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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.
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Date Issued: 1996
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15352
Subject Headings: Folklore, 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."
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Date Issued: 2000
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12666
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.
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Date Issued: 2002
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12964
Subject Headings: Literature, Comparative, Literature, American
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Vision and revision: The perceptual modes of Henry James.
Creator: Allen, Kevin Ray, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: For Henry James, artistic vision is essentially revision. It is a process of transformation: of literal experience to "felt life," of pictorial presentation to dramatic representation, of the past to the present. This process is a central element of James's fiction. The "meaning" of stories such as "The Real Thing" and "The Middle Years" and novels such as The Ambassadors depends on a growth of vision. Their protagonists must be able to overcome the limits of their imaginations. They must be...
Show moreFor Henry James, artistic vision is essentially revision. It is a process of transformation: of literal experience to "felt life," of pictorial presentation to dramatic representation, of the past to the present. This process is a central element of James's fiction. The "meaning" of stories such as "The Real Thing" and "The Middle Years" and novels such as The Ambassadors depends on a growth of vision. Their protagonists must be able to overcome the limits of their imaginations. They must be reflective, both intellectually and mimetically. In demanding a finer kind of artistic perception, James pointed the way for a younger generation of writers and critics. James's vision was broad enough to encompass classic critical ideals and artistic goals that would be achieved years after he struggled with them.
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Date Issued: 1992
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14863
Subject Headings: Literature, American, Literature, English, Language, General
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.
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Date Issued: 1996
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15331
Subject Headings: Literature, Modern, Literature, American, Literature, English
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Reading Henry: The author's role in Henry James's criticism and in "The Middle Years".
Creator: Alvarez, Camila, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Henry James wrote several works fictionalizing ideas of authorship. No critics have yet looked at "The Middle Years" as an affirmation of the role of the author. Julie Rivkin and Joyce Carol Oates are critics I cite as valuable support to my interpretation of "The Middle Years," a short story that gives us insight into Henry James's critical theory. The story deals with the final days of the author---Dencombe and his creation of a work of art also entitled "The Middle Years." This doubling of...
Show moreHenry James wrote several works fictionalizing ideas of authorship. No critics have yet looked at "The Middle Years" as an affirmation of the role of the author. Julie Rivkin and Joyce Carol Oates are critics I cite as valuable support to my interpretation of "The Middle Years," a short story that gives us insight into Henry James's critical theory. The story deals with the final days of the author---Dencombe and his creation of a work of art also entitled "The Middle Years." This doubling of the title causes authority over the story to become diffused: the real author writes the actual story, while the fictional author owns both the fictional and actual story. Authority is further complicated by the processes of reading and revision. Through these processes, the author and the reader become both creators and spectators. This duality in combination with Dencombe's identification as the ideal author and Dr. Hugh's identification as the ideal reader grants insight into James's stance on the author's role in a work of fiction.
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Date Issued: 2005
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13218
Subject Headings: Literature, American, Literature, English
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.
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Date Issued: 2006
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13337
Subject Headings: Literature, Modern, 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: 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.
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Date Issued: 2004
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13143
Subject Headings: Literature, Modern, History, Black, 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.
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Date Issued: 1983
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14178
Subject Headings: 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.
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Date Issued: 1984
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14191
Subject Headings: Literature, American
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.
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Date Issued: 1986
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14331
Subject Headings: Literature, Comparative, 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.
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Date Issued: 1991
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14703
Subject Headings: Literature, American, Cinema
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THE THEMATIC RELEVANCE OF JOHN GARDNER'S "UNRELIABLE NARRATOR.".
Creator: ATWILL, WILLIAM D., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Gardner's use of unreliable and often intrusive narrative voices is a structural key to the world view presented in his novels. All the narrators, whether they be involved central characters or intrusive third-person voices, journey toward knowledge and affirmation in art. In The Wreckage of Ag'athon, the aged seer is driven by the chaos he cannot untangle to create his own rationale. Grendel embraces a nihilistic world view until the monster is finally lifted to a limited sort of vision as a...
