View All Items

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.
Show less
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: Vetting sources in social media environments: strategies emplyed by journalists of The Palm Beach Post.
Creator: Brown, Michelle D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This qualitative research study explores the relationship between reducing uncertainty and assigning source credibility in the context of social media sites (SMS) and examines the effect of uncertainty reduction within the social media environment on the development of relationships between journalists and their sources. For this study, interviews were conducted with professional journalists to determine whether uncertainty was reduced and credibility was established with sources via SMS (i.e...
Show moreThis qualitative research study explores the relationship between reducing uncertainty and assigning source credibility in the context of social media sites (SMS) and examines the effect of uncertainty reduction within the social media environment on the development of relationships between journalists and their sources. For this study, interviews were conducted with professional journalists to determine whether uncertainty was reduced and credibility was established with sources via SMS (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and what theoretical strategies journalists used to reduce their uncertainty. The study also aims to determine if correlations exist between a reporter's age, beat, and/or personal adoption of SMS and the reporter's usage of SMS for source development. The interviews were conducted with 15 journalists of The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida), using a standardized interview protocol. Subjects were asked to voluntarily participate in a face-to-face interview with the researcher. Reporters were selected based upon their gender and cultural ethnicity, which was representative of the newsroom demographics of The Palm Beach Post at that time. This research aims to contribute to the uncertainty reduction theory in the realm of computer-mediated communications, specifically with regard to the use of SMS in forming and maintaining journalist-source relationships.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3360765
Subject Headings: Digital media, Social aspects, Mass media, Technological innovations, Newspaper publishing, Social aspects, American newspapers, Objectivity, Journalistic ethics, Journalism, Moral and ethical aspects, Newspapers, Sections, columns, etc, Sources
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Veg-gendered: a cultural study of gendered onscreen representations of food and their implications for veganism.
Creator: Aguilera, Paulina, Scodari, Christine, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis is an exploration of popular media texts that influence veganism, with either explicit representations or implicit messages that implicate vegans. Research focuses on the question: How does the gendering of food in popular media texts implicate veganism? Theories used include a combination of cultural, film, and feminist studies, including Stuart Hall’s audience reception, Laura Mulvey's male gaze, R.W. Connell’s hegemonic masculinity, Carol Adams' feminist-vegetarian critical...
Show moreThis thesis is an exploration of popular media texts that influence veganism, with either explicit representations or implicit messages that implicate vegans. Research focuses on the question: How does the gendering of food in popular media texts implicate veganism? Theories used include a combination of cultural, film, and feminist studies, including Stuart Hall’s audience reception, Laura Mulvey's male gaze, R.W. Connell’s hegemonic masculinity, Carol Adams' feminist-vegetarian critical theory, and Rebecca Swenson's critical television studies. A print and television advertisement analysis demonstrates the gendering of food, and subject-object relationship of meat, women, and men. A film analysis of texts with vegan characters and horror film texts with implicit vegan and feminist messaging follows, thus revealing interesting trends and developments in the characterization of vegans on films, and hidden messages in the horror films studied. Lastly, an examination of competitive and instructional cooking shows ends the analysis, with interesting challenges to hegemony present in these television texts. The thesis concludes with examples of modem media feminizing veganism through food associations, the problematic imagery of women and meat as fetishized objects, along with challenges to hegemony that exist in some explicitly vegan texts.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004177, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004177
Subject Headings: Feminist theory, Mass media and culture, Veganism, Vegetarianism
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."
Show less
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: Through the North Door: The Invocation of Invitational Rhetoric in Wiccan Rituals.
Creator: Howald, Kayleigh, Mulvaney, Becky, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: Wiccan witchcraft, a contemporary religion, frequently suffers from misunderstandings; the worst of which, arguably, being that it thrives in a postfeminist society. Although it remains unclear why witches, despite their specific traditions, would not immediately embrace feminism, this study claims that whether practitioners agree or disagree, they are performing feminism. In this study, I argue that Wiccan rhetoric (both discursive and non-discursive) functions epistemically to encourage...
Show moreWiccan witchcraft, a contemporary religion, frequently suffers from misunderstandings; the worst of which, arguably, being that it thrives in a postfeminist society. Although it remains unclear why witches, despite their specific traditions, would not immediately embrace feminism, this study claims that whether practitioners agree or disagree, they are performing feminism. In this study, I argue that Wiccan rhetoric (both discursive and non-discursive) functions epistemically to encourage feminist values. The thesis analyzes three typical forms of Wiccan rhetoric using Sonja K. Foss and Cindy L. Griffin’s approach of invitational rhetoric and the values of equality, immanent value, and self-determination.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004698, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004698
