System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Accompanied by 4 recitals, recorded Nov. 2005 (Falstaff), Apr. 2, 2007, Mar. 30, 2008, and June 19, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-43).

Chapter One includes an introduction to AIDS, the AIDS Quilt, and work by communication scholars related to AIDS and the AIDS Quilt. A literature review of creative works inspired by the AIDS Quilt follows. The research question which guides the analysis is included and followed by descriptions of the three artifacts to be analyzed: The Quilt: Stories from The NAMES Project, "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, and The AIDS Quilt Songbook.Chapter Two describes the method to be used in the analysis, cluster analysis developed by Kenneth Burke. The steps in the cluster method are: 1) identify key terms in the rhetoric, 2) chart the terms that cluster around key terms, 3) discover patterns in the clusters, and 4) name the motive, or situation, based on the meanings of the key terms.Chapter Three is a cluster analysis of a book entitled, The Quilt: Stories from The NAMES Project. Key terms found in this analysis are "love," "grief," "memories / remembrance," "hope," "intolerance," and “individuality." Chapter Four is a cluster analysis of a documentary, "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt." Key terms examined in this analysis are "negligence," "disease / AIDS," "grief," "love," and "memories." Chapter Five is a cluster analysis of poetry from The AIDS Quilt Songbook, a performance of poetry, music, and singing. Key terms discovered through this analysis are "death / dying," "disease / sickness," "cool / cold," and "warm / hot."Chapter Six contains conclusions pertaining to the analysis of all three rhetorical artifacts. Conclusions include the effectiveness of the positive, realistic approach to AIDS portrayed in the personal stories, which have helped humanize the AIDS statistics. Positive outlets for handling grief are also found through the analysis. Contributions to cluster analysis and rhetorical theory include the unique results in analyzing visual images, the effectiveness of using cluster criticism to uncover emotion-laden key terms, and evidence for the therapeutic uses of communication. Finally, communication scholars who study the personal side of contemporary problems can contribute by helping people understand the details behind the statistics, encouraging them to take steps toward solving contemporary problems such as AIDS. / Department of Speech Communication

Thesis supervisor: Barbara A. Biesecker. Includes bibliographic references (p. 198-204).

No description available.

The AIDS Quilt Songbook was a musical response to the shame surrounding the outbreak of the HIV virus and was one of the first art song publications to deal with the topic of HIV and AIDS. This DMA thesis documents the significance and history of the AIDS Quilt Songbook, traces the progression of the project up until December 1, 2008, and documents the work, experiences, and words of the composers who have been inspired to contribute to the AIDS Quilt Songbook Project. In 1981, the medical and popular press reported the first cases of a quickly spreading virus among homosexual males. This virus is currently diagnosed as HIV and AIDS. Lack of funding consumed the early years of what grew to become a national pandemic. The artistic community was one of the major catalysts for funding and education. Cleave Jones and other gay rights activists developed the NAMES Project as a memoriam for those lost to the pandemic. The AIDS Quilt Songbook was created to parallel the AIDS Quilt as "a never-ending work whose meaning and spirit is renewed and redefined with every addition." This concept of additions has continued the expansion of the AIDS Quilt Songbook Project from 1993 to the additions premiered on December 1, 2008 (World AIDS Day) at The Court Theater in Chicago, Illinois, entitled the "Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook: A Benefit for Season of Concern." The AIDS Quilt Songbook project has sixty-seven documented additions, but only eighteen of the sixty-seven additions are collected. This thesis examines the events, compositions and experiences of the composers: Chris DeBlasio, Ricky Ian Gordon, Daniel Kallman, Cary John Franklin, and Evan Kuchar, who submitted compositions to the AIDS Quilt Songbook between 1991 and 2008. The compositions examined are: Walt Whitman in 1989 by DeBlasio, I Never Knew by Gordon, When I am dead, my dearest by Kallman, As Imperceptibly as Grief by Franklin, and Death Spiral by Kuchar.