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Title: “COUNTDOWN”: AN INTERACTIVE FICTION.
Creator: Kammerer, Jessica, Luria, Rachel, Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: Today’s readers are not, in fact, readers, but rather configurative authors, accustomed in this digital age to controlling the media presented to them in such a way that their configuration is as important to the content’s overall structure and interpretation as author intent. Interactive fiction, which is any text-based media that the reader can alter through their actions (Montfort, “Twisty Little Passages”, vii), addresses this configurative authorship. “Countdown” is my own work of...
Show moreToday’s readers are not, in fact, readers, but rather configurative authors, accustomed in this digital age to controlling the media presented to them in such a way that their configuration is as important to the content’s overall structure and interpretation as author intent. Interactive fiction, which is any text-based media that the reader can alter through their actions (Montfort, “Twisty Little Passages”, vii), addresses this configurative authorship. “Countdown” is my own work of interactive fiction. It is an interpersonal drama that meditates on inevitability and the effects of our choices. It employs randomization at a high level that impacts which scenes of the story are seen and when, and this complicates the relationship between the configurative author and the creator. This approach can be applied to other projects to place the reader in productive tension with the story itself, the author, and/or the narrator.
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Date Issued: 2018
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00025
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: “I Have a Name Without a Title”; Representations of Middle Eastern Muslim Women in Western Literature.
Creator: Abed, Hadeel, Luria, Rachel, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: Since September 11, 2001, novels about Middle Eastern Muslim women acclimating to Western society have been a popular genre for Western authors seeking to counter anti-Muslim prejudices. However, in their efforts to counteract Islamophobia, many of these authors perpetuate and reinforce harmful stereotypes, particularly regarding Middle Eastern Muslim women. This thesis will explore two such works, Ten Things I Hate About Me by Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah and A Large Expanse of Sea...
Show moreSince September 11, 2001, novels about Middle Eastern Muslim women acclimating to Western society have been a popular genre for Western authors seeking to counter anti-Muslim prejudices. However, in their efforts to counteract Islamophobia, many of these authors perpetuate and reinforce harmful stereotypes, particularly regarding Middle Eastern Muslim women. This thesis will explore two such works, Ten Things I Hate About Me by Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah and A Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. I will argue that the novels have problematic components such as the "White Savior" archetype and how the characters reinforce stereotypical representations of their religion and culture, perpetuating assumptions that all or most Middle Eastern Muslim women are dissatisfied with their culture, appearance, and/or faith, which is not entirely representative of reality.
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Date Issued: 2022
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00184
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: "THE FAITHLESS, MONEY-DRIVEN WORLD": COMMUNICATION AND EXCHANGE IN THOMAS PYNCHON’S INHERENT VICE.
Creator: Olsen, Philip Edmond, Hess, John J., Luria, Rachel, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: Set at the end of the 1960s in Southern California, Thomas Pynchon's novel Inherent Vice (2009) is a nostalgic and parodic take on the hard-boiled crime genre. With a nebulously defined search for an erstwhile lover and intimations of foul play from global corporations, its conventional plot construction has led most critics to view the frequency with which its private eye protagonist, Doc Sportello, consumes and distributes cannabis while detecting as a hyperbolic motif designed to...
Show moreSet at the end of the 1960s in Southern California, Thomas Pynchon's novel Inherent Vice (2009) is a nostalgic and parodic take on the hard-boiled crime genre. With a nebulously defined search for an erstwhile lover and intimations of foul play from global corporations, its conventional plot construction has led most critics to view the frequency with which its private eye protagonist, Doc Sportello, consumes and distributes cannabis while detecting as a hyperbolic motif designed to accentuate the ostentation of the book’s stylistic parody. This thesis argues that Inherent Vice uses cannabis as a symbolic embodiment of a way of thinking about exchange that effectively circumvents the problems Pynchon perceives to be posed by capitalism. Inherent Vice represents a stylistic departure for Pynchon in that, by advocating the repeated institution of small-scale economies of gift exchange, it offers a specific proscriptive ethical guideline for readers wishing to resist capitalism.
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00003621
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A Fairy Without Wings.
Creator: King, McKenzie, Luria, Rachel, Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: The Fae have become targets for hunters in search of profit, due to various media sources quickly spreading false rumors to the population. A Fairy Without Wings is an Urban Fantasy novel-in-progress that follows the active kidnapping of two female Fae: Melli and Bridge. Melli and Bridge, unlike many others, make no attempts to hide their Fae features. This made the girls easy targets for poachers. The novel-in-progress uses the theory of evolution in relation to the fantasy race known as Fae...
