Obesity has been on the rise for several decades in both children and adults. Furthermore, obesity is associated with diseases. Children's environment is suspected to affect children's eating habits and lack of exercise, but the salient aspects of children's environments are still not well understood. The present research addresses the possibility that work to family spillover may disrupt family eating patterns and children's physical activity sufficient enough to cause weight gain. Other researchers have examined the environment of the family in terms of parenting style and family rituals. This literature however has not examined the possible moderating effect of parenting styles on the effects of work to family spillover on children's obesity. The study included a cross-sectional sample of children and adolescents (n = 312) in a Houston study. Participants included both parents (if a father was present in the household) and one child aged either 9-11 or 13-15. Bivariate, multivariate, and logistic regression analyses were performed. Work to family spillover, family meal rituals and parenting styles were found to have a relationship with children obesity measures for both age groups. However, these relationships are less strong when combined into a full model. Only a mothers' work strain was associated with increased odds of having overweight children in the 9-11 age group. Although the relationship between mothers? work strain and mothers' controlling parenting style and obesity-related variables remained significant, there was no evidence that a maternal or paternal parenting style moderates the relationship between work spillover and children obesity measures. Father dinner ritual importance was associated with lower odds of having overweight children among 13-15 year old adolescents. However, findings did not support hypothesis that family meal ritual variables children eating while watching TV, mother eating while watching TV nor Father dinner ritual (all significant in the full model) moderated the positive relationship between mothers work strain and overweight, at-risk for overweight, or healthy weight children for neither age group.

This thesis examines the political style and public image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. It argues that Chávez fulfills the criteria of a classical populist, in accordance with renowned cases of populism in Latin American history. His style is further analyzed through Chávezs relationship with his Venezuelan supporters and his diplomacy in the Latin American community. Three characteristics are emphasized: the radicalism of his image and policy, a casual and accessible approach, and the use of historical references. This thesis relies on primary sources such as speeches, interviews, and government publications, as well as media coverage of the Chávez regime. This study expounds the polarization of Venezuelan politics under Chávez, and connects his leadership to a larger trend in Latin American history.

Chopin’s Third Piano Sonata, Op. 58, is the largest solo work of his late period. Chopin’s successful combination of the Classical and the Romantic aesthetic, which is explored in Chapter 1, results in an effective balancing of structural integrity and emotional fulfillment. Every movement of Op. 58 possesses qualities of movements in a traditional sonata cycle; however, the tendency to blend structural elements, the expansion of thematic material, and the postponement of climaxes contribute to Chopin’s distinctive treatment of the sonata genre. The issue of late style in Chopin’s output has recently garnered considerable attention. Most writers focus on particular compositional techniques such as the blending of musical genres and the increasing importance of counterpoint and chromaticism. New expressive elements include manifestations of a dandified aesthetic as well as emotional lassitude. These discussions are primarily related to works in Chopin’s original genres, neglecting somewhat the Third Piano Sonata, Op. 58. The second chapter of this dissertation examines the elements of Chopin’s late style present in Op. 58, emphasizing the sonata’s first three movements. These aspects of late style include blurring of genres, complex use of chromaticism, intricacy of counterpoint, textural and thematic variety, dandified impertinence, emotional lassitude and polyvalence. The employment of late stylistic features within the sonata model results in formal ambiguities, which are particularly manifest in the first movement. Chapter 3 reconsiders the movement’s thematic boundaries and especially evaluates the juncture between development and recapitulation. In Chapter 4, the last movement’s indebtedness to Chopin’s balladic model is examined. The gradual intensification of the primary theme together with the presence of a characterizing theme and dancelike episode suggest a merging of Chopin’s balladic practice with rondo form to create an end-directed hybrid structure. This study not only encourages further research into the implications of Chopin’s late style for his larger forms but also increases the variety of interpretative choices available to performers through awareness of Chopin’s stylistic features. The final chapter suggests how insights into musical structure, style, and genre might inform performances of this sonata and how these possibilities relate to a selection of recorded performances.

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 are two events that scarred America and its people. In the aftermath of the assassination and the terrorist attacks, the American public was forced to sift through competing messages existing in the public sphere in order to make meaning out of the events. Although the American government, within a few days of both events, released who was ultimately responsible (Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy and Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible for 9/11), the people were still left with coming to terms for why such violence occurred. In order to provide a frame from which the American people could view and understand the assassination and the terrorist attacks, two blue ribbon commissions were formed: the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of President Kennedy and the 9/11 Commission, which investigated the terrorist attacks. Despite the reports’ purposes, significant segments of the population questioned both Commissions’ conclusions. In both instances, conspiratorial understandings of the events grew after the publication of the reports so that, in the case of the Warren Commission, most of the American public believe Oswald did not act alone and, in the case of the 9/11 Commission, there is growing belief that the government’s failure to predict and prevent the terrorist attacks was the result of a governmental conspiracy. This dissertation seeks to understand why, in our current times, official discourses are unable to prevail over conspiracy theories. This study proposes to illustrate the power of conspiracy discourse by examining it through the lens of official discourses that were designed, in part, to head-off conspiracy beliefs before they gained momentum within the American public. Such an inquiry will provide three main benefits: it will contribute to a more exacting understanding of the rhetorical power of conspiracy arguments in our times; it will provide insight into the relationship between official and conspiracy discourses (especially as they now exist); and, such a study has implications for determining the current direction of political life.

Dramatic, in the sense of “highly intense,” is a quality we often associate with the music of Beethoven, but no theory has attempted to define drama in any systematic manner. This study therefore explores the idea by constructing a theory that distinguishes between dramatic and non-dramatic passages. At the core of the theory is the notion that drama is the result of several types of tension occurring simultaneously. Dramatic passages have a “High” tension level, whereas non-dramatic ones have a “Low” level. Individual tension types are divided into two categories: rhetorical and syntactical. Rhetorical tension types include such features as a loud dynamic, a fast rhythm, and a thick texture, which need no musical context to be expressed. By contrast, syntactical tension types include such features as chromaticism, metric irregularity, and phrase expansion, which always require a comparison of events to be expressed. Only tension types from the same category may combine to form drama. Because this study examines the relationships between drama and sonata form, the analysis of form is a key issue that receives a separate chapter and additional thought throughout. The methodology combines aspects of William E. Caplin’s theory of formal functions and James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy’s Sonata Theory, and is applied to all of Beethoven’s first-movement sonata forms, a total of eighty-seven movements. Each formal unit is analyzed as one of six dramatic “archetypes” that describe a basic outline of High and/or Low tension levels. These archetypes constitute the dramatic structure of the piece. Percentage frequencies of the archetypes were calculated for each formal unit in the movements as a whole, and as grouped by the categories of key, mode, genre, and style period. The greatest distinctions in dramatic structure occur among the three style periods of early, middle, and late, the early works showing a sectional approach with contrasting tension between phrases and the middle to late works gradually becoming more continuous, maintaining the same tension levels between units. A concluding analysis of Beethoven’s String Trio, op. 3, demonstrates the theory’s ability to enrich the interpretation of an individual work.

Chopin’s Third Piano Sonata, Op. 58, is the largest solo work of his late period. Chopin’s successful combination of the Classical and the Romantic aesthetic, which is explored in Chapter 1, results in an effective balancing of structural integrity and emotional fulfillment. Every movement of Op. 58 possesses qualities of movements in a traditional sonata cycle; however, the tendency to blend structural elements, the expansion of thematic material, and the postponement of climaxes contribute to Chopin’s distinctive treatment of the sonata genre. The issue of late style in Chopin’s output has recently garnered considerable attention. Most writers focus on particular compositional techniques such as the blending of musical genres and the increasing importance of counterpoint and chromaticism. New expressive elements include manifestations of a dandified aesthetic as well as emotional lassitude. These discussions are primarily related to works in Chopin’s original genres, neglecting somewhat the Third Piano Sonata, Op. 58. The second chapter of this dissertation examines the elements of Chopin’s late style present in Op. 58, emphasizing the sonata’s first three movements. These aspects of late style include blurring of genres, complex use of chromaticism, intricacy of counterpoint, textural and thematic variety, dandified impertinence, emotional lassitude and polyvalence. The employment of late stylistic features within the sonata model results in formal ambiguities, which are particularly manifest in the first movement. Chapter 3 reconsiders the movement’s thematic boundaries and especially evaluates the juncture between development and recapitulation. In Chapter 4, the last movement’s indebtedness to Chopin’s balladic model is examined. The gradual intensification of the primary theme together with the presence of a characterizing theme and dancelike episode suggest a merging of Chopin’s balladic practice with rondo form to create an end-directed hybrid structure. This study not only encourages further research into the implications of Chopin’s late style for his larger forms but also increases the variety of interpretative choices available to performers through awareness of Chopin’s stylistic features. The final chapter suggests how insights into musical structure, style, and genre might inform performances of this sonata and how these possibilities relate to a selection of recorded performances.

There exists a severe deficit of studies exploring the psychological aspects of Christian worship experiences despite worship’s importance in Christianity and in many people’s lives. Transformational worship experiences can have lasting effects on one’s outlook and psychological functioning (Chou, 2008; Cutler, 1976; Ellison & George, 1994; Fife, Adegoke, McCoy, & Brewer, 2011; Salsman, Brown, Brechting, & Carlson, 2005), yet very few studies have investigated these experiences. The current study sought to explore the effects of group size and style of worship on participants’ feelings of deindividuation and focus on others within the congregation. Seventy-six middle aged adults from a range of ethnicities and denominations took part in an interview that included measures of religious support, social support, style of worship service, and a number of free-response questions about a transformational worship experience in the participant’s past. It was predicted that a more ceremonial worship style and that higher scores in religious and social support would be associated with less focus on specific others, that a more ceremonial worship style would be associated with more religious and social support, and that, depending on the level of religious and social support, the relationship between ceremonial style and focus on other would vary. Except for a significant positive correlation between ceremonial worship style and religious support, the proposed hypotheses were not supported.

Dramatic, in the sense of “highly intense,” is a quality we often associate with the music of Beethoven, but no theory has attempted to define drama in any systematic manner. This study therefore explores the idea by constructing a theory that distinguishes between dramatic and non-dramatic passages. At the core of the theory is the notion that drama is the result of several types of tension occurring simultaneously. Dramatic passages have a “High” tension level, whereas non-dramatic ones have a “Low” level. Individual tension types are divided into two categories: rhetorical and syntactical. Rhetorical tension types include such features as a loud dynamic, a fast rhythm, and a thick texture, which need no musical context to be expressed. By contrast, syntactical tension types include such features as chromaticism, metric irregularity, and phrase expansion, which always require a comparison of events to be expressed. Only tension types from the same category may combine to form drama. Because this study examines the relationships between drama and sonata form, the analysis of form is a key issue that receives a separate chapter and additional thought throughout. The methodology combines aspects of William E. Caplin’s theory of formal functions and James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy’s Sonata Theory, and is applied to all of Beethoven’s first-movement sonata forms, a total of eighty-seven movements. Each formal unit is analyzed as one of six dramatic “archetypes” that describe a basic outline of High and/or Low tension levels. These archetypes constitute the dramatic structure of the piece. Percentage frequencies of the archetypes were calculated for each formal unit in the movements as a whole, and as grouped by the categories of key, mode, genre, and style period. The greatest distinctions in dramatic structure occur among the three style periods of early, middle, and late, the early works showing a sectional approach with contrasting tension between phrases and the middle to late works gradually becoming more continuous, maintaining the same tension levels between units. A concluding analysis of Beethoven’s String Trio, op. 3, demonstrates the theory’s ability to enrich the interpretation of an individual work.

Par le présent mémoire, l'auteur cherche à identifier et examiner quelques traits particuliers de l'écriture de Daniel Pennac, en exploitant plus particulièrement le roman La fée carabine (1987). Les critiques mentionnent fréquemment le ton et le style uniques et reconnaissables de cet auteur, et notre expérience personnelle de lecteur confirme cette affirmation. Cependant, il existe peu de travaux analysant plus en détail son style, et c'est pourquoi il nous a semblé intéressant de nous pencher sur un de ses romans ayant reçu un accueil enthousiaste tant des lecteurs que des critiques. Puisqu'il s'agit d'un roman policier, et que la paralittérature se dote de codes solides, notre travail d'analyse consiste principalement en un exposé de quelques caractéristiques du roman policier français contemporain de La fée carabine, suivi d'un examen du roman de Pennac afin de voir comment, au fil des pages, l'auteur traite ces caractéristiques: langue, humour et archétypes. Pennac a remporté un vif succès auprès des lecteurs de romans policiers ; nous sommes donc en droit de nous attendre à ce qu'il reprenne à son compte le travail sur la langue, l'humour et les personnages archétypaux réalisé par ses prédécesseurs, puisque ceci fait désormais partie de l'horizon d'attente des lecteurs. Cependant, La fée carabine a également été le tremplin qui a mené cet auteur à publier son roman suivant, La petite marchande de prose, hors des collections policières. Il est donc fort probable que nous y trouvions une part d'inventivité importante, d'audaces au niveau du style que la majorité des auteurs de paralittérature ne se permettent pas. Notre analyse confirme cette intuition : Pennac s'inscrit bien dans la répétition propre à la paralittérature, mais la place qu'il accorde à la variation est très grande, et surtout, développée avec une subtilité et un travail d'écriture peu communs. Nous terminons par un examen de quelques éléments supplémentaires qui nous ont interpellé lors de notre lecture, mais qui s'inscrivent mal dans un dialogue avec la « norme » policière. Ces points supplémentaires -le travail sur la longueur de la phrase et l'exploitation des images religieuses -nous lancent sur d'intéressantes pistes de réflexion qui nous aident à percevoir comment Pennac a su rayonner hors du cercle paralittéraire dans lequel il a débuté. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Daniel Pennac, La fée carabine, Roman policier, Polar, Style, Littérature, Langue, Humour, Archétypes.

Ce mémoire porte sur le podcasting indépendant. La pratique du podcasting est ici prise dans le contexte général des usages contributifs du Web participatif qui formeraient une culture participative. Nous répondons à la question suivante: dans le contexte des usages contributifs, quelles sont les caractéristiques spécifiques du podcasting indépendant et quel est le sens de son style? Pour répondre à cette question en deux volets, nous mobilisons un cadre théorique constitué de quatre approches: la sociologie des usages, la déclinaison des media studies et l'approche stylistique des sous-cultures des cultural studies, de même que le modèle expressiviste. Le terrain est approché par une posture en grounded theory à laquelle nous avons jointe une recherