• Refine Query
  • Source
  • Publication year
  • to
  • Language
  • 47
  • 7
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 1
  • 1
  • Tagged with
  • 83
  • 21
  • 12
  • 12
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 7
  • 6
  • 6
  • 6
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
41

The Unheeded Voices: A Look at Four Mid-Century American Poets

Thames, Hugh Don 08 1900 (has links)
The purpose of this study is to examine the position of twentieth century American poetry at the mid-point of the century to ascertain whether contemporary poetry--poetry written in the fifties and sixties--has been justly relegated to the obscure position which it now occupies.
42

Revealing social networks\' missed behavior: detecting reactions and time-aware analyses / Revelando o comportamento perdido em redes sociais: detectando reações e análises temporais

Barbosa Neto, Samuel Martins 29 May 2017 (has links)
Online communities provide a fertile ground for analyzing people\'s behavior and improving our understanding of social processes. For instance, when modeling social interaction online, it is important to understand when people are reacting to each other. Also, since both people and communities change over time, we argue that analyses of online communities that take time into account will lead to deeper and more accurate results. In many cases, however, users behavior can be easily missed: users react to content in many more ways than observed by explicit indicators (such as likes on Facebook or replies on Twitter) and poorly aggregated temporal data might hide, misrepresent and even lead to wrong conclusions about how users are evolving. In order to address the problem of detecting non-explicit responses, we present a new approach that uses tf-idf similarity between a user\'s own tweets and recent tweets by people they follow. Based on a month\'s worth of posting data from 449 ego networks in Twitter, this method demonstrates that it is likely that at least 11% of reactions are not captured by the explicit reply and retweet mechanisms. Further, these uncaptured reactions are not evenly distributed between users: some users, who create replies and retweets without using the official interface mechanisms, are much more responsive to followees than they appear. This suggests that detecting non-explicit responses is an important consideration in mitigating biases and building more accurate models when using these markers to study social interaction and information diffusion. We also address the problem of users evolution in Reddit based on comment and submission data from 2007 to 2014. Even using one of the simplest temporal differences between usersyearly cohortswe find wide differences in people\'s behavior, including comment activity, effort, and survival. Furthermore, not accounting for time can lead us to misinterpret important phenomena. For instance, we observe that average comment length decreases over any fixed period of time, but comment length in each cohort of users steadily increases during the same period after an abrupt initial drop, an example of Simpson\'s Paradox. Dividing cohorts into sub-cohorts based on the survival time in the community provides further insights; in particular, longer-lived users start at a higher activity level and make more and shorter comments than those who leave earlier. These findings both give more insight into user evolution in Reddit in particular, and raise a number of interesting questions around studying online behavior going forward. / Comunidades online proporcionam um ambiente fértil para análise do comportamento de indivíduos e processos sociais. Por exemplo, ao modelarmos interações sociais online, é importante compreendemos quando indivíduos estão reagindo a outros indivíduos. Além disso, pessoas e comunidades mudam com o passar do tempo, e levar em consideração sua evolução temporal nos leva a resultados mais precisos. Entretanto, em muitos casos, o comportamento dos usuários pode ser perdido: suas reações ao conteúdo ao qual são expostos não são capturadas por indicadores explícitos (likes no Facebook, replies no Twitter). Agregações temporais de dados pouco criteriosas podem ocultar, enviesar ou até levar a conclusões equivocadas sobre como usuários evoluem. Apresentamos uma nova abordagem para o problema de detectar respostas não-explicitas que utiliza similaridade tf-idf entre tweets de um usuário e tweets recentes que este usuário recebeu de quem segue. Com base em dados de postagens de um mês para 449 redes egocêntricas do Twitter, este método evidencia que temos um volume de ao menos 11% de reações não capturadas pelos mecanismos explicitos de reply e retweet. Além disso, essas reações não capturadas não estão uniformemente distribuídas entre os usuários: alguns usuários que criam replies e retweets sem utilizar os mecanismos formais da interface são muito mais responsivos a quem eles seguem do que aparentam. Isso sugere que detectar respostas não-explicitas é importante para mitigar viéses e construir modelos mais precisos a fim de estudar interações sociais e difusão de informação. Abordamos o problema de evolução de usuários no Reddit com base em dados entre o período de 2007 a 2014. Utilizando métodos simples de diferenciação temporal dos usuários -- cohorts anuais -- encontramos amplas diferenças entre o comportamento, que incluem criação de comentários, métricas de esforço e sobrevivência. Desconsiderar a evolução temporal pode levar a equívocos a respeito de fenômenos importantes. Por exemplo, o tamanho médio dos comentários na rede decresce ao longo de qualquer intervalo de tempo, mas este tamanho é crescente em cada uma das cohorts de usuários no mesmo período, salvo de uma queda inicial. Esta é uma observação do Paradoxo de Simpson. Dividir as cohorts de usuários em sub-cohorts baseadas em anos de sobrevivência na rede nos fornece uma perspectiva melhor; usuários que sobrevivem por mais tempo apresentam um maior nível de atividade inicial, com comentários mais curtos do que aqueles que sobrevivem menos. Com isto, compreendemos melhor como usuários evoluem no Reddit e levantamos uma série de questões a respeito de futuros desdobramentos do estudo de comportamento online.
43

