Creator
- Murphy, Nicole E., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
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This thesis considers the role of two rhetoricians, Petruchio from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's Moby-DIck, and analyzes their use of verbal performances. BOth Petruchio and Captain Ahab use pathologically manipulative rhetoric to manipulate others emotionally. Through this manipulation, they attempt to gain control, power, and authority. While both Petrucio and Ahab appear to succeed in manipulating others, they actually fail. Petruchio...
Show moreThis thesis considers the role of two rhetoricians, Petruchio from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's Moby-DIck, and analyzes their use of verbal performances. BOth Petruchio and Captain Ahab use pathologically manipulative rhetoric to manipulate others emotionally. Through this manipulation, they attempt to gain control, power, and authority. While both Petrucio and Ahab appear to succeed in manipulating others, they actually fail. Petruchio attempts to manipulate Katherine, but fails to attain mental submission from her, and Captain Ahab attempts to manipulate the crew to pursue hunting the whale, but as the narrative progresses, the crew becomes too disillusioned with the hunt to be persuaded by Ahab's rhetoric. In conclusion, both Petruchio and Captain Ahab are unable to sustain rhetorical control, and they both fall into demagoguery, therby suggesting that while they are alike as rhetoricians, they both fail similarly as rhetoricians.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359309
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Rhetoric, Oral communication
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The moral authority of the child in two fairy tales: Perrault's Le Petit Chaperon rouge and the Grimms' Rotkèappchen and Aschenputtel.
- Creator
- Cedeno, Alyssa., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature
- Abstract/Description
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Although many studies focus specifically on the child's reception of fairy tales, few have considered whether the (step)child in the tales is more aware or more equipped with a knowledge of "moral authority" and "correct" conduct than the (step)parent. This thesis will consider the (step)parent/ (step)child relationship motif in two French and German fairy tales by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm: Perrault's Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre and Le Petit Chaperon rouge; and the...
Show moreAlthough many studies focus specifically on the child's reception of fairy tales, few have considered whether the (step)child in the tales is more aware or more equipped with a knowledge of "moral authority" and "correct" conduct than the (step)parent. This thesis will consider the (step)parent/ (step)child relationship motif in two French and German fairy tales by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm: Perrault's Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre and Le Petit Chaperon rouge; and the Grimms' Aschenputtel and Rotkèappchen. In analyzing the genre's depiction of children, the thesis will examine the ways in which the narrative voice constructs the moral authority of the child (both as intradiegetic character and as extradiegetic reader), while simultaneously diminishing the moral authority of the parent as intradiegetic character.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2974435
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Narration (Rhetoric)
- Format
- Document (PDF)