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- Creator:
- Leavenworth-Keenberg, Gretchen Daria
- Description:
- Melancholy, enigmatic, haunting, spectral. These are words often used to describe W.G. Sebald’s prose style. Critics and lay readers who find themselves enmeshed in Sebald’s enchanting, dark web of words sometimes find his work difficult to categorize, yet strangely alluring. W.G. Sebald, a German-born professor who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in England, challenged old notions of what a novel should look like and be about. His four “prose-narratives,” published between 1990 and 2002, explore intense themes such as trauma, loss, identity, time, sexuality, psychosis, war, and amnesia. Sebald strongly emphasizes the unspeakable horror of the holocaust and its aftermath, while incorporating non-traditional elements in his creative works such as photography, old postcards and scribbled notes, antiquated words, verbosity, and quite a few digressions.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Bakersfield
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Freeman, Daniel
- Description:
- A comedienne clasping a manly-man hand to her face-that's the sight gag splashed across the cover of Tina Fey's bestselling memoir Bossypants, a joke and title with centuries' worth of setup. A subversion of expectations is reflected in the cover design of Fey's book-a woman, but with "manly" hands photoshopped on, in the same way "Bossypants" takes the term "boss" and cobble onto it the essence of "smartypants." "'Why can't we accept the human form as it is?' screams no one...we never have" Fey observes, "That's why people wore corsets and neck stretchers and powdered wigs" (Fey 245). In between impersonating Sarah Palin and informing the world "Fetch" will never happen, Fey's comedic oeuvre has consistently involved commentary on women, the body-and she's not alone. As Carol Hanisch put it decades ago, "The personal is political," and few things have consistently embodied the tension between those two elements of identity politics throughout modernity like the perceptions and depictions of the female body, especially in relation to women's role in society (Hanisch 23). To trace the manner in which English and French literature from the Early Modern Period onward has "dressed up" and presented women in relation to their bodies is to trace the evolution of modernity itself, from the advent of gender politics to the effects of new workers and capital to shifting societal roles and power relations. In particular, it examines the tension between conceptions of men, women, gender roles, and power relations which allow for the subversion implied by Fey's sight gag and title-namely, with men traditionally associated with power and the professional sphere, the process and, indeed, progress of modernity is reflected in women subverting social hierarchy and expectations while still running up against the challenges of that gender dynamic-tracing a narrative of modernity and the body from codpieces and corsets to bustles, Beauvoir, and back again.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Elisara, Unai
- Description:
- In this grant I will be addressing the need for an expansion of Feleti Barstow Public Library of Pago Pago, American Samoa. This Library is the only library on the island and houses many of the island's cultural and historical artifacts. I am requesting $15,000,000 for this expansion that will not only serve as extra storage for artifacts of Samoa's history, it will also serve as an emergency resource center as well as a multipurpose center that will hold many activities and demonstrations to promote wellness on all levels of the body, both mentally and physically, in order to also preserve the future of Samoa. This will serve as an area where locals of Pago Pago, as well as those from nearby islands can gather in a formal environment (meetings with the chiefs, tradition and cultural ceremonies, etc.) However, in adding on to the Feleti Barstow Public Library, this extension will also serve as an area for children to gather in an environment which encourages education and fosters a sense of culture pride in studying the artifacts housed here. During my time in graduate school I have come to realize that no matter how much an institution claims to promote "diversity and inclusion," the colonizers have now evolved; instead of "we come in peace," they now say they "encourage all voices." When really it is "most voices" from white faces. This grant will allow the people of American Samoa to be more self-sufficient during times of emergency, so we do not have to wait on the white man for "aid," or a prolonged genocide. This extension will serve as an entity in which artifacts and the cultural history is housed, is taught and passed on, as well as an area where the Samoan people can come for emergency shelter during times of crisis, while also serving as a safe space to embrace the history of our culture.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Narayanamurti, Krishna
- Description:
- Late in Jane Austen’s "Emma," a peculiar scene of harrowing adventure disrupts an otherwise realistic novel. On an early morning walk, Harriet Smith takes a wrong turn into the woods outside the posh village of Highbury. A “gang” of young “gypsies,” presumably of Romany descent, surround Harriet and demand her purse. As a foreign element outside of Highbury’s rigid class structure, the parent-less gypsy children represent a corrupted reflection of Harriet, herself an orphan, in her attempts to assimilate into Emma’s social circle. Prior critical responses to this scene have trended in one of two directions—a sociopolitical interpretation through the lens of cultural studies and historicism or an analysis of the rhetorical and narratological devices Austen employs. By emphasizing particular interpretive methods over others, critics often miss opportunities for a multi-pronged analysis of how the formal elements of a narrative may inform the political ideology it knowingly or unknowingly promotes—and vice versa, how politics can influence the choice of aesthetic forms. When dealing with authors like Austen who eschew overt ideological statements, the New Formalist methods proposed by Caroline Levine and others can reveal hidden layers of thematic resonance and contradiction. Similarly, adopting Amy Devitt’s view of genre as a flexible rhetorical tool, rather than a fixed literary category, allows for an analysis of the gypsy scene’s function in harmony or contrast with other genres Austen employs in the novel. "Emma’s" abrupt placement of Harriet in distress provides what Levine might call a “collision” of multiple forms—story devices, social networks, and unifying structures—which unsettle each other but ultimately reshape and confirm the novel as both a political work with nationalist aims and a lighthearted comedy that satirizes its own insular preoccupations.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Lee, Ambre
- Description:
- Establishing and maintaining a professional teacher blog enables teachers to publish, reflect, share, collaborate, and enrich their professional presence. While publishing has long been the standard for university professors, secondary teachers do not have the same expectations placed upon them. Primarily, this is due to time constraints, but the result is that secondary teachers do not always remain current in their field. To this point, a weekly writing practice can enable teachers to stay engaged and relevant in their particular field of study in regards to pedagogy and current research. Blogging enables teachers to understand writing for a purpose and for an audience, which increases credibility when insisting on the same from students. Since reflection is one of the most important aspects of improving one's teaching practice, the blog seems like an essential tool for every teacher. Finally, in an environment of questionable evaluation procedures for teachers, a teacher blog enables the teacher to highlight successes in the classroom and demonstrate his/her teaching pedagogy instead of being limited to one or two observations a year. I plan to utilize my teacher blog in a number of ways: Create a dialogue for secondary Special Day Class teachers about issues that aren't addressed anywhere else. Share and reflect on teaching practices. Read and write about current research in special education. Maintain a focus on potential interventions for both reading and writing at the secondary level. Lastly, increase my professional online presence.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Evans, Megan Day
- Description:
- Feminist rhetoric often looks back in history to find instances of women’s voices in writings, but for my thesis, I argue the importance of looking at modern forms of feminist rhetoric in academia. I am specifically looking at what I term as Rouge Feminist rhetoric, and how it situates itself in public feminist conversations online. My thesis brings forth questions about current understandings of feminist rhetoric online, and it calls for further study on how this new form is different or adding to the discussion of digital feminist rhetoric. I also suggest how future studies can be conducted by researchers looking at modern instances of feminist rhetoric online in order to answer the questions I pose.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Farrukh, Sawsan
- Description:
- This paper is an investigation of the widows found in Jane Austen’s Lady Susan and Sanditon, two unpublished works during her lifetime. The paper presents a careful close read of both Lady Susan and Lady Denham and their methods of manipulation in order to gain profit. The concepts of capitalism and colonization are also discussed within the paper to gain further understanding of the widows’ motivation for the incessant manipulation of the emotions of those surrounding them. They do this in order to acquire marriages that will provide financial security and high social standing; marriage is one of the few ways a person can instantly attain wealth during the Regency Era.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Beckman, Donna S.
- Description:
- The creative portion of this thesis is The Girl Who Loved Gable, a psychological detective novel. Set in Los Angeles in the present, the novel is a first person narrative. The central character is Leda Swann, a 30 year old female detective who is assigned a missing persons case involving a teenage runaway girl. Her search for the girl becomes a search for herself. In the tradition of the Oedipal detective, Leda is posed a riddle, and, like Oedipus, must undergo self discovery before she can arrive at its solution. Although The Girl Who Loved Gable derives its form from a popular genre, the detective novel, it utilizes literary techniques. One such element is the use of an unreliable first person narrator who is also the protagonist. The critical portion of this thesis is a study of the function of point of view as an element in the structure of the novel. Wayne Booth, in his essays on reliable commentary and reliable/unreliable narrators, stresses that there must be a character within the dramatic framework of the novel who can be trusted by the reader to function as a touchstone of objectivity. Booth overlooks an alternative structure. Both detective fiction and some modern novels are centered around a character who begins with limited or wrong knowledge and works his way through to truth. A series of epiphanies arising organically from the action of the novel bring the character and the reader to simultaneous revelation. Thus, in Willaim Styron's Sophie's Choice for example, discovering the objective truth becomes the central experience of the novel. The critical section of this thesis will address the question of whether Booth's touchstone is a prerequisite for a coherent novel, or if, by maintaining a Jamesian emphasis on dramatization, and by using the reader's experiences and expectations as a backdrop, the author can use an unreliable point of view to present a narrative that is "solved" as well as read.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Harris, Laura E
- Description:
- One of the biggest problems facing incoming freshmen in American colleges today is lack of preparation in appropriate reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. These abilities are necessary for success not only in college but also in the professional world. The issues surrounding this problem are complicated and may appear to be unrelated; however, the connection between learning and instruction provides the solution. If instructors possess the concern and tenacity to understand and address how this connection relates to improving student learning, success rates of both the students and the academy can be improved. Learning must be understood in regards to diversity of style, cultural and social background, steps of knowledge building, the role of neuroscience, and the implications of the digital age on education.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Bakersfield
- Department:
- English
- Creator:
- Zumstein, John
- Description:
- This essay enters the ongoing disciplinary debate regarding the place of literature in the composition classroom, with special emphasis on first-year college college composition courses. Drawing on the work of past scholars, as well as on my own field experience and research, I will argue in favor of the use of literature in First Year Composition classes by demonstrating its efficacy in helping students develop key composition skills, including critical thinking and command of rhetorical technique. Further still, I will argue that when assigned well-chosen literature texts, students are in fact more receptive to internalizing these skills in ways that are organic and long-lasting, rather than contextualizing them as something purely "academic" and thus separate from everyday life.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Northridge
- Department:
- English