Show moreThe Fae have become targets for hunters in search of profit, due to various media sources quickly spreading false rumors to the population. A Fairy Without Wings is an Urban Fantasy novel-in-progress that follows the active kidnapping of two female Fae: Melli and Bridge. Melli and Bridge, unlike many others, make no attempts to hide their Fae features. This made the girls easy targets for poachers. The novel-in-progress uses the theory of evolution in relation to the fantasy race known as Fae in an urban setting to demonstrate the impact of misinformation from the media on social climate. This demonstration acts as a metaphor for real world misconceptions and social climate revolving around evolution. This thesis aims to illustrate the relation between the novel’s themes of media misrepresentation of information and real-world examples affecting our current society. This relation is the damaging impact that media misrepresentation has on social opinions that can lead to radicalizing of social issues such as racism, homophobia, and xenophobia.
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Date Issued: 2020
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013659
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: ACROSS THE STARS: A COLLECTION OF SHORT SCIENCE-FICTION STORIES.
Creator: Martin, Sean, Luria, Rachel, Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: “Across the Stars” is a collection of short science-fiction stories considering themes such as identity, self-realization, the relationship between technology and knowledge, communication, and the inevitability of entropy. The creative work is prefaced by an introduction discussing the science-fiction genre and this work’s place in literary canon. The collection itself is comprised of four short narratives about several characters all contained within the same shared universe; each character...
Show more“Across the Stars” is a collection of short science-fiction stories considering themes such as identity, self-realization, the relationship between technology and knowledge, communication, and the inevitability of entropy. The creative work is prefaced by an introduction discussing the science-fiction genre and this work’s place in literary canon. The collection itself is comprised of four short narratives about several characters all contained within the same shared universe; each character and story stand on their own but through their shared world, focusing in on the theme of purpose.
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Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00088
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Astronomically Pure: A Documentation of a Star Who Fell for a Girl on Earth.
Creator: Moran, Risa, Luria, Rachel, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: Astronomically Pure is a work of fiction that started out as an idea of a boy falling for a star and evolved into a story about a star falling for something more than just love. It follows a star’s short visit to Earth through the perspective of a Valentina “Val” Ride who has given up on her life due to her terminal diagnosis. This story sets out to explore the limitations of love and LGBT themes through the romantic relationship developed between the main character and the star. Other themes...
Show moreAstronomically Pure is a work of fiction that started out as an idea of a boy falling for a star and evolved into a story about a star falling for something more than just love. It follows a star’s short visit to Earth through the perspective of a Valentina “Val” Ride who has given up on her life due to her terminal diagnosis. This story sets out to explore the limitations of love and LGBT themes through the romantic relationship developed between the main character and the star. Other themes expanded upon include friendship and loss once conflict arises between the main character, her human friend, and the star.
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Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00126
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Batman Can Be Anybody: Self-Transcendence And Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy.
Creator: Borislow, Alec, Luria, Rachel, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: Directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Trilogy examines the origin and evolution of Bruce Wayne, and his hero vigilante alter ego, Batman. The trilogy consists of Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Bruce's post-traumatic journey for physical and mental excellence results in transformative and personal discovery, leading to self-transcendence. The personality trait of self-transcendence is the apex of psychologist Abraham...
Show moreDirected and co-written by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Trilogy examines the origin and evolution of Bruce Wayne, and his hero vigilante alter ego, Batman. The trilogy consists of Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Bruce's post-traumatic journey for physical and mental excellence results in transformative and personal discovery, leading to self-transcendence. The personality trait of self-transcendence is the apex of psychologist Abraham Maslow's lesser-known and amended hierarchy of needs. It is the highest level of human consciousness and development. Bruce's unwavering morality, intrinsic motivation, and spirituality are characteristic of both humanistic and transpersonal psychology and further illustrate how the motion picture series exemplifies a road map to self-transcendence.
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Date Issued: 2021
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00137
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: CREASES AND FOLDS.
Creator: Davis, Amber, Luria, Rachel, Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: Creases and Folds is a magic realism piece that follows a small family as the three members navigate their fraying connections. The story employs magic realism as a tool through which the son, Teddy, interacts with, influences, and explores the world around him, framing the journey to reconciliation. This thesis project aims to produce a coherent and compelling narrative as its centerpiece and evaluate the work’s place in the established genre.
Date Issued: 2020
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00003704
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Fearful symmetry: Using William Blake to contextualize Alan Moore’s Watchmen.
Creator: Hesse, Megan, Luria, Rachel, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: Alan Moore’s graphic novel Watchmen redefined the superhero genre, elevating comics from entertainment to literature. Though published over twenty-five years ago, Watchmen tells a story of human corruption that still resonates today. While he has inspired many modern graphic novelists, he owes a literary debt to his forefathers; in this case, Romanticist poet William Blake. Blake’s themes of duality and the symmetrical nature of innocence and experience are revisited and reinterpreted in...