Show moreGardner's use of unreliable and often intrusive narrative voices is a structural key to the world view presented in his novels. All the narrators, whether they be involved central characters or intrusive third-person voices, journey toward knowledge and affirmation in art. In The Wreckage of Ag'athon, the aged seer is driven by the chaos he cannot untangle to create his own rationale. Grendel embraces a nihilistic world view until the monster is finally lifted to a limited sort of vision as a shaper of experience. The voice of The Sunlight Dialogues is limited omniscient, yet the narrator intrudes, reminding the reader that he is dependent upon an involved point of view. In the dream-narrative of Jason and Medeia, perhaps the best utilization of an involved, fallible narrator, the journey toward affirmative vision balongs more to the narrator than the hero.
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Date Issued: 1978
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13911
Subject Headings: Literature, Modern, Literature, American
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: TOWARD THE HUMAN EQUATION: THE ROMANTIC IDEALIST IN THE PLAYS OF ROBERT E. SHERWOOD.
Creator: AVANT, ROBERT JOSEPH, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Four plays by Robert E. Sherwood--The Road to Rome, The Petrified Forest, Idiot's Delight, and There Shall Be No Night--have protagonists who may be identified by the term "romantic idealist." They are "romantic" in that they are typically dissatisfied v1ith the present, nostalgic for the glory of the past, chivalrous in matters of the heart, irrational in their behavior, and intuitive in their judgments. Like the Byronic hero, they are capable of intense feeling. They are "idealistic" in...
Show moreFour plays by Robert E. Sherwood--The Road to Rome, The Petrified Forest, Idiot's Delight, and There Shall Be No Night--have protagonists who may be identified by the term "romantic idealist." They are "romantic" in that they are typically dissatisfied v1ith the present, nostalgic for the glory of the past, chivalrous in matters of the heart, irrational in their behavior, and intuitive in their judgments. Like the Byronic hero, they are capable of intense feeling. They are "idealistic" in that they hold to noble beliefs of a transcendent nature--honor, truth, freedom. Within Sherwood's plays there is a movement toward ever purer manifestations of idealism, culminating in the idealistically pure (but dramatically simplistic) characterization of Dr. Valkonen in There Shall Be No Night.
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Date Issued: 1971
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13441
Subject Headings: 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.
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Date Issued: 2004
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13124
Subject Headings: 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.
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Date Issued: 2003
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13052
Subject Headings: Literature, Modern, Literature, American
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: TWO WISE MEN IN QUARTET. ELIOT AND SANTAYANA: THE SEARCH FOR FAITH.
Creator: BARNES, JACKIE WARD, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Santayana's thought underlies much of Eliot's poetry. Both Eliot and Santayana were skeptics, and Eliot's skepticism is documented in the quartets, a work that is a personal journal of his search for faith. That search was to be an unsuccessful one, for Eliot realized the impossibility of union with the Absolute. The symbolism of the rosegarden, the bedded axle-tree, the still point, and the clematis, when analyzed, demonstrates Eliot's concept of a clockwork universe, a universe that is...
Show moreSantayana's thought underlies much of Eliot's poetry. Both Eliot and Santayana were skeptics, and Eliot's skepticism is documented in the quartets, a work that is a personal journal of his search for faith. That search was to be an unsuccessful one, for Eliot realized the impossibility of union with the Absolute. The symbolism of the rosegarden, the bedded axle-tree, the still point, and the clematis, when analyzed, demonstrates Eliot's concept of a clockwork universe, a universe that is unknowing and uncaring. Eliot reaches that concept, basically, because of Santayana's influence.
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Date Issued: 1983
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14152
Subject Headings: Literature, American, Literature, English
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.
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Date Issued: 1991
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14727
Subject Headings: Literature, Modern, Literature, American
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The transfiguration of Milton's Satan in the poetry of Wallace Stevens.
Creator: Beck, Bruce Matthew, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: The allusions to Paradise Lost in the poetry of Wallace Stevens--specifically the journey through Chaos--reveal an underlying allegory in which Satan as the symbol of imperfect man is transformed through the powers of poetry and grace to emerge from the darkness of fear and superstition a redeemed figure made vibrant through a more vital understanding of himself, his world, and his place in it. Through the powers of decreation he comes to realize that the imperfect is synonymous not only with...
Show moreThe allusions to Paradise Lost in the poetry of Wallace Stevens--specifically the journey through Chaos--reveal an underlying allegory in which Satan as the symbol of imperfect man is transformed through the powers of poetry and grace to emerge from the darkness of fear and superstition a redeemed figure made vibrant through a more vital understanding of himself, his world, and his place in it. Through the powers of decreation he comes to realize that the imperfect is synonymous not only with the possibilities of change but also with the cycles of life itself; like Job, he finds that the only truth worth having is one affirmed through his own experience and through the realizations of a love far greater than himself.
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Date Issued: 1996
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15294
Subject Headings: Literature, American
Format: Document (PDF)

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.
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Date Issued: 1980
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14044
Subject Headings: Literature, Modern, Theater, Literature, American
Format: Document (PDF)

Literature, Modern (12)	+ -
Literature, English (4)	+ -
Literature, Comparative (3)	+ -
Cinema (1)	+ -
Folklore (1)	+ -

History, Black (1)	+ -
Language, General (1)	+ -
Religion, Biblical Studies (1)	+ -
Theater (1)	+ -
Women&#039;s Studies (1)	+ -

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters (31)	+ -
Florida Atlantic University (31)	+ -
ARGENZIANO, GUY A. (1)	+ -
ARKIN, SONDRA N. (1)	+ -
ARNONE, EUGENE M. (1)	+ -

ATWILL, WILLIAM D. (1)	+ -
AVANT, ROBERT JOSEPH (1)	+ -
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