Reading O.J. Simpson: Everyday Rhetoric as Gift and Commodity in I Want to Tell You.

Williams, Marise January 2004 (has links)
The Bronco Chase and arrest of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, and his subsequent criminal trial became one of the most captivating, mass-mediated events of the last decade of the twentieth century. Simpson's iconic celebrity status and his race as an African-American inflamed the notoriety of the crime. An insatiable spectatorial desire for Simpson and narratives concerning his alleged involvement in the Brentwood murders engulfed the American public and American culture for thirty-two months. An excessive scrutiny of his identity by the media, law and order professionals and the populace generated a racially charged discursive cacophony. The memoir Simpson published during his remand to raise funds for his defense expenses, I Want to Tell You: My Response to Your Letters, Your Messages, Your Questions, allows for a productive critical study of everyday rhetoric and the commodity fetishism of celebrity. Released in late January 1995, during the first week of the prosecution�s opening statements in the criminal trial, I Want to Tell You was Simpson's first public comment following the nationally televised reading of his suicide note and his spectacular arrest on June 17, 1994. The intercalation of Simpson�s narrative utterance with 108 of the more than three hundred thousand letters he received from June to December 1994 as Los Angeles County Jail inmate 4013970 is a practical manifestation of the use value and exchange value of fame. The reciprocity of the epistolic, the phatic demands of address, the etiquette of fan mail and hate mail, the gift of the written text, vulnerable and resonant, reveal an adherence to the symbiotic dynamic of the celebrity-fan, writer-reader, dyadic relation and its currency. Plying his trade as idol of consumption, as spectacle, as genre, Simpson capitalised on the cultural condition of his name and his face as objects of desire. The racialised flesh of Simpson's African-American male body became a site and a sight for narrative and inscription within a pay-per-view marketplace of reification, prosopopoeia, gazeability and criminality.
44

Electricity for beginners /

Dicinoski, Michelle January 2005 (has links) (PDF)
Thesis (M.Phil.) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.
45

Detrital Zircon Geochronology of Middle Ordovician Siliciclastic Sediment on the Southern Laurentian Shelf

Pickell, Michael 14 March 2013 (has links)
Middle Ordovician (Whiterockian) sandstone units within the Oil Creek, McLish, and Tulip Creek formations of the Simpson Group of Oklahoma, and the Everton (Calico Rock Member) and St. Peter formations of Arkansas were deposited on the southern margin of Laurentia. They represent the first major siliciclastic input to the southern U.S. Midcontinent above the post-Sauk unconformity. Samples were collected from outcrops of the major sandstone units to determine their U-Pb detrital zircon age distributions for provenance. Samples were prepared and analyzed using laser ablation - inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Probability-density plots were created to determine likely source areas for sediment, based on comparing detrital zircon ages to known ages of basement terranes. Detrital zircon grains from the Early Whiterockian Calico Rock sandstone indicate a majority of its zircon population was ultimately derived from the 900-1300 Ma Grenville orogenic province, with secondary input ultimately derived from the 1300-1550 Ma Granite-Rhyolite/Anorogenic Province and the Archean Superior province along the Transcontinental Arch. It is likely, at this time, that zircons were also sourced from reworked sediments from more proximal secondary sources. With sea level rise and transgression, the depositional shoreline and the sediment source areas moved to the north and west. The basal Oil Creek Sandstone of the Simpson Group was deposited unconformably above the Arbuckle Group in southern Oklahoma, and its zircon population is dominated by grains from Archean source terranes along the Transcontinental Arch. The basal sandstone unit of the McLish Formation indicates renewed sediment input containing zircons from 1300-1550 Ma Granite-Rhyolite/Anorogenic and 1600-1700 Ma Yavapai-Mazatzal terranes along the Transcontinental Arch. The Nemaha Ridge in northeastern Kansas likely acted as a source of first-cycle sediment in the southern midcontinent during this time. Small populations of detrital zircon grains between 1800 Ma and 2000 Ma occur in the majority of the samples. Their probability density peaks are generally centered at roughly 1850 Ma, suggesting an ultimate source in the Penokean orogenic province along the Transcontinental Arch.
46

