Thesis (M.A.)--Villanova University, 2009. / English Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of English, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 503-530). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2005. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-207).

Report (Ed. D.)--Teachers College. / Issued also on microfilm. Includes bibliographical references.

Report (Ed. D.)--Teachers College. / Issued also on microfilm. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines the popular and non-canonical Victorian novelist Ouida (Maria Louise de la Ramée) her relationship with her publishers and the reception of her works. In particular, through the study of published and unpublished correspondence, as well as nineteenth century periodicals, certain views concerning the writer and her oeuvre will be revised and amended, especially in the context of social and moral standards, anticipated from the female fictional character and the artist, the writer. The first chapter will concentrate on Ouida’s correspondence and will argue that the author’s reputation and sales were not only damaged by her ostensibly immoral plots but also as a result of her publishers’s differing priorities. In order to delineate the content of these ‘indecent’ novels and later the impact they had on reviewers, critics and readers, as well as Ouida’s writing, four of her three-decker novels have been selected for critical discussion. Strathmore (1865) is discussed in relation to sensation fiction and marriage law and Folle-Farine (1871) as an examination of inequality between classes and genders. Francis Cowley Burnand’s parody Strapmore (1878) is then read as a critical account of and response to Ouida’s ideologies. The thesis will then examine the controversy surrounding Moths (1880), and In Maremma (1882) will be read as a response to this controversy through its relation to mythology and the representation of the artist. The analysis of these novels and Ouida’s correspondence with her agent and publishers will trace the path that led to the gradual decline in her reputation and the posterior obscurity of her works.

This project analyzes the ways that Louis May Alcott portrays authors in several texts, including Hospital Sketches (1863), "Enigmas" (1864), "Psyche's Art" (1868), Little Women (1868), A Modern Mephistopheles (1877), and Diana and Persis (1878). An examination of prevailing contemporary theories of authorship reveals that Alcott's interest in authorship (as shown through her experiences as a writer and the author figures she depicts within her writing) cannot be adequately analyzed under any of the existing theoretical frameworks because the theories neglect to consider markers of racial, sexual, cultural, and class-based difference. Being a female author in nineteenth-century America was, for Alcott, a preoccupation. Thus much of her writing features representations of authors. For Alcott, as well as many of her female contemporaries, the question "What does it mean to be an author?" cannot be considered without also asking, "What does it mean to be a woman?" and "How can an author be represented in a text?" Alcott's treatment of these questions in her writing was her attempt to create a dialogue between herself, other writers, and her reading public. By studying Alcott's author figures, I advance a model of authorship that highlights issues of gender and multiplicity; in this way my work has applications to other authors who have been excluded by normative definitions of authorship. The concept of "mutable authorship," a model that more accurately incorporates Alcott's treatment of authorship, is the product of several different literary, historical, and feminist theoretical lenses. This dissertation works through the different structuring figures that Alcott uses to represent the author, beginning with the semi-autobiographical first-person narrator and moving to the more metaphorical figures of the artist and the performer. The discussion culminates with the exploration of adaptation and collaboration in the three Hollywood feature films of Alcott's best-known work, Little Women, and several recent texts that respond directly to Alcott's work.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate the narrative strategies within the family unit in Harriette Arnow's novel, The Dollmaker. The analysis of the narrative strategies reflected in family stories offered insight into how family members are "identified" or bonded to the family unit. A critical construct was proposed using Kenneth Burke's theories of substance, identification and consubstantiality for the analysis of family narratives as a means of familial identification.Four narrative themes were isolated which typified the storytelling activity in the family.The analysis revealed patterns of language, images and related rhetorical dimensions which affected the process and degree of familial identification. The analytical tool developed for this study was demonstrated to be of considerable utility when applied to a literary artifact. Further refinement of this tool would result in a more workable instrument for analyzing the storytelling activity which permeates the family unit.

The purpose of this historical case study was to document the history of the Louisa Training School. The study focused on the period from 1926, when the Louisa County School Board established the Louisa Training School as a county-owned and operated school, through 1953, when the division's school consolidation plan was implemented (Despot, 1963). Subsequently, the building was used as an elementary school from 1953 to 1970. The history of Louisa Training School was documented primarily through an analytical inquiry into the experiences and perceptions of former students, teachers, and others familiar with establishment, operation, and closure of the school. The study participants were initially identified through gatekeepers who were associated with the school during its operation. The participants were interviewed as primary sources. Their personal experiences and perceptions formed the basis of oral histories upon which this study was framed. Their recollections not only provided basic information, but also added rich meaning and depth to the study. Other primary sources were used to triangulate, verify, and augment the participants' accounts. Primary sources included minutes from the Louisa County School Board and the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, the Virginia Board of Education, newspapers, artifacts, and personal possessions. Secondary sources included general histories, commentaries, and documents used to situate the study in historical context. The major findings of this historical study present the challenges that Louisa County faced trying to provide an education for its Negro citizenry in a dual segregated school system. These challenges included but were not limited to any transportation, textbooks, and facilities. / Ph. D.