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Title: Women, film, and oceans a/part: the critical humor of Tracey Moffatt, Monica Pellizzari, and Clara Law.
Creator: Senzani, Alessandra., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: The politicized use of humor in accented cinema is a tool for negotiating particular formations of identity, such as sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and class. The body of work produced by contemporary women filmmakers working in Australia, specifically Tracey Moffatt, Monica Pellizzari, and Clara Law, illustrates how these directors have employed critical humor as a response to their multiple marginalization as women, Australian, and accented filmmakers. In their works, humor functions as a...
Show moreThe politicized use of humor in accented cinema is a tool for negotiating particular formations of identity, such as sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and class. The body of work produced by contemporary women filmmakers working in Australia, specifically Tracey Moffatt, Monica Pellizzari, and Clara Law, illustrates how these directors have employed critical humor as a response to their multiple marginalization as women, Australian, and accented filmmakers. In their works, humor functions as a critical tool to deconstruct the contradictions in dominant discourses as they relate to (neo)colonial, racist, globalized, patriarchal, and displaced pasts and presents. Produced within Australian national cinema, but emerging from experiences of geographical displacements that defy territorial borders, their films illuminate how critical humor can inflect such accepted categories as the national constitution of a cinema, film genre, and questions of exile and diaspora. Critical humor thus consti tutes a cinematic signifying practice able, following Luigi Pirandello's description of umorismo, to decompose the filmic text, and as a tool for an ideological critique of cinema and its role in (re)producing discourses of the nation predicated on the dominant categories of whiteness and masculinity. The study offers a theoretical framework for decoding humor in a film text, focusing on the manipulation of cinematic language, and it provides a model for a criticism that wishes to heighten the counter-hegemonic potential of cinematic texts, by picking up on the humorous, contradictory openings of the text and widening them through a parallel dissociating process., Finally, critical humor in the accented cinema of women filmmakers like Moffatt, Pellizzari, and Law is shown to constitute a form of translation and negotiation performed between the national, monologic constraints of film production and cinematic language, the heteroglossia of the global imaginaries that have traveled since the beginning with film technology, and the local and diasporic accents informing a filmmaker's unique style and perspective.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186293
Subject Headings: Women motion picture producers and directors, Feminism and motion pictures, Criticism and interpretation, Local color in motion pictures, Intercultural communication in motion pictures
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Who is Paule Maurice?: her relative anonymity and its consequences.
Creator: Moore, Anthony Jon., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: Paule Maurice (1910-1967) is the little known composer of Tableaux de Provence: Suite for Saxophone and Orchestra, one of the most frequently recorded and studied classical saxophone compositions in history. A more in depth study of Paule Maurice reveals a talented composer and dedicated professor whose career at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and l'Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris spanned over twenty-five years until her untimely death at age fifty-seven. Maurice...
Show morePaule Maurice (1910-1967) is the little known composer of Tableaux de Provence: Suite for Saxophone and Orchestra, one of the most frequently recorded and studied classical saxophone compositions in history. A more in depth study of Paule Maurice reveals a talented composer and dedicated professor whose career at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and l'Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris spanned over twenty-five years until her untimely death at age fifty-seven. Maurice composed for theatre, ballet, French National Radio, orchestra, voice, piano, flute, clarinet, and saxophone. There is question as to the whereabouts of many of her manuscripts. This thesis attempts to bring to bear the life and accomplishments of a talented French composer not well remembered in music history.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/367763
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Composers, Music, History and criticism, Women in music, Saxophone music
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The voice of nationalism in Moniuszko's opera.
Creator: Niewczas, Marlena., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872) is the father of the Polish national opera, and yet he is little known outside Poland. His two masterpieces, Halka and The Haunted Manor, are operatic works that contributed to the development of national music. Moniuszko composed during the middle of the nineteenth century when Poland was under control of the three Powers: Russia, Prussia, and Austria. A study of Polish history reveals the understanding of Moniuszko's position as an artist and the role of his...
