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Jennings, LaShay. "Close Reading." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3450.
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Risha, Zachary Joseph. "Interactive Close Reading." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/77914.
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Over the past two decades, the readership of poetry has declined to the point that the art form is seldom engaged with by the public. I argue that reading poetry requires a skillset that must be learned, practiced, and refined. While close reading is traditionally trained in college classrooms, such spaces cannot reach broad audiences. To address this dearth, I have developed a web app that applies interactive learning strategies, through a series of exercises, to cultivate expert reading practices in novice users. Close Reading will guide users through poems by Robert Frost. With each poem, users will progress through exercises grounded in the practices of expert readers. For instance, users will block poems into sections to allow a chunking of the material, slowing down novice reading speeds. Another exercise cognitively models the act of reading by displaying the sequential thoughts of a reader making sense of a work. Furthermore, Socratic questioning will attempt to stimulate an internal dialogue to foster focus and interpretation. These exercises will build on one another and attempt to replicate pedagogical processes observed in the classroom. Performing these pedagogical exercises will provide a resource for developing the skillset necessary for poetry appreciation. This ambitious digital humanities project experiments with a new venue for pedagogy and poetry, promoting an engagement with the public frequently neglected in academic work.Master of Arts
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Keith, Karin. "These are the Days of Close Reading: Using Readers’ Theatre to Teach Close Reading." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/1017.
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Sharp, L. Kathryn. "Close Reads and Guided Reading." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4286.
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Persson, H. T. R. "Swedish integration policy documents : a close dialogic reading." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2006. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2508/.
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Sweden as the great welfare state where everybody is equally welcomed and cared for has for long been the prevailing view. Although Swedish integration policy seems to confirm this view, this is far removed from many people’s experienced reality. I argue that part of this disharmony lies in how West European languages contain and relate to an ‘identity’ construction, which perpetuates and is perpetuated through dichotomies that strengthen the social and political cogency of concepts such as ‘race’, ethnicity and culture. Based on this, I carry out a discourse analysis of Sweden’s major integration policy documents from the mid 1970s up to today. After an eclectic reading of discourses on migration and integration terminology, ‘identity’ and language, I assert the centrality of ‘identity’ construction to everything we do. With this in mind, taking the dialogism promoted by the Bakhtinian Circle as the dichotomy to monologism, I carry out a close dialogic reading in the tradition of Lynn Pearce (1994) and Peter Stallybrass and Allon White (1986). Contextualising the policy documents, I present the history of migration and integration from a Swedish perspective. Focusing on the last five decades, I divide the different historic tendencies into themes ranging from: emigration to labour migration, refugee migration and the European Union, and from immigrant policy to integration policy. Believing that the conceptualisation and the handling of categorisation, segregation, culture, discrimination and racism are all central to a successful integration policy, I analyse the policy documents thematically accordingly. I show how the interdependence of the common ‘identity’ constructions and language sometimes obscures and frequently counteracts the intention of the author. As a result, I argue that the Bakhtinian Circle holds the key to a better understanding of the invincibility of stereotyping within racialised discourses, through applying absolute ‘identity’ constructions in monologic speech, and how this may be counteracted in order to strive for a dialogic approach to the world.
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Chaturvedi, Manish. "Visualization Of TEI Encoded Texts In Support Of Close Reading." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1323623830.
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Rossi, Clara. "Perceiving the Imperceptible: A Close Reading of Alice Munro’s “Wild Swans”." Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2020. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/21343/.
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“Wild Swans”, written by the Canadian author Alice Munro, and published in the collection of short stories Who Do You Think You Are? (1978), narrates the train journey of a young girl, Rose, from a small town of to the big city of Toronto. During this trip she will have an intimate encounter with a man who is not a real minister, pretending to be real but dressed as if he is not. This story is a fundamental example of how the practice of reading literary works can directly, or indirectly, teach us humans how to be better readers of the earth at large. The thesis concludes with some thoughts on how being better readers of the earth might be one of the most important ways to avoid extinction.
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Yeung, Cindy K. L. "Multimodal close reading as currency : transmediating poetic language through artistic design." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/12548.
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This Master’s thesis explores the use of artistic design in a senior high school English class to teach the stylistic analysis of poetry. As a reflective, critical inquiry into my own classroom practice, this paper follows primarily the methodology of teacher research. A less prominent but equally important methodology is the autobiographical living inquiry of a/r/tography.
My research features a poetry project for an English 12 class in a fine arts mini-school. Students conducted a close reading of a poem and then communicated their interpretation and analysis by creating an original artistic work in a non-textual mode. The students also articulated their own process of design. By exploring parallels between the poem and their artistic work, they developed a descriptive metalanguage to analyze the rhetorical connections between different modes of communication.
This paper draws on the research areas of multiliteracies pedagogy and aesthetic education to investigate the implications of transmediating poetic texts. The study of the classroom project is framed within my overarching inquiry into the value of teaching literary close reading in an age when literacy educators face increasing obligations to prepare students for the world of the globalized knowledge economy. I use the notion of currency, both as monetary worth and as fluidity, to argue that the stylistic analysis of literature—which is usually not perceived as utilitarian—can indeed be useful outside the English language arts classroom. A project in which students explore literary close reading through multimodal design can help them develop critical and creative skills that do have value and can therefore be considered currency in the students’ social and economic futures.
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Wikman, Hannes. "Racism, Mark Twain and Close Reading in the English Language Classroom." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-83604.
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This essay argues that Mark Twain’s novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Pudd’nhead Wilson can be applied in Swedish upper secondary schools to address racial inequality in the purpose of achieving intercultural competence and understanding. Racism is a vast issue, evident in both schools and in our society, locally as well as globally, where ethnical minorities are abused or disfavored societal privileges. This leaves teachers with the vital task of counteracting racism in classrooms, in accordance with the educational goals of imparting democratic values. The essay is conducted through a Close Reading, which is beneficial in exposing a text’s complexity by examining its literary aspects. The primary focus from the Close Reading is put on narration and its subordinate categories. Word choice, repetition or metaphors are highlighted and analyzed from the selected passages as they are literary aspects that the students can react to and further discuss in relation to racism in their everyday lives. The findings show that Twain’s ways of narrating racism and stimulating empathy are integral features in promoting an increased understanding to meet the curriculum’s requirements.
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Jänicke, Stefan. "Close and Distant Reading Visualizations for the Comparative Analysis of Digital Humanities Data." Doctoral thesis, Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2016. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-207418.
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Traditionally, humanities scholars carrying out research on a specific or on multiple literary work(s) are interested in the analysis of related texts or text passages. But the digital age has opened possibilities for scholars to enhance their traditional workflows. Enabled by digitization projects, humanities scholars can nowadays reach a large number of digitized texts through web portals such as Google Books or Internet Archive. Digital editions exist also for ancient texts; notable examples are PHI Latin Texts and the Perseus Digital Library.
This shift from reading a single book “on paper” to the possibility of browsing many digital texts is one of the origins and principal pillars of the digital humanities domain, which helps developing solutions to handle vast amounts of cultural heritage data – text being the main data type. In contrast to the traditional methods, the digital humanities allow to pose new research questions on cultural heritage datasets. Some of these questions can be answered with existent algorithms and tools provided by the computer science domain, but for other humanities questions scholars need to formulate new methods in collaboration with computer scientists.
Developed in the late 1980s, the digital humanities primarily focused on designing standards to represent cultural heritage data such as the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) for texts, and to aggregate, digitize and deliver data. In the last years, visualization techniques have gained more and more importance when it comes to analyzing data. For example, Saito introduced her 2010 digital humanities conference paper with: “In recent years, people have tended to be overwhelmed by a vast amount of information in various contexts. Therefore, arguments about ’Information Visualization’ as a method to make information easy to comprehend are more than understandable.” A major impulse for this trend was given by Franco Moretti. In 2005, he published the book “Graphs, Maps, Trees”, in which he proposes so-called distant reading approaches for textual data that steer the traditional way of approaching literature towards a completely new direction. Instead of reading texts in the traditional way – so-called close reading –, he invites to count, to graph and to map them. In other words, to visualize them.
This dissertation presents novel close and distant reading visualization techniques for hitherto unsolved problems. Appropriate visualization techniques have been applied to support basic tasks, e.g., visualizing geospatial metadata to analyze the geographical distribution of cultural heritage data items or using tag clouds to illustrate textual statistics of a historical corpus. In contrast, this dissertation focuses on developing information visualization and visual analytics methods that support investigating research questions that require the comparative analysis of various digital humanities datasets. We first take a look at the state-of-the-art of existing close and distant reading visualizations that have been developed to support humanities scholars working with literary texts. We thereby provide a taxonomy of visualization methods applied to show various aspects of the underlying digital humanities data. We point out open challenges and we present our visualizations designed to support humanities scholars in comparatively analyzing historical datasets. In short, we present (1) GeoTemCo for the comparative visualization of geospatial-temporal data, (2) the two tag cloud designs TagPies and TagSpheres that comparatively visualize faceted textual summaries, (3) TextReuseGrid and TextReuseBrowser to explore re-used text passages among the texts of a corpus, (4) TRAViz for the visualization of textual variation between multiple text editions, and (5) the visual analytics system MusikerProfiling to detect similar musicians to a given musician of interest. Finally, we summarize our and the collaboration experiences of other visualization researchers to emphasize the ingredients required for a successful project in the digital humanities, and we take a look at future challenges in that research field.
