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As educators and administrators continue to struggle with the low literacy proficiency rates in this country, a new genre of literature is making its way into the classroom. Young Adult Literature, such as the works of John Green, are becoming a more familiar sight inside the classroom. However, some parents, educators, and members of the school districts are not happy with this new trend. In the last year, alone, young adult books have been challenged hundreds of times in hopes of getting them removed from the classroom and library. I believe that these books need to stay in the schools, though. Through this thesis, I explore the possibility of Young Adult Literature having more of a presence in the secondary English Language Arts classroom in order to increase motivation, engagement, social awareness, and literacy rates. In this research project, only 13% of 11th and 12th grade English Language Arts students reported enjoying the reading they were currently assigned, despite their statement that they enjoy reading, in general. These books do not lead to motivated and engaged readers. By incorporating Young Adult Literature into the standard curriculum of an English Language Arts classroom, teachers can enhance motivation, engagement, and productivity. Students can continue to learn the same literary concepts and techniques, in addition to being exposed to current social problems. When Young Adult Literature is brought into a classroom, an environment is created in which students can learn what they think, why they think it, and how to respect the differing opinions of others.

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<p>Rome’s Eastern trade flourished for over two centuries, from reign of Augustus to that of Caracalla, bringing highly valuable goods from India and East Africa to consumers in Rome, and this thesis examines the traders who operated in Egypt and transported goods between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Chapter 1 examines the identities of the traders, in terms of ethnicity, wealth, and social standing, and also examines the evidence for the involvement of the imperial family in the Eastern trade, while Chapter 2 analyzes the many different customs dues, transit tolls, and other taxes imposed upon Eastern traders operating in Egypt. Chapter 3 presents an analysis of customs abuses, including the forms of abuses which occurred, legislative attempts to curb abuses, and the frequency of abuses. Chapter 4 investigates the potential for profits in the Eastern trade, taking into consideration the various expenses, such as transport fees and customs dues, incurred in the course of transporting the goods across Egypt, as well as the evidence for the value of Eastern goods at Rome.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The aim of this thesis has been to consider how Philip II of Macedonia presented himself to the Greek peoples after the Battle of Chaeronea in 336 BC. It examines the context and program of the Philippeion at Olympia in order to determine how Philip II negotiated his royal status in response to Greek opinion. This study takes into account the traditional role of the Macedonian kings, how they typically portrayed themselves, and to what purpose. It also explores Philip's propaganda specifically and the differing responses of various Greek peoples. <p lang="en-CA">Although Philip's role as Hegemon of the League of Corinth seems to be at odds with the Philippeion's classification as a victory monument and a display of the king's authority, further examination reveals that the Philippeion conforms with Philip's program of propaganda. It's message is also adaptable to the various perceptions of the Greek peoples as well as any Macedonian viewers. <p lang="en-CA"></p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Ovid's characterization of women has long been recognized as revealing an understanding of the female psyche. This is shown not only in his love poetry, but also in his depiction of women in the Heroides and Metamorphoses. The Heroides in particular offered considerable scope for the portrayal of women in a state of crisis and for an exploration of their anxieties and conflicts. The verse letters reveal Ovid's interest in portraying women at an early point in his literary career, an interest which he continued throughout his writing career and which again finds expression in the Metarmorphoses.</p> <p>While Howard Jacobson's study (Princeton, 1974) treats all the single letters, Florence Verducci (Princeton, 1985) has restricted her work to five of the fifteen single letters. Little attempt has been made to trace Ovid's depiction of women from the Heroides into his later works. This work investigates the characterization of Medea, Dido, Ariadne and Deianira as they are initially portrayed in the Heroides and as they are later depicted in the Metamorphoses.</p> <p>Each chapter details early accounts of the heroines, followed by an exploration of the characterization in the Heroides and Metamorphoses. It is shown that, while Ovid's knowledge and use of his predecessors is apparent, his ability to adapt the mythological details concerning his heroines creates an entirely new depiction; his portrayal varies from the Heroides to the Metamorphoses due to the demands of the respective genres and to the emphasis which he wishes to place. Despite the familiarity of his figures, Ovid has created divergent, yet coherent, interpretations of pyschological and emotional crises.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Onmyōji series has had an incredible impact on Japanese fiction. It has created an entire genre of material called onmyōjimono and sold 5 million copies counting only the novel series. Despite this, it has been woefully understudied by both Japanese and English speaking scholars. The Japanese scholars that do acknowledge it use it as a springboard to launch a survey of Abe no Seimei in written and performed media throughout history, and the English speaking scholars have limited their analyses to the form that oni take in the narrative. My research has revealed that Yumemakura Baku utilizes a complex set of mechanisms to combine disparate narratives into a cohesive whole, integrating elements of genre and modern literary aesthetics to make old narratives agreeable to modern tastes. In the process he creates a dark and threatening world through which the Heian courtiers must navigate. Abe no Seimei acts as their guide and mediator. Despite holding an official rank within the court he is as otherworldly as the world, filled with supernatural beasts and formless creatures, in which they live. Using the mechanism of Abe no Seimei, Yumemakura Baku reveals to the reader their own tendencies toward prejudice, while constructing a vast world through centuries of written material.

