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- Title
- "JULIA" CHARACTERIZATION IN THE PLAYS OF LILLIAN HELLMAN.
- Creator
- BELL, KATHLEEN T., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
The Julia character, as depicted in the essay in Pentimento, provides a character model for Lillian Hellman's plays. Julia's strength of personal responsibility provides Hellman a measure by which her characters succeed or fail, a criterion upon which personal worth is judged. Julia's strength, compassion, and personal responsibility are depicted in varying degrees in the characters created in Watch on the Rhine, The Children's Hour, The Little Foxes, Another Part of the Forest, The Searching...
Show moreThe Julia character, as depicted in the essay in Pentimento, provides a character model for Lillian Hellman's plays. Julia's strength of personal responsibility provides Hellman a measure by which her characters succeed or fail, a criterion upon which personal worth is judged. Julia's strength, compassion, and personal responsibility are depicted in varying degrees in the characters created in Watch on the Rhine, The Children's Hour, The Little Foxes, Another Part of the Forest, The Searching Wind, and The Autumn Garden. As reflected in the plays, Julia is Hellman's model, her ideal; she is the vehicle for Hellman's strong personal and social statements.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1980
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14044
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Theater, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- "The Accidental Tourist": Novel and film.
- Creator
- Askew, Jennifer Y., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
The Accidental Tourist, a 1985 novel by Anne Tyler, is the story of Macon Leary, a man whose life and marriage have been shattered by the tragic death of his son. Despite these dismal circumstances, Tyler's book is quirky, offbeat and ultimately comic, due primarily to the unfailing tolerance and humor of the author herself. Lawrence Kasdan's 1988 film adaptation of Tyler's novel is thematically consistent with the book. Kasdan unerringly recognized the scenes naturally suited to...
Show moreThe Accidental Tourist, a 1985 novel by Anne Tyler, is the story of Macon Leary, a man whose life and marriage have been shattered by the tragic death of his son. Despite these dismal circumstances, Tyler's book is quirky, offbeat and ultimately comic, due primarily to the unfailing tolerance and humor of the author herself. Lawrence Kasdan's 1988 film adaptation of Tyler's novel is thematically consistent with the book. Kasdan unerringly recognized the scenes naturally suited to dramatization, and in places he successfully transfers Tyler's dialogue directly to the screen with effective comic results. Throughout most of the film, however, the tone is melancholy and the overall effect is much heavier than the novel. Superb acting by William Hurt and Geena Davis help to give Kasdan's film depth and power.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1991
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14703
- Subject Headings
- Literature, American, Cinema
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Aesthetic immersion and imaginative constructs in the novels of Henry James.
- Creator
- Alvarez, Alberto Gabriel, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
A recurrent condition plaguing many of James's characters can be diagnosed as an aesthetic dependency. These characters turn their back on "the real thing" and exist in a precarious world of beauty and misplaced ideals. The novels examined present various methods James's characters utilize to elude the actual world. In The Tragic Muse, the line that separates mimetic art and actuality is nonexistent. Through imitation and performance characters create and represent what ought to be. Aesthetic...
Show moreA recurrent condition plaguing many of James's characters can be diagnosed as an aesthetic dependency. These characters turn their back on "the real thing" and exist in a precarious world of beauty and misplaced ideals. The novels examined present various methods James's characters utilize to elude the actual world. In The Tragic Muse, the line that separates mimetic art and actuality is nonexistent. Through imitation and performance characters create and represent what ought to be. Aesthetic immersion and imaginative constructs are opposed methods of escape in The Spoils of Poynton. The Ambassadors depicts a world where characters conspire to disguise the truth. Lambert Strether's imagination is stimulated by this milieu and takes flight. Similarly, the characters in The Wings of the Dove go to extreme lengths to realize their aesthetic visions. Ultimately, each character in these novels must deal with the sacrifices that are made when one chooses to exist in a world consisting solely of beauty and imagination.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1996
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15331
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Literature, American, Literature, English
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- AMORY BLAINE AND THE "PURGATORIO" ("THIS SIDE OF PARADISE", "DIVINE COMEDY", FITZGERALD, DANTE).