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Schofer, Drew Christopher. "A close reading of L'Année dernière à Marienbad by Alain Robbe-Grillet." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26915.
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L'Année Dernière à Marienbad is a narrative film which plays with Appearance and Reality in a baroque fashion. This thesis is an attempt to come to terms with the Marienbad world view. In the introduction are discussed the arguments against the film as expressed by Pauline Kael, as well as the commentary style of my critical approach.
In the first chapter we are faced with film as high art, as the camera takes us on an architectural tour of a baroque chateau while a nameless narrator describes the set. Eventually the voice is revealed to be that of an actor in a play. In the audience discussing this play we meet our three protagonists: A, a mysterious woman; M, a man who may be her husband; and X, a man who tries to persuade her to leave with him. We are teased by meaning and symbolism at every turn as we await the plot of our story to unfold. Chapter two takes us to the gardens where we are presented a statue of a man, woman and dog. X evokes scenes from A's and his "shared" past. The style of Marienbad's editing replaces traditional Hollywood Découpage with a version its creators believe to be closer to reality as it should be presented on film. A possible reason for the number of detractors of Marienbad is discovered to be the inherent passive aggression present in the film. The final chapter outlines X's search for an ending and discusses our reactions to these various solutions. The conclusion compares the ending from Resnais's Hiroshima Mon Amour to the end of Marienbad presenting the timeless reality of fictitious film. The search for a conclusion or answer to the riddle of Marienbad however remains elusive. We are invited to encounter possibilities as often as we, an audience, encounter L'Année Dernière à Marienbad.Arts, Faculty of
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of
Graduate
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Blair, S. "The language of narrative drawing : a close reading of contemporary graphic novels." Thesis, University of the West of England, Bristol, 2013. http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/22645/.
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The study offers an alternative analytical framework for thinking about the contemporary graphic novel as a dynamic area of visual art practice. Graphic narratives are placed within the broad, open-ended territory of investigative drawing, rather than restricted to a special category of literature, as is more usually the case. The analysis considers how narrative ideas and energies are carried across specific examples of work graphically. Using analogies taken from recent academic debate around translation, aspects of Performance Studies, and, finally, common categories borrowed from linguistic grammar, the discussion identifies subtle varieties of creative processing within a range of drawn stories. The study is practice-based in that the questions that it investigates were first provoked by the activity of drawing, and it sustains a dominant interest in practice throughout, pursuing aspects of graphic processing as its primary focus. Chapter 1 applies recent ideas from Translation Studies to graphic narrative, arguing for a more expansive understanding of how process brings about creative evolutions and refines directing ideas. Chapter 2 considers the body as an area of core content for narrative drawing. A consideration of elements of Performance Studies stimulates a reconfiguration of the role of the figure in graphic stories, and selected artists are revisited for the physical qualities of their narrative strategies. Chapter 3 develops the grammatical concept of tense to provide a central analogy for analysing graphic language. The chapter adapts the idea of the graphic ‘confection’ to the territory of drawing to offer a fresh system of analysis and a potential new tool for teaching. The conclusion identifies the study’s contribution to knowledge as twofold: first, in presenting a range of new interpretations of its field; and, second, in its employment of specifically adapted research methods which connect with a wider call for a return to ‘close reading’ as a productively sensitive research tool in its own right.
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Galloway, C. "Close reading : translation, re-writing, and reviewing in Anna Banti and Virginia Woolf." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.599284.
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This thesis argues that an examination of literary translation offers a way to rethink the ongoing reading 'encounter' between authors, and makes explicit some of the hidden concerns of texts such as the development of style, the role of the reader, and writerly affinities. 'Close reading', then, is understood as simultaneously methodology and metaphor, and has as its primary focus here the work of Anna Banti (1895-1985) and Virginia Woolf (1882-1941). The thesis moves from a specific consideration of a translating 'moment' (Banti's 1950 Italian translation of Woolf's 1992 novel, Jacob's Room) through considerations of reception and how texts 'travel', and the re-writing by both authors of themes such as history, auto/biography, and the role of the woman writer, to the further re-viewings of their texts as film. Drawing on Walter Benjamin's work on the 'afterlife' of art and on the 'continua of transformation' present in the work of translation, and on accounts of reading, writing and affinity, I will demonstrate that cultural boundaries and literary categories are porous and mutable, endlessly open to correspondence with other times, places and media.
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Moran, Renee Rice, and LaShay Jennings. "The Power of Close Reading: Teaching Students How to Engage Deeply with Text." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3449.
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Catterson, Amy Koehler. "Close Reading in Secondary Classrooms| A 21st-Century Update for a 20th-Century Practice." Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10281978.
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Close reading is an enigmatic term with a simple definition: special attention to texts. Key shifts in the Common Core State Standards have led to a renewed interest about close reading instruction among researchers and practitioners of K-12 education. Close reading is particularly salient in secondary settings, where calls to raise text difficulty and increase literacy instruction in the disciplines have placed new demands on middle and high school teachers. But even though close reading is now widespread in secondary classrooms, there is very little research to date on close reading instruction. As such we still do not know how these practices will affect students’ reading skills and motivation.
In this dissertation, I offer three article-length contributions to the research base on secondary close reading instruction. First, I synthesize practice-based research on close reading instruction with the aim of identifying best practices for close reading in secondary classrooms. I then present two empirical articles that address gaps in the research literature on adolescent close reading instruction.
In chapter 1, previously published in Adolescent Literacies: A Handbook of Practice-Based Research, P. David Pearson and I offer a vision for a 21st-century close reading pedagogy. This vision was influenced by a historical account of close reading’s place in adolescent classrooms over the past 75 years and a review of research on secondary close reading instruction. We argue that a 21st-century close reading pedagogy must encompass considerations of the reader and his or her sociocultural contexts, accept digital and everyday texts as candidates for close readings, and include purposes for reading beyond knowledge building. In light of these goals, we suggest five principles of adolescent close reading instruction: background knowledge, authentic reading and writing, metadiscursive awareness, critical literacy, and dialogically organized discussion.
In chapter 2, I draw on the principles of close reading instruction outlined in chapter 1 to co-design tests of close reading instruction with a high school chemistry teacher. In this formative experiment, I tested the effect of background knowledge activation on amount and types of questions written about a scientific article; I also tested whether allowing students to choose texts to read about a scientific issue affected the amount of information written on that topic and their motivation to read. In a challenge to Common-Core-era recommendations that background knowledge should be held at bay when closely reading texts, I found that students who had their background knowledge activated with pre-reading activities prior to closely reading an article wrote more argument-generating questions than students who did not engage in pre-reading activities. I also argue that students who were able to choose a text to read closely about a scientific topic online recorded as much accurate information about that topic as students who were assigned a text to read by their teacher.
In chapter 3, I explore an understudied area of close reading instruction: students’ everyday digital close reading practices. This article is an ethnographic case study of students’ out-of-school digital close readings and their teachers’ approach to digital close reading instruction in the classroom. By comparing these two realms through the lens of cultural historical activity theory, I am able to surface tensions and synergies that may lead to recommendations for close reading instruction that leverages students’ existing funds of knowledge about digital literacies. Specifically, I found that when teachers designed digital close reading instruction in the service of promoting student-directed learning, it aligned well with students’ goals when they performed everyday close readings of digital texts at home.
Together, these three chapters suggest new directions for adolescent close reading instruction and research. In chapter 4, I synthesize across the three articles to highlight common themes and conclude with ideas for future research and lingering questions about the nature of close reading.
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Kartha, Arathy Ganga. "The effect of prolonged reading on visual functions and reading performance in students with low vision." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2010. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/31847/1/Arathy_Kartha_Thesis.pdf.
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This study is the first to investigate the effect of prolonged reading on reading performance and visual functions in students with low vision. The study focuses on one of the most common modes of achieving adequate magnification for reading by students with low vision, their close reading distance (proximal or relative distance magnification). Close reading distances impose high demands on near visual functions, such as accommodation and convergence. Previous research on accommodation in children with low vision shows that their accommodative responses are reduced compared to normal vision. In addition, there is an increased lag of accommodation for higher stimulus levels as may occur at close reading distance. Reduced accommodative responses in low vision and higher lag of accommodation at close reading distances together could impact on reading performance of students with low vision especially during prolonged reading tasks. The presence of convergence anomalies could further affect reading performance. Therefore, the aims of the present study were 1) To investigate the effect of prolonged reading on reading performance in students with low vision 2) To investigate the effect of prolonged reading on visual functions in students with low vision.
