The primary purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the different ways first-year writing (FYW) is conceived at colleges/universities throughout Florida. Hence, much like Richard Larson's 1986 study, the researcher analyzed FYW core values, teaching philosophies, program policies, and sample syllabi from several colleges and universities in Florida. In Chapter Two, the researcher conducted a historical examination of three state-level policies (e.g., 1971 Articulation Agreement, CLAST requirement, and the Gordon Rule requirement) that continue to influence the development and curricula design of FYW at all public and some independent colleges and universities in Florida, in an effort to provide a more regional context for examining FYW programs. In Chapter Three, the researcher explored national claims of illiteracy since the 1970s and the impact of those debates, considered the influence of the College Board on composition and the literacy debates, and discussed how the evolution of rhetoric and composition as a college discipline has influenced FYW programs nationally. In Chapter Four, the researcher described the function of FYW in Florida colleges and universities by analyzing the course descriptions from sixty-seven public and dependent colleges, surveying faculty and WPAs from selected colleges and universities, and presenting cases of four FYW programs. The researcher concluded that although all public colleges and universities meet the minimum criteria established at the state level, the community colleges appear to be more influenced by the CLAST criteria and state-level learning outcomes and performance objectives. The SUS colleges tend to adopt more discipline specific learning outcomes and more effectively articulate a teaching philosophy consistent with a theoretical paradigm. The researcher was unable to make any general inferences about FYW at independent colleges and universities, other than many appear to resemble in scope FYW programs at community colleges. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2007. / November 9, 2007. / Writing Program Administration / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah Coxwell-Teague, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; David Johnson, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Pamela Sissi Carroll, Outside Committee Member; Christopher Shinn, Committee Member.

This paper explores the appearances of the character of Judith in the literature of Anglo-Saxon England. Transported from the Apocryphal book of the Old Testament to the Latin Vulgate Bible by St. Jerome, this Hebrew heroine held an enduring fascination for medieval and early modern writers and artists, and her story gained in stature and meaning with each telling. This paper explores the interpretations and implications of the use of the Judith story in Anglo-Saxon times. Focusing on each work in context of the larger tradition, the paper analyzes the impact the literature might have had on its audience, specifically in what it suggests about prevailing attitudes toward women. The exploration will begin with a broad survey of the cultural attitudes concerning women in Anglo-Saxon England and will then proceed to a closer examination of the portrayal of women in various types of literature. Next the paper will examine the tradition of story-telling and interpretation that grew around Judith, beginning during the early years of the Christian Church and flowering in the poetry and prose of Anglo-Saxon England. This paper argues that readings of the Judith story comment revealingly on the place of women in Anglo-Saxon society as well as the possibilities for action and selfhood the Judith stories characterize for the female element of the audience. As a narrative tradition developing into myth, the story of Judith contains and contributes to the culture's consciousness of women as well as the consciousness of individual women. Ultimately, the analysis shows that that Judith's incarnations in Anglo-Saxon England bear a curiously modern relevance. She transcends genre, context, and culture, performing a boundary- and barrier-crossing function which even today can serve to liberate and perpetuate healthy perceptions of culture, community, and womanhood which integrate rather than isolate the female element of society. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2003. / October 13, 2003. / Judith Anglo-Saxon Women / Includes bibliographical references. / David F. Johnson, Professor Directing Thesis; Eric Walker, Committee Member; Dan Vitkus, Committee Member.

The Christ poems of the Exeter Book, Exeter Library Manuscript 3501, are three religious poems depicting three different episodes of Christ's time on earth. The Christian ideals regarding behavior expressed in the poems echo cultural ideals, so that Christ appears as a heroic king and judge, generous to his supporters, and severe with oath-breakers who disobey his law. Similarly, Christ's disciples are described as loyal thegns, ready to do their lord's bidding. Cultural analyses of the Christ poems have traditionally concentrated on the images and motifs incorporated within them. There has been little study with regard to the audience of the Christ poems, much less on how that audience may have consumed the texts. This dissertation argues 1) that the Christ poems reference Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, as expressed in law codes or legal documents such as wills and contracts; 2) that the poems contain religious and secular models of ideal behavior, as well as examples of behavior to be avoided; 3) that the introduction of secular legal elements into the poems expand the potential audience of the poems; and 4) that the combination of secular law and church ethics, the one open to interpretation, the other believed to be immutable, creates a tension within each poem that opens the texts to being consumed in ways counter to how the compilers intended. Michel de Certeau's theories on reading as productive consumption are used to explore the ways in which the Anglo-Saxon audience may have responded to this tension with regard to their social relationships. This study provides a new analysis of some of the complications of the relationship between ruler and ruled in Anglo-Saxon England as reflected in these texts from the Exeter Book. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2011. / April 29, 2011. / Old English Poetry, Exeter Book, Christ Poems, Advent Lyrics, Judgment, Ascension, Anglo-Saxon Law / Includes bibliographical references. / David F. Johnson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Romanchuk, Outside Committee Member; Nancy Warren, Committee Member; Daniel Vitkus, Committee Member.