- Creator
- ARNONE, EUGENE M., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
Fitzgerald's first novel, This Side of Paradise, is a well organized and intricately detailed work which uses as its basic metaphor the middle poem of the Divine Comedy by Dante Al ighieri. Thematically, structurally, and symbolically, Fitzgerald's novel parallels Dante's poem, incorporating the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Mirrors of Narcissus motif, Dante's idea of Amore, and the symbolic figure of Beatrice. Critics have overlooked Dante as a source for Fitzgerald's work and...
Show moreFitzgerald's first novel, This Side of Paradise, is a well organized and intricately detailed work which uses as its basic metaphor the middle poem of the Divine Comedy by Dante Al ighieri. Thematically, structurally, and symbolically, Fitzgerald's novel parallels Dante's poem, incorporating the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Mirrors of Narcissus motif, Dante's idea of Amore, and the symbolic figure of Beatrice. Critics have overlooked Dante as a source for Fitzgerald's work and therefore have not adequately explained the thematic concerns of this novel.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1986
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14331
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Comparative, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Becoming Fools Crow.
- Creator
- Acker, Stacy A. B., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
James Welch's historical novel Fools Crow brings readers to the eve of the destruction of Plains Indians' culture. Through Fools Crow, a member of the Pikuni band in the Blackfeet tribe, readers witness the rites of passage of a young man evolving into a respected member of Blackfeet society. The story culminates with the Marias Massacre of 1870 in which the U.S. Cavalry knowingly slaughtered innocent Blackfeet. While many find this book tragic with depressing implications, Welch's...
Show moreJames Welch's historical novel Fools Crow brings readers to the eve of the destruction of Plains Indians' culture. Through Fools Crow, a member of the Pikuni band in the Blackfeet tribe, readers witness the rites of passage of a young man evolving into a respected member of Blackfeet society. The story culminates with the Marias Massacre of 1870 in which the U.S. Cavalry knowingly slaughtered innocent Blackfeet. While many find this book tragic with depressing implications, Welch's development of the hero offers contemporary readers a sense of hope. Welch offers a new hero, one who brings new knowledge to the people, in the character Fools Crow. While most American Indian culture heroes are mythic, Welch offers a man who learns to live with mortal limitations and weaknesses. Because of who he becomes while remaining a man, not a myth, Fools Crow stands as a symbol of hope, not loss, for today.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1996
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15352
- Subject Headings
- Folklore, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Cerebral Cabaret: All Voices Present and Accounted For. A collection of short stories.
- Creator
- Angel, Tee, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
Cerebral Cabaret: All Voices Present and Accounted For is a collection of short stories that question identity and purpose in life. Each of the stories gravitates to a center of family, the need for love, and the search for a sense of belonging. Is success the sale of the perfect work of art, or is it taking a drive, rolling down the windows, and fighting to hold the breeze in outstretched hands? When love fails, can an unholy communion provide solace? Can a man feel at home in the house of a...
Show moreCerebral Cabaret: All Voices Present and Accounted For is a collection of short stories that question identity and purpose in life. Each of the stories gravitates to a center of family, the need for love, and the search for a sense of belonging. Is success the sale of the perfect work of art, or is it taking a drive, rolling down the windows, and fighting to hold the breeze in outstretched hands? When love fails, can an unholy communion provide solace? Can a man feel at home in the house of a stranger? Do voices from the past seal the fate of our future? Does death alter love? Can life be revised? These are a few of the questions mulled over in this collection. Each character's ostensible success is not at stake, only their continued willingness to navigate the world in which they exist.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13337
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- A CHANGING OF THE SEASONS: WALLACE STEVENS' POETIC INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CYCLIC CONTINUUM.
- Creator
- BELTZ, MARY RITA, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
A dominating principle in the poetry of Wallace Stevens is that of mutability - the belief that the universe does and should exist in a process of constant change, His use of the seasonal cycles integrates that process in both their physical appearance and as states of imaginative perception for the poet. Stevens draws a deeply thematic analogy between the relationship of imagination and reality and the flowering and unveiling of the physical world. nis poetics alternate from the first hint...
