Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-142).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Comparative Literature, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the space provided by a readerresponse transaction between girls and the text, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor 1977) .. empowered pupils to tell their own stories. It also sought to identify ways in which the problems and possibilities perceived by these pupils might guide curriculum decisions in a transforming education system. In addition to engaging in reader-response activities around the text, drama and videos providing social context were integral to the programme. Related work in the subject areas of history and lifeskills was also undertaken. Data was drawn from pupils' reading journals, responses to specific passages, transcripts of small group discussions, and interviews. The study is ethnographic in nature and all the data qualitative. Theoretical insights were drawn from the felds of cultural studies, postmodern criticism, and postructural modes of cultural and social analysis inasfar as they illuminate and inform the relationship between language, knowledge and power. The research was conducted in an historically white, girls' school which adopted a nonracial admissions policy in January 1991. Despite the fact that existing traditions and values of the the school to a very large extent influence what is taught, the data suggests that pupils were becoming agents in their own learning and were taking up multiple identities both within and without the world of the school.

A syntagmatic analysis of the Argonauts’ encounters with the Lemnian women and the Doliones in Apollonius of Rhodius’ Argonautica Book 1. Combining intertextuality with cognitive narratology, I approach the text from the perspective of the reader. Beginning with a study of the poem’s programmatic proem before moving to a study of the Argonauts’ first encounters on their outward journey, I map the reader’s experience on their own voyage through a difficult and elliptical narrative. To tackle the demands of a densely allusive text and the manipulations of a subjective narrator, I employ a plurality of readers: the general reader is accompanied on this exploration by two fictional readers. Charting the varying interpretations of the attentive reader and the experienced reader (Homeric auditor and Homeric scholar respectively) enables me to combine investigation of text and intertexts as moderated by the narrator with analysis of the ways they modify the expectations of the reader as they progress in a linear fashion from episode to episode. By consideration of where interpretations overlap and where they differ according to what the reader brings to the text and of how the narrative conditions its readers on the journey, I demonstrate the value of the reader-orientated approach to tackling the complexities of the narrative and the demands it places on all its readers.

This dissertation introduces a novel automated book reader as an assistive technology tool for persons with blindness. The literature shows extensive work in the area of optical character recognition, but the current methodologies available for the automated reading of books or bound volumes remain inadequate and are severely constrained during document scanning or image acquisition processes. The goal of the book reader design is to automate and simplify the task of reading a book while providing a user-friendly environment with a realistic but affordable system design. This design responds to the main concerns of (a) providing a method of image acquisition that maintains the integrity of the source (b) overcoming optical character recognition errors created by inherent imaging issues such as curvature effects and barrel distortion, and (c) determining a suitable method for accurate recognition of characters that yields an interface with the ability to read from any open book with a high reading accuracy nearing 98%. This research endeavor focuses in its initial aim on the development of an assistive technology tool to help persons with blindness in the reading of books and other bound volumes. But its secondary and broader aim is to also find in this design the perfect platform for the digitization process of bound documentation in line with the mission of the Open Content Alliance (OCA), a nonprofit Alliance at making reading materials available in digital form. The theoretical perspective of this research relates to the mathematical developments that are made in order to resolve both the inherent distortions due to the properties of the camera lens and the anticipated distortions of the changing page curvature as one leafs through the book. This is evidenced by the significant increase of the recognition rate of characters and a high accuracy read-out through text to speech processing. This reasonably priced interface with its high performance results and its compatibility to any computer or laptop through universal serial bus connectors extends greatly the prospects for universal accessibility to documentation.

Bibliography: pages 335-343. / Betekenis kom tot stand deurdat die leser aan 'n teken of tekens betekenis toeken. Elke leser word daartoe gelei deur sy kennis van die taal, deur sy kennis van die wereld, deur sy persoonlike ervaringe en vooroordele en bowendien deur sy verwagtinge ten aansien van literere tekste en genres (Van Luxemburg e.a., 1983:113). Hieruit blyk noodwendig dat daar per leser en lesergroepe interpretasieverskille sal wees soos trouens die geval is me die twee lesersgroepe in hierdie studie: enersyds die ervare, ingewyde leser (literator) met sy kennis van die taal en die wereld, teenoor die oningewyde leser (Matriekleerling) wie se kulturele en akademiese agtergrond, ervaringe en taalkennis nie op dieselfde vlak is as die ingewydes nie.

This study was conducted to determine if a significant difference existed based on the reading achievement of 3rd grade students as measured by the Mississippi Curriculum Test Reading Scaled Score of those students who utilized the Renaissance Learning’s Accelerated Reader Software Management Program and those who did not participate in the program. The impact of gender and ethnicity on reading achievement and the relationship between the STAR Test for Assessment of Reading and the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) as measures of reading achievement were also studied. The findings indicate students who participated in the Accelerated Reading Program achieved significantly higher reading scores than students who did not participate in the program. Within the Accelerated Reading Group, Caucasians earned significantly higher scores than the African-American/Other group. Female participants scored significantly higher scores than males. There was a strong association between the scores students on the STAR Test for Reading Assessment and the Mississippi Curriculum Test. The findings of this study indicated that gender, ethnicity, and the Accelerated Reading Program impacted MCT scores. There existed a strong association between scores on the Mississippi Curriculum Test and the scores on the STAR Test for Reading Assessment. Conclusions that emerged from the study suggest that Renaissance Learning’s Accelerated Reader software when used in conjunction with the regular reading series seemed to have a positive impact on reading achievement. Recommendations for future research include investigating a possible gender bias in literature that could impact reading achievement and the impact of ethnicity on reading achievement.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.