This thesis addresses the relationship between American literature and terrorism in works written during the last two decades of the Twentieth Century. Don DeLillo and Tom Robbins have each written novels that explore the relationship between writers and terrorists and address the consequences of an exchange of power between novelists and terrorists. William S. Burroughs adopts terrorism's methods in order to attack and redefine the conventions of the novel. Following the September 11 terror attacks, several writers responded with texts that strive in one way or another to contextualize the attacks in a way that is culturally relevant. Essentially, this thesis demonstrates that literature's relationship to terrorism is more complicated than generally acknowledged. There is far more involved than novelists telling simple stories about terrorist organizations and describing their nefarious actions. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester, 2008. / March 21, 2008. / Metanarrative, Power, Theatricality, Terrorist, John Updike, Amiri Baraka, September 11, Cut-up, Tom Robbins, Don DeLillo, William S. Burroughs, Literary Terrorism / Includes bibliographical references. / Barry Faulk, Professor Directing Thesis; Andrew Epstein, Committee Member; Amit Rai, Committee Member.

The stories in this collection are perhaps so different from one another because my sources of inspiration (a photograph of hands molding clay, one of Aesop's fables, a guidebook on Morocco) are so varied. The joy of writing short pieces, for me, lies in one's ability to approach each story afresh, obeying only the stirrings of its initial conception. Therefore I present the stories that follow simply as they are. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester, 2005. / May 9, 2005. / Tangier, Cape Cod / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Olen Butler, Professor Directing Thesis; Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Committee Member; Hunt Hawkins, Committee Member.

This thesis is primarily focused on my modern edition and translation of "Poema Morale," a late twelfth-century English homiletic poem. Not since Richard Morris' great contribution to the study of early medieval literature has anyone produced a full translation of the poem from any of its seven manuscript variants. Because Morris worked 140 years ago when editorial and translation philosophies and practices were vastly different than twenty-first-century policies, a modern translation and edition are necessary, especially for an introductory student in medieval literature. I begin my thesis with a four-part Introduction that covers the manuscripts in which "Poema Morale" is found; an analysis of Richard Morris' edition and translation for a better understanding of Victorian practices and the poem; an overview of the history of the homiletic tradition that led to the production of this poetic homily; and finally, a discussion of textual variance and how our perception and understanding of "variance" dictates our interpretation and editing of a text. Following the Introduction, I present my Editorial and Translation Policies so that the reader may understand why I made certain choices. My edition and translation follow the explanation of my policies and appear alongside one another. I include endnotes on the text for further explanation of certain editorial or translation decisions that I made. Finally, I include my diplomatic transcription in the Appendix so that the reader may see the manuscript through my eyes. Although first-hand experience with the manuscript can never be replaced, it is my hope that my diplomatic transcription will not only bring the reader closer to the manuscript but will also provide further insight into my editorial decisions. Having never undertaken such a tremendous task, I brought with me the beliefs I formed during my own beginning in the study of medieval literature. I began my medieval studies only two and a half years ago with a total of six courses, and my own frustrations with editions and translations led me to the desire to edit and translate the texts for myself. Through this thesis, I hope to present a modern edition and translation of a pivotal piece of early Middle English literature often forgotten in the medieval literary canon and, thus, the classroom. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2008. / October 27, 2008. / Early Middle English, Homilies, Homiletic Poems, Poetic Homilies, Edition, Translation, Richard Morris, Poema Morale / Includes bibliographical references. / Elaine Treharne, Professor Directing Thesis; Richard Emmerson, Committee Member; Nancy Warren, Committee Member; David Johnson, Committee Member.