Show moreA dominating principle in the poetry of Wallace Stevens is that of mutability - the belief that the universe does and should exist in a process of constant change, His use of the seasonal cycles integrates that process in both their physical appearance and as states of imaginative perception for the poet. Stevens draws a deeply thematic analogy between the relationship of imagination and reality and the flowering and unveiling of the physical world. nis poetics alternate from the first hint of string with its hope of new fictions to the wintry bareness of perceiving things exactly as they are. In so doing, the poet's constantly altering perceptions affect each season, bringing new responses and transformations to the natural world. In realizing that the poet discovers his own analogies and resemblances in the desired changes of weather and seasons, the reader is rewarded with a deeper and at once more crystallizing knowledge of his work.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1977
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13843
- Subject Headings
- Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Chaos in Kurt Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titan".
- Creator
- Barney, David Lawrence, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
The individual's search for absolute order and meaning within a chaotic universe is an important theme in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. In Sirens of Titan, Malachi Constant unwillingly undertakes this futile quest and is consequently victimized, philosophically and psychologically, by various agents and symbols of chaos. After spiraling outward into the chaotic cosmos, his simplistic beliefs revealed to be illusion, Malachi spirals back to himself and to Earth, literally and figuratively, only...
Show moreThe individual's search for absolute order and meaning within a chaotic universe is an important theme in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. In Sirens of Titan, Malachi Constant unwillingly undertakes this futile quest and is consequently victimized, philosophically and psychologically, by various agents and symbols of chaos. After spiraling outward into the chaotic cosmos, his simplistic beliefs revealed to be illusion, Malachi spirals back to himself and to Earth, literally and figuratively, only to confront the illusions within. In addition, the form of Sirens of Titan can be seen as a metaphor for meaninglessness, mirroring and echoing Malachi Constant's and the reader's absurd call for clarity within chaos.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1991
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14727
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The clause of congruency: A possible worlds reading of three novels of Ray Bradbury.
- Creator
- Adamo, Nicole Maria, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
Using Marie-Laure Ryan's definition of the law of minimal departure, I propose an important addendum, the clause of congruency. It is necessary to delve deeper into the connection a reader makes with a textual possible world and its relation to the actual world. The textual world, with all its various rules and mores, becomes just as accessible to the reader as the world he currently resides in, so long as it flows along in a logical manner. It is only when something appears that is...
Show moreUsing Marie-Laure Ryan's definition of the law of minimal departure, I propose an important addendum, the clause of congruency. It is necessary to delve deeper into the connection a reader makes with a textual possible world and its relation to the actual world. The textual world, with all its various rules and mores, becomes just as accessible to the reader as the world he currently resides in, so long as it flows along in a logical manner. It is only when something appears that is incongruent with the reader's understanding of the textual world, the reader is forced to dissemble his current textual world and build a new one. Ray Bradbury utilizes the clause of congruence to reveal meaning in three of his novels.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2002
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12964
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Comparative, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Dinah's voice: A contemporary analysis of Genesis 34 in "What Dinah Thought" and "The Red Tent".
- Creator
- Boxenbaum, Barbara Mehl, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
Contrary to the generally accepted interpretation of Genesis 34 that Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, was raped, What Dinah Thought, by Deena Metzger, and The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, clearly state that Dinah loved Shechem, the man who was alleged to have raped her, and had consensual sexual relations with him. These twentieth century American novels are written in the rabbinic tradition of interpreting biblical verse, known as midrash. Metzger recreates Dinah as a contemporary Jewish...
Show moreContrary to the generally accepted interpretation of Genesis 34 that Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, was raped, What Dinah Thought, by Deena Metzger, and The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, clearly state that Dinah loved Shechem, the man who was alleged to have raped her, and had consensual sexual relations with him. These twentieth century American novels are written in the rabbinic tradition of interpreting biblical verse, known as midrash. Metzger recreates Dinah as a contemporary Jewish woman, who travels to Israel to find and marry the reincarnated Shechem, a contemporary Arab. In contrast, Diamant imagines Dinah's life in biblical times, tracing her story prior to her birth to her death. This thesis distinguishes Metzger's and Diamant's novels from rabbinic midrash and analyzes whether their interpretation, that Dinah was not raped, is valid.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1998
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15539
- Subject Headings
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Dwellings and beings, spaces and places: A topoanalysis of Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita".
- Creator
- Badawi, Sally M., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
This thesis conducts a toponalysis of phenomenological notions of "Being" and "dwelling" in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and concludes that the existence of the characters rests in their relationships to dwelling and the ramifications of their separation from home. As Humbert and Lolita experience alienation and uprooted-ness, they embark upon a two-year journey which orbits around reality, as their travels follow what David Seamon calls, Journey-Dwelling Spiral, however, without ever attaining...
Show moreThis thesis conducts a toponalysis of phenomenological notions of "Being" and "dwelling" in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and concludes that the existence of the characters rests in their relationships to dwelling and the ramifications of their separation from home. As Humbert and Lolita experience alienation and uprooted-ness, they embark upon a two-year journey which orbits around reality, as their travels follow what David Seamon calls, Journey-Dwelling Spiral, however, without ever attaining a state of dwelling. As they attempt to overcome their disorientation, Lolita distances herself from Humbert, and Humbert projects his nympholepsy onto another, Quilty. Because Lolita succeeds in her goal, Humbert's life splinters and his only chance at reunification is by writing his memoir, Lolita, Confessions of a White Male.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13124
- Subject Headings
- Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- EXISTENTIALISM IN SHIRLEY JACKSON'S LAST NOVELS.
- Creator
- ARGENZIANO, GUY A., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
The existential philosophy of the post-war period is reflected in Shirley Jackson's last novels. The Sundial mirrors the anguish and intellectual alienation of a family trying to come to terms with the annihilation of their world. The Hunting of Hill House deals with the forlornness and emotional alienation that result from the discovery that man is completely alone because there is no God. We Have Always Lived in a Castle is concerned with the psychological alienation and despair that arise...
Show moreThe existential philosophy of the post-war period is reflected in Shirley Jackson's last novels. The Sundial mirrors the anguish and intellectual alienation of a family trying to come to terms with the annihilation of their world. The Hunting of Hill House deals with the forlornness and emotional alienation that result from the discovery that man is completely alone because there is no God. We Have Always Lived in a Castle is concerned with the psychological alienation and despair that arise from the realization that the potential for happiness is limited by man's self-destructive tendencies. Examined together, these novels present an existential viewpoint that corresponds to the turmoil of the post-war world.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1983
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14178
- Subject Headings
- Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Feasting with Banquo: The ghost stories of Fritz Leiber.
- Creator
- Adair, Gerald M., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
In "Smoke Ghost" (1941), Fritz Leiber created the contemporary paradigm for the "urban horror story" that has been so successfully exploited by Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell and many others. At the heart of Leiber's ghost stories, however, rest a firm "tradition" of supernatural fiction, stemming from primitive religion, on the one hand, and literary example on the other. While his urban settings (Chicago, San Francisco) may be seen as contemporary...
Show moreIn "Smoke Ghost" (1941), Fritz Leiber created the contemporary paradigm for the "urban horror story" that has been so successfully exploited by Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell and many others. At the heart of Leiber's ghost stories, however, rest a firm "tradition" of supernatural fiction, stemming from primitive religion, on the one hand, and literary example on the other. While his urban settings (Chicago, San Francisco) may be seen as contemporary reinterpretations of Horace Walpole's Gothic castle, his specters are the lineal descendants of Shakespeare's, LeFanu's, and Henry James's. Leiber's later use of Jungian archetypes (Shadow and Anima) is superimposed on the traditional ghostly archetype. An analysis of his novel-length ghost story, Our Lady of Darkness , reveals the lurking malevolence of a LeFanu specter, while the ghosts of Shakespeare hover in the wings of stories in which he explores themes of sex, guilt, and death. In each of Leiber's ghost stories, the elements of the tradition combine with "haunts" from the author's personal psychic history to produce a powerful fantasy experience that persists despite threats to the genre by "science, common sense, and psychiatry."
Show less - Date Issued
- 2000
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12666
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Genesis, development, and decline of Hemingway's tauromachian oeuvre.
- Creator
- Bona, Jack I., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
Hemingway's interest in bullfighting pervaded his entire literary career. Taurine topics--in fiction and non-fiction--in his early writings such as In Our Time and articles for the Toronto Star Weekly parallel his developing style. The peak of his knowledge of tauromachy is reached in "The Undefeated," The Sun Also Rises, and Death in the Afternoon. The decline of his writing style is exemplified in "The Dangerous Summer" when his physical and mental health also declined. These taurine...