Contribucions a les desigualtats en regressió i anàlisi multivariant

Duran Rúbies, Josep Maria 05 February 2004 (has links)
Aquesta memòria és un recull de diverses desigualtats d'interès principalment en regressió i anàlisi multivariant, les quals en alguns casos s'il·lustren i interpreten gràfícament.En els primers capítols es presenten resultats aparentment desconcertants, com per exemple la desigualtat de Hamilton-Roudledge-Cuadras. els quals ens poden avisar dels perills de l'ús, a la Ileugera, de la regressió lineal múltiple i altres tècniques multivariants.S'estudia també la paradoxa de Simpson i una versió multivariant com és la desigualtat en distàncies Mahalanobis més gran que Pearson.S'ha dedicat també un capítol a l'estudi d'un mètode molt general d'anàlisi multivariant presentat per Cuadras, Atkinson i Fortiana que suposa implícitament la construcció dedensitats de probabilitat a partir de distàncies.En la darrera part de la memòria es presenten desigualtats per a la variància d'una funció d'una variable aleatòria que tenen aspecte semblant a la desigualtat de Cramér-Rao, altres relacionades amb la distància de Wasserstein i altres desjgualtats que s'obtenen de la propietat d'acotació de la raó de versemblança.
47

Role of the Field River as a refuge for small vertebrates in the Simpson Desert

Carissa Free Unknown Date (has links)
More than two-thirds of Australia is classified as arid or semi arid and receives less than 500 mm of rain annually. Throughout these arid areas, rivers and drainage lines (which often have their catchments in higher rainfall areas) act as arteries for vast amounts of water to flow into these dry landscapes. Many inland rivers, including the Paroo, Bulloo and Cooper Creeks, have highly variable flow rates and can go many years with very little or no flow. As a result of the hydrology of these areas, they contain different soil characteristics and vegetation communities from the surrounding arid landscapes. For example, soil nutrients are thought to be higher along drainage lines and on floodplains due to sediment deposition and decomposition of organic material. Also, vegetation in these areas needs to not only survive drought conditions (as a plant or propogule), but also periodic inundation and flood events. These characteristics are thought to make these areas more productive than the surrounding arid lanscapes and are thought to be important habitats for flora and fauna. There has been much debate over the importance of riparian corridors to vertebrate species. Several studies internationally in mesic areas have suggested that riparian corridors contain higher levels of biodiversity than the surrounding habitats, although this pattern is not replicated in all areas or for all taxonomic groups. Many of these studies suggest that the difference in biodiversity between riparian areas and adjacent habitats should be greater in xeric areas where the habitat differences between these areas are greatest. Other studies have suggested that diversity is not necessarily greater but riparian areas are important habitats for different species and may act as a refuge for some species. In Australia, very few studies have been conducted on the importance of riparian corridors to vertebrates in arid areas, despite these habitats being under threat from grazing, flow alteration and flow diversion. In this study I examined the role of the Field River in the Simpson Desert as a potential refuge for vertebrate species and compared diversity and population dynamics of vertebrates at dune and riverine sites. Specifically this study aimed to: 1) determine if species richness of vertebrates along the Field River was greater in riverine ecosystems than the surrounding dune habitats; 2) quantify how the riverine habitats differed in terms of floristics, vegetation complexity, soils and water availability from the surrounding landscapes; 3) determine the dynamics of terrestrial vertebrate populations along the Field River; and 4) determine if the abundance, diversity and demographics of small vertebrate populations along the Field River was different from populations in the sand dune fields on a broader landscape scale. These questions were examined on Ethabuka Station in the Simpson Desert, Queensland, from 2006 to 2008. The riparian corridor along the Field River was found to have a range of characteristics that make it unique from the surrounding dune habitats. Soils along the riverine corridor were found to be characterised by more than 20% clay while soils on the dune crest were characterised by no more than 5% clay. Further, soil carbon and nitrogen was significantly higher in the riverine corridor than in the dune habitats and decreased with distance from the catchment. Spinifex (Triodia basedowii) cover was low in the corridor but dominated the dune swale. Number of trees and cover by trees and non-spinifex grasses were also significantly higher in the riverine corridor when compared to the surrounding dunes. Following the rainfall, annual cover was also significantly greater and they persisted much longer than in the dunes. There was very little difference in the diversity or number of invertebrates between the different habitat