Subject Headings: Feminism -- Religious aspects, Feminist theory, Goddess religion, Magic, Wicca, Witchcraft, Women and religion
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WATER: JAWS AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
Creator: Carr, William, Charbonneau, Stephen, Florida Atlantic University, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description: This thesis presents an analysis of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and the film’s depiction of nature. This analysis will show that the film derives horror from the depiction of nature encroaching on human spaces. Through the film’s depictions of shark attacks, it forces viewers to confront their own edibility. The filmmaking techniques place humans on the other side of the eater/eaten binary, and present humans a prey. Similarly, the depictions of environments show the presence of nature as a...
Show moreThis thesis presents an analysis of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and the film’s depiction of nature. This analysis will show that the film derives horror from the depiction of nature encroaching on human spaces. Through the film’s depictions of shark attacks, it forces viewers to confront their own edibility. The filmmaking techniques place humans on the other side of the eater/eaten binary, and present humans a prey. Similarly, the depictions of environments show the presence of nature as a disruption to the film’s established visual style. This thesis asserts film analysis as a necessary tool in understanding the nature/culture binary and how film narratives can contribute to this division.
Show less
Date Issued: 2023
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014175
Subject Headings: Nature in motion pictures, Motion pictures--Study and teaching, Media studies
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Very Useful Notion: A Rhetorical History of the Idea of Human-Made Climate Change, 1950-2000.
Creator: Brooten, Gary, Marin, Noemi, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This dissertation tests an original hybrid methodology to explore the rapid spread of the idea of human-made climate change that began in the 1950s after the idea had lain dormant for half a century. It describes the 1950s rhetorical events that triggered the idea’s diffusion, then traces how its rhetorical uses gradually gave root to the end-of-thecentury political impasse over how to respond to the societal implications of the idea. The research methodology rests on the simple logic that an...
Show moreThis dissertation tests an original hybrid methodology to explore the rapid spread of the idea of human-made climate change that began in the 1950s after the idea had lain dormant for half a century. It describes the 1950s rhetorical events that triggered the idea’s diffusion, then traces how its rhetorical uses gradually gave root to the end-of-thecentury political impasse over how to respond to the societal implications of the idea. The research methodology rests on the simple logic that an idea can only spread by being used in human discourses. It combines traditions of rhetorical historiography with a philosophical view of intellectual history as the cumulative effect of a “natural selection” of ideas and their spread by human individuals over time and geography. It calls for sampling and analyzing rhetorical artifacts in light of the rhetorical situations in which they originate, focusing on how the idea of human-made climate change is used rhetorically in scientific and other discourses. The analyses form the basis of a narrative giving emphasis both to rhetorical continuities and to conversation-changing rhetorical events. They also show how these rhetorical dynamics involve interactions of human communities using or attacking the idea for their communal purposes. The results challenge science-focused understandings of the history of the idea itself and also suggest that the methodology may be more broadly useful. As to the history, the analyses highlight how changes in the rhetorical uses of the idea made possible its 1950s breakout in climate science, then led to uses that spread it into other sciences and into environmentalism in the 1960s, attached it to apocalyptic environmentalism in the 1970s, injected it into partisan politics in 1980s and shaped the political impasse during the 1990s. The data show that the methodology reveals elements of the discourses missed in histories emphasizing the “power of ideas,” suggesting that a focus on the usefulness of ideas may be more fruitful. A focus on rhetorical uses of ideas grounds the causation of intellectual change in human motivation and agency, expressed in material acts that multiply and disperse naturally through communities and populations.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004691, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004691
Subject Headings: Climate change mitigation, Climatic changes -- Philosophy, Climatic changes -- Social aspects, Global environmental change, Human beings -- Effect of climate on, Rhetorical criticism
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Sorcerer’s Apprentices: Authorship and Sound Aesthetics in Walt Disney’s Fantasia.
Creator: Fernandez, Daniel, Guneratne, Anthony R., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis makes three claims new to the critical literature onWalt Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia. Setting the scene by placing a spotlight on the long-serving Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski, it contextualizes his pervasive influence, as well as contributions by others that shaped Fantasia and defined the film’s stylistic elements. Inspired by recent critical debates on post-silent era filmmaking and theories of authorship, it makes a case for Fantasia being the culmination...