This study was conducted as cross-sectional research on 42 students with low vision and a comparison group of 20 students with normal vision, aged 7 to 20 years. The students with low vision had vision impairments arising from a range of causes and represented a typical group of students with low vision, with no significant developmental delays, attending school in Brisbane, Australia. All participants underwent a battery of clinical tests before and after a prolonged reading task. An initial reading-specific history and pre-task measurements that included Bailey-Lovie distance and near visual acuities, Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity, ocular deviations, sensory fusion, ocular motility, near point of accommodation (pull-away method), accuracy of accommodation (Monocular Estimation Method (MEM)) retinoscopy and Near Point of Convergence (NPC) (push-up method) were recorded for all participants. Reading performance measures were Maximum Oral Reading Rates (MORR), Near Text Visual Acuity (NTVA) and acuity reserves using Bailey-Lovie text charts. Symptoms of visual fatigue were assessed using the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) for all participants. Pre-task measurements of reading performance and accuracy of accommodation and NPC were compared with post-task measurements, to test for any effects of prolonged reading.
The prolonged reading task involved reading a storybook silently for at least 30 minutes. The task was controlled for print size, contrast, difficulty level and content of the reading material. Silent Reading Rate (SRR) was recorded every 2 minutes during prolonged reading. Symptom scores and visual fatigue scores were also obtained for all participants. A visual fatigue analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess visual fatigue during the task, once at the beginning, once at the middle and once at the end of the task. In addition to the subjective assessments of visual fatigue, tonic accommodation was monitored using a photorefractor (PlusoptiX CR03™) every 6 minutes during the task, as an objective assessment of visual fatigue. Reading measures were done at the habitual reading distance of students with low vision and at 25 cms for students with normal vision.
The initial history showed that the students with low vision read for significantly shorter periods at home compared to the students with normal vision. The working distances of participants with low vision ranged from 3-25 cms and half of them were not using any optical devices for magnification. Nearly half of the participants with low vision were able to resolve 8-point print (1M) at 25 cms. Half of the participants in the low vision group had ocular deviations and suppression at near.
Reading rates were significantly reduced in students with low vision compared to those of students with normal vision. In addition, there were a significantly larger number of participants in the low vision group who could not sustain the 30-minute task compared to the normal vision group. However, there were no significant changes in reading rates during or following prolonged reading in either the low vision or normal vision groups. Individual changes in reading rates were independent of their baseline reading rates, indicating that the changes in reading rates during prolonged reading cannot be predicted from a typical clinical assessment of reading using brief reading tasks. Contrary to previous reports the silent reading rates of the students with low vision were significantly lower than their oral reading rates, although oral and silent reading was assessed using different methods.
Although the visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, near point of convergence and accuracy of accommodation were significantly poorer for the low vision group compared to those of the normal vision group, there were no significant changes in any of these visual functions following prolonged reading in either group. Interestingly, a few students with low vision (n =10) were found to be reading at a distance closer than their near point of accommodation. This suggests a decreased sensitivity to blur. Further evaluation revealed that the equivalent intrinsic refractive errors (an estimate of the spherical dioptirc defocus which would be expected to yield a patient’s visual acuity in normal subjects) were significantly larger for the low vision group compared to those of the normal vision group. As expected, accommodative responses were significantly reduced for the low vision group compared to the expected norms, which is consistent with their close reading distances, reduced visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. For those in the low vision group who had an accommodative error exceeding their equivalent intrinsic refractive errors, a significant decrease in MORR was found following prolonged reading. The silent reading rates however were not significantly affected by accommodative errors in the present study.
Suppression also had a significant impact on the changes in reading rates during prolonged reading. The participants who did not have suppression at near showed significant decreases in silent reading rates during and following prolonged reading. This impact of binocular vision at near on prolonged reading was possibly due to the high demands on convergence.
The significant predictors of MORR in the low vision group were age, NTVA, reading interest and reading comprehension, accounting for 61.7% of the variances in MORR. SRR was not significantly influenced by any factors, except for the duration of the reading task sustained; participants with higher reading rates were able to sustain a longer reading duration. In students with normal vision, age was the only predictor of MORR.
Participants with low vision also reported significantly greater visual fatigue compared to the normal vision group. Measures of tonic accommodation however were little influenced by visual fatigue in the present study. Visual fatigue analogue scores were found to be significantly associated with reading rates in students with low vision and normal vision. However, the patterns of association between visual fatigue and reading rates were different for SRR and MORR. The participants with low vision with higher symptom scores had lower SRRs and participants with higher visual fatigue had lower MORRs.
As hypothesized, visual functions such as accuracy of accommodation and convergence did have an impact on prolonged reading in students with low vision, for students whose accommodative errors were greater than their equivalent intrinsic refractive errors, and for those who did not suppress one eye. Those students with low vision who have accommodative errors higher than their equivalent intrinsic refractive errors might significantly benefit from reading glasses. Similarly, considering prisms or occlusion for those without suppression might reduce the convergence demands in these students while using their close reading distances. The impact of these prescriptions on reading rates, reading interest and visual fatigue is an area of promising future research. Most importantly, it is evident from the present study that a combination of factors such as accommodative errors, near point of convergence and suppression should be considered when prescribing reading devices for students with low vision. Considering these factors would also assist rehabilitation specialists in identifying those students who are likely to experience difficulty in prolonged reading, which is otherwise not reflected during typical clinical reading assessments.
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Brown, Angus Connell. "Between lines : close reading, quotation, and critical style from practical criticism to queer theory." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:bfe790f7-90f5-4dee-b5f5-4bf51af6c232.
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Between Lines: Close Reading, Quotation, and Critical Style from Practical Criticism to Queer Theory offers a set of theorizations and heuristics with which to investigate the history of close reading in the Anglo-American university. Working from 1920s Cambridge to the American New Criticism, and from the arrival of deconstruction at Yale to the rise of queer theory, it argues that close reading is best understood as a changing but cohering institutional style of writing that runs through twentieth-century literary criticism. In readings of I. A. Richards, William Empson, Cleanth Brooks, Paul de Man, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick it documents unexpected contiguities between close reading, literary modernism, twentieth-century poetics, and autobiography by positing that quotation has a formal and compositional function in critical style. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the history of reading by offering the first sustained history and theory of close reading to account for the practice as it predates and outlasts the New Criticism.
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Bilki, Zeynep. "A close observation of second language (L2) readers and texts : meaning representation and construction through cohesion." Diss., University of Iowa, 2014. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1293.
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A critical aspect of the non-native students' academic adjustment in English-speaking countries is their English language ability, including their reading fluency and comprehension. Even when these students are considered proficient readers of English at an advanced level, they display different reading processes when dealing with the complex input of a second language (L2) text, as compared with their native English reading classmates. Despite the importance of comprehending highly sophisticated academic reading in international education, there is a lack of research in the field as to how advanced L2 readers cope with the texts with which the highly educated native speakers engage. This study, therefore, examined meaning construction processes of highly proficient L2 readers during reading the texts that vary in degree of cohesion. To describe readers' approaches to text cohesion and also recognize readers' perceptions of their own process, the study used a close observation of reading processes of nine highly proficient graduate students at a U.S. university with the use of qualitative research methods. The students participated in two interviews - pre-reading interview and post-reading cognitive interview - and two think-aloud verbal protocol sessions. Participants read one high-cohesive and one low-cohesive text during the think-aloud sessions, and then shared the meaning they constructed from the texts and also their thinking about the texts. The data from the instruments were analyzed qualitatively using a grounded theory approach. The results of the study reveal that the readers' meaning representation processes emerging as the result of reader and text interaction display differences at the local and global levels of processing of the high- and low-cohesive text. The processing differences between the readers are most apparent in texts with low text cohesion. The low cohesive text allowed the readers, especially, the creators of meaning, to conduct more elaborative processing compared to their performance with the high-cohesive one, in which all readers attempted to create a catalogue of facts trusting the explicitly provided text cohesion features. These results have implications for theories of text processing as well as the design of materials and instruction used for advanced L2 readers and lower level L2 readers.
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Sörensen, Susanne. "In Splendid Isolation : A Deconstructive Close-Reading of a Passage in Janet Frame's "The Lagoon"." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för humaniora (HUM), 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-6090.
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In reading the literary criticism on Janet Frame's work it soon turns out that Frame was deconstructive before the concept was even invented. Thus, deconstruction is used in this essay to close-read a passage in the title story of her collection of short stories, The Lagoon (1951). The main hierarchical dichotomy of the passage is found to be the one between "the sea" and "the lagoon," in which the sea is proven to hold supremacy. "The sea" is read as an image of the great sea of English literary/cultural reference whereas "the lagoon" is read as an image of the vulnerably interdependent, peripheral pool of it, in the form of New Zealand literary/cultural reference. Through this symbolic and post-colonial reading the hierarchical dichotomy between "the sea" and "the lagoon" is deconstrued and reversed. In the conclusion, a post-colonial trace of Maori influence displaces the oppositional relation between "the sea" and "the lagoon."
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Tinsley, Maureen. "A Professional Learning Community Design: Using Close Reading Techniques to Improve the U.S. History Comprehension." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2014. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/6369.