types. Species richness was estimated to be highest (48 species) in the riverine centre and lowest in the floodplain (30 species). The riverine habitats had different species pools when compared to the dune habitats. Several species including Amphibolurus longirostris and Litoria rubella exclusively inhabited the riverine habitats while others such as the skinks Ctenotus ariadnae and Ctenotus dux were captured only in the dune habitats. Results from a Canonical Correspondence Analysis suggest that the distribution of some species in arid areas, such as the introduced House Mouse (Mus musculus), may be correlated with habitat characteristics associated with the riverine corridor, e.g. soil moisture or high annual cover. Abundance, body condition and reproduction of mammals along the Field River was generally driven by time. On a local scale, habitat had little effect on the abundance of the Sandy Inland Mouse (Pseudomys hermannsburgensis) and Lesser Hairy-footed Dunnart (Sminthopsis youngsoni), although M. musculus showed some preference for the riverine corridor. Abundance and reproduction of both rodent species increased following rainfall while S. youngsoni abundance was strongly seasonal with increases in abundance in autumn and winter. More than 45% of all captures were reptiles and this group was the most diverse and conspicuous fauna group along the riverine corridor. Abundance of the two most common lizard species, the Military Dragon (Ctenophorus isolepis) and Central-netted Dragons (Ctenophorus nuchalis), was significantly affected by time, with the abundance of both species decreasing dramatically 12 months after rainfall, possibly due to increased predation. Abundance of the Beaked Gecko, Rhynchoedura ornata, began to decrease prior to rainfall, suggesting a factor other than habitat structure or food availability causing the decline. The skink, Lerista labialis, showed strong seasonal trends in abundance and body condition, which suggested that within the desert riverine corridor the species was not reliant on rain-induced changes in food availability. To compare the effect of habitat on species richness, composition and population dynamics at a regional scale, sites along the riparian corridor were compared with dune sites located 500 m to 45 km from the Field River. On this scale, species species richness varied spatially with only one of the riverine sites having higher estimated species richness than the dune sites. Species turnover was greater in riverine sites despite the habitat data suggesting that primary production in these sites was more stable. Some species were able to persist at riverine sites at all times of the year but were only present in the community at dune sites following rainfall, suggesting that the riverine sites may be a more stable habitat for some species. Composition analysis revealed that dune and riverine habitats contain different communities, and some species, particularly Amphibolurus longirostris and Litoria rubella, probably rely on the river for their habitat requirements. Population dynamics including abundance, reproduction and body condition of seven species were compared between dune and riverine habitats. Only four, M. musculus, L. labialis, C. nuchalis and S. youngsoni, showed any significant affect of habitat on abundance. Abundance of C. nuchalis, S. youngsoni and L. labialis were generally more abundant in the dune habitats although the affect was only significant for some sampling sessions. The only species that was significantly more abundant in the riverine habitats than dune habitats was the introduced M. musculus. This species appears to be reliant on the riverine corridor, only appearing commonly in the dune habitats following rainfall. For most species, the number of juveniles captured increased following the rainfall in January 2007 but only in C. nuchalis and P. hermannsburgensis was there any significant difference between habitat types. For both species, generally more juveniles were captured in the dune habitats than in the riverine habitats. This study provided information on the role of the Field River to vertebrate fauna on Ethabuka Station. Although, the study focused only on one ephemeral desert river, it could be considered representative of similar desert rivers such as the Hay, Plenty and Hale rivers further west in central Australia. The riverine corridor did represent a different habitat to the surrounding sand dunes, and some characteristics, such as greater soil moisture, soil nutrients and annual cover, suggest that it may have greater and more stable primary production. Although the species studied did not generally have greater abundance and body condition, or reproduce more in the riverine corridor, many species including the Long-nosed Dragon (Amphibolurus longirostris), Desert Tree Frog (Litoria rubella) and Pygmy Mulga Monitor (Varanus gilleni) are likely to rely on the habitat that the riverine corridor provides. With expanding human populations placing greater pressure on rivers around the world, particularly in arid areas, it is imperative that we understand the ecology of these riparian systems so that effective management and conservation strategies can be developed.
48