Show moreAlan Moore’s graphic novel Watchmen redefined the superhero genre, elevating comics from entertainment to literature. Though published over twenty-five years ago, Watchmen tells a story of human corruption that still resonates today. While he has inspired many modern graphic novelists, he owes a literary debt to his forefathers; in this case, Romanticist poet William Blake. Blake’s themes of duality and the symmetrical nature of innocence and experience are revisited and reinterpreted in Moore’s work. By interpreting Watchmen through the lens of Blake’s poems and engravings, both author’s vision of humanity comes into focus. Blake sees human nature as a duality, a living contradiction that could use its two sides to become whole. Moore complicates this, suggesting that humanity is corrupt and if it is double-sided, it is more akin to a two-way mirror, where there is always a side we cannot see because we are blinded by our own flaws.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00003584
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: OH, SAY CAN’T YOU SEE?.
Creator: Wallace, Brittany, Luria, Rachel, Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: The United States of America has long prided itself on its values of freedom and justice, but recent movements have pushed back against the notion that all are equal and free under the U.S. flag. Disenfranchised Americans across the country are advocating for everything from racial justice and immigrant rights, to white supremacy and isolationism. These calls for change, no matter their Rightness or Wrongness, call into question the true ideals of the land of the free and the home of the...
Show moreThe United States of America has long prided itself on its values of freedom and justice, but recent movements have pushed back against the notion that all are equal and free under the U.S. flag. Disenfranchised Americans across the country are advocating for everything from racial justice and immigrant rights, to white supremacy and isolationism. These calls for change, no matter their Rightness or Wrongness, call into question the true ideals of the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh, Say Can’t You See? is a collection of nonfiction essays that examine what it means to be American through discussion of themes such as gender inequality, gun violence, immigration, and other salient issues.
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Date Issued: 2018
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00059
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: STRANGE FREQUENCIES: DEVELOPMENT OF A POST-HUMAN SEQUENTIAL NARRATIVE.
Creator: Young, Jessica E., Luria, Rachel, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: Posthumanism embodies a wide-ranging scope of philosophies, including works of transhumanism dealing with cybernetics or androids. Few works treat advanced technological developments like A.I. and androids as equal to, or companions to humanity. Despite the potential for future technology to be equally as intelligent as humans, there remains a limited number of stories treating android or A.I. characters as main characters and narrative lenses. This project grapples with questions of humanity...
Show morePosthumanism embodies a wide-ranging scope of philosophies, including works of transhumanism dealing with cybernetics or androids. Few works treat advanced technological developments like A.I. and androids as equal to, or companions to humanity. Despite the potential for future technology to be equally as intelligent as humans, there remains a limited number of stories treating android or A.I. characters as main characters and narrative lenses. This project grapples with questions of humanity, spirituality, and environment through sequential storytelling using an android protagonist. This adds critical reflection to the body of posthumanist works by serving as one of a few stories where the main character is not human, and the world is after the time of humankind. Instead of encapsulating a purely entertaining story of science fiction, this work delves into ideas of rapid environmental degradation and ever-evolving levels and functions of technology in our world and our near future.
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Date Issued: 2022
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00237
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THE EFFICACY OF INVENTED LANGUAGE IN STORYTELLING.
Creator: Strasser, Zion, Luria, Rachel, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: Many storytellers, especially writers of the fantasy genre, have invented languages for their works, J.R.R. Tolkien being one of the most notable ones. An invented language may be as simple as a few words or as extensive as an entire grammar and vocabulary that mimics an actual language. But its very existence begs a question: is invented language a useful component of storytelling? Yes—it is. For by spanning the chasm between characters and setting, it increases the scope, consistency, and...
Show moreMany storytellers, especially writers of the fantasy genre, have invented languages for their works, J.R.R. Tolkien being one of the most notable ones. An invented language may be as simple as a few words or as extensive as an entire grammar and vocabulary that mimics an actual language. But its very existence begs a question: is invented language a useful component of storytelling? Yes—it is. For by spanning the chasm between characters and setting, it increases the scope, consistency, and believability of a story. Rather than relying on the writer’s language to orient characters within a world, invented language grants the characters the ability to connect to their own world via a language suited to their culture and experience. In creating or “uncovering” an invented language of my own as well as studying the invented languages of others, the immense creative benefit of invented language becomes obvious and undeniable.
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Date Issued: 2022
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUHT00219
Format: Document (PDF)

Florida Atlantic University (11)	+ -
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College (9)	+ -
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College (3)	+ -
Abed, Hadeel (1)	+ -
Borislow, Alec (1)	+ -

Davis, Amber (1)	+ -
Hess, John J. (1)	+ -
Hesse, Megan (1)	+ -
Kammerer, Jessica (1)	+ -
King, McKenzie (1)	+ -
Martin, Sean (1)	+ -
Moran, Risa (1)	+ -
Olsen, Philip Edmond (1)	+ -
Strasser, Zion (1)	+ -
Wallace, Brittany (1)	+ -
Young, Jessica E. (1)	+ -

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