English Honors Theses

The Poet and the "Temple of Delight": Allegory in "Ode on Melancholy" and Blake's "Songs"

Stuart H. Hunt — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:45:18 PDT

In the final stanza of John Keats’s “Ode on Melancholy,” there are capitalized emotions such as “Joy” that are characters within the poem. William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” include personified emotions in much the same way. In this paper I will define allegory as using a “radical dispersonification” in which personified objects within the poem point to something abstract that exists on its own, outside the context of the poem. Given the similarity of Keats’s poem and Blake’s “Songs,” there is the possibility that as Romantics, Blake influenced Keats. In the sense that Blake’s “Songs” are ultimately a religious or political allegory, which Blake manifests as states of “Innocence” and “Experience,” and Keats’s poem is allegorical in the sense that it is about an abstract state called “Melancholy” that he has experienced as a poet.

Variety is the Key: Teaching Shakespeare in Secondary English Classrooms

Jamie Blade — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:45:17 PDT

This thesis explores the reasons teachers teach Shakespeare, especially his plays, in Secondary English classrooms, which plays teachers teach and why they teach them, and a catalog of methods of teaching Shakespeare. The catalog includes methods of introduction, literary analysis, performance, multimedia, and technology, as well as methods that integrate multiple approaches. The thesis stresses the integration of multiple approaches and the employment of a variety of methods.

The Tower is Everywhere: Symbolic Exchange and Discovery of Meaning in Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49

Jonathan Kincade — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:18:32 PST

Thomas Pynchon’s novel, The Crying of Lot 49, details Oedipa Maas’ quest to unearth a possibly centuries-old clandestine mail system, the Trystero. Oedipa is immersed in notions of sociality and she must navigate the social landscape, searching for clues as to the existence of the social system. In her quest she assumes the role of a detective who searches for meaning, as she looks for clues and questions others who might potentially be privy to the secrets of the Trystero. She necessarily performs the process of symbolic exchange with those she encounters in an attempt at ascertaining some greater meaning within the world that she thinks might lie behind the Trystero. In this, the nature of the circulation of meaning is revealed as a cultural construct.

Beyond The Hills

Joel Cates — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:01:22 PST

A couple travels through Spain in order to obtain an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy. The couple, an unnamed American man and a woman known only by the nickname Jig, has a much more complicated relationship than first seems and must navigate through complex emotions and gender roles. This story, and elaboration on Hemingway’s well known “Hills Like White Elephants”, attempts to give the characters introduced by Hemingway more depth and back story than the original short story.

The "Root of Civil Conversion": Redefining Courtesy in Book VI of the Faerie Queene

Michelle Golden — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:01:21 PST

Book Six of The Faerie Queene deals with the complexities of courtesy in a socially changing world. Calidore, the protagonist of Book Six, sets out to defeat the Blatant Beast, the chief enemy of courtesy, but abandons his quest midway through the book in order to live the shepherds’ life. Despite the ethical ambiguity associated with Calidore’s abandoning his quest, this pastoral setting should enable him to deepen his understanding of the nature and practice of courtesy. However, Calidore is unable to grow, and the poet essentially gives up on his own poetic quest.

Bolt Fast or Weather

McCormick Stephan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:01:21 PST

Just graduated, Livy McHaney moves into a loft owned by father and daughter Wallace and Keegan Sammler. As Livy gets to know the Sammlers, he becomes fascinated by the sense Wallace makes out the world, a skill difficult for Livy. At the same time, Livy starts working at Zoo Dunn conducting its Tournado Train. Wallace explains to Livy his reflections on animals, enthralling Livy with his big ideas about freedom and questioning when one is supposed to not. In an attempt to make his grand pronouncements concrete, Wallace recruits Livy into a secret plan to kidnap and set free a popular young elephant from Zoo Dunn. Once in motion, much of their plan fails and everything appears less certain. Livy is forced to rethink the kidnapping's meaning, the possibility of changing the way people view animals, and ultimately the allure of Wallace's "truth" in forging his own ideas about life.

Red Scare Propaganda in the United States: A Visual and Rhetorical Analysis

Christy Schroeder — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:01:20 PST

This paper is a discussion and analysis of Red Scare propaganda from two different time periods: 1918-1921 and the 1940-50’s. Six examples of propaganda have been chosen and analyzed both visually and rhetorically. The paper also contains a discussion of the historical context and times surrounding the images, helping to place the texts within a proper framework for discussion. The six images are analyzed through Aristotle’s traditional rhetorical devices – ethos, pathos, and logos. Seven logical fallacies and drawn from this discussion of rhetoric and applied to the images as well. The images are visually analyzed in terms of stereotypes they uphold as well as the American ideology of “Americanism” that they allegedly support.

World War II: Moments in our Family

Yvonne Richter — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:01:19 PST

This thesis explores the history of one German family during World War II, using the inspiration and background knowledge gained from historic scholarship and literature to create narrative closely following actual experiences and memories to help understand the peculiarities of war narrative and war memory. The sources are interviews with relatives, existing literature on the subject matter, and the writer’s imagination.