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This dissertation in practice presents a research-based model for staff development utilizing the elements of a professional learning community. The focus of this problem of practice was determined through an analysis of one high school's reading data indicating that 36% of the student body was reading below grade level according to the state assessment test for reading. Researchers have noted that reading demands for college and careers have increased (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011; Barton, 2000; Common Core State Standards, 2014). If students do not develop reading proficiency to graduate with a high school diploma, they are at risk of limited career choices without college and possible unemployment. Drawing upon a review of related literature in reading education, adolescent literacy, disciplinary literacy, and staff development, a professional learning community model was proposed to address improvement in teacher capacity by demonstrating the knowledge, dispositions, and skills of pedagogical knowledge of the Common Core State Standards (Florida Department of Education, Language Arts Florida Standards, 2014) and the use of close reading techniques to increase reading comprehension of U.S. History students. This design utilizes the five elements of the DuFour (2010) model of a professional learning community including (a) focus of learning; (b) collaborative culture; (c) collaborative inquiry; (d) commitment to continuous improvement; and (e) results oriented mindset. A logic model further delineates the priorities, program plan, and intended outcomes for the implementation of this model.Ed.D.
Doctorate
Education and Human Performance
Education
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De, Wet Daniël Paulus. "Wisdom and Ubuntu : a close reading of Proverbs 1-9 in dialogue with African Ubuntu." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50548.
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Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2005ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate that a dialogue can be established between wisdom in Proverbs 1 - 9 and ubuntu. This dialogue becomes evident from a close reading of Proverbs 1 - 9 and from a study of the correspondence between the worldviews found in ancient Israel and Africa respectively. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu is a Zulu saying that has its equivalent in nearly every sub- Saharan culture. Briefly, it translates to: "A human being is a human being because of (other) human beings." This points to a uniquely African view of human beings. This communal emphasis is also found within the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. The sages of the Old Testament attach great importance to harmony in the community and strongly emphasise obedience to wisdom as a way of accomplishing this harmony. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu is especially challenging from an academic point of view. On the one hand, wisdom highlights valuable aspects of African ways of life, principles and ideas that are often overlooked or ignored. On the other hand, ubuntu holds the promise of a nonwestern tradition that has been misread and marginalised in history, but that is reclaiming its place. A close reading is used to interpret the particular words, images and organisation of the scenes or passages in Proverbs 1 - 9. The interaction between the worldviews of ancient Israel and Africa leads us to further conclusions, identifying gaps in our knowledge and pointing to directions that could be followed in hermeneutics of which scholars have been unaware up to now. It also helps to sharpen the focus on wisdom by suggesting new perspectives of interpretation. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu leads us to fresh, exciting insights and a deeper understanding of issues that are of central concern in the field of wisdom theology research. In Proverbs 1 - 9, wisdom theology is redefined from an ubuntu perspective. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu thus leads us to a new development within wisdom theology. It helps us appreciate the new emphasis on communality. This does not happen in isolation. i1Ji1' m~tl'is identified as the primal source of wisdom. It must be regarded, however, in combination with the emphasis on living in communion with others. The essence of the new understanding - an existential understanding of wisdom - leads us towards appreciating the interrelatedness between human beings. Creation theology can be understood as deed/consequence theology, where the intimate relationship between experiencing divine awe and living in communion with others becomes evident. The dialogue between wisdom and ubuntu redefines the deed/consequence or causality aspect of wisdom theology as the "goal" of the wise. It is not the aim of this dissertation to copy some previously developed theological approach from one context into another, but rather to stimulate creative hermeneutical thinking with regard to African views on Old Testament wisdom literature. In this study we come to the conclusion that Afrocentric hermeneutics has the potential to be more responsive to the context of the Old Testament wisdom literature than Western theological exegesis has been.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die oogmerk van hierdie proefskrif is om aan te dui dat daar 'n dialoog bestaan tussen wysheid in Spreuke I - 9 in die Ou Testament en die Afrikakonsep ubuntu. Hierdie dialoog word duidelik wanneer 'n mens Spreuke 1 - 9 noukeurig lees en wanneer jy die ooreenkomste bestudeer tussen die verskillende wereldbeelde wat in antieke Israel en Afrika aangetrefword. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu is 'n Zoeloegesegde waarvoor gelyksoortige begrippe in feitlik elke Afrikakultuur suid van die Sahara bestaan. Dit kan vertaal word as: "'n Mens is 'n mens as gevolg van (ander) mense." Dit dui op 'n unieke Afrika-wereldbeeld. Hierdie klem op die lewe in gemeenskap vind ons ook in die wysheidsliteratuur van die Ou Testament. Die Ou-Testamentiese wysheidsleraars heg groot waarde aan harmonie binne die gemeenskap en rig 'n sterk appel tot gehoorsaamheid aan die wysheid om harmonie te bewerkstellig. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu bied 'n groot uitdaging veral vanuit 'n akademiese perspektief. Aan die een kant beklemtoon wysheid talle waardevolle aspekte van die Afrikaleefwyse, -beginsels en -idees wat dikwels misgekyk word. Aan die ander kant kry die konsep ubuntu sy regmatige plek binne die verstaan van 'n niewesterse tradisie wat dikwels in die verlede gemarginaliseer is. 'n Noukeurige lees van die teks van Spreuke 1 - 9 word gebruik om sekere begrippe en parafrases beter te verstaan. Die interaksie tussen die wereldbeelde van antieke Israel en Afrika lei daartoe dat nuwe denkrigtings in die hermeneutiek, wat tot op hede nog nie ontgin is nie, geidentifiseer word. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu bied dus aan navorsers 'n instrument om Spreuke 1 - 9 vanuit 'n nuwe hermeneutiese perspektief te lees. Die interaksie tussen die verskillende wereldbeelde van antieke Israel en Afrika lei tot verdere konklusies; leemtes in ons verstaan en vertolking word byvoorbeeld uitgewys. Verder bied dit nuwe perspektiewe op die veld van die interpretasie van wysheid. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu lei tot nuwe, opwindende insig en 'n beter verstaan van kwessies wat binne die navorsing oor wysheidsteologie van belang is. Die wysheidsteologie in Spreuke I - 9 word geherdefinieer vanuit 'n ubuntu-perspektief. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu lei dus tot 'n nuwe ontwikkeling binne die wysheidsteologie. Dit stel ons in staat om die k1em op gemeenskaplikheid beter te verstaan. Hierdie nuwe verstaan vind egter nie in isolasie plaas nie. i1VPn~rl' is steeds die vertrekpunt vir die verstaan van wysheid. Die bogenoemde dialoog kan beter verstaan word deur die klem wat gele word op die lewe in gemeenskap met andere. Die kern van hierdie nuwe verstaan - 'n eksistensiele verstaan van wysheid - bring in ons 'n groter bewuswording van die onderlinge verbondenheid tussen mense. Skeppingsteologie kan verstaan word as oorsaak/gevolg-teologie, waar die noue verhouding tussen ontsag vir God en lewe in verbondenheid met andere duidelik word. Die dialoog tussen wysheid en ubuntu herdefinieer die oorsaaklgevolg- of kousaliteitsaspek van wysheidsteologie as die "doel" van die wysheidsleraar. Die doel van hierdie proefskrif is nie om 'n teologiese benadering vanuit een konteks op 'n ander een van toepassing te maak nie, maar eerder om kreatiewe hermeneutiese denke te stimuleer aangaande Afrikaperspektiewe op Ou-Testamentiese wysheidsliteratuur. Deur hierdie studie kom ons tot die gevolgtrekking dat Afrosentriese hermeneutiek die potensiaal het om 'n beter verstaan tot die konteks van Ou- Testamentiese wysheidsliteratuur te bied as wat Westerse teologiese eksegese kon.
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Forner, Naama Silverman. "Para ver os gnomos - close reading no romance \'O beijo de Esaú\' por Meir Shalev." Universidade de São Paulo, 2012. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8152/tde-04072012-151850/.