Show moreThis thesis makes three claims new to the critical literature onWalt Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia. Setting the scene by placing a spotlight on the long-serving Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski, it contextualizes his pervasive influence, as well as contributions by others that shaped Fantasia and defined the film’s stylistic elements. Inspired by recent critical debates on post-silent era filmmaking and theories of authorship, it makes a case for Fantasia being the culmination of a “sound film” and notes that its displays of individual artistic talent makes it a noteworthy example of distributed authorship. Fantasia remains a unique experiment in Disney’s filmmaking in that it acquired its eventual form only because of decisions taken during production since no absolute “blue-print” for the finished film existed at the time it went into production, when a large selection of musical numbers were assigned to teams of animators.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004854, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004854
Subject Headings: Stokowski, Leopold--1882-1977., Authorship., Animated film music., Musical films.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Seven Ages of Susanna: Immersing in the Narrative Through Augmented Reality.
Creator: Benitez, Laura N., McAfee, Francis, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: The story is a sequence of events. Since nomadic times we have been drawn to the process of storytelling and the underlying themes hidden within these plots. Now, as the technological advancements made in new media lead us to this point, there is the need to reconcile the connection of the narrative with that of new media. Many theorists such as Manovich believe the narrative is slowly dying as new media continues to evolve. While others such as Bolter and Grusin think the story and...
Show moreThe story is a sequence of events. Since nomadic times we have been drawn to the process of storytelling and the underlying themes hidden within these plots. Now, as the technological advancements made in new media lead us to this point, there is the need to reconcile the connection of the narrative with that of new media. Many theorists such as Manovich believe the narrative is slowly dying as new media continues to evolve. While others such as Bolter and Grusin think the story and traditional media is merely reinserting itself into new media. In the augmented reality story, The Seven Ages of Susanna, I seek to create a marriage of conventional media narrative and illustration techniques. By using new media tools of Vuforia and Unity, I aim to create an immersive experience that reconciles this issue.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013184
Subject Headings: Augmented reality, Narratives, Storytelling
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The rise of the super sidechicks: a feminist analysis of girls in superhero films.
Creator: Hendricks, Dorothy Ashley, Charbonneau, Stephen, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Sciences, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: The superhero film genre has recently witnessed a reinvention of the girl sidekick. Instead of falling back on the perpetuated and well-known stereotypes of female heroines, recent offerings have allowed for several strong and innovative female characters to emerge. This close textual analysis of specific feminist examples from the films, Kick-Ass (2010), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), and X-Men: First Class (2012), examines young heroines as having feminist tendencies in a postfeminist...
Show moreThe superhero film genre has recently witnessed a reinvention of the girl sidekick. Instead of falling back on the perpetuated and well-known stereotypes of female heroines, recent offerings have allowed for several strong and innovative female characters to emerge. This close textual analysis of specific feminist examples from the films, Kick-Ass (2010), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), and X-Men: First Class (2012), examines young heroines as having feminist tendencies in a postfeminist moment. This analysis employs aspects of film theory, feminist theory, and also focuses on adaptation as a potentially powerful and problematic tenant of the films. Through this thesis, I contend that while none of these characters are positioned or marketed as specifically feminist, their collective resistance to hegemonic ideals underscores a movement towards articulating the failings of postfeminism in contemporary girlhood.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004250
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THE RHETORICAL RISE OF THE “MITO” AND “TROPICAL TRUMP”: HOW BOLSONARO USED A TRUMP PERSONA AND US IMAGERY IN HIS RHETORICAL APPEALS.
Creator: Markwith, Greice Figueiredo, Williams, David Cratis, Florida Atlantic University, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description: In the elections of 2018, Brazilians chose Jair Messias Bolsonaro, the first Far-Right candidate, to be the future President of Brazil. In a 28-year political trajectory, he changed political parties eight times. The constant change demonstrates his ability to use rhetorical devices and adapt to new appeals. The researcher of this work outlined Bolsonaro’s rhetorical rise, tested his rhetorical personae, “mito” and “Tropical Trump” based on the work of Ware in Linkugel (1982). No other...
Show moreIn the elections of 2018, Brazilians chose Jair Messias Bolsonaro, the first Far-Right candidate, to be the future President of Brazil. In a 28-year political trajectory, he changed political parties eight times. The constant change demonstrates his ability to use rhetorical devices and adapt to new appeals. The researcher of this work outlined Bolsonaro’s rhetorical rise, tested his rhetorical personae, “mito” and “Tropical Trump” based on the work of Ware in Linkugel (1982). No other foreign candidate mirrored Trump as much as he did. Bolsonaro also used US imagery in videos, borrowing images and terminologies found in the US culture. By analyzing his rhetorical strategies, the researcher identified Bolsonaro’s representative anecdote in his appeals that led to his rhetorical motivation as outlined by Burke’s dramatism.