During the latter half of the nineteenth century, women publicly confronted the issue of sexual violence for the first time. Feminists campaigned against the state-sanctioned "instrumental rape" perpetrated on women under the Contagious Diseases Acts, demanded access to medical knowledge in order to free themselves from the hands of male doctors, and attacked the marital exemption in rape law, an effort which paved the way for a married woman's legal right to her own body. This dissertation traces the journey of selected Victorian feminists toward political subjectivity by exploring how their discussions of and resistance against sexual violence served as a key portal through which they began to construct themselves as "subjects" with a natural right to bodily integrity. Making use of feminist narratological theories, I analyze the rhetorical strategies emerging from women's non-fictional texts to argue that their resistance against the myriad forms of sexual violence became indistinguishable from the struggle for political subjectivity, the liberties that women believed they held as politically equal individuals. Feminists struck at the heart of liberal political theory, exposing the falsity of the public/private distinction which effectively disqualified women from consideration as civil individuals capable of making choices concerning their own lives and bodies. They appropriated liberalism's theory of liberty and equality, including themselves in that liberal definition to argue that all people, not just men, were created as free and equal individuals with the concomitant right to bodily inviolability. By ignoring the gender discrimination upon which the English constitutional system rested and positioning themselves as political subjects whose freedom of self-ownership was being infringed upon, feminists were, I would suggest, shifting the prevailing assumption of women's rights through ideological change. If women were perceived as civil subjects with all the measures of political freedom granted to them, they could end sexual abuse by affecting the laws that made that abuse possible. However, once women discovered that an ideological shift alone would not prompt male legislators to act on their behalf, they transferred their energies into lobbying for female suffrage, the only means by which they might protect themselves and their own interests. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2004. / November 19, 2003. / Feminism, Feminist Narratology, Narratology, Sexual Abuse, Marriage, Sexual Contract, Josephine Butler, Power, Midwives, Female Doctors, Medicine, Contagious Diseases Acts, Women's Movement, John Locke, Sexual Assault, Rape, Women / Includes bibliographical references. / Fred Standley, Professor Directing Dissertation; Aimee Boutin, Outside Committee Member; Helen Burke, Committee Member; Barry Faulk, Committee Member.

Being the beginning of a novel about Charles Darwin. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts. / Spring Semester, 2008. / April 2, 2008. / Novel, Darwin / Includes bibliographical references. / Julianna Baggott, Professor Directing Thesis; Meegan Kennedy Hanson, Committee Member; David Kirby, Committee Member.

This project works to explore the relationship between the larger field of composition and the smaller subdiscipline of computers and composition by examining articles published in College Composition and Communication (CCC) and Computers and Composition (C&C) over the last 25 years. Based on a taxonomy of article types and topics for the technology-related articles published in both journals from 1983 to 2008, this study identifies seven major findings concerning the relationship between computers and composition and the larger field focused on. The first five findings highlight differences between the journals, the next one discuss a similarity between them, and the final one explores a new development in C&C exclusively. These findings include the: (1) journals' overall (publication) relationship; (2) ways both participate in a "sticky Theory-Practice dance" (Grimm 266); (3) shifting leadership patterns (on field-related topics) between the journals ; (4) ways each connect computers and composition work to other subdiscipline; (5) the patterns of topics in each journal, especially where there are absences; (6) their shared display of programmatic stasis and (slow) increase in treatment of professional topics; and (7) the slow and nuanced development of C&C's treatment of article types and topics. This study then concludes by putting these findings in dialogue with current assertions about the relationship between CCC and C&C to explore how they both align and challenge previous assumptions. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester, 2009. / June 17, 2009. / Rhetoric and Composition, College Composition and Communication, Computers and Composition, Computer-aided Teaching, Discourse Analysis, Pedagogy, Research, Theory, Composition Subdisciplines / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen Yancey, Professor Directing Thesis; Kristie Fleckenstein, Committee Member; Michael Neal, Committee Member.

This portfolio exam contains four essays, a bibliographic essay, and a teaching philosophy, as well as attendant teaching materials in the appendices. These materials work together to present one composition instructor's position on non-standard composing practices and his decentered approach to classroom management. Included in this thesis are two essays that deal specifically with multimedia composition ("Multimedia Composition, Process Pedagogy, and First Year Writing," and "Why Not Hypertext?"), a bibliographic essay that serves as an introduction to alternate style, one student-centered pedagogical paper that addresses the hazy issue of "voice" in student writing, and a teaching philosophy paired with an essay that deals with the issues that gay teachers face in small composition classrooms. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester, 2003. / June 25, 2003. / Four Essays / Includes bibliographical references. / Wendy Bishop, Professor Directing Thesis; John Fenstermaker, Committee Member; Deborah Coxwell Teague, Committee Member.