Over the last century, Americans have come to understand literature as a powerful tool for shaping individuals and society. Indeed, this perception of literature animates how Americans have and continue to debate what books to include—or exclude—in secondary school curricula. Texts dealing with issues of race, gender, and sexuality have proven especially controversial. This dissertation examines the claims people make about how reading literature can change readers and society through moral lessons. It offers case studies focused on three books that have been celebrated, banned, and taught in terms of their potential to inform readers’ moral and empathetic development: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987). This dissertation shows how assumptions about literature’s ability to inform a readers’ moral and empathetic development can be better understood in relation to the tradition of sentimental literature—a genre and rhetorical mode of storytelling aimed to promote moral and social reform by evoking certain feelings in readers. The case studies illustrate instances when the didactic rhetorical models of sentimental literature appear as a mode of reading and interpretation, which I refer to as sentimental hermeneutics. Building on studies of religion, literature, and secularism, this dissertation analyzes the religious dimensions that emerge in the ostensibly secular interpretive methods and ‘universal’ moral frameworks used to teach and interpret these texts. Contemporary sentimental hermeneutics are indebted to an historical synthesis between Christian devotional reading practices and sentimental fiction in the 19th century. The novels examined are at various levels of conformity and dissonance with the rhetorical modes and religious foundations of this sentimental tradition. My study shows how the unacknowledged religious lineage of interpretive and moral frameworks commonly used to teach these books enacts certain religious, social, and ontological exclusions. Each case study outlines limits of sentimental hermeneutics and the analysis of Beloved offers an alternative framework for readerly empathy. By restoring to view the often-hidden religious histories of these reading strategies, this project pushes readers to parochialize the universalizing claims of these ostensibly secular moral messages: it calls for a form of reading that moves past the exclusions of sentimental hermeneutics.

The Sherman Morrison iteration method is developed to solve regularized least squares problems. Notions of pivoting and splitting are deliberated on to make the method more robust. The Sherman Morrison iteration method is shown to be effective when dealing with an extremely underdetermined least squares problem. The performance of the Sherman Morrison iteration is compared to classic direct methods, as well as iterative methods, in a number of experiments. Specific Matlab implementation of the Sherman Morrison iteration is discussed, with Matlab codes for the method available in the appendix. / Master of Science

Vertebrate fossils have been discovered at several locations in the Bighorn Basin (Wyoming). The Virginia Museum of Natural History's (VMNH) digsite is located in the eastern part of the Bighorn Basin, in the Coyote Basin. Many scientists have worked within these basins trying to describe the stratigraphy. One question specifically asked is where the boundary between the Morrison Fm. (Jurassic) and the Cloverly Fm. (Cretaceous) lies. This new study attempted to show if the current method (Kvale, 1986) of determining the boundary is appropriate. The stratigraphy of the area was examined using Kvale, 1986, Ostrom, 1970, and Moberly, 1960's work in order to see which model was more robust. The fossils in the VMNH digsite were used to supplement the stratigraphic data in determining the age of specific beds. All of Ostrom's units were identified throughout the study area. There is some doubt as to whether the units would be acceptable outside of the Coyote Basin because of laterally discontinuity. Nevertheless, his description of units is satisfactory for the study area, and is more appropriate than other methods. The geologic age of the dinosaurs uncovered in the VMNH quarry is in agreement with the age determined stratigraphically. The VMNH site is below Ostrom's Unit II, which would place it in the Late Jurassic. The determination of the Jurassic/Cretaceous stratigraphic boundary has not been resolved. However, since the Pryor Conglomerate member of the Cloverly Fm. can be identified throughout this area, it is proposed as the Morrison Fm./Cloverly Fm. boundary. / Master of Science