Show less
Date Issued: 2022
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013944
Subject Headings: Bolsonaro, Jair, 1955-, Rhetoric--Political aspects--Brazil
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The rhetoric of law and love: legally (re)defining marriage.
Creator: Higgs, Volrick Wallace, Mulvaney, Becky, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: In just over one year since United States v. Windsor— the case invalidating sections of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that defined marriage, for purposes of federal statutes, as the “union of man and woman”— more than a dozen states have had their same-sex marriage bans ruled unconstitutional. This suggests a shift in legal meaning; previously successful arguments against same-sex “marriage” now seem irrational as argumentative ground has shifted. Since favorable rulings redefine ...
Show moreIn just over one year since United States v. Windsor— the case invalidating sections of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that defined marriage, for purposes of federal statutes, as the “union of man and woman”— more than a dozen states have had their same-sex marriage bans ruled unconstitutional. This suggests a shift in legal meaning; previously successful arguments against same-sex “marriage” now seem irrational as argumentative ground has shifted. Since favorable rulings redefine “marriage” to include same-sex unions, this thesis analyzes Kitchen v. Herbert, a 2014 legal opinion from the United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit, to understand the rhetorical processes underpinning its redefinitional act. That analysis draws on Kenneth Burke’s theories of entitling and constitutions and discusses the rhetorical concepts of terministic screens, casuistic screens, scope and circumference as key features of the rhetoric of the legal opinions. The findings call for a balancing of deconstructive and conventional approaches to legal discourse.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004378, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004378
Subject Headings: Constitutional law -- United States, Identity (Psychology), Marriage -- United States -- Government policy, Same sex marriage -- Law and legislation -- United States, United States -- Defense of Marriage Act
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Multitude Speaks in Style: An Analysis of Vernacular Agency Through Images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Creator: Swartz, Haley, Trapani, William, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: The unexpected comparison of a Supreme Court Justice with a popular culture icon demonstrates how politics and popular culture become entwined in the contemporary context; moreover, network culture provides a conduit for vernacular discourse about politics, which circulates in the style of popular culture. Through analysis of images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as created, shared, and circulated in network culture, this project explores the alternative levels of discourse generated in network...
Show moreThe unexpected comparison of a Supreme Court Justice with a popular culture icon demonstrates how politics and popular culture become entwined in the contemporary context; moreover, network culture provides a conduit for vernacular discourse about politics, which circulates in the style of popular culture. Through analysis of images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as created, shared, and circulated in network culture, this project explores the alternative levels of discourse generated in network culture, examines the ways the public represents politics, and explains the ability of political subjects to affect meaning. The aim of this project is to document a conjunctural moment; as such, analysis of the images in aggregate provides a foundation to raise questions about how American political culture is manifested, attended to, and maintained through network culture and the parlance of popular culture.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004998
Subject Headings: Dissertations, Academic -- Florida Atlantic University, Popular culture--United States., Politics and culture., Ginsburg, Ruth Bader.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THE LOOSE-LINE AESTHETIC: VISUAL STYLES AND CONTEMPORARY FUSION.
Creator: Henry, Alex, Bargsten, Joey, Florida Atlantic University, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description: Loose-line is a visual style where dramatic lines are created with quick, swift strokes, often randomly overlapping each other. Loose-lines can be used to depict a subject and emphasize its actions. They capture the viewer's attention and provide them with an understanding of the narrative depicted through its implication or suggestion of action. In this thesis I will examine, the loose-line technique and its components. I will show how loose-line has been used as a foundational technique for...
Show moreLoose-line is a visual style where dramatic lines are created with quick, swift strokes, often randomly overlapping each other. Loose-lines can be used to depict a subject and emphasize its actions. They capture the viewer's attention and provide them with an understanding of the narrative depicted through its implication or suggestion of action. In this thesis I will examine, the loose-line technique and its components. I will show how loose-line has been used as a foundational technique for pre-visualizing painting, sculpture, and architecture throughout art history, and especially with regard to its role in the development of cinema and animation. And finally, I will apply the loose-line technique to contemporary visual compositions and reveal how merging rough sketches with 3D renders contributes to an innovative aesthetic style.
Show less
Date Issued: 2023
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014180
Subject Headings: Aesthetics, Art
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Legitimacy of Cookbooks as Rhetoric of Southern Culture.
Creator: Carrico-Rausch, Cynthia, Trapani, William, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: Community cookbooks operate through a rhetoric of place as ways of thinking about belonging and influencing communal identities. They reveal much about a community, including the sharing of memories and tradition, geographical identification, and representation of socio-cultural hierarchies and habits. For that reason, this paper advances the claim that the discourse and visuality in community cookbooks, specifically the cookbooks 200 Years of Charleston Cooking, Charleston Receipts, and...
Show moreCommunity cookbooks operate through a rhetoric of place as ways of thinking about belonging and influencing communal identities. They reveal much about a community, including the sharing of memories and tradition, geographical identification, and representation of socio-cultural hierarchies and habits. For that reason, this paper advances the claim that the discourse and visuality in community cookbooks, specifically the cookbooks 200 Years of Charleston Cooking, Charleston Receipts, and Charleston Receipts Repeats published during the height of a renaissance in Southern literature, influenced the identity of “Southerness” which, taken in conjunction with place, space, and time has resulted in a unification of the changing American South. Using Carolyn Miller’s notions of genre criticism on the basis of genres as social movements, community cookbooks qualify for the genre label of domestic literature in terms of content and rhetorical influence. To prove my claim, the use of images, recipes, and folklore within the pages are analyzed with five a posteriori themes that discuss relations between a sense of place and its foodways.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004796, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004796
Subject Headings: Cooking, American--Southern style., Food habits--Southern States., Community cookbooks--History., Food--Social aspects.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Journey of Art Doll: World-Building in Contemporary Narrative.
Creator: Taber, Robin E., Bargsten, Joey, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: Games, movies, television, and interactive media make use of World-Building. World-Building essentially creates an elaborate invented universe in order to give a story context. In other words it generates a back-story designed to enhance the cathartic experience and promote engagement by the reader, viewer or participant. Some examples of World-Building include Halo, World of WarCraft and Game of Thrones. Stories need context to be fully understood and experienced. One describes a situation,...
Show moreGames, movies, television, and interactive media make use of World-Building. World-Building essentially creates an elaborate invented universe in order to give a story context. In other words it generates a back-story designed to enhance the cathartic experience and promote engagement by the reader, viewer or participant. Some examples of World-Building include Halo, World of WarCraft and Game of Thrones. Stories need context to be fully understood and experienced. One describes a situation, the environment, sensations, smells, sounds and sensory perception to give the audience a fuller, richer experience. World-Building provides context through history, textures, laws, physics and motivations. The written portion of this thesis describes the process of generating a fantasy world. The visual portion uses a character-driven narrative to examine larger themes such as psychological transformation and pursuing one’s dream against the odds.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004909, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004909
Subject Headings: Interactive multimedia., Fantasy fiction--Authorship., Fantasy literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc., Imaginary places in literature., Languages, Artificial.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Invasion: Applying the Aesthetics of Horror in a Virtual Reality Gaming Environment.
Creator: Jean-Pierre, James, McAfee, Francis, Florida Atlantic University, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description: Many theories exist attempting to explain the allure of horror films to the human psyche. None can fully explain this fascination to the horror genre. However, there are clear visual techniques used routinely in these films to produce fear in audiences. This thesis explores the application of those cinematic techniques used in horror cinema for well over a century into a virtual reality (VR) experience, The Invasion. Using a wide range of examples from classic horror films, The Invasion...
Show moreMany theories exist attempting to explain the allure of horror films to the human psyche. None can fully explain this fascination to the horror genre. However, there are clear visual techniques used routinely in these films to produce fear in audiences. This thesis explores the application of those cinematic techniques used in horror cinema for well over a century into a virtual reality (VR) experience, The Invasion. Using a wide range of examples from classic horror films, The Invasion endeavors to show how the lessons learned from the study of horror cinema’s use of color theory, light, shadow, and sound design, when paired with the virtual reality medium, can provide a richer, more immersive horror vehicle and create new possibilities for fear-based content.
Show less
Date Issued: 2021
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013708
Subject Headings: Virtual reality, Horror films, Gaming
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Impact of 21st Century Television Representation on Women of Color: Colorism Myth or Reality.
