Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis comprises an original collection of short stories entitled Ice Core, plus a brief self-reflexive essay on the challenges, emphases and informing contexts which influenced the writing process. The stories in Ice Core were envisioned and subsequently arranged as a short story cycle. Because of my interest in the shifting mobilities of geography, history and identity which inform the collection, I deliberately wished to avoid a linear narrative progression, hoping instead to capitalise on the ability of the cycle structure to accrue flexible resonance, to accommodate shifts of foci and voice even while simultaneously consolidating to form a ‘core’ connected to regional place and community. The stories are set in the North Beach area of Durban, so it is no coincidence that water as a motif repeatedly permeates the collection. This is apt for my interest in this urban coastal space, and serves to complement the mobile nature of the short story when positioned within a cycle. In the subsidiary component of the thesis, namely, the brief critical essay, I discuss the short story form as a genre, and conceptual paradigms of the short story cycle, referring to work by critics such as Forrest Ingram (1971) and Sue Marais (1992). The essay goes on to discuss regionalism as a major characteristic establishing realism in a cycle, with reference especially to character identification and distinctive dialogue. I suggest that these elements can animate ‘place’, prompting setting to emerge as the central character of the collection. I also refer to Michel de Certeau’s piece, “Walking in the City” (1998), since Ice Core captures fragments of Durban from a street-level point of view which, according, to de Certeau, is important in understanding the ways in which a city is made meaningful through incessant transformations. The mobility of my stories, then, can be seen to emulate something of the associated mobility of the local urban area on which the stories focus. Through this essay I aim to show the short story genre as not merely the naïve fragmented expression of personal experience or ‘inspired’ imagination but one notable for disciplined and inventive practices. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 198-219).

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Eric Walker, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 7, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 43 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-11-22Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:44:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ask_cca_dr_assis.pdf: 1033732 bytes, checksum: 63cf4cc3313aa02c9d461c59cd883799 (MD5) / Secretaria de Estado de Educação de São Paulo / Este trabalho tem por objetivo realizar uma leitura dos contos da autora escocesa Muriel Spark, nos quais a importância das práticas narrarativas se manifesta como a característica mais evidente: a estrutura narrativa e as construções significativas agem em favor da expressão de um modo de estar no mundo e, mais regularmente, representam também o grande desafio que a leitura poderá abrigar ao tratar das personagens, em especial as femininas. No entanto, é necessária a identificação das referências que constituem os mundos ficcionais, geralmente atreladas à realidade e à proposição de novas formas de inteligibilidade. Em geral, estas formas estão implícitas no texto e cabe às leitoras e aos leitores acessá-las; para que isto ocorra, devemos reconhecer que estrutura narrativa e caracterização de personagens encontram-se intrinsecamente relacionadas. Por meio dos contos sparkianos, é possível ter uma ampla visão da obra da autora e, ao mesmo tempo, das práticas e experiências das mulheres historicamente situadas. Assim, a tese que defendemos é a de que os contos de Muriel Spark, com base nas construções significativas presentes no texto, permitem um diálogo entre o texto e a realidade sob o enfoque da personagem feminina. Servindo-se das referências adequadas, a leitura dos contos sparkianos pode contribuir para a compreensão das formas de interação das mulheres em seu próprio grupo e com o grupo dos homens / This study aims to perform a reading of the short stories of Scottish author Muriel Spark, in which the importance of the narrative practices manifests itself as their most evident feature: the narrative structure and the building of significances may favor the expression of a mode of being in the world and, more regularly, they also represent the great challenge that reading can accommodate concerning the characters, especially the female ones. However, it is necessary to identify the references that constitute the fictional worlds, usually tied to reality and proposing new forms of intelligibility. In general, these forms are implicit in the text and it is a readers’ task to access them; for this to occur, we must recognize that narrative structure and characterization are intrinsically linked. Through the sparkian characters it is possible to get a broad overview of the work of the author and, at the same time, the practices and experiences of women historically situated. Thus, the thesis we defend is that the stories written by Muriel Spark, based on significant buildings in the text, enable a dialogue between text and reality from the perspective of female characters. With the appropriate references, the reading of those sparkian short stories can contribute to the understanding of the ways by which women interact within their own group and with the male group