Show moreHemingway's interest in bullfighting pervaded his entire literary career. Taurine topics--in fiction and non-fiction--in his early writings such as In Our Time and articles for the Toronto Star Weekly parallel his developing style. The peak of his knowledge of tauromachy is reached in "The Undefeated," The Sun Also Rises, and Death in the Afternoon. The decline of his writing style is exemplified in "The Dangerous Summer" when his physical and mental health also declined. These taurine-related works contain themes that reflect some of Hemingway's personal anxieties about not being readily published and about rivalries with other writers.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1991
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14750
- Subject Headings
- Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- A great mind is androgynous: A look at the late poetry of Sylvia Plath through Virginia Woolf's theory of the androgynous consciousness.
- Creator
- Blackburn, Shilo R., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
The female subject in the late poetry of Sylvia Plath experiences a physical and intellectual transformation, as Plath attempts to challenge and redefine the social construction of woman through Virginia Woolf's influence. Plath aspires to achieve a poetic voice that embodies characteristics of both genders simultaneously, an androgynous consciousness by Woolf's account, and one that can speak despite Western culture's imposed inferiority of women writers. Since traditionally masculine...
Show moreThe female subject in the late poetry of Sylvia Plath experiences a physical and intellectual transformation, as Plath attempts to challenge and redefine the social construction of woman through Virginia Woolf's influence. Plath aspires to achieve a poetic voice that embodies characteristics of both genders simultaneously, an androgynous consciousness by Woolf's account, and one that can speak despite Western culture's imposed inferiority of women writers. Since traditionally masculine language has defined women's social roles through their physical bodies, Plath's aim is to immerse her female subject in the experiences of her corporeal body as a means to transcend her physical existence and symbolically achieve a supreme consciousness unadulterated by gender designs. Through the transportation of the physical, female body, then, Plath believes that her poetic voice can emerge in the form of an androgynous spirit capable of accessing powers of both genders.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13147
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Women's Studies, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The Hemingway hero and the monomyth: An examination of the hero quest myth in the Nick Adams stories.
- Creator
- Bajger, John James, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
The code hero is the foundation of Hemingway interpretation and central to an understanding of his ideology. The values, ideals and actions of many of Hemingway's greatest heroes fit within this framework, and the Hemingway hero is as firm a part of American literary myth as Melville's Great White Whale. Twain's Huckleberry Finn, or Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha county. I will use Joseph Campbell's work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a study in which he details his conception of the monomyth--...
Show moreThe code hero is the foundation of Hemingway interpretation and central to an understanding of his ideology. The values, ideals and actions of many of Hemingway's greatest heroes fit within this framework, and the Hemingway hero is as firm a part of American literary myth as Melville's Great White Whale. Twain's Huckleberry Finn, or Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha county. I will use Joseph Campbell's work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a study in which he details his conception of the monomyth---the basic underlying structure for all heroic myths---to show how the idea of the mythic hero links the Nick Adams stories together and also serves to reveal the character of Nick himself. Most importantly, however, it is my contention that Campbell's stages of the monomyth---the departure, the road of trials, and the return---can be utilized to describe and analyze the major themes found in the Nick Adam's stories.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2003
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13052
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Hiro of the platonic: Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash".
- Creator
- Boehm, Carl John, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
In The Republic, Plato constructs the ideal city-state built on the principle of justice. Plato establishes an urban utopia with a set of morals through which the citizen helps the state and the state helps the citizen. Centuries after Plato's Republic, Neal Stephenson presents in Snow Crash, a cyberpunk adventure, a virtual city known as the Metaverse. Hiro Protagonist, as his name implies, defends his virtual city from a threatening virus in the same way that a citizen in Plato's Republic...
Show moreIn The Republic, Plato constructs the ideal city-state built on the principle of justice. Plato establishes an urban utopia with a set of morals through which the citizen helps the state and the state helps the citizen. Centuries after Plato's Republic, Neal Stephenson presents in Snow Crash, a cyberpunk adventure, a virtual city known as the Metaverse. Hiro Protagonist, as his name implies, defends his virtual city from a threatening virus in the same way that a citizen in Plato's Republic would protect the city-state. An analysis of Snow Crash using ideas from The Republic reveals the "hacker" to be a socially minded individual who preserves order in the cybernetic utopia that is the Metaverse. This analysis demonstrates that justice must be sought in every era, and that heroes unique to their milieu pursuit justice.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2001
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12867
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- IN THE TRADITION OF POE: JOHN BARTH'S SABBATICAL: A ROMANCE.