Creator: Erves, Alisha Renae, Durnell-Uwechue, Nannetta, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis examined how colorism impacts the representation of young women of color in 21st century television shows. The thesis focused on how colorism affects one’s idea of beauty and self-esteem, and how young women are portrayed. A content analysis of five television programs (Black-ish, Dear White People, Empire, Grown-ish, and The Carmichael Show) were analyzed. Through the analysis, darker complexion women were analyzed and it was found negative attributes were used to describe them...
Show moreThis thesis examined how colorism impacts the representation of young women of color in 21st century television shows. The thesis focused on how colorism affects one’s idea of beauty and self-esteem, and how young women are portrayed. A content analysis of five television programs (Black-ish, Dear White People, Empire, Grown-ish, and The Carmichael Show) were analyzed. Through the analysis, darker complexion women were analyzed and it was found negative attributes were used to describe them in terms of beauty, and for lighter skinned females positives attributes were used throughout the show. In the five episodes examined that aired in the 21st century, beauty was defined based on one’s complexion as it was before in previous centuries. Issues of colorism are still displayed in 21st century television shows and through positive and negative caricatures. Colorism has a direct impact on how women of color are perceived and it can directly impact their self-esteem.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013204
Subject Headings: Colorism, 21st century (Television Program), Women of color
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Gendered Rhetoric of Product Design: Why Are You Over Paying for Your Gender?.
Creator: McGinley, Shannon Rose, Mulvaney, Becky, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis identifies the price inconstancies between male and female consumer personal care products, such as razors and deodorants. Economic research suggests consumers purchase products based on their willingness to pay, which depends upon satisfaction granted from the product. If this is true, the question must be asked: what grants these consumers high satisfaction from product purchasing? To answer this question, this thesis investigates the rhetorical effect that stems from product...
Show moreThis thesis identifies the price inconstancies between male and female consumer personal care products, such as razors and deodorants. Economic research suggests consumers purchase products based on their willingness to pay, which depends upon satisfaction granted from the product. If this is true, the question must be asked: what grants these consumers high satisfaction from product purchasing? To answer this question, this thesis investigates the rhetorical effect that stems from product design. Using a rhetorical criticism technique, I analyze how product design allows consumers to project their gender identity. I assert that consumers are interpellated to choose products based on their gender. Once this interpellation takes place, a constitutive rhetoric formed by the product’s design already assumes the consumer’s wants by embedding masculine or feminine ideologies. The analysis shows product design perpetuates clear gender dichotomy and fortifies the belief of gender binaries.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013239
Subject Headings: Consumer goods--Prices, Product design, Gender identity
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Communicative Power of Social Media during the Never Again MSD Movement Media.
Creator: Fenelon, Ashley, Trapani, William, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: Social media played a pivotal role during The Never Again MSD Movement. This study examines the communicative tools social media, specifically Twitter, provides its users in order to communicate and distribute information. Authors Evans, Twoney, and Talan describes Twitter as “a valuable tool because it allows for instant communication to a wide audience” (9). Twitter is a valuable tool for communication because it fosters an online space where activists utilize the following communication...
Show moreSocial media played a pivotal role during The Never Again MSD Movement. This study examines the communicative tools social media, specifically Twitter, provides its users in order to communicate and distribute information. Authors Evans, Twoney, and Talan describes Twitter as “a valuable tool because it allows for instant communication to a wide audience” (9). Twitter is a valuable tool for communication because it fosters an online space where activists utilize the following communication tools: conversation, community, connection, collaboration, and accessibility. The study describes how activists use those tools in the type of messages being communicated on digital spaces. Through a context analysis on tweets from 3 prominent leaders of the movement: Sarah Chadwick, David Hogg, and Cameron Kasky, common themes were identified. The data was collected from a 6 week period ranging from February 14th, 2018 - March 28th, 2018. The purpose of this study is to ultimately examine how activist communicate on online spaces during social movements. Twitter offers activists a series of communication tools such as community, accessibility, and collaboration. Activists use these tools to first communicate about a variety of different topics relating to the movement as well distribute information and encourage involvement from other users. The results from the analysis determined that there is indeed power in communicating your message in online spaces. The study concludes with these findings: social media, specifically Twitter, is represented as a communication tool. The leaders of the Never Again MSD Movement use those tools in a variety of different ways such as communicating their personal opinion, encouraging involvement as well as promoting collaboration, community, and accessibility.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013205
Subject Headings: Social media, Twitter, Activists, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre, Parkland, Florida, 2018
Format: Document (PDF)