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O objetivo deste trabalho é sugerir uma análise detalhada do romance Essav (Esaú) pelo autor israelense Meir Shalev. O romance foi publicado em 1991, e é essencialmente uma espécie de saga, que transmite a história de algumas gerações de uma família judia, desde os primeiros dias da colonização sionista na terra de Israel. Meir Shalev começou a escrever no final dos anos oitenta e pertence à geração pós-modernista. Sua escrita mostra influências das características de seu tempo. Mesmo assim, ainda podemos detectar em seu trabalho tendências modernistas que estão sendo manifestadas na busca de encontrar um sentido para a vida e na tentativa de representar sua complexidade. A metodologia da análise detalhada do romance se baseia em várias fontes teóricas: a primeira é Close Reading, um termo cunhado por Richards, um dos líderes da escola nova crítica. O procedimento desta leitura é focar atentamente nas palavras escritas, na tentativa de descobrir e descrever todos os efeitos de suas relações linguísticas. Outra fonte metodológica é o ensaio famoso de Roland Barthes e sua afirmação de que o autor está morto. A morte do autor permite o nascimento do leitor que pode assumir novas autoridades para com o texto na frente dele. O \"dialogismo\" de Bakhtin fornece uma outra base teórica importante. Segundo esta teoria, qualquer expressão verbal provoca relações intertextuais com muitos outros discursos. Desde o romance Essav é rico em alusões e citações da Bíblia e da literatura ocidental, a intertextualidade é igualmente uma ferramenta interpretativa importante. A análise do romance começa com uma tentativa de descobrir os princípios que organizam a sua estrutura, o que pode parecer uma espécie de colagem ou uma colcha, feita de diferentes ítens que estão ligados sem qualquer orientação distinta. O romance apresenta um conceito de que os acontecimentos históricos são, na verdade, ciclos repetitivos. Uma tentativa de compreender a natureza do tempo é outro tema embutido nele. O romance também trata de questões humanas e as relações entre o homem, a terra e a natureza, elementos que recebem teor mitológico no romance. Estes temas estão também ligados à questão da ideologia sionista e seu impacto sobre a estratificação social das primeiras gerações de assentamento pioneiro. 6 Outros temas derivam da análise dos fundamentos bíblicos no romance, especialmente as histórias sobre o relacionamento e o destino dos gêmeos Jacó e Esaú. Temas centrais adicionais, típicos na poética de Meir Shalev, são aqueles de realização e perda e de relação entre a ficção e a realidade. Este ultimo tema é construído pelo uso massivo de citações e alusões à literatura mundial e por um estilo de narrativa de um trovador. Este estilo rompe a ilusão de realidade, salientando o ato de narrar em si só.The purpose of this work is to suggest a detailed analysis of the novel Esav (Esau) by the Israeli author Meir Shalev. The novel was published in 1991, and is essentially, a type of saga, which conveys the story of four generations of Jewish family starting from the first days of Zionist settlements in the land of Israel. Meir Shalev, who started writing in the late eighties, belongs to the postmodernist generation, and his writing shows influences of the tendencies of his time. Even so, we can still detect in his work, clear modernist trends, which are being manifested in a search for meaning and in portraying the complexity of life. The methodology of the detailed analysis of the novel relies on several theoretical sources: the first is \'close reading, a term coined by Richards, one of the leaders of the new criticism school. The procedure of close reading focuses on the words on the page, in an attempt to discover and describe all the effects of their linguistic relations. Another methodological source is the famous essay of Roland Barthes and his assertion that the author is dead; the death of the author allows the birth of the reader, who can assume new authorities towards the text in front of him. Bakhtins Dialogism provides another important theoretical basis. According to this theory, any verbal utterance provokes intertextual relations with many other utterances. Since the novel Esav is rich with allusions and quotations from the Bible and Western literature, intertextuality is also an important interpretative tool. The analysis of the novel begins with an attempt to uncover the principles that organize its structure, which might appear to be a kind of collage or a quilt, made of different items that are attached together, without any distinct guideline. The novel presents a concept that historical events are actually repeating cycles. An attempt to understand the nature of time is another theme embedded in it. The novel also deals with human relationships and mans attitude to earth and nature, elements that receive a mythological design in the novel. These themes are also connected to the question of Zionist ideology and its impact on the social stratification of the early generations of pioneering settlement. More themes derive from the analysis of the role of the biblical infrastructure of the novel, especially the stories about the relationship and the fate of the twins Jacob and Esau. Other central themes, typical of Meir Shalevs poetics, are those of fulfillment and loss, and the relationship between fiction and reality. The last theme is established by a massive use of quotations and allusions to world-literature and by a narrative style of a troubadour. This style breaks the illusion of reality and thus, emphasizes the act of telling in itself.
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Schleicher, Marianne. "Intertextuality in the tales of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav : a close reading of "Sippurey Ma'asiyot /." Leiden : Brill, 2007. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41083874r.
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Komalesha, H. S. "Issues of identity in Indian English fiction : a close reading of canonical Indian English novels /." Oxford : Peter Lang, 2008. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41328568g.
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Santosuosso, Stefano. "Isabella Andreini spirituale, morale e boschereccia nelle 'Rime' del 1601 : a (dis)close(d) reading." Thesis, University of Reading, 2017. http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/78121/.
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This doctoral research is the first in‒depth and philological assessment of three relevant sections of the collection Rime (Milan: G. Bordone & P. Locarni, 1601) by the actress‒writer Isabella Andreini: the sonetti spirituali, the canzonette morali, and the egloghe boscherecce. The choice of these literary genres responds to the primary need to highlight how well-integrated was Isabella’s multifaceted figure in apparently contrasting milieus: religious, academic and theatrical. The first chapter on the sonetti spirituali (a corpus of twelve sonnets and a madrigal) intends to show, on the one hand, the linguistic contamination of her writing, which draws fully from Holy Scripture, mythology, and vernacular literary sources; on the other hand, Andreini’s deviation from canonized themes and linguistic choices. The chapter devoted to the ten canzonette morali aims at highlighting Andreini’s relationships with her dedicatees, such as well‒known academicians and powerful historical figures. This study will also speculate on poems’ dates of composition and it will re‒examine the position of Gabriello Chiabrera, considered the contriver of the genre by a large number of scholars. The methods and strategies as well as the novelties in Isabella’s egloghe boscherecce will be analysed in the third and final chapter. The inner theatricality of Andreini’s boscherecce will reveal wide‒ranging intertextualities with the tradition of pastoral works (from Sannazaro’s Arcadia to Tasso’s Aminta and Guarini’s Pastor fido) as well as with all the other works written by the poetess (such as the pastoral play Mirtilla; the scenarios for the stage, the Fragmenti; the Lettere; and last but not least, the Rime, in which the boscherecce are included). At the current state of research, no commented edition of the Rime exists. Many valuable contributions and translations recently testify to a burgeoning interest in Isabella, though most of them are focused on her role as an actress/dramatist and musician and not as a poet. This has led to a series of conventional and mistaken judgements on Isabella that have impeded a better understanding of her works and her standing in the Italian Cinquecento, and in the centuries to come. This research will define Isabella Andreini’s poetic style through a philological approach (analysing themes, syntax, rhetorical figures) and hence her literary debts to ancient and modern ‘classics’ such as Virgil, Ovid, Dante, Petrarch and Ariosto, as well as to renowned contemporaries (such as Tasso, Chiabrera, Baldi). The study will also examine inter‒textual connections with Italian female poets of the sixteenth century (e.g. Gambara, Colonna, Stampa, Franco) and the extent to which Andreini’s innovative pre‒baroque compositions in verse and for the stage were received by prominent writers, such as her son, the actor and playwright Giovan Battista Andreini and Giovan Battista Marino. My research also suggests on the basis of inter‒textual links that Giosué Carducci, a well‒known nineteenth‒century poet and an influential critic, was also a reader of Andreini’s work. This study will also provide crucial information about Andreini’s poetic and social relationships, which have not been sufficiently studied to date in the scholarly works on the actress‒poet.
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Hilliard, Emma Caitlin. "A specter is haunting epic : a close reading of the apparition topos in Lucan's Bellum Civile." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/58230.
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In the world of Greek and Latin epic poetry, supernatural apparitions loom large. Traditionally these episodes are sorted into three major topoi: the epic dream topos, the ghost or haunting topos, and the divine messenger topos. However, such categorization denies the complex and highly syncretistic model of ancient thought on supernatural beings. I propose a new “apparition topos” as a more flexible means of interpretation, one which allows space for different types of manifestation more clearly to inform one another. This thesis represents a focused application of the apparition topos. It provides a close reading of the two apparition scenes in Lucan’s Bellum Civile: Julius Caesar’s vision of Roma at the Rubicon (1.183–205) and the haunting of Pompey the Great by his wife, Julia (3.1–35). Central to the study is Lucan’s complicated relationship with Virgil, Latin literature’s most important epicist, and the interplay between Lucan’s specters and the ghosts and gods of the Aeneid is the primary concern of the text. Special attention is given to features of language, such as sentence structure and syntax, diction, and parallels of phrasing (both intratextual and intertextual). The findings provide a more nuanced understanding of Lucan’s epic and demonstrate the merits of applying a new, holistic way of looking at epic apparitions, subsuming ghosts, dreams, and gods as related phenomena worthy of close comparison.Arts, Faculty of
Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of
Graduate
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Jordan, Damon. "Educators' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Strategies to Close the Reading Achievement Gap of Black Boys." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2017. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/479831.
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Educational AdministrationEd.D.
The Crumpton School District (CSD) is a high performing school district in suburban Philadelphia that has expended a great deal of energy and work to close gaps in the achievement of its Black students. Despite these efforts, 2016 standardized test data reflect a reading achievement gap of 28 percentage points for Black boys attending four of the CSD schools with the largest percent of Black boys enrolled. This qualitative study was designed to provide the CSD with implications for practice to continue and improve its work related to increasing the reading achievement of Black boys. More specifically, this study examined educators’ perceptions of the effectiveness of strategies and conditions in place to close the reading achievement gap of third grade Black boys. This study also examined the roles of CSD administrators in their efforts and plans for closing the reading achievement gap of third grade Black boys. Individual interviews of 11 third grade teachers, seven reading specialists, four special education teachers, four curriculum specialists, three principals, one assistant principal, one supervisor of special education, and one supervisor of communication arts, as well as the review of principal’s school improvement plans and goals, were the sources of the qualitative data. Detailed analyses of the qualitative data collected provided recommendations for teachers and educators of CSD to improve the manner by which they provide Black boys with equitable opportunities to achieve in the area of reading. These recommendations, hopefully, could benefit similarly situated districts in the state and nation.
