Department of Language, Culture & Gender Studies
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Item A critical discourse analysis of Mexican cooking devoted to American homes by Josefina Velazquez de Leon and my Mexico by Diana Kennedy(Aug-23) Haynes, Jacqui Denise 1981-; Lackey, Dundee; Busl, Gretchen; Fehler, BrianThis Ph.D. dissertation employs a critical discourse analysis approach, backed by cultural rhetorics, to evaluate the significance of Mexico's Indigenous people speaking for themselves in discussions surrounding cultural survivance through Indigenous foods and cookbooks. I apply Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional model to My Mexico: A Culinary Odyssey of More Than 300 Recipes by Diana Kennedy and Mexican Cookbook Devoted to American Homes by Josefina Velazquez de Leon, to identify instances of language that demonstrate resistance and survivance, as well as appropriation, in the recovery and representation of Indigenous people's works. This dissertation challenges the widely held belief that Diana Kennedy is the foremost expert on Mexican cuisine by examining introductions, recipes, and interviews by and about both women and documenting language use which counters the preservation and representation of Mexico's Indigenous culture. In doing so, I reiterate that it is Josefina Velazquez de Leon who extensively researched and documented Mexican food before Kennedy and deserves recognition as the pioneer who preserved and represented Mexico and Mexico's Indigenous foods through cookbooks. Despite her significant contributions, Velazquez de Leon remains relatively unknown outside of Mexico, and the lack of visibility and acknowledgment of her work contributes to the erasure of Indigenous people's voices from the conversations about Indigenous foods. By examining the difference between Indigenous people speaking for themselves through their food and cookbooks, compared to an outsider sharing observations of Indigenous people's storied recipes, this research seeks to contribute to ongoing debates about cultural preservation, representation, and agency in Mexico's diverse cultural landscape. The findings of this study will help to shed light on the importance of amplifying the voices of Mexico Indigenous people in discussions surrounding their cultural heritage and reveal how the latter's contributions to the field of Mexican cuisine have been largely overlooked by the mainstream media and food industry.Item A Developmental English shuffle: Analyzing the impact of one Texas community collegeâs shift from multi-level stand-alone offerings to corequisite courses(4/5/2021) Dole, Ivan; Scott, GrayDevelopmental English (DE) has been under fire from critics who think it acts as a barrier rather than as a support to the success of students placing into DE. In Texas, such pressures led to a wave of reforms and changes affecting delivery and structure of DE instruction. This dissertation draws on years of internal data at one community college to explore the impacts of these changes on student success. Overall, DE students found success (68.5%) at the same rate as their college-ready counterparts (64.7%). There was a significant difference between Prerequisite support and Corequisite support (p < .001) with Prerequisite having the greater effect on success. There was also significant difference between Hybrid, Lecture, and Online offerings. Hybrid was found to be the most effective modality and Online the least effective. Additionally, a multiple linear regression predicted a success rate of 93.5% if a DE student took a 16-week, Fall-term, Hybrid freshman composition course with Prerequisite support. While there are limitations and more questions to consider, the studyâs exploratory and quantitative findings offer direct implications for DE faculty, programs, and administrators.Item A qualitative exploration of women-of-color professional academic advisors' perceptions and experiences(7/10/2019) Tamplin, Elia S.; Kessler, MarkWithin higher education institutions and research, Women-of-Colorâs (WOC) professional experiences have become more visible. Yet, the lived experiences of WOC professional academic advisors working in colleges and universities are missing from the literature. WOC advisors are vital to student success as they are mentors, teachers, guides, cheerleaders, stand-in parental figures, role models, and advocates. As well, they are important because they contribute to serving as a mediator and bridge in higher education conversations around supporting and affirming Students of Color. Perhaps uncovering their stories and learning how they can be better supported will allow them to better thrive in their roles on campus and in higher education. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore and make visible the lives and experiences of WOC advisors, while expanding understandings of WOC experiences within the university as a whole. This phenomenological study, inspired by critical-feminist/womanist epistemologies and intersectionality, consists of semi-structured interviews with nine Women-of-Color professional academic advisors. Results contribute significantly to past research that examines the experiences of WOC in the Ivory tower. As well, the results introduce a more focused look at Advisor of Color experiences within academic advising. More specifically, this study contributes detailed information on Women-of-Color professional academic advisors and their experiences, information that can be used to make recommendations that guide advising and institutional best practices and policy.Item A rhetorical analysis of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia(8/31/2018) Joshi, Giribala; Fehler, Brian, 1976-In this thesis, I analyze Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in the framework of Aristotleâs theories of rhetoric. Despite the long-held view that science only deals with brute facts and does not require rhetoric, we learn that science has its own special topics. This study highlights the rhetorical situation of the Principia and Newtonâs rhetorical strategies, emphasizing the belief that scientific facts and theories are also rhetorical constructions. This analysis shows that the credibility of the author and the text, the emotional debates before and after the publication of the text, the construction of logical arguments, and the presentation style makes the book the epitome of scientific writing. Through this analysis, I discover the significance of rhetoric science and how it helps us understand science as a subject and how it can be used for the benefit of society.Item A study of human connections through terministic screens and narrative strategies in selected works of Sarah Orne Jewett(7/28/2021) Lentschke, Leanne; Bridges, PhyllisNineteenth-century American author Sarah Orne Jewett provides a voice for undervalued cultures and illustrates the significance of these cultures in her narratives. This study examines human connections in Jewettâs masterpiece, The Country of the Pointed Firs, and six short stories. A Dunnet Landing story, âThe Foreigner,â three Irish stories, âThe Gray Mills at Farley,â âBold Words at the Bridge,â âA Little Captive Maid,â and two stories that have a setting outside of Maine, âTame Indians,â and âJimâs Little Woman.â Twentieth-century rhetorician Kenneth Burkeâs rhetorical theories of terministic screens and identification are applied to the selected works by Jewett to examine Burkeâs rhetorical theory of terministic screens. Burke asserts that terministic screens are a type of lens made up of terms that select, reflect, and deflect oneâs reality. Consequently, oneâs language is a representation of how one interprets the world. Additionally, this study analyzes the narrative structure in Jewett works through James Phelanâs narrative as rhetoric in which he asserts that âtexts are designed by authors to affect readers in particular ways conveyed through occasions, words, techniques, and structure formsâ (Phelan, Narrative Theory 5); and Wayne Boothâs communication concept of telling and showing. Jewett utilizes various strategies in her narratives to illustrate human connections, which include episodic narrative structures, embedded tales, long quotations, dialect, folkloric elements, and a sense of place. The first chapter of this study includes an introduction to Jewett and the selected works; it further introduces Burkeâs term terministic screens. Chapter two of this study examines the function of folkloric elements in the selected works by Jewett. Chapters three through five examine human connections, terministic screens, identification and division, and narrative strategies utilized by Jewett in the selected works. The study concludes with an examination of the vital role of terministic screens and how these screens are significant in understanding Jewettâs folk communities. Jewett was aware of her audience, and she possessed the skill of acquainting readers with the undervalued cultures of the nineteenth century.Item Absence and rhetorical (non) circulation: "Nasty woman" Kamala Harris in 2020(2022-08-01T05:00:00.000Z) Williams, Margaret Virginia; Lackey, Dundee; Fehler, Brian; Hoermann-Elliott, JacquelynThis project is an activist one that adds to digital scholarship, applies to praxis in writing classrooms, and has the potential to inform future political practices. In particular, this project traces the absence, presence, andâultimatelyâthe transformation of nasty-woman rhetorics related to Kamala Devi Harris during the Fall 2020 presidential election in the United States. Nasty-woman rhetorics entail the persistent, deeply embedded practice of containing, silencing, and demonizing women in public spheres by labeling and stereotyping them. This project weaves a womanist perspective with Actor Network Theory, a weaving that accounts for the intersectional dynamics of nasty-woman rhetorics in terms not just of sexism but also racism. Then-president Donald J. Trump labeling Harris ânastyâ in 2020, in short, is inherently different from calling Hillary Rodham Clinton âsuch a nasty womanâ in 2016. This difference surfaces in the absenting of Harris in circulating news-media headlines and social media, in overemphasis on the ânastyâ label, and in tweets about Harris as a Jemima or Jezebel (two stereotypes often applied to Black women). Transformationâa hallmark of rhetorical circulationâis also revealed as ebb and flow of nasty-woman rhetorics over time, as well as changes in affect. These transformations were driven by the intra-action of news-media coverage, social-media posts, and events related to Harris. Through such findings, this project offers an ethical framework for feminist scholarship; it also offers a set of strategies for countering nasty-woman rhetorics, from reclaiming our time to understanding (y)our media ecology.Item Academic research, professional discourse: Social bookmarking as a catalyst for rhetorical research pedagogies(5/30/2011) Blackwell-Starnes, Adrienne; Burns, Hugh; Greer, Russell; Thompson, LouThis qualitative study investigates social bookmarking as a tool for college writers to invent comprehensive, real-world arguments. Teaching research as a sub-process of invention and enhancing the inventive process with social bookmarking presents an opportunity to improve students' research through active engagement with members of the profession. This engagement can further students' understanding of the discourse, its critiques, and the significance of their writing. Specifically, social bookmarking can introduce students to their academic major's discourse, further research engagement, and create comprehensive arguments that consider the discourse community, not the instructor, as the target audience. This study uses a tripartite methodology to increase understanding of social bookmarking use. The study combines surveys to assess literacies and use of the social bookmarking site, a site use study that examines how participants interact with the site without assistance, and a case study that delves further into participant motivation, acquired literacies, and problem areas of unguided use. Results indicate that students are capable of navigating an unfamiliar social bookmarking site without assistance; however, a strong pedagogical foundation can further both student use of the site's tools and their critical engagement with research in online mediums. Study implications and recommendations provide methods for creating strong social bookmarking pedagogy that can incorporate the use of social bookmarking effectively in the classroom with appropriate support from the university and the social bookmarking company.Item Addison's influence on the social reform of his age(8/30/1936) Buck, Doris Tomlinson; Ellison, Lee MonroeItem Adult women with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perspectives on the menarche/menstruation experience(12/19/2019) Perlow, Ellen; DeOrnellas, Kathy; Beins, Agatha, 1976-Framed in select MWGS feminist theories, this studyâs 335 adult women/assigned-female-at-birth responded to the Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 (AQ-10, 2012) and Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire-2nd version (MAQ, 1980a, 1980b). Although without statistical significance (α = .05), 29/335 (8.7%) reported high AQ-10 scores (6+) suggesting further ASD testing. The high 8.7 percentage perhaps is a product of AQ-10âs screening purpose or underreporting/misdiagnosis due to the female ASD phenotypeâs camouflaging abilities. Higher AQ-10 (6+) scores had somewhat higher mean MAQ scores for four (Debilitating/Bothersome/Natural/Predictable) and one lower (Denial) MAQ subscales. Exploratory analysis of participantsâ disclosure of co-occurring gynecological, medical, and mental health concerns highlighted potential impact of such conditions on womenâs health across ethnicity, age at menarche, and age groups. This study sought to expand MWGSâs inclusion of women with disabilities/ASD, empowering all women utilizing a holistic womanist approach. Research on menstruation and autism should replicate this study and devise a female/assigned-female-at-birth-only AQ-10 version.Item African Native American womenâs rhetorics of survivance: Decolonization and social transformation(4/4/2019) McNeal, Frances Reanae; Keating, AnaLouise, 1961-This dissertation expands a lively conversation on American Indian rhetorics of survivance initiated by Anishinaabe Scholar Gerald Vizenor, who used the term âsurvivanceâ to describe Indigenous peoplesâ simultaneous acts of survival and resistance. By bringing African Native American womenâs survivance into the discussion, this dissertation disrupts previous understandings of rhetorics of survivance which focused exclusively on Native texts. The interrelated struggles and activism of American Indians and African Americans are accentuated, especially the women who play a significant role in passing on wisdom systems of survivance. Emphasizing Afro Indigenous womenâs unique mixed blood heritage and gender identity, I highlight their acts of survivance while exploring their emergence within the context of U. S. anti-Indianness, anti-Blackness, and misogynist practices. Examining poetry, videos, art, texts, interviews, and social media posts, I explore how African Native American womenâs rhetorics of survivance address various interlocking oppressions, including settler colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, racialization, anti-Blackness, anti-Indianness, Indigenous erasure, and gender violence. Chapter One investigates examples of African Native American womenâs rhetorics of survivance. Chapter Two offers characteristics of the critical strategies used in these rhetorics of survivance. Chapter Three explores how ancestors and their wisdom systems are preserved through (re)membering. Chapter Four examines recovering identities, bearing witness to resiliency, and healing historical trauma. Listening closely to Black Native womenâs (her)stories, I reveal their multifaceted rhetorics of survivance while practicing them.Item Afro dialogues: Unearthing the meanings and significance in what women of African descent say about their hair(Aug-23) Akinbode, Foluso A. Oluade; Keating, AnaLouise; Smith, Gabrielle; West, GenevieveHair can be a factor in liberation and oppression. There are Black women that have used their hair to subvert societal standards that center the straight, smooth, or silky hair associated with whiteness. Also, some Black women continue to grapple with a desire to fulfill white supremacist hair expectations. There is current research that delves into ways that Black women are navigating white supremacist characterizations of their hair, but there is a need for research that holistically captures Black womenâs hair perspectives during the burgeoning of global online Black hair communities and conversations. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze and historicize Black womenâs nuanced hair perspectives. The research questions guiding this study are what are some ways Black women perceive or make meaning of their hair, and how are their perceptions shaped by the current boom in online Black hair information? I employed phenomenology and intersectionality to guide 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 participants. Participants (Black women currently living in the United States) shared their perceptions of how white supremacist hair expectations are enforced through understandings of hair maintenance, categorizations of âgoodâ and âbadâ hair, the Andre Walker hair-typing system, and hair trauma or discomfort. Participants also shared perspectives about their identities, cultures, hair education, and empowerment that work against the use of Black hair in oppression. This study brings attention to the ways that Black women currently navigate and overcome white supremacist hair ideals and encourages further research on ways to recognize and undo oppressive hair ideals.Item Ahab: A Promethean hero(6/30/1958) Nichols, Martha Frances; Wiley, Autrey Nell; Maddocks, Gladys; Beach, Constance L.; Darden, Frances K.Item Alejandro Casona: Una nota de armonia despues del desengano(8/30/1970) Cantu, Olga; Woolsey, Wallace; Scone, ElizabethItem Alfred Lord Tennyson: social critic(7/30/1971) Howell, Mary Lou; Bishop, J. Dean; Kobler, Turner; Fulwiler, LavonItem Algunos aspectos de la obra de Federico Garcia Lorca(8/30/1950) Hambrick, Jennie Gonzalez; Woolsey, A. W.; Switzer, RebeccaItem Alice's adventures in adaptation: The evolution of power in children's and young adult literature(7/22/2020) Hibdon, Allyson; Busl, Gretchen LynneIn this thesis I have analyzed the evolution of power in childrenâs and Young Adult literature through Lewis Carrollâs childrenâs novel, Aliceâs Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Carrollâs novel is one that has been adapted and retold a multitude of times in varying ways. In this thesis, I compare Carrollâs original work to three different adaptations, Walt Disneyâs animation (1951), Tim Burtonâs visual film adaptation Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Young Adult trilogy Splintered (2013) written by A.G. Howard. In comparing the three works, I discuss how power plays a role in Wonderland through her relationships to three key themes: identity, authority, and time. In doing so, it is demonstrated that as Alice gets older with each adaptation, the more power and responsibility she receives. Her purpose and relationship to Wonderland changes as she gets older, as does her power to choose and become a heroine while navigating elements of the fantastic. Though Howardâs adaptation does not focus on Alice, but rather her fifteen-year-old great-niece, Alyssa, the premise remains the same: She is a teenager who must carry a legacy, yet struggles with the power imbalance that comes with being younger than Burtonâs Alice but older than Carrollâs. I demonstrate how power and relationships specifically as it relates to childrenâs and Young Adult literature as Alice evolves and gets older, therefore receiving more power to save Wonderland and become a heroine.Item "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass": A Menippean assessment and rhetorical analysis of Carroll's Alice books(12/30/1987) Chadwick-Joshua, Jocelyn; Bishop, J. Dean; Thompson, Joyce; Winston, FlorenceSince Lewis Carroll published Alice in Wonderland in 1865 and Through the Looking-Glass in 1872, critics, psychologists, philosophers, and the general audience have sought to isolate and categorize his stylistic form. Called by a critic in 1865 "loose-ended, inconsistent dream stories" that were "stiff and overwrought" (844) and by Hilaire Belloc in 1898 "skin-deep narratives" (310), the two Alice books have defied proper identification and, consequently, appreciation. Although contemporary critics such as Van Wyck Brooks and Northrop Frye have recognized the books' unusual qualities, qualities that transcend children's literature, no one has yet carefully identified the literary expertise underlying the texts. Amid the myriad of analyses that exist, however, that Carroll employs a classical satiric format has eluded many. When one reads these books as Menippean satires rather than as Juvenalian or Horation and rather than child's simple nonsense, then, a deep-textured purpose and expertise and control evince themselves slowly, consciously, methodically. This paper examines in Chapter One many of the prevalent analyses of Carroll's narratives. Representative criticisms ranging from the Alice books as children's literature exclusively to works revealing aspects of Carroll's inner personality are reviewed and assessed. Chapter Two defines Menippean satire from its earliest origins with Menippus, Varro, and Apulieus. The chapter also includes other contributors such as Rabelais and Swift and delineates what each writer contributes to the genre. The chapter finally proposes that Carroll's works yield themselves to coherent and cohesive comprehension and to deep-structured analysis only when viewed from a Menippean perspective. Chapters Three and Four provide Menippean analyses rhetorically. Such an approach enables the reader to understand clearly the Menippean intent, motivation, and philosophical stance the two books contain. Chapter Five, finally, provides an overall summative reiteration of the thesis and arguments. This chapter also asserts that some technical aspects previously critiqued as weaknesses are in actuality strengths when viewed in the proper context.Item Amelia Opie: exponent and critic of the novel of radical propaganda(6/30/1941) Tevis, Mary Kathryn; Ellison, L.M.Item American arete: The man of steel as a rhetorical model(2/12/2014) Evans, Jonathan; Greer, Russell; Souris, Stephen; Fehler, BrianThere have many criticisms and explorations of Superman throughout his 75 plus year history. The character has become so engrained in the American psyche and culture that he is almost instantly recognizable. However, through all of this, he is a character who is rarely fully understood. Much of this stems from failures to understand "what" Superman is or what he potentially really and truly represents. Superman's continued endurance in American culture is the result of his embodiment and function as a model of American cultural excellence, of what the Greeks called arĂȘte. In all the treatments of Superman there has never been a true exploration of the character that has sought to connect, rhetorically, the persuasive power of Superman as a model to the promotion of an American conception of Greek arĂȘte. Superman's function as a model, as a rhetorical model, according to the definition given by Chaim Perelman and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca in The New Rhetoric, operates as a guarantee, in a archetypal level the very best qualities, of virtues that have taken root in America since its conception as a nation. Superman is no mere comic book character, but rather the amalgamation and embodiment of classical concepts of excellence and virtue evolved and refined through the lens of the American immigrant experience, and given form. By understanding or beginning to understand how this came to be represents a potential point for understanding what America is as well. This dissertation does not propose to fully answer this question as much as it wishes to draw critical attention to how powerful and impactful a character like Superman can be on a culture at large. By doing this it is hoped that greater recognition and understanding of fictional superheroes as epidictic expressions can be better appreciated and studied by a culture at large as it continues to accept such heroes already as entertainment.Item An exploratory study of reflective journaling in a college composition I course(1/2/2019) McMillin, Jennifer Lynn; Scott, GrayThis exploratory study investigates the impact of directed reflective journaling in a first-year college English Composition course. Student reflections were analyzed for self-regulatory behaviors, evidence of skills associated with course objectives, and writing skill development. Changes in self-efficacy perceptions were analyzed using pre- and post- self-efficacy surveys. It was found that self-regulatory behaviors can be encouraged through reflective journaling and that self-efficacy attitudes were impacted positively as a direct result of the self-regulatory activities. The journaling task met two of the English Composition core objectives (interpretation and evaluation) and students demonstrated gains in writing fluency, conventions, and word choice. Student and teacher perspectives of the reflective exercises are given along with recommendations for future implementations and research.