Show moreStanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872) is the father of the Polish national opera, and yet he is little known outside Poland. His two masterpieces, Halka and The Haunted Manor, are operatic works that contributed to the development of national music. Moniuszko composed during the middle of the nineteenth century when Poland was under control of the three Powers: Russia, Prussia, and Austria. A study of Polish history reveals the understanding of Moniuszko's position as an artist and the role of his operas. The national elements portrayed in his compositions include Polish dances, such as the polonaise, mazurka, and krakowiak, as well as folk tunes, and most importantly, the libretto with social and patriotic stances. This thesis intends to enlighten English speakers about the development of Polish national opera, its innovator, and his techniques.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1930489
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Nationalism in literature, Music, History and criticism, Nationalism, History, Politics and government
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The use of the bastard identity: from Victorian subverters to superheroes in the twenty-first century and beyond.
Creator: Dessler, Ryan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This project explores the use if illegitimacy within Western discourse over the last three centuries. Illegitimacy was used in Victorian literature as a literary device to drive plot but evolved into a touchstone for Western discourse to explore the bounds of what is considered respectable society. Over time, as illegitimacy has become more mainstream, I contend illegitimate identities have been utilized to serve as a mirror for Western hegemony. In the first chapter, I explore the origins of...
Show moreThis project explores the use if illegitimacy within Western discourse over the last three centuries. Illegitimacy was used in Victorian literature as a literary device to drive plot but evolved into a touchstone for Western discourse to explore the bounds of what is considered respectable society. Over time, as illegitimacy has become more mainstream, I contend illegitimate identities have been utilized to serve as a mirror for Western hegemony. In the first chapter, I explore the origins of illegitimacy being used as a literary device in novels by Victorian authors Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. In the second chapter, I examine the role illegitimacy plays in the origin stories of canonical comic book superheroes Batman and Superman. Lastly, in the third chapter, I scrutinize the role illegitimacy plays in defining the human condition within science fiction as human culture continues to advance technologically towards a post human world.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355567
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Literature and society, History, Literature and society, History, Comic books, strips, etc, Criticism and interpretation, Illegitimacy in literature, Sex role in literature, Sensationalism in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Under construction: positive-negative space in Faulkner and beyond.
Creator: Puleo, Simone Maria., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This thesis probes the materiality of a text by focusing on elliptical matters. In The Culture of Time and Space, Stephen Kern introduces the term "positive-negative space" to describe the primacy of empty space as a formal subject matter in sculptures of the early twentieth century. With some caveats and distinctions, the thesis argues that Kern's theory of positive-negative space is crucial for reading Faulkner's crytic and polyvalent production of space. Using a smorgasbord of approaches...
Show moreThis thesis probes the materiality of a text by focusing on elliptical matters. In The Culture of Time and Space, Stephen Kern introduces the term "positive-negative space" to describe the primacy of empty space as a formal subject matter in sculptures of the early twentieth century. With some caveats and distinctions, the thesis argues that Kern's theory of positive-negative space is crucial for reading Faulkner's crytic and polyvalent production of space. Using a smorgasbord of approaches including psychoanalytic and reader-response criticism, feminist and critical race theories, post-structuralist and formalist notions of space, theories of the "hole" in fine arts sculpture, and the New Southern studies, my thesis reinvents the conception of positive-negative space, and asserts that positive-negative space as an artistic principle" is the modus operandi of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and Sanctuary.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3358961
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Space in literature, Place (Philosophy) in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Two tone poems.
Creator: Rivera, Raul., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: The two orchestral pieces, written in the period of 2009-2010, are tone poems that demonstrate the development and combination of tonal melodies along with a coherent and effective use of orchestration to express different emotions inspired by two imaginary places. This thesis analyzes different aspects of the pieces based on their melodic construction and the use of the orchestra as the main instrument. This document also discusses the influence of specific composers and orchestral pieces,...
Show moreThe two orchestral pieces, written in the period of 2009-2010, are tone poems that demonstrate the development and combination of tonal melodies along with a coherent and effective use of orchestration to express different emotions inspired by two imaginary places. This thesis analyzes different aspects of the pieces based on their melodic construction and the use of the orchestra as the main instrument. This document also discusses the influence of specific composers and orchestral pieces, and the main historical style of the compositions.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2138105
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Symphonic poems, Criticism and interpretation, Variations (Orchestra), Orchestra music
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Transcending political party constraints: an ideographic analysis of the rhetoric of Charlie Crist and Joe Lieberman as independent candidates.