Temple University--Theses
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Richardson, Lisa Kathryn. "The Enactment of Literacy Learning Practices: A Close Reading of Julius Caesar by High School English Language Learners." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/312498.
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The purpose of this qualitative case study is to describe how students' talk unfolded during literacy learning experiences in an English Language Development (ELD) classroom of students in grades 9-12. NAEP data indicates that "less than 10 percent of 17 year olds, regardless of race/ethnicity or SES, are able to comprehend complex texts" (Lee & Spratley, 2010, p. 2 ). And if we look at the literacy practices of secondary school students in general, despite increasing attention on adolescents' literacy practices, there continues to be compelling evidence that there is little to no growth in literacy proficiencies in high school (Lee, 1995).This ten-week study was conducted using ethnographic methods of data collection to develop deeper understandings of students' literacy practices and participation as students of literature. Data for this study included classroom observations, which were analyzed using constant comparative analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) and discourse analysis (Gee, 2005). The students in this study were all students for whom English was an additional language and who attended high school in a mid-size urban high school in the southwest. Data included 20 class periods of video clips. Findings indicated that students engaged in specific literacy practices during these small group interactions. Students' talk indicated that their practices included: metacognitive awareness and conversation, cognitive strategy use, and persistence with difficult text. This study extends the research by providing an illustration of what students do when they are offered the opportunity to make meaning of challenging text.
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Meurling, Frida. "She's the Man : A Close Reading of Gender in The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-49211.
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This essay focuses on gender behaviour in The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West. The claim for this essay argues that West has changed the traditional gender roles in her novel by giving female characters masculine attributes and the male character feminine attributes. The theoretical framework provides a comparison of how West’s gender construction in her novel differs from older literature. The comparison is carried out by providing examples from two novels from the nineteenth century, in which we can see how men and women could be portrayed. The theoretical framework also discusses feminist theories by Toril Moi, masculinity studies by Alex Hobbs, and typical gender stereotypes according to Jeff Hearn. These theories are used to analyse how the characters’ gender behaviour is affected by social factors and how West deviates from the traditional construction of gender roles.
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Fleer, David. "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s reformation of sources : a close rhetorical reading of his compositional strategies and arrangement /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8200.
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Youdale, Roy. "Translating literary style : close and distant reading in the translation of Gracias por el Fuego by Mario Benedetti." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2017. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.738225.
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Holmlind, Ann-Louise. "The Adopted Daughter of Africa : A Close Reading of Joyce in Crossing the River from Postcolonial and Feminist Perspectives." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-35935.
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Abstract The aim of this essay is to explain why Caryl Phillips presents Joyce as "the adopted daughter of Africa" at the end of Crossing the River (1993). This will be done by performing a close reading. This essay will focus on Joyce’s actions and behaviour. Aspects of feminism and postcolonial theory will act as the theoretic basis for the analysis. The analysis of Joyce’s character will be put in relation to the whole of Phillips’ “Black Atlantic” narrative and to gender and third wave feminist theories. The analysis will show that Joyce, by breaking racial norms, renouncing her faith, defying her mother, divorcing her husband, and falling in love with Travis, is the person who defines hope in the novel. Her character, together with her son Greer, shows a path to reconciliation between races in the aftermath of colonialism.
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Sperens, Jenny. "Yeats, Myth and Mythical Method : A Close Reading of the Representations of Celtic and Catholic Mythology in “The Wanderings of Oisin”." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för språkstudier, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-85074.
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“The Wanderings of Oisin” was published in 1889 and is one of W.B Yeats’ earliest poems and is the main focus for this essay. The poem depicts the duality of Irish identity and the transition from one system of belief to another. This essay will demonstrate that W.B Yeats uses Celtic and Catholic mythology in “The Wanderings of Oisin” in order to reflect his contemporary Ireland. The essay begins with a deifintion and a discussion about the words 'myth' and 'mythical method'. The second part of the essay describes the depiction of Celtic and Catholic mythology in “The Wanderings of Oisin” and the connection to late nineteenth century Ireland. The first section presents information on Irish nineteenth-century history and the second section focuses on five parallels to Yeats' contemporary society: The vitality of Celtic mythological beings, the depiction of Oisin as mediator, the sense of loss regarding Irish culture, the juxtaposition of Celtic and Catholic and the ambivalence that follows in a society where two conflicting mythologies coexist and compete. The main body of arguments discusses these parallels between Yeats’ portrayal of Celtic mythology and nineteenth century Ireland and shows that "The Wanderings of Oisin" reflects Yeats' contemporary Irish society.
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Mwilu, Lwanga Racheal. "Framing the foreigner : a close reading of readers' comments on Thought leader blogs on xenophobia published between May and June, 2008." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002927.
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This study was conducted to identify and analyse Mail and Guardian Online moderation outputs which contradicted the platform‟s own stated policy on hate speech and other forms of problematic speech. The moderation outputs considered were a battery of readers‟ comments that were posted in response to Thought Leader blogs on xenophobia published between May and June, 2008. This was the same period a series of xenophobic attacks was taking place in some parts of South Africa, leaving an estimated 62 people dead, more than 30,000 displaced, and countless victims injured and robbed of their property. The attacks were a catalytic moment that enabled a whole range of discursive positions to be articulated, defended, contested and given form in the media. They also made visible the potential tensions between free speech on the one hand, and hate and other problematic speech on the other. Using qualitative methods of thematic content analysis, document review, individual interviews, and an eclectic approach of framing analysis and rhetorical argumentation, this study found instances of divergence between the M&G policy and practice on User Generated Content. It found that some moderator-approved content advocated hate, hatred, hostility, incitement to violence and/or harm, and unfair discrimination against foreign residents, contrary to the M&G policy which is informed by the constitutional provisions in both section 16 of the Bill of Rights and section 10 of the Equality Act. Based on examples in the readers‟ comments of how „the foreigner‟ was made to signify unemployment, poverty, disease, unfair competition, and all manner of deprivation, and bearing in mind how such individuals have also become a site for the violent convergence of different unresolved tensions in the country, the study‟s findings argue that the M&G – a progressive paper dealing with a potentially xenophobic readership (at least a portion of it) – should have implemented its policy on acceptable speech more effectively. The study also argues that the unjustifiable reference to foreigners as makwerekwere, illegals, illegal aliens, parasites, invaders and border jumpers, among other terms, assigned them a diminished place – that of unwanted foreigner – thereby reproducing the order of discourse that utilises nationality as a space for the expurgation of the „other‟. The study argues that the use of bogus (inflated) immigration statistics and repeated reference to the foreigners‟ supposedly parasitic relationship to the country‟s resources also unfairly constructed them as the „threatening other‟ and potentially justified action against them.
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Clopton, Kay Krystal. "Coffee And Infidelity: A Feminist Close Reading of Yoshizumi Wataru’s Cappuccino as Scanlation in The Context of New Media." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306868620.
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Molz, Johannes [Verfasser], and Helge [Akademischer Betreuer] Nowak. "A close and distant reading of Shakespearean intertextuality : towards a mixed method approach for literary studies / Johannes Molz ; Betreuer: Helge Nowak." München : Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1210861704/34.
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PAVETTO, BARBARA. "Così lontano così vicino. Una proposta di lettura “a media distanza”dell’opera poetica di Lucian Blaga." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Genova, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11567/1047297.
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The aim of my research is to propose an analysis of the poetic corpus of Lucian Blaga (1985-1961) that takes its cue from the concepts of close reading (i.e. the "classical" intuitive and stylistic-qualitative analysis of a literary text) and of distant reading, a research path that instead of the close analysis of a single text (or of restricted groups of texts) favors the global and "distanced" vision offered by the study of literature as a phenomenon of "great numbers". Focusing the attention to such a macro-level of interpretation means using concordances, frequency tables, lists, classifications, collocations, literary corpora and the like, in order to obtain a mid-distance reading, which combines the potential offered by digital analysis with the exegetical skills of the human researcher. This reading makes use of the tools offered by Corpus Stylistics, which aims to bridge the gap between corpus linguistics and literary studies. These methodologies, and in general the digital approach to the study of literature, are currently very rarely applied to Romanian literature, and although Blaga himself is one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century, in recent decades there has been less and less critical attention towards his work. Therefore, starting from the objective points obtained thanks to the quantitative digital analysis, subjective critical reflections were constructed, which had the purpose of confirming or expanding the previous studies of literary criticism on Blaga’s poetry, carried out using close reading methods.
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Sturesson, Emma. ""Ska vi skriva bokrecension sen, eller?" : En studie om arbete med läsförståelse på högstadiet." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för utbildningsvetenskap (UV), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-65999.