This study, conducted in an English 6 course at a Swedish upper secondary school, employed a unique educational research design by integrating manga adaptations with their typological source texts to explore the pedagogical potential of a comparative approach to teaching classics in line with pupils’ experiences. The investigation focused on three key questions: pupils’ initial attitudes towards literature, the effects of the comparative approach, and its impact on understanding the source text. Data were collected through a series of questionnaires as well as three group interviews before being examined thematically. The findings were then analysed and discussed using the theoretical frameworks of transmedia storytelling, Langer’s theory of envisionment, and affordance. The findings indicate that the pupils initially had negative attitudes towards English literature, viewing it as difficult and unengaging. However, including manga significantly improved their engagement and comprehension, foremost due to its visual elements. The pupils also reported that manga made reading more motivating because of its different modes, compared to the source text. However, the pupils regarded the manga as less effective in promoting vocabulary expansion compared to the source texts, thus highlighting the importance of a balanced approach. Furthermore, the comparative approach, engaging with both versions, allowed the pupils to view the story from multiple perspectives, thereby enriching their understanding and deepening their comprehension. This approach also promoted pupils’ exploration of genres.  Overall, the study suggests that incorporating a manga adaptation alongside its source text can address the diverse needs of pupils, thus making literature more accessible and engaging. This particular comparative approach could promote a multifaceted learning experience by encouraging the inclusion of varied pedagogical materials. Its pedagogical potential lies in its alignment with contemporary pupils’ cognitive patterns, which may contribute to enhancing the teaching of classic literature without excluding the benefits of typological texts.

This thesis sheds first light on the complex narrative behind the earliest appearance of writing in Europe. A radical new framework of interpretation, recognising art and writing as different ends of a single mode of graphic expression, is applied to the material culture of Early to Middle Bronze Age Crete as a context-conscious alternative to the strict and anachronistic divisions imposed by traditional models. This allows for a novel way of viewing and identifying structures of meaning embedded in otherwise familiar evidence. A comprehensive synthesis of the archaeological evidence for the undeciphered Bronze Age Cretan writing systems is offered, contextualising the thesis and its arguments within a new narrative of mostly autonomous script formation on Crete. Detailed analysis of the material record is started in the Early Bronze Age, where a previously unrecognised system of Prepalatial glyptic iconography is demonstrated to have maintained uniform distribution and presentation for roughly eight centuries, appearing in the exact contexts, and ostensibly fulfilling similar functions, as later writing. This newly identified system is argued to have provided the conceptual background against which later writing emerged. The thesis subsequently discusses the Archanes Script, the first accepted ‘true’ writing to appear west of Egypt, which has been severely understudied and highly ill-understood. Redefining the Archanes Script completely, a first signary is constructed, and new documents discovered. A further chapter argues for the possible existence of other, as of yet unidentified, linear writing systems on Crete. This is followed by a study of the Cretan Hieroglyphic writing system; the unjustified omission of supposedly ‘decorative’ signs in many of its documents is identified, the script’s corpus nearly doubled, and ‘a complete turnaround in the way in which we approach and define Cretan Hieroglyphic’ proposed.