<p> Science fiction, since its earliest inceptions, has been a tool used often by authors to discuss and reveal societal issues. Orson Scott Card, following in the footsteps of the sci-fi giants before him such as Orson Wells, H.G. Wells, and Ray Bradbury, constructed the Ender&rsquo;s Quintet in order to discuss problems of war, religion, and politics that were prevalent at the time of the novels&rsquo; construction. This thesis seeks to determine how Card uses science fiction themes and tropes as rhetorical devices in order to depicts the issues within his society. More specifically I will observe Card&rsquo;s underlying Mormon agenda to determine the effectiveness of his work. The thesis is broken up into three sections: education, politics and religion. I will discuss how each part is dependent on the others and conclude with religion as one of Card&rsquo;s main purposes for writing is based in his Mormon faith. In order to do this, I will analyze the novels using several of Kenneth Burke&rsquo;s ideas including the definition of rhetoric, theory of identification, definition of man, and the pentad. I will apply Burke&rsquo;s theories to Card&rsquo;s work.</p>

<p> As steam-powered industrialization intensified in mid-nineteenth century Britain, the rate and severity of workplace injuries spiked. At the same time, a range of historical dynamics made working class people individually responsible for bearing the effects of industrial injury and carrying on in the aftermath of accidents without support from state or company. By the midcentury, railway accidents were represented as events that put on display the moral character of individual rail workers and widows, rather than &mdash; as in radical rhetorics of previous decades &mdash; the rottenness of state or company bureaucracies. Bearing injury or loss in a reserved manner came to appear as a sign of domestic virtue for working class women and men, though the proper manifestations of this idealized resilience varied by gender. Focusing on dynamics in the railway and nursing sectors, and in the sphere of reproduction, <i>Infrastructures of Injury</i> shows how variously situated working class subjects responded to their conditions of vulnerability over the second half of the nineteenth century. These responses ranged from individualized or family-based self-help initiatives to &mdash; beginning in the 1870s &mdash; strikes, unionization drives, and the looting of company property. Ultimately, this dissertation tells a story about how working class cultural and political practices were remade through the experience of injury and loss.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1961. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 323-327).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-267).