Creator: Poplak, Cara., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis analyzes how the American political system presents specific rhetorical constraints for independent and third party candidates who are "othered" by the system. To better understand how independent candidates overcome these constraints, the rhetoric of two such recent candidates, Charlie Crist and Joe Lieberman, is analyzed using ideographic criticism. These two candidates were originally affiliated with one of the two major political parties, but changed their party affiliation to...
Show moreThis thesis analyzes how the American political system presents specific rhetorical constraints for independent and third party candidates who are "othered" by the system. To better understand how independent candidates overcome these constraints, the rhetoric of two such recent candidates, Charlie Crist and Joe Lieberman, is analyzed using ideographic criticism. These two candidates were originally affiliated with one of the two major political parties, but changed their party affiliation to run as Independent candidates. To facilitate their transition to independent candidates, both politicians used popular American political ideographs such as "the people," "freedom," and "unity" to maintain their allegiance to America and their constituencies, while separating their political ideology from their prior party affiliation. The ideographic analysis reveals that independent candidates can create nuanced changes in the meanings of popular ideographs to transcend partisan interpretations and create a positive perception of political "otherness."
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3333312
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Communication in politics, Political oratory, Political candidates, Third parties (United States politics), Politics and government
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.
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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: Towards a feminist funny: exploring myth, power and postfeminism in the work of Chelsea Handler.
Creator: Walleser, Lauren., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Abstract/Description: Chelsea Handler is a comedian and host of the TV show Chelsea Lately. She has been successful in the late night comedy talk show genre to a degree that no woman has before. While she represents the most significant advancement for women in the genre, she also plays to patriarchal themes in order to maintain her foothold. In my thesis, I locate Handler within the history of women's stand-up comedy, analyzing her appeal via the figure of "The Unruly Woman" and other image types. I apply a...
Show moreChelsea Handler is a comedian and host of the TV show Chelsea Lately. She has been successful in the late night comedy talk show genre to a degree that no woman has before. While she represents the most significant advancement for women in the genre, she also plays to patriarchal themes in order to maintain her foothold. In my thesis, I locate Handler within the history of women's stand-up comedy, analyzing her appeal via the figure of "The Unruly Woman" and other image types. I apply a mythic analysis as I look for Handler's manifestation of mythic types, including archetypal Goddess representations. I analyze her treatment of violence against women, exploring how Handler approaches these themes in ways that allow her into the "old boys club." I use textual and audience analysis to assess Handler's ability to be a transformative and empowering figure for women in comedy and beyond.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3322513
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Women in popular culture, Feminist theory, Performance art, Social aspects, Mass media and women
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Tolkien's The Silmarillion: a reexamination of providence.
Creator: Powell, David C., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Christian providence in the primary (real) world operates as the model for the spiritual movement of Eru/Illuvatar in Tolkien's secondary (imaginative) world. Paralleling the Christian God, Illuvatar maintains a relationship with his creation through a three-fold activity: preservation, concurrence, and government. Preservation affirms Eru's sovereignty as Creator, and concurrence guarantees creaturely freedom, while paradoxically, government controls, guides, and determines those wills in...
Show moreChristian providence in the primary (real) world operates as the model for the spiritual movement of Eru/Illuvatar in Tolkien's secondary (imaginative) world. Paralleling the Christian God, Illuvatar maintains a relationship with his creation through a three-fold activity: preservation, concurrence, and government. Preservation affirms Eru's sovereignty as Creator, and concurrence guarantees creaturely freedom, while paradoxically, government controls, guides, and determines those wills in Time. The union of these three activities comprises the providential relationship of Illuvatar in Tolkien's imaginary world. The following thesis endeavors to carry the argument for providence into The Silmarillion with a declarative and analytical detail that distinguishes Illuvatar's providence from other temporal manifestations. Finally, the analysis reveals not only the author's authentic orthodox perspective, but Illuvatar's role in the imaginative world emerges as a reflection of Tolkien's authorial role in the real world.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/228766
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Middle Earth (Imaginary place), Fantasy literature, English, Criticism and interpretation
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Three suites: a celebration of klezmer.