- Creator
- ARKIN, SONDRA N., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
John Barth's Sabbatical: A Romance parodies both Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket and the genre of sea fiction. Through careful attention to the sea fiction tradition, its metaphors of sea, ship, and voyage as microcosm, Barth examines the function of myth in life. Parallels in form, structure, content, and theme establish the use of contemporary anxieties as symbols for the universal forces opposing humanity. Sabbatical illustrates the correlated dualities of the mundane...
Show moreJohn Barth's Sabbatical: A Romance parodies both Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket and the genre of sea fiction. Through careful attention to the sea fiction tradition, its metaphors of sea, ship, and voyage as microcosm, Barth examines the function of myth in life. Parallels in form, structure, content, and theme establish the use of contemporary anxieties as symbols for the universal forces opposing humanity. Sabbatical illustrates the correlated dualities of the mundane and fantastic, reality and the imagination, and society and the individual. Allusions to Poe, and to Pym, substantiate this re generation of myth. Both wandering hero myths apply the fantastic, the doppelganger, and gothic romance in elevating the artist to immortality throu g h the narrator's act of articulation. The voyage of the protagonists is illustrative of their passage through life. Therefore, Barth's cyclic regeneration attempts to explore the convergence of polarities inherent in all literature.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1984
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14191
- Subject Headings
- Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- John Ashbery's "Slightly Rumpled Realism".
- Creator
- Boyd, Mary Kay, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
John Ashbery says that reality includes our imperfect perception of it, and his poems are demonstrations of the indirect "ways" in which reality comes at him. With a cursory reading of Ashbery's poetry, it seems to mirror the modern state of chaos and unconnectedness, but on subsequent readings, after the anxiety of feeling lost has subsided, many connections begin to surface. His ideas on uncertainty and creativity cross disciplinary boundaries in such fields as science, philosophy,...
Show moreJohn Ashbery says that reality includes our imperfect perception of it, and his poems are demonstrations of the indirect "ways" in which reality comes at him. With a cursory reading of Ashbery's poetry, it seems to mirror the modern state of chaos and unconnectedness, but on subsequent readings, after the anxiety of feeling lost has subsided, many connections begin to surface. His ideas on uncertainty and creativity cross disciplinary boundaries in such fields as science, philosophy, mathematics, psychology, history, and religion. Rather than recounting his own experiences in his poetry, he uses abstract language to describe the manner in which he experiences reality, thereby making the experience available for all readers. Major unifying motifs in his poetry are (1) the amalgamation of dualities; (2) the close attention we must pay to learn from the numerous oblique and incomplete ways that knowledge comes to us; and (3) the identification of ourselves through others. Since we never complete our accumulation of knowledge about the world and ourselves, we are perpetually revising, questioning, and continuing our conversation with humanity.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1989
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14562
- Subject Headings
- Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Langston Hughes's Jesse B. Semple commentaries: A Nietzschean reading.
- Creator
- Angelone, Tina., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
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Friedrich Nietzsche's notion of the Apollonian/Dionysian opposition found in The Birth of Tragedy provides a means to analyze Langston Hughes's Jesse B. Semple commentaries. The language and archetypal characters found in the Semple commentaries demonstrates the shifting balance between the struggles and the triumphs of some American Negroes. This shifting balance is represented by the Dionysian and Apollonian traits of Simple and the narrator, Boyd. By creating these characters, Hughes is...
Show moreFriedrich Nietzsche's notion of the Apollonian/Dionysian opposition found in The Birth of Tragedy provides a means to analyze Langston Hughes's Jesse B. Semple commentaries. The language and archetypal characters found in the Semple commentaries demonstrates the shifting balance between the struggles and the triumphs of some American Negroes. This shifting balance is represented by the Dionysian and Apollonian traits of Simple and the narrator, Boyd. By creating these characters, Hughes is able to display the importance of the low-down culture for some black artists. Through the intoxicated Dionysian insight of Semple and the Apollonian logos of the narrator, Hughes demonstrates the blending of folk tradition or myth to common sense or reality. Ultimately, the struggle between these characters constructs the image of the New Negro, as well as the creative framework of the Harlem Renaissance.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13143
- Subject Headings
- Literature, Modern, History, Black, Literature, American
- Format
- Document (PDF)