Orientador: Cleide Antonia Rapucci / Banca: Susana Borneo Funck / Banca: Ivan Marcos Ribeiro / Banca: Maira A. Pandolfi / Banca: Márcio Roberto Pereira / Resumo: Este trabalho tem por objetivo realizar uma leitura dos contos da autora escocesa Muriel Spark, nos quais a importância das práticas narrarativas se manifesta como a característica mais evidente: a estrutura narrativa e as construções significativas agem em favor da expressão de um modo de estar no mundo e, mais regularmente, representam também o grande desafio que a leitura poderá abrigar ao tratar das personagens, em especial as femininas. No entanto, é necessária a identificação das referências que constituem os mundos ficcionais, geralmente atreladas à realidade e à proposição de novas formas de inteligibilidade. Em geral, estas formas estão implícitas no texto e cabe às leitoras e aos leitores acessá-las; para que isto ocorra, devemos reconhecer que estrutura narrativa e caracterização de personagens encontram-se intrinsecamente relacionadas. Por meio dos contos sparkianos, é possível ter uma ampla visão da obra da autora e, ao mesmo tempo, das práticas e experiências das mulheres historicamente situadas. Assim, a tese que defendemos é a de que os contos de Muriel Spark, com base nas construções significativas presentes no texto, permitem um diálogo entre o texto e a realidade sob o enfoque da personagem feminina. Servindo-se das referências adequadas, a leitura dos contos sparkianos pode contribuir para a compreensão das formas de interação das mulheres em seu próprio grupo e com o grupo dos homens / Abstract: This study aims to perform a reading of the short stories of Scottish author Muriel Spark, in which the importance of the narrative practices manifests itself as their most evident feature: the narrative structure and the building of significances may favor the expression of a mode of being in the world and, more regularly, they also represent the great challenge that reading can accommodate concerning the characters, especially the female ones. However, it is necessary to identify the references that constitute the fictional worlds, usually tied to reality and proposing new forms of intelligibility. In general, these forms are implicit in the text and it is a readers' task to access them; for this to occur, we must recognize that narrative structure and characterization are intrinsically linked. Through the sparkian characters it is possible to get a broad overview of the work of the author and, at the same time, the practices and experiences of women historically situated. Thus, the thesis we defend is that the stories written by Muriel Spark, based on significant buildings in the text, enable a dialogue between text and reality from the perspective of female characters. With the appropriate references, the reading of those sparkian short stories can contribute to the understanding of the ways by which women interact within their own group and with the male group / Doutor

Teaching ESL continues to pose a big challenge in most schools in Zambia. This is due to the paucity of teaching resources. While the number of schools has increased, there has not been a corresponding increase in funding due to economic reasons. This study arose from the desire to find alternative resources to teach English as a second language effectively within the communicative language teaching (CLT) framework. A review of available literature has shown that literature can help students to acquire the four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. / English Studies / M. A.

Teaching ESL continues to pose a big challenge in most schools in Zambia. This is due to the paucity of teaching resources. While the number of schools has increased, there has not been a corresponding increase in funding due to economic reasons. This study arose from the desire to find alternative resources to teach English as a second language effectively within the communicative language teaching (CLT) framework. A review of available literature has shown that literature can help students to acquire the four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. / English Studies / M. A.

This thesis investigates the connection between the spiritualist movement and the literary ghost story, both of which came to prominence and mass popularity during the second half of the nineteenth century. While existing critical literature has viewed both phenomena as symptomatic of a wider Victorian fascination with the supernatural and the nature and possibility of an afterlife, little attention has been paid to the relationship between the two movements. By examining spiritualist literature alongside the work of both canonical and lesser-known writers, I attempt to address this area. My thesis argues for an understanding of the post-1850 ghost story as a dramatic representation of a new conception of the dead largely created by spiritualism, and reads the appearance, actions, behaviour and narratives of literary ghosts as an ongoing reflection and discussion of this idea.