Creator: Weiner, Alison, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: Three original suites, composed during 2008-2009, are presented and discussed with respect to form, style, and compositional techniques. The subjects are Suite No. 1 (clarinet and piano), Suite No. 2: For Paul, A Master of Music (clarinet, piano, double bass and drums), and Suite No. 3: L'Chaim (two clarinets, flugelhorn, French horn, bandoneon, piano, violin, and cello). Common to all three pieces is the inspiration of klezmer, a Jewish music genre that, during its reemergence over the past...
Show moreThree original suites, composed during 2008-2009, are presented and discussed with respect to form, style, and compositional techniques. The subjects are Suite No. 1 (clarinet and piano), Suite No. 2: For Paul, A Master of Music (clarinet, piano, double bass and drums), and Suite No. 3: L'Chaim (two clarinets, flugelhorn, French horn, bandoneon, piano, violin, and cello). Common to all three pieces is the inspiration of klezmer, a Jewish music genre that, during its reemergence over the past thirty-five years, has welcomed the influence of other musical styles. In keeping with the eclectic nature of klezmer, each suite builds upon the previous one with regard to instrumentation, style and technique, and embraces additional genres (jazz and tango). Brief reviews regarding the history and musical characteristics (including modes, ornamentation and improvisation, song types and instrumentation) for all the included genres are also presented for the benefit of compositional context.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2100575
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Klezmer music, History and criticism, Jews, Music, History and criticism
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Three chamber pieces.
Creator: Frederick, Rochelle M., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: Three original chamber pieces are discussed from numerous points of view. They were composed for string quartet (Escape and String quartet in Four Movements), and string quartet with flute (Forward Motion). Each piece is analyzed in terms of its historical background, compositional techniques, and formal and stylistic techniques. Each piece draws influences from different genres. Escape was influenced by minimalism and jazz and is based on the Locrian scale. Forward Motion is in a modified...
Show moreThree original chamber pieces are discussed from numerous points of view. They were composed for string quartet (Escape and String quartet in Four Movements), and string quartet with flute (Forward Motion). Each piece is analyzed in terms of its historical background, compositional techniques, and formal and stylistic techniques. Each piece draws influences from different genres. Escape was influenced by minimalism and jazz and is based on the Locrian scale. Forward Motion is in a modified classical form (Sonata) but draws influences from modern music and employs much dissonance. String quartet in Four Movements combines elements of expressionism, minimalism and jazz. Each piece is discussed in regards to its musical characteristics and historical influences including scales, harmony, rhythmic structure and form.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927861
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Avant-garde (Music), Criticism and interpretation, Composition (Music), Musical analysis
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: 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.
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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)

Title: Thai nurses' lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in intensive care units.
Creator: Kongsuwan, Waraporn., Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Abstract/Description: The objective of this study was to describe the lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in the intensive care units in Thailand. A qualitative research design informed by hermeneutic phenomenology was used to analyze data. Participants were 10 intensive care nurses working at adult intensive care units in south Thailand. A snowball purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. Participant inclusion criteria were at least six months' critical care...
Show moreThe objective of this study was to describe the lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in the intensive care units in Thailand. A qualitative research design informed by hermeneutic phenomenology was used to analyze data. Participants were 10 intensive care nurses working at adult intensive care units in south Thailand. A snowball purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. Participant inclusion criteria were at least six months' critical care nursing experience, experience in caring for a person who had peaceful death, able to describe peaceful death, and willing to participate in this study. Participants who met the inclusion criteria were interviewed. Face-to-face individual verbal interviews were conducted in the Thai language. These interviews were audiotape recorded. Descriptions were transcribed and translated for data analysis. Van Manen's (1990) hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to analyze and interpret the data. The findings of this study were presented in each of 4 categories of the lived world of temporality, of spatiality, of corporeality, and of relationality. The description of the lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in ICU was, "understanding the other through the valuing of experience and enhancing relations with others by recognizing time is short and is a priority." This study may contribute to nursing knowledge of the end-of-life care to enhance a peaceful death in intensive care units congruently with Thai culture and society. In addition, this study directs the translations of its knowledge into implications that will benefit in helping Thai nursing to move forward. The implications of this study in advance will benefit terminally ill persons and family members regarding receiving good quality end-of-life care.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186331
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Intensive care nursing, Nurse and patient, Terminal care, Psychological aspects, Nursing, Practice
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Teaching Night in the secondary classroom.