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The aim of the study is to investigate how theories of close reading and literature conversations can be used in the practice of teaching. As a way to achieve insight into this, I have applied the method of action research to study different strategies for reading comprehension. Action research is a suitable method to acquire knowledge about one’s own work for purposes of development. The result indicates that a classroom where more than one voice can be heard and where different forms of conversation can be represented can further the pupils’ experience of and engagement in the teaching. The pupils’ evaluations allow me to draw the conclusion that the methods by which I worked – close reading, whole-class discussions and group discussions, and individual writing – appear to have had a positive effect on the development of the pupils’ reading comprehension.
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Jänicke, Stefan [Verfasser], Gerik [Akademischer Betreuer] Scheuermann, Gerik [Gutachter] Scheuermann, and Hans [Gutachter] Hagen. "Close and Distant Reading Visualizations for the Comparative Analysis of Digital Humanities Data / Stefan Jänicke ; Gutachter: Gerik Scheuermann, Hans Hagen ; Betreuer: Gerik Scheuermann." Leipzig : Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1239738889/34.
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Olsson, Simon. "Gotik och komik -En diskussion om genre." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-71930.
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This bachelor thesis discusses the concept of genre and the comic Gothic. It is an attempt to demonstrate the conflicts rooted in "genre" by discussing several scholars, such as Alistair Fowler and Mattias Fyhr with their works Kinds of Literature and De mörka labyrinterna respectively, and then problematise the "Gothic" as a genre and as a concept. Thus Avril Horner’s and Sue Zlosnik’s work Gothic and the Comic Turn is consulted through the discussion. The questions I ask are the following: What is a literary genre? How is the comic Gothic described by the researchers, and how does comic Gothic work in A. Lee Martinez’ novel Gil’s All Fright Diner (2005)? How can one use these questions in the classroom? The used methods in the thesis are genre analysis and close reading. I conclude that genre is a way to understand the relationship between a literary work and various conventions, such as environment and its contemporaries. Genre is also a tool for the reader to understand the traditions, history and other works the read text is related to. The comic inside the Gothic may appear and is as natural to the genre as horror and terror, since the Gothic is always close to self-parody. This can even be observed in the first Gothic novel, Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1764). Furthermore, Gil’s All Fright Diner uses both the repertoire of classic Gothic and Horner’s and Zlosnik’s findings of the comic turn in the Gothic. Finally, the question regarding the definition of literary genre can be used in the classroom to widen students’ views on both genre itself and the prose they read. The comic Gothic can be used as an example on how genre can appear in different modes. Gil’s All Fright Diner is a thankful text for classroom readings due to its comic and gothic nature, and its contemporary language, themes and styles can make it relatable to students. There is therefore a potential in the concept of genre and the comic Gothic as subjects of discussion in the classroom.
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Gaudern, Mia Rose. "The etymological poetry of W.H. Auden, J.H. Prynne, and Paul Muldoon." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3402e823-5179-4f72-97f9-cb428afe6784.
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This thesis investigates the roles played by etymology in the work of three late modernist poet-critics: W. H. Auden, J. H. Prynne, and Paul Muldoon. The relationship between poetry and etymology has a long history, but the advent of modern linguistics at the beginning of the twentieth century brought about a change in this relationship. Structuralism developed a more comprehensive condemnation of the etymological fallacy – the view that historical forms and meanings are relevant to current ones - that both isolated etymology as an abstract field of study and undermined its scientific validity. One reaction to this state of affairs has been to re-evaluate etymological discourse itself as poetic or rhetorical. But it is the tension created by what Paula Blank has called 'the quasi-disciplinarity of etymological desire' that motivates Auden, Prynne, and Muldoon's concerns with linguistic historicity. Etymological poetry encourages, even necessitates, very close reading. While this thesis accepts the challenge to read arguably too closely, it also examines the limits of such an approach and its implications for the relationship between poetry and criticism. The first three chapters consider how Auden, Prynne, and Muldoon invoke etymologies in their own criticism, and how etymology affects the ways their poetry may be said to communicate. The second three develop these analyses into new interpretations of commonly debated aspects of their work: Auden's landscape poetry, Prynne's lyricism, and Muldoon's onomastics. It is argued that the fact of obsolescence is key to the etymological poetic; obsolete forms and meanings make poetry difficult, but in the process they intimate that a truer way of representing the world may be (re)discovered. All three poet-critics confront and absorb the consequences of etymological obscurity. Their preoccupation with the history of words is self-consciously and unavoidably pedantic, and it is this pedantry that plays the most significant role in the poetic power they accord to etymology.
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Kelly, William Lawrence. "How prophecy works : a study of the semantic field of נביא and a close reading of Jeremiah 1.4–19, 23.9–40 and 27.1–28.17." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/23433.
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There is a longstanding scholarly debate on the nature of prophecy in ancient Israel. Until now, no study has based itself on the semantics of the Hebrew lexeme nābîʾ (‘prophet’). In this investigation, I discuss the nature and function of prophecy in the corpus of the Hebrew book of Jeremiah. I analyse all occurrences of nābîʾ in Jeremiah and perform a close reading of three primary texts, Jeremiah 1.4–19, 23.9–40 and 27.1–28.17. The result is a detailed explanation of how prophecy works, and what it meant to call someone a nābîʾ in ancient Israel. Chapter one introduces the work and surveys the main trends in the research literature on prophecy. First I describe scholarly constructs and definitions of the phenomenon of prophecy. I then survey contemporary debates over the meaning of nābîʾ and the problem of ‘false’ prophecy. I also describe the methods, structure, corpus and aims of the investigation. In part one, I take all the occurrences of the lexeme nābîʾ in Jeremiah and analyse its relations to other words (syntagmatics and paradigmatics). For nābîʾ, the conceptual fields of communication and worship are significant. There is also a close semantic relation between nābîʾ and kōhēn (‘priest’). Part two analyses prophecy in the literary context of three key texts. Chapter three is a close reading of Jeremiah 1.4–19. Chapter four is a close reading of Jeremiah 23.9–40. Chapter five is a close reading of Jeremiah 27.1–28.17. In my analysis I situate these passages in the wider context of an ancient cultural worldview on divine communication. This brings to light the importance of legitimacy and authority as themes in prophecy. Chapter six concludes the work. I combine the results of the semantic analysis and close readings with conclusions for six main areas of study: (1) the function and nature of prophecy; (2) dreams and visions; (3) being sent; (4) prophets, priests and cult; (5) salvation and doom; and (6) legitimacy and authority. These conclusions explain the conceptual categories related to nābîʾ in the corpus. I then situate these findings in two current debates, one on the definition of nābîʾ and one on cultic prophecy. This thesis contributes to critical scholarship on prophecy in the ancient world, on the book of Jeremiah, and on prophets in ancient Israel. It is the first major study to analyse nābîʾ based on its semantic associations. It adds to a growing consensus which understands prophecy as a form of divination. Contrary to some trends in Jeremiah scholarship, this work demonstrates the importance of a close reading of the Masoretic (Hebrew) text. This study uses a method of a general nature which can be applied to other texts. Thus there are significant implications for further research on prophecy and prophetic literature.
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Signell, Andreas. "The Postmodern self in Thomas Pynchon's the Crying of Lot 49 : Dismantling the unified self by a combination of postmodern philosophy and close reading." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-21255.
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Abstract This essay is about identity and the self in Thomas Pynchon's critically acclaimed masterpiece The Crying of Lot 49. Through a combination of postmodern philosophy and close reading, it examines instances of postmodernist representations of identity in the novel. The essay argues that Pynchon is dismantling the idea of a unified self and instead argues for and presents a postmodern take on identity in its place. Questions asked by the essay are: in what ways does Pynchon criticize the idea of a unified self? What alternatives to this notion does Pynchon present? The essay is split into six chapters, an introductory section followed by a background on Thomas Pynchon and the novel. This is followed by an in-depth look into postmodernism, and Ludwig Wittgenstein's importance for it, as well as the basic concepts of his philosophy. This is followed by the main analysis in which a myriad of segments and quotations from the novel are looked at. Lastly, this is followed by a summarizing conclusion. The essay assumes a postmodernist approach of not being a definitive answer; rather it is one voice among many in the community of Pynchon interpreters. The conclusion shows that the examples given in the analysis present a range of answers as to how Pynchon dismantles the self, and what alternatives he presents in its wake. Pynchon explores the Cartesian ego, Lacanian other, Freudian ego and postmodernist alternatives in the novel, and presents in postmodern fashion, a multitude of answers as to how he dismantles the idea of a unified self in the novel.
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Adams, Daniel Clayton. "The formation of the prisoner-theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer: a close reading of Letters and papers from prison, from April 5,1943 to July 20, 1944." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13649.