FAU Theses and Dissertations (97)	+ -
FAU College Collections (8)	+ -

Criticism and interpretation (13)	+ -
Feminist theory (8)	+ -
Florida Atlantic University -- History (7)	+ -
History (6)	+ -
Mass media and culture (5)	+ -

Social aspects (5)	+ -
Mass Communications (4)	+ -
Politics and government (4)	+ -
Virtual reality (4)	+ -
Influence (3)	+ -
Motion pictures (3)	+ -
Popular culture (3)	+ -
Reality television programs (3)	+ -
Rhetoric (3)	+ -
Social media (3)	+ -
Women in popular culture (3)	+ -
Black lives matter movement (2)	+ -
Business communication (2)	+ -
Communication (2)	+ -
Discourse analysis (2)	+ -
Dissertations, Academic -- Florida Atlantic University (2)	+ -
Gender identity (2)	+ -
Horror films (2)	+ -
Interactive multimedia. (2)	+ -
Intercultural communication (2)	+ -
Journalism (2)	+ -
Language, Rhetoric and Composition (2)	+ -
Mass media (2)	+ -
Narration (Rhetoric) (2)	+ -
Persuasion (Rhetoric) (2)	+ -

United States (8)	+ -
Australia (1)	+ -
Balkan Peninsula (1)	+ -
Bosnia and Hercegovina (1)	+ -
East Timor (1)	+ -

Europe, Eastern (1)	+ -
Florida (1)	+ -
Jamaica (1)	+ -
Japan (1)	+ -
Kingston (Jamaica) (1)	+ -
Persepolis (Iran) (1)	+ -
Romania (1)	+ -
Texas (1)	+ -
Timor Timur (Indonesia) (1)	+ -
Timor-Leste (1)	+ -
Yugoslavia (1)	+ -

Search In

Pages

Pages

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Collection

Topical Subject

Geographic Subject

Temporal Subject

Genre Subject

Title as Subject

Genre

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Owner

20th century (3)	+ -
21st century (2)	+ -
1989- (1)	+ -
2001- (1)	+ -
2002- (1)	+ -