Creator: Loput, Dyanne K., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: As a secondary-level educator of literature and writing, I have observed the fundamental need for a sensitive, well-developed curriculum in the art of teaching Eliezer Wiesel's Night to high school students. This thesis contextualizes Wiesel's memoir by examining the history of Jewish persecution, the Holocaust itself, and Wiesel's background. Educational strategies and activities that use both literary analysis and creative writing to engender a comprehensive and thorough realization of the...
Show moreAs a secondary-level educator of literature and writing, I have observed the fundamental need for a sensitive, well-developed curriculum in the art of teaching Eliezer Wiesel's Night to high school students. This thesis contextualizes Wiesel's memoir by examining the history of Jewish persecution, the Holocaust itself, and Wiesel's background. Educational strategies and activities that use both literary analysis and creative writing to engender a comprehensive and thorough realization of the history as expressed through the literature are elucidated. Additionally, several ways in which teachers may lead students to examine the effects, implications, and ramifications of Wiesel's legacy are supplied.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2705075
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), Study and teaching, Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), Study and teaching
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The symbiosis between the individual and society in Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar," "History," and "Politics".
Creator: Gillespie, Elizabeth., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This thesis will reveal a political dimension to Emerson's work, situating itself in the current scholarly movement to analyze Emerson from a different angle. Scholars have long heralded Emerson as a staunch individualist or transcendentalist, yet there has been a recent shift in literary studies to consider him from a social or political perspective. Emerson's emphasis on the individual does not diminish in any of the three essays that I have selected; however, he strongly urges every...
Show moreThis thesis will reveal a political dimension to Emerson's work, situating itself in the current scholarly movement to analyze Emerson from a different angle. Scholars have long heralded Emerson as a staunch individualist or transcendentalist, yet there has been a recent shift in literary studies to consider him from a social or political perspective. Emerson's emphasis on the individual does not diminish in any of the three essays that I have selected; however, he strongly urges every individual to contribute towards the amelioration of society. He also believes that an individual person has enormous potential to cause both great improvement and great harm, which is why a wise man or scholar is a paramount component to any society. Moreover, this thesis addresses topics that are particularly useful today, as Emerson's words are just as relevant to the political situation in the world now as they were in the 19th century.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2684307
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Political and social views, Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Studied girlhoods: consciousness, context, and negotiation of identity in the memoirs of Dorothy Allison, Mary Karr, and Barbara Robinette Moss.
Creator: Dilgen, Regina., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature
Abstract/Description: Dorothy Allison's Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, Mary Karr's The Liars' Club, and Barbara Robinette Moss's Change Me into Zeus's Daughter are memoirs published in the 1990s of girlhoods in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This dissertation uses and expands upon the approaches of the multi-disciplinary Girls' Studies in analyzing how these memoirists theorize their own girlhoods. Each memoirist represents her experience in a culture that attempts to marginalize, silence, and define her....
Show moreDorothy Allison's Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, Mary Karr's The Liars' Club, and Barbara Robinette Moss's Change Me into Zeus's Daughter are memoirs published in the 1990s of girlhoods in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This dissertation uses and expands upon the approaches of the multi-disciplinary Girls' Studies in analyzing how these memoirists theorize their own girlhoods. Each memoirist represents her experience in a culture that attempts to marginalize, silence, and define her. An application of the foundational work on girlhood in developmental psychology provides for an analysis of each memoirist's depiction of girlhood as a time of authentic insight and developing agency. Referencing feminist literary criticism allows for an interpretation of how the girls at the center of these works develop agency through growing awareness of the circumstances of their marginalization. And a semiotic literary interpretation adds to the analysis of these works as creative autobiogra phical writing in affording a close reading of how the memoirists portray younger selves learning to read the signs and texts of a culture and becoming aware of their status as girls in working-class families. Each memoirist uses a dual vocal presentation as both the adult memoirist and a younger self give shape to the narrative. Each memoirist represents a distinct southern space intersecting with specifics of the era to form a cultural moment. Social Construction Theory makes available a basis for considering how the memoirists narrate their increasing understanding of race and gender within these specific contexts as well as their resistive voicing of these insights., Through a Cultural Studies focus this dissertation examines how each memoirist represents a younger self's negotiations with cultural products of the era that work to construct girlhood. Adding to this unpacking of how the memoirists study their own girlhoods, the tools of Postco for an analysis of how the memoirists theorize their own girlhoods in ways that parallel these approaches. This dissertation adds to the evolving field of Girls' Studies in using contemporary theoretical frameworks to interpret how girlhood is constructed, represented, and negotiated with in these memoirs.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3332175
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Self in literature, Popular culture, Working class women
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Strange time: block universes and strange loop phenomena in two novels by Kurt Vonnegut.