Submitted by Valquíria Barbieri (kikibarbi@hotmail.com) on 2017-06-20T21:26:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Soraya do Lago Albuquerque.pdf: 1446111 bytes, checksum: cdf2c1d720b9a3bba7d2ac186acae29b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jordan (jordanbiblio@gmail.com) on 2017-06-23T16:07:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Soraya do Lago Albuquerque.pdf: 1446111 bytes, checksum: cdf2c1d720b9a3bba7d2ac186acae29b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-23T16:07:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Soraya do Lago Albuquerque.pdf: 1446111 bytes, checksum: cdf2c1d720b9a3bba7d2ac186acae29b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-28 / As literaturas pós-coloniais são caracterizadas por conceder voz aos marginalizados, aos considerados subalternos e minorias, para que esses, através das múltiplas vozes, expressas pela escrita literária possam se fazer ouvir e assim buscar a tão sonhada autonomia e significação enquanto sujeito histórico. É nesse contexto que estão inseridas as duas escritoras que são foco deste estudo que traçará por um viés comparativo um estudo entre obras de duas escritoras de países africanos: Paulina Chiziane, moçambicana e Toni Morrison, estadunidense e afrodescendente. Ambas expressam por meio da literatura os costumes de seu povo, desencadeando por meio das memórias um fluxo narrativo pelos rastros deixados pela oratura. A inserção da mulher no mundo literário foi uma das inovações das literaturas pós-coloniais dos países africanos e afrodescendentes, pois até então a mulher não expressava suas necessidades e muito menos indignações, notadamente pela construção social, política e histórica da sociedade patriarcal e sexista. Com a subjugação colonial muito menos ainda poderia ser ouvida. Ao contrário, as emoções foram silenciadas em seus recônditos, aguardando o instante para verter em emponderamento a voz na literatura e, em ação, as atividades políticas feministas. Acreditando nesse empoderamento dado à literatura pretendemos mostrar como as duas escritoras apropriam as suas personagens com ele e traça o diálogo com propostas de mudança e de subversão ao cenário no qual se encontram. / Postcolonial literatures are characterized by granting voice to the marginalized , who are considered subaltern and the minorities for those, through the multiple voices which are expressed by literary writing can be heard and so it can be able to find so awaited autonomy and significance as a historical human being . It is in this context that the two writers are inserted in which they are the focus of this study which intend to do a comparative study between the works of the two writers of African countries : Paulina Chiziane , moçambiquean and Toni Morrison , American and African descent . Both express through the literature the customs of their people , triggering memories through a narrative flow through the traces left by the orature . The women1s inclusion in the literary world was one of the innovations of postcolonial literatures of African countries and African descent ones because until there the woman neither express their needs nor their outrage , especially by the social building , political and historical of the patriarchal and sexist society. With the colonial subjugation it couldn’t be be heard at all. Instead of this, the emotions were muted in their secluded , waiting for the moment to change it into empowerment the voice in literature and, in action, the feminist political activities . Trusting in that empowerment which was given to the literature we intend to show how the two writers appropriated their characters with it and we also goal to get the dialogue with the changing proposals and the subversion of the setting in which they find themselves.

To Carry History in One’s Body – Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome in Toni Morrison’s Novel The Bluest Eye. The world in which we live in is dominated by ideology. This essay will explore the ideology of racism and investigates how it operated during and after the slave trade in the USA. The main focus is how the racist ideology has affected the black community in the USA during the first decades of the twentieth century. When the traumatic events of the slave trade ended the black community never got the chance to heal from the several hundred years long trauma. Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye depicts a community in pain due to the racist society that surrounds them. It is set in a time after the First World War when black families aimed to establish a stable life but were hindered due to various reasons. Therefore, this essay uses Joy DeGruy’s thoughts on the matter of trauma in the black community in the USA. By using her book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy Of Enduring Injury and Healing along with Frantz Fanon’s iconic text Black Skin, White Masks this essay investigates how the legacy of slavery has affected the black community after the slave trade. This essay looks into the following behavioral patterns, formulated by DeGruy: Vacant Esteem, Ever Present Anger and Racist Socialization. / Världen domineras av ideologier. Denna uppsats utforskar rasismens ideologi både under och efter slavhandeln i USA. Uppsatsens huvudfokus är hur den rasistiska ideologin har påverkat den svarta befolkningen i USA under nittonhundratalets första årtionden. När slaveriets trauma tog slut fick det svarta samhället aldrig chansen att bearbeta och läka det flera hundra år långa traumat. Toni Morrisons roman The Bluest Eye skildrar ett samhälle som präglas av smärta till följd av en rasistisk omgivning. Romanen utspelar sig efter första världskriget, en tid då svarta familjer ämnade etablera ett stabilt liv men som av olika anledningar hindrades. Denna uppsats använder Joy DeGruys tankar om trauma hos det svarta samhället i USA. Hennes bok Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy Of Enduring Injury and Healing tillsammans med Frantz Fanons nyckeltext Black Skin, White Masks används i denna uppsats för att undersöka hur slaveriet påverkat det svarta samhället efter dess avskaffande. Uppsatsen tittar närmare på följande beteendemönster, som formulerats av DeGruy: Vacant Esteem, Ever Present Anger och Racist Socialization.

