Ralph Ellison died without ever completing his second novel. After his death, the executor of his literary estate, John F. Callahan, edited Ellison's work into a novel published under the title Juneteenth. This thesis examines the problems posed by Ellison's posthumously released text, especially the issues of authorial intent and reading incomplete narratives. As a way of addressing these problems, this thesis draws upon the field of literacy studies as a method for approaching Ellison's fragmented text. Theory from the field of literacy studies provides a lens through which the novel is examined. A close reading of Juneteenth foregrounds the ways in which Ellison represents literate traditions in the novel, and speculates as to what these representations reflect about the author's concerns. / Graduation Date: 2000

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The aim of this thesis is to provide an analysis of the historical and political context of a group of poems which were written by Mark Akenside between 1738 and 1770. Most of these poems were composed in response to particular political events or situations, or to the publication of works of literature, history, or theology; the remainder are verse-epistles addressed to political figures who were personal friends of the poet. Arguments have also been included for the attribution to Akenside of a small number of anonymous poems. I have taken a broadly chronological approach. The first chapter covers the period 1738-1739, and discusses the background and references of two poems written before and just after the declaration of the War of Jenkins' Ear. The subject of the second chapter is two poems addressed to the 'patriot' politician William Pulteney in 1742 and 1744 (before and after his supposed political apostasy). The third chapter considers the case for attribution of two short poems on the subject of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and includes a discussion of an Ode addressed to the Earl of Huntingdon in 1747, In the fourth chapter, a poem composed during the contested Westminster election of 1749 is discussed, in addition to Odes addressed to Sir Francis-Henry Drake, Charles Townshend, and Dr Caleb Hardinge. The fifth chapter includes a consideration of Odes written on the occasion of the publication of three books: William Warburton's edition of Pope's works, Frederick the Great's Memoires, and Bishop Hoadly's Sermons; a second Ode to Drake is also discussed. The sixth chapter discusses another poem which relates to Warburton, an Ode on the poetry of the Abbe de Chaulieu, and a letter and an Ode on the subject of the Seven Years' War. The conclusion considers Akenside's revisions in the light of allegations that he abandoned his Whig principles and became a Tory towards the end of his life. My object has been not only to elucidate obscure references and to supply contextual background information, but also to provide a picture of the political and intellectual history of the mid-eighteenth century as seen through the eyes of a highly intelligent, if politically partisan, observer.

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This thesis examines the model(s) of reading proposed by J. Poulin's novels. On the one hand, a phenomenological analysis enables us to observe textual strategies, such as intertextuality and photographs, which guide the empirical Reader through his readings. On the other hand, the representation of fictional Readers' act of reading, another textual strategy, is also analyzed. / As the phenomenological approach to the act of reading has not often been put into practice, our essay allows us to evaluate the reliability of different contemporary theories of the act of reading, particularly that of Iser in his The Act of Reading.

Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, confronts a tragic dilemma: he must bear witness in order to pay respect to the memory of victims and perhaps help prevent a repetition of history. But are there words that can express the horror of the Holocaust? Would silence not be more appropriate in respect to the victims? / Elie Wiesel is not the first to confront such a dilemma. Throughout Jewish history, tragedies and catastrophes have forced Jewish writers to face the issue. Many literary schools have emerged, particularly in the "modern period" (1850-1945), which have dealt with the question of how to best respond to the tragedy. It is therefore fitting to try and consider Elie Wiesel's works in light of these various literary currents. / However, the Holocaust is not just another tragedy, not even another catastrophe. The event has no precedent; it is unique; it represents the ultimate evil. How to come to terms with it? What is the way between the powerlessness of language and the impossibility of silence? Elie Wiesel must find the delicate art of making silence be heard beyond the noise of words. He will suggest rather than tell the event. He will maintain a distance to protect the secret of the victims in front of the horror. Survivors who share the secret, express themselves with a code, which is not transmissible. Language has been devalued and words have lost their meaning. But to remain silent might also be a form of treason. / From Night, his first book, and throughout all his works, Wiesel assiduously develops his way of bearing witness in the name of the victims. He rejects the silence which would be synonymous with passive acceptance. He identifies with Job and demands account from God for His absence and His silence, while evil was committed. He distrusts language but must find the way to translate the uniqueness of the Holocaust. He finds his inspiration in the tales and legends of the literature of the Bible, the Talmud and the Hassidism. He evokes, suggests and tells while trying to respect the blanks between the words. In language and in silence, Wiesel developed a certain art of suggesting for what cannot be told otherwise.

This study is about Michel Morin's opera omnia, a contemporary Quebec essayist and philosopher. The first part analyzes Morin's work with a sustained attention given to the question of the essay as a specific literary and philosophical genre (with references to Vigneault, Lukacs, Adorno, Barthes). Morin's work is for us the occasion to develop a reflection on the relationship between literature and philosophy (with references to Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Bergson, Heidegger). Finally, going forward, we elaborate the concept of philosophy as Ideational Novel to read Morin's work, a concept that describes Morin's intellectual adventure and involvement in the reflexive text. The second part proposes a more detailed analysis of Michel Morin's reflexive adventure through four distinct moments. All Morin's essays will be studied. Issues and beacons-ideas will be analyzed without ever losing sight of the genuine style of his writing.

This study aims (1) to document and classify the materials and techniques of persuasive speech in Euripidean drama, and (2) to develop an understanding of the ways in which the balanced arguments and abstract speculations of Euripidean characters contribute to the construction of plots, themes and characters. The results are intended to be useful both as a contribution to criticism concerned with the "tone" of Euripidean tragedy and as a resource for the study of early oratory and argumentation in the period of the Sophists. The first two chapters classify and analyse speeches and scenes according to dramatic context. In Chapter I, single speeches of several types are shown to rely on similar techniques of presentation and argument. Chapter II analyses patterns of correspondence between the speeches of a scene. The debate scenes of Alkestis and Hippolytos are discussed with a view to determining how stylised and conventional rhetorical material affects our view of the characters involved. Analysis is next offered of some common techniques for the presentation of arguments. Chapter III discusses the "probability argument" and related forms involving the use of rhetorical questions and conditional formulations. Chapter IV examines Euripides' use in argumentative contexts of gnomic material and so-called "utopian reflections". Chapter V considers the use of rhetorical techniques and scenes in three plays. Phaidra's monologue in Hippolytos 373-430 is discussed in terms of its rhetorical purpose and its contribution to important themes and formal relationships in the play. The rhetorical confrontations of the first half of Suppliant Women are seen to contribute to the delaying and highlighting of the action that follows while exploiting an opportunity for abstract moral and political debate. The play-long rhetorical preparation for the sacrifice of Iphigeneia in Iphigeneia at Aulis similarly is shown to serve the purpose of enhancing the importance and value of the girl's death, while involving an intricate formal balancing of scenes and speeches that should be appreciated in its own right.