Role of the Field River as a refuge for small vertebrates in the Simpson Desert

Carissa Free Unknown Date (has links)
More than two-thirds of Australia is classified as arid or semi arid and receives less than 500 mm of rain annually. Throughout these arid areas, rivers and drainage lines (which often have their catchments in higher rainfall areas) act as arteries for vast amounts of water to flow into these dry landscapes. Many inland rivers, including the Paroo, Bulloo and Cooper Creeks, have highly variable flow rates and can go many years with very little or no flow. As a result of the hydrology of these areas, they contain different soil characteristics and vegetation communities from the surrounding arid landscapes. For example, soil nutrients are thought to be higher along drainage lines and on floodplains due to sediment deposition and decomposition of organic material. Also, vegetation in these areas needs to not only survive drought conditions (as a plant or propogule), but also periodic inundation and flood events. These characteristics are thought to make these areas more productive than the surrounding arid lanscapes and are thought to be important habitats for flora and fauna. There has been much debate over the importance of riparian corridors to vertebrate species. Several studies internationally in mesic areas have suggested that riparian corridors contain higher levels of biodiversity than the surrounding habitats, although this pattern is not replicated in all areas or for all taxonomic groups. Many of these studies suggest that the difference in biodiversity between riparian areas and adjacent habitats should be greater in xeric areas where the habitat differences between these areas are greatest. Other studies have suggested that diversity is not necessarily greater but riparian areas are important habitats for different species and may act as a refuge for some species. In Australia, very few studies have been conducted on the importance of riparian corridors to vertebrates in arid areas, despite these habitats being under threat from grazing, flow alteration and flow diversion. In this study I examined the role of the Field River in the Simpson Desert as a potential refuge for vertebrate species and compared diversity and population dynamics of vertebrates at dune and riverine sites. Specifically this study aimed to: 1) determine if species richness of vertebrates along the Field River was greater in riverine ecosystems than the surrounding dune habitats; 2) quantify how the riverine habitats differed in terms of floristics, vegetation complexity, soils and water availability from the surrounding landscapes; 3) determine the dynamics of terrestrial vertebrate populations along the Field River; and 4) determine if the abundance, diversity and demographics of small vertebrate populations along the Field River was different from populations in the sand dune fields on a broader landscape scale. These questions were examined on Ethabuka Station in the Simpson Desert, Queensland, from 2006 to 2008. The riparian corridor along the Field River was found to have a range of characteristics that make it unique from the surrounding dune habitats. Soils along the riverine corridor were found to be characterised by more than 20% clay while soils on the dune crest were characterised by no more than 5% clay. Further, soil carbon and nitrogen was significantly higher in the riverine corridor than in the dune habitats and decreased with distance from the catchment. Spinifex (Triodia basedowii) cover was low in the corridor but dominated the dune swale. Number of trees and cover by trees and non-spinifex grasses were also significantly higher in the riverine corridor when compared to the surrounding dunes. Following the rainfall, annual cover was also significantly greater and they persisted much longer than in the dunes. There was very little difference in the diversity or number of invertebrates between the different habitat types. Species richness was estimated to be highest (48 species) in the riverine centre and lowest in the floodplain (30 species). The riverine habitats had different species pools when compared to the dune habitats. Several species including Amphibolurus longirostris and Litoria rubella exclusively inhabited the riverine habitats while others such as the skinks Ctenotus ariadnae and Ctenotus dux were captured only in the dune habitats. Results from a Canonical Correspondence Analysis suggest that the distribution of some species in arid areas, such as the introduced House Mouse (Mus musculus), may be correlated with habitat characteristics associated with the riverine corridor, e.g. soil moisture or high annual cover. Abundance, body condition and reproduction of mammals along the Field River was generally driven by time. On a local scale, habitat had little effect on the abundance of the Sandy Inland Mouse (Pseudomys hermannsburgensis) and Lesser Hairy-footed Dunnart (Sminthopsis youngsoni), although M. musculus showed some preference for the riverine corridor. Abundance and reproduction of both rodent species increased following rainfall while S. youngsoni abundance was strongly seasonal with increases in abundance in autumn and winter. More than 45% of all captures were reptiles and this group was the most diverse and conspicuous fauna group along the riverine corridor. Abundance of the two most common lizard species, the Military Dragon (Ctenophorus isolepis) and Central-netted Dragons (Ctenophorus nuchalis), was significantly affected by time, with the abundance of both species decreasing dramatically 12 months after rainfall, possibly due to increased predation. Abundance of the Beaked Gecko, Rhynchoedura ornata, began to decrease prior to rainfall, suggesting a factor other than habitat structure or food availability causing the decline. The skink, Lerista labialis, showed strong seasonal trends in abundance and body condition, which suggested that within the desert riverine corridor the species was not reliant on rain-induced changes in food availability. To compare the effect of habitat on species richness, composition and population dynamics at a regional scale, sites along the riparian corridor were compared with dune sites located 500 m to 45 km from the Field River. On this scale, species species richness varied spatially with only one of the riverine sites having higher estimated species richness than the dune sites. Species turnover was greater in riverine sites despite the habitat data suggesting that primary production in these sites was more stable. Some species were able to persist at riverine sites at all times of the year but were only present in the community at dune sites following rainfall, suggesting that the riverine sites may be a more stable habitat for some species. Composition analysis revealed that dune and riverine habitats contain different communities, and some species, particularly Amphibolurus longirostris and Litoria rubella, probably rely on the river for their habitat requirements. Population dynamics including abundance, reproduction and body condition of seven species were compared between dune and riverine habitats. Only four, M. musculus, L. labialis, C. nuchalis and S. youngsoni, showed any significant affect of habitat on abundance. Abundance of C. nuchalis, S. youngsoni and L. labialis were generally more abundant in the dune habitats although the affect was only significant for some sampling sessions. The only species that was significantly more abundant in the riverine habitats than dune habitats was the introduced M. musculus. This species appears to be reliant on the riverine corridor, only appearing commonly in the dune habitats following rainfall. For most species, the number of juveniles captured increased following the rainfall in January 2007 but only in C. nuchalis and P. hermannsburgensis was there any significant difference between habitat types. For both species, generally more juveniles were captured in the dune habitats than in the riverine habitats. This study provided information on the role of the Field River to vertebrate fauna on Ethabuka Station. Although, the study focused only on one ephemeral desert river, it could be considered representative of similar desert rivers such as the Hay, Plenty and Hale rivers further west in central Australia. The riverine corridor did represent a different habitat to the surrounding sand dunes, and some characteristics, such as greater soil moisture, soil nutrients and annual cover, suggest that it may have greater and more stable primary production. Although the species studied did not generally have greater abundance and body condition, or reproduce more in the riverine corridor, many species including the Long-nosed Dragon (Amphibolurus longirostris), Desert Tree Frog (Litoria rubella) and Pygmy Mulga Monitor (Varanus gilleni) are likely to rely on the habitat that the riverine corridor provides. With expanding human populations placing greater pressure on rivers around the world, particularly in arid areas, it is imperative that we understand the ecology of these riparian systems so that effective management and conservation strategies can be developed.
49

Reading O.J. Simpson: Everyday Rhetoric as Gift and Commodity in I Want to Tell You.

Williams, Marise January 2004 (has links)
The Bronco Chase and arrest of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, and his subsequent criminal trial became one of the most captivating, mass-mediated events of the last decade of the twentieth century. Simpson's iconic celebrity status and his race as an African-American inflamed the notoriety of the crime. An insatiable spectatorial desire for Simpson and narratives concerning his alleged involvement in the Brentwood murders engulfed the American public and American culture for thirty-two months. An excessive scrutiny of his identity by the media, law and order professionals and the populace generated a racially charged discursive cacophony. The memoir Simpson published during his remand to raise funds for his defense expenses, I Want to Tell You: My Response to Your Letters, Your Messages, Your Questions, allows for a productive critical study of everyday rhetoric and the commodity fetishism of celebrity. Released in late January 1995, during the first week of the prosecution�s opening statements in the criminal trial, I Want to Tell You was Simpson's first public comment following the nationally televised reading of his suicide note and his spectacular arrest on June 17, 1994. The intercalation of Simpson�s narrative utterance with 108 of the more than three hundred thousand letters he received from June to December 1994 as Los Angeles County Jail inmate 4013970 is a practical manifestation of the use value and exchange value of fame. The reciprocity of the epistolic, the phatic demands of address, the etiquette of fan mail and hate mail, the gift of the written text, vulnerable and resonant, reveal an adherence to the symbiotic dynamic of the celebrity-fan, writer-reader, dyadic relation and its currency. Plying his trade as idol of consumption, as spectacle, as genre, Simpson capitalised on the cultural condition of his name and his face as objects of desire. The racialised flesh of Simpson's African-American male body became a site and a sight for narrative and inscription within a pay-per-view marketplace of reification, prosopopoeia, gazeability and criminality.
50

Poetry of the American suburbs /

Monacell, Peter. January 2004 (has links)
Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-80). Also available on the Internet.

Page generated in 0.0541 seconds