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This thesis seeks to take Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prison experience seriously as a spiritually and theologically formative journey through liminal displacement. Using the anthropological theory of liminality as a lens for analysis, it offers a close reading of Bonhoeffer’s prison writings, examining the porous nature of the sociocultural and metaphorical boundaries of the prison space as expressed in notes, letters, essays, prayers, poetry, and theological letters. In doing so, the thesis suggests that Bonhoeffer’s dramatic transition into the prison space results in an “inbetween- ness” (Palmer et al. 2009) that suspends the prisoner “betwixt and between” (Turner 1967) light and dark, inside and outside, above and below, sacred and profane space, dislocation and located-ness, suffering and hope, life and death. Chronologically examining distinct phases of liminality – separation, transition, anticipation – the study shows a cumulatively transformative movement in which the prisoner is drawn ever more deeply into the reality of his own life, and an ever increasing relationality with others, with God, and with the suffering of those who inhabit the view from below. It is observed that by taking an active role in navigating liminality, Bonhoeffer encounters multiple turning points at the heart of betwixt space, which break up “default modes of perception,” (Wannenwetsch 2012) transforming the prison cell into a privileged place of insight that ultimately catalyses a transformative new vision of reality and the Christian life. Within liminality the borderlines and boundaries of the prison space remain just porous enough to create the possibility for alternative ways of viewing reality. Through theological, poetic, and polyphonic anticipation, Bonhoeffer risks imaginative resolve by reframing liminality as a Gethsemane-like displacement, stations on the way to freedom, and participation in the polyphonic nature of life. In it is concluded that Bonhoeffer’s prison experience represents a uniquely formative space in which he was drawn into participation in the life, sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ.
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Ringby, Anna. "Håkan, var du bättre förr? : En textanalytisk studie med fokus på utvalda texter av Håkan Hellström." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för musik och bild (MB), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-69904.
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Denna uppsats är en textanalytisk studie som studerar artisten Håkan Hellströms låttexter. Texterna i fokus är från två olika album från olika delar av hans karriär. Detta i syftet att utifrån tematiken, influenserna och den klingande texten visa vad texterna representerar i olika delar av Hellströms liv. Metoderna som har använts vid analys av texterna har utgått från begreppen närläsning, fonotext och intertextualitet där närlyssning och närläsning har varit den huvudsakliga metoden för att få fram material ur texterna. Konklusionerna av denna studie är att Hellström skildrar ämnen i respektive album som är relevanta för den aktuella plats i livet han är i samt att metoderna i låtskrivandet har visat sig sammanfattningsvis vara att använda liknande metaforer för att beskriva olika ämnen, intertextualitet används som en konstnärlig metod och att Hellströms karaktäristiska bräckliga röst är den huvudsakliga kärnan i förmedlandet av texterna.
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Jonsson, Natasha. "Emma Woodhouse, Handsome, Clever, and Rich... and Bisexual? : a study of attraction and impossible things in Jane Austen's Emma." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för kultur och samhälle, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-176605.
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Zampini, Tania. "Melancholy and the modern consciousness of Francesco Petrarca : a close reading of melancholy, acedia, and love-sickness in the Secretum, De Remediis Utriusque Fortunae and Canzoniere." Thesis, McGill University, 2008. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=116010.
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The most important classical Greek heroes were believed to suffer from a physical, mental, and spiritual illness shown negatively to alter their general state of being. Attributed to an excess of black bile in the body, the earliest documented form of this ailment came to be known as "melancholy;" paramount among its effects was the emergence of a severely split being sincerely pursuing Virtue, yet markedly susceptible to the Passions that threatened to veer him off his course.In the Middle Ages, traces of melancholy are found in the sin of acedia still today considered a rather "medieval" vice. Globally defined as a state of "general apathy," acedia was believed more egregiously to affect solitary religious figures devoted to prayer. The dawn of Humanism in Western Europe, however, saw this notion extended to the more general scholar, and featured as (arguably) its first protagonist, 14 th-century humanist Francesco Petrarca.
The manifestations of this malady pervade his oeuvre as a whole: repeatedly in his immense repertoire, Petrarch - at least in his proliferation of an artistic or lyrical "io" or self--surfaces as a fragmented if not strictly binary figure both tormented by his incumbent passions and resolutely determined to overcome them. Petrarch's often autobiographical figures are ruled by conflicting inner forces which leave them paralysed, indecisive, and helpless before Fortune, in a new position foreshadowing the anthropocentric and, to a degree, "bipartite" "modernity" soon to flood the continent.
Through a close reading of three of his most celebrated texts - the Secretum, De Remediis Utriusque Fortunae, and the Canzoniere, this study will seek to posit Petrarch as a fundamentally melancholic and "accidioso" writer whose condition of internal and social rupture more generally speaks to the emerging "crisis of modernity" which he perhaps first sets to the center stage of his period.
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Nesje, Pernille. "Representing the past in the present with the future in mind : a close reading of the ‘Cell Stories’ exhibition at the Robben Island Museum." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13925.
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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-98).Robben Island was declared a museum with the understanding that it should not embody the suffering and adversity of the maximum-security prison, rather it should celebrate 'the triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil' (Kathrada 1996:10-11; see also Deacon 1998: 163; Deacon 2000: 1; Coetzee et al. 1998: 10; Solani2000b: 6; Coombes 2003: 58) . Thus, the triumph narrative has become prevalent at the Robben Island Museum. This dissertation seeks to undertake a close reading of the 'Cell Stories' exhibition at Robben Island Museum, in order to explore if the exhibition has created a counter narrative to the dominant triumph narrative. The exhibition was established in 1999 and it consists of 38 cells in section A in Robben Island's previous maximum security prison, and visitors interact with the exhibition through a self-guided tour. In each cell there is a photograph of one of the ex-political prisoners, a locker which holds an object, a label explaining the object to a certain extent, an extract of an interview with the former political prisoners, and occasionally an intercom through which you can listen to the prisoner himself talking about a certain aspect of his experience at the Robben Island maximum security prison. It was set up in order to showcase other histories of former political prisoners and life on Robben Island, attempting to counter the triumph narrative.
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Rydberg, Anette. ""... som om varje tonfall bävade av dold rörelse..." : Om debutsamlingen Från Skåne av Victoria Benedictsson ur ett maskulinitetsperspektiv." Thesis, Södertörns högskola, Institutionen för genus, kultur och historia, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-5664.
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The aim of this essay is to examine how men is portrayed in three short stories, ”En omvändelsehistoria”, ”Far och son” and ”Jeppa”, from the debut Från Skåne by Victoria Benedictsson. I also investigate the ideas of masculinity during the 1880s. Unmanliness, paternity and manly tears are other concepts that I have been examining with close–reading as the method. The essay begins with a short recap of the earlier research about Benedictsson. Her debut as well as the perspective of masculinity on the work of female authors has been almost ignored by the academic sphere and my aim was to do something about it. Firstly, I discuss unmanliness in the peasant culture, secondly, paternity and absence and thirdly, unmanliness and manly tears. My result shows that the different ideas of masculinity affect the characters in many ways. For example, the elderly in the stories mostly falls down in unmanliness. I have come to the conclusion that the fear of being unmanly urge the men, or the boys, to act manly and follow the ideals.
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Abdulwahab, Hussain. "The return to Darwin in the contemporary British novel : an evolutionary response to postmodernism and social constructivism." Thesis, Brunel University, 2018. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/17034.
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Arguably, the impact of Darwinism on the novel is an indispensable part of the study of English literature. However, with regard to such literary study there is an ongoing aversion towards approaching Darwin outside the confines of his contemporaneous Victorian setting. This thesis explores what remains an extremely under-represented area of current scholarship; namely, the active status of Darwinism as an influence upon contemporary novelists. To address this gap, this study starts by conducting textual and comparative analyses of a representative selection of contemporary British novels, a literary field that, since 1990, has featured significant authors who have found in Darwin a source of intellectual and literary inspiration. The aim is to argue that Darwin's classic texts, and more recent incarnations of his theory such as Sociobiology, are deployed as a materialist discourse, used to subvert various problematic assumptions in the declining Postmodernist philosophy, the previously dominant theoretical paradigm. For novelists including Ian McEwan, A.S. Byatt and Jenny Diski, Darwinism provides the tools to define human nature in an oppositional manner to the Social Constructivism which reduces the human to a blank slate ready for society's dictation. A universal human nature can be seen manifested in biological phenomena including competition, altruism, reproduction and aggression. The treacherous territory of biological determinism is still present, yet the desire to experiment is carried forward by McEwan in Enduring Love and Saturday into the realm of challenging traditional religion. In a more nuanced manner, Jim Crace's Being Dead manages to create a wholly naturalistic narrative of death. Finally, reinstating alterative meta-narratives is a practice that comes fully into its own in contemporary renditions of history. Byatt's Neo-Victorian novels, Possession and Morpho Eugenia, exhibit faith in knowing the past as if it were an evolutionary process of accumulated changes. Moreover, Diski's serio-ironic Monkey's Uncle is focused on how the present is haunted by the past in the form of immortal DNA coils. This study analyses the texts in a manner suggesting a paradigm shift in literary scholarship, where Darwin is no longer seen as simply an ideological threat. As the sciences continue to become more hermeneutically enigmatic, and as literature seems embedded in an elitist Postmodernist trajectory, there is now huge democratic potential in the New Darwinian Novel which invites the everyman of today to participate in the controversies of both disciplines.