Creator: Altomare, Francis C., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Einsteinian relativity forever altered our understanding of the metaphysics of time. This study considers how this scientific theory affects the formulation of time in postmodern narratives as a necessary step toward understanding the relationship between empirical science and literary art. Two novels by Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse-Five, exemplify this synthesis. Close readings of these texts reveal an underlying temporal scheme deeply informed by relativity....
Show moreEinsteinian relativity forever altered our understanding of the metaphysics of time. This study considers how this scientific theory affects the formulation of time in postmodern narratives as a necessary step toward understanding the relationship between empirical science and literary art. Two novels by Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse-Five, exemplify this synthesis. Close readings of these texts reveal an underlying temporal scheme deeply informed by relativity. Furthermore, this study explores how relativity manifests in these texts in light of the block universe concept, Gèodelian universes, and strange loop phenomena. Vonnegut's treatment of free will is also discussed. All of these considerations emphasize Vonnegut's role as a member of the Third Culture, an author who consciously bridges C.P. Snow's two cultures.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2684306
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Postmodernism (Literature), Literature and science, Science and the humanities in literature, Space and time in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Spenser's spiritual vision: the Faerie Queene as a teleological romance.
Creator: Groves, Laura Hendricks., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: A recent trend in Spenser studies that relies heavily on materialist thinking either undervalues or misses altogether The Faerie Queene's inherent spiritual quality along with the irreducible interaction and ultimate reciprocity of earth and heaven. This thesis argues that Edmund Spenser's spiritual vision in The Faerie Queene expresses itself in a teleological romance that assumes a condition of mutability over stasis in the temporal earthly realm, as its first three heroes ascend a ladder...
Show moreA recent trend in Spenser studies that relies heavily on materialist thinking either undervalues or misses altogether The Faerie Queene's inherent spiritual quality along with the irreducible interaction and ultimate reciprocity of earth and heaven. This thesis argues that Edmund Spenser's spiritual vision in The Faerie Queene expresses itself in a teleological romance that assumes a condition of mutability over stasis in the temporal earthly realm, as its first three heroes ascend a ladder of perfection that evokes the heavenly and eternal, while at the same time heavenly glory reaches down into the story "romancing" the characters and exerting its own influence on the action.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/210523
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Spirituality in literature, English literature, Criticism and interpretation
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Space, place, and identity in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We and J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World.
Creator: Mandell, Megan., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Intimate spaces play a key role in the development of human identity, constructing identity through an internalized experience of the house itself. Building on Bachelard's theories in The Poetics of Space, I argue that characters in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We and J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World gain a new awareness of self after experiencing nature as a substitute for the house. The emergence of a new identity occurs because nature offers protection from the forces that inhibit both D-503 and...
Show moreIntimate spaces play a key role in the development of human identity, constructing identity through an internalized experience of the house itself. Building on Bachelard's theories in The Poetics of Space, I argue that characters in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We and J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World gain a new awareness of self after experiencing nature as a substitute for the house. The emergence of a new identity occurs because nature offers protection from the forces that inhibit both D-503 and Keran's individual growth ; it offers the safety of the house that neither character is allowed in a private home : D-503 because of the panoptic space of the One state and Kerans due to the nature of the changing circumstances of the environment and his own biology that force him to accept his role as a "new" human and the jungle as "home".
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362559
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Gender identity in literature, Nature in literature, Dystopias, Totalitarianism
Format: Document (PDF)

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