Cette étude explore les stratégies de survie qu'Edwidge Danticat, Jamaica Kincaid et Toni Morrison développent dans leurs romans. Il s'agi de n'étudier que trois romans de chacune d'entre elles. Elles sont toutes trois de trois générations différentes. Une vingtaine d'années sépare chacune d'entres elles, et pour tant les thématiques qu'elles élaborent se font écho, sans pour cela que leurs stratégies d'écriture soient comparables. La première partie s'intéresse aux bases de la transmission de la problématique des noirs des Amériques: la mère, le père et la structure sociale, c'est-À-Dire la relation aux autres. La deuxième partie est centrée sur l'individu et ce qui en est dit dans les textes, mais aussi sur la marge de silence qu'ils expriment. La troisième partie étudie les stratégies qui s'élaborent depuis la marge puisque ces romans-Là, de manière intrinsèque, racontent la marge. La quatrième partie explore les stratégies de résilience qui se concentrent essentiellement sur le vivant qui, cependant, n'accède à la compréhension de ses propres stratégies de survie que trop tardivement. / Our purpose is to explore the survival strategies that Edwidge Danticat, Jamaica Kincaid ans Toni Morrison develop in their novels. Only three novels of each author were the objects of our scrutiny. The three novelists are Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean from three different generations. A bear 20 years stands between each of them, yet the themes they tackle echo each others even if their writing strategies seem different. Our first part deals with the bases of black lore transmission: the impact of the mother figure, the place of the father and the social structure which transmits cultural features through relationships between each individual. Our second part is centered on the experiences from the margin: what it is to live" outside" and the silences it implies. Our third part explains the strategies that are elaborated from that margin. Finally, yhe fourth part concentrates on resilience strategies even if the understanding of the phenomenon happens belatedly.

Many of Toni Morrison's African-American characters attempt to change their circumstances either by embracing the white dominant culture that surrounds them or by denying it. In this thesis I explore several ways in which the characters do just that-either embrace or deny the white culture's right to dominion over them. This thesis deals primarily with five of Toni Morrison's novels: The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Paradise, Sula, and Tar Baby.

In my dissertation I examine the steps in and performance of revolution through the writings of three Postmodern authors, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, and E. L. Doctorow, in light of the model of the biblical Exodus journey and the revolution which precipitated that movement. I suggest that the revolution which began with the Israelites' bondage in Egypt has provided the foundation for American literature. I show that Invisible Man, Beloved, and Ragtime not only employ the motif of the Exodus journey; they also perpetuate the silent revolution begun by the Israelites while held captive in Egypt. This dissertation consists of six chapters. Chapter One provides the introduction to the project. Chapter Two provides the model for this study by defining the characteristics of the Exodus journey, Moses as the leader of the Israelites, and the pattern of revolution established by Michael Walzer in Exodus and Revolution. In Chapters Three, Four, and Five, I apply the model established in Chapter Two to the individual texts. In Chapter Six, I draw three conclusions which arise from my study. My first conclusion is that the master story of the Exodus journey and the Israelites' liberation from Egypt informs all Western literaturewhether the literature reinforces the centrality of the master story to our lives or whether the literature refutes the significance of the master story. Second, the stages of revolution present in the biblical Exodus are also present in twentieth-century American literature. My third conclusion is that authors whose works deal with an exploration of the past in order to effect healing are authors who are revolutionary because their goal is to encourage revolution by motivating readers to refuse to accept the status quo and to, instead, join the revolution which demands change. They do this by asking questions which are characteristic of that which is postmodernnot so much looking for answers as demonstrating that questioning what is, is appropriate and necessary.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T14:53:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cleideni Alves Nascimento.pdf: 1376081 bytes, checksum: 12bfe23b9d76fb29cf19a42689ba4fb7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research aims to reflect on the relation between reading and writing and how the contact with engaged literature (SARTRE, 1989) has the power of changing a person’s identity, giving him/her an own voice. This voice would allow him to think and speak about himself, providing the person autonomy as subject. Nevertheless, this research emphasis is limited to the analysis of the authorial voice, the writer’s voice (ALVAREZ, 2006). On this purpose, the voices of two great writers of the 20th century were chosen - the North American Toni Morrison and the Brazilian Carolina Maria de Jesus. They overcame the adversities of their respective social contexts and got notability through their writing. As in a circular movement, it is noticed that reading and writing are not separable (BARTHES, 1970) and by analyzing the relation both writers have with reading, it is expected to show they developed their voices while writers, exactly because they were readers. For analyzing their authorial voices, their first books were chosen: the novel The Bluest Eye (2003) by Morrison and the diary “Quarto de Despejo”(2007) by Carolina Maria de Jesus. It is believed that even in the most contrary situations and in groups socially discriminated, literature can act a humanizing role (CÂNDIDO, 2004; PETIT, 2009; TODOROV, 2010) and make those people conscious about themselves and about the world around them, helping them live better. Literature would have done that for the researched writers. As the conclusion, it is noticed that Morrison’s and Jesus’s authorial voices stand out by their authenticity and engagement with social matters, but also by the work of aesthetical elaboration. Their writings would act on the reader on the same way other writers’ work acted on them. / Esta pesquisa de dissertação busca refletir sobre a relação leitura e escrita e de como o contato com a literatura engajada (SARTRE, 1989) com as questões sociais tem o potencial de modificar identitariamente um indivíduo, dando a ele uma voz própria. Essa voz permitiria que ele pensasse e falasse por si, conferindo ao indivíduo autonomia enquanto sujeito. No entanto, a ênfase deste trabalho se limita à análise da voz autoral, a voz do escritor (ALVAREZ, 2006). Com esse intuito, foram escolhidas as vozes de duas grandes escritoras do século XX - a norte-americana Toni Morrison e a brasileira Carolina Maria de Jesus. Elas superam as adversidades dos seus respectivos contextos sociais e se destacam através da sua escrita. Percebe-se que como em um movimento tautológico, a escrita não se separa da leitura (BARTHES, 1970) e ao analisar a relação das duas escritoras com a leitura, busca-se mostrar que elas desenvolveram suas vozes como escritoras, justamente por serem leitoras. Para analisar suas vozes autorais foram escolhidos seus primeiros trabalhos: o romance O Olho Mais Azul (2003) de Toni Morrison e o diário Quarto de Despejo (2007) de Carolina Maria de Jesus. Acredita-se que mesmo nas situações mais adversas e em grupos marginalizados socialmente, a literatura pode exercer um papel humanizador (CÂNDIDO, 2004; PETIT, 2009; TODOROV, 2010) e dar a essas pessoas uma consciência de si mesmas e do mundo ao seu redor, ajudando-as a viver melhor. A literatura teria feito isso pelas escritoras pesquisadas. Conclui-se que as vozes autorais de Morrison e Jesus se destacam pela sua autenticidade e engajamento com as questões sociais. Mas também se destacam pelo seu trabalho de elaboração estética. Suas obras atuariam sobre o leitor da mesma forma que os trabalhos de outros escritores atuaram sobre elas.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:45:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana Duenha Dimitrov.pdf: 2042178 bytes, checksum: fc578e0ab9aa394548d39d8a17c560d8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-01-30 / In this study, racial prejudice is the basis of Toni Morrison s The bluest eye, despite not being the only aspect evidenced in the novel. What should be spotlighted as well is how the time is deconstructed; the evident presence of several discourses that can rise racism up, or bring it down; and the strong influence of colors in the conception of scenes that, in some of the narrative moments, can be associated with pictorial images. When the facets mentioned among many others are put together, there is the achievement of a great result in the novel s aesthetics. The main goal of this study is to exploit those aspects, looking forward to establishing those inseparable relations between the novel s main theme and its form, in order to consolidate their relevance both to the romance s construction and constitution. / Neste trabalho, o preconceito racial que fundamenta The bluest eye, de Toni Morrison, não é o único aspecto em destaque no romance; merece ser ressaltada igualmente a forma como se desconstrói o tempo, a coexistência de discursos que ora enaltecem, ora abominam o racismo, a forte influência de cores na concepção de cenas que, em muitos momentos, podem ser associadas a imagens pictóricas. A confluência desses e de outros tantos aspectos sem dúvida contribui para o excelente resultado estilístico alcançado na narrativa. O objetivo, aqui, é explorar tais aspectos, buscando essas relações indissociáveis entre o tema central e a forma, no intuíto de comprovar sua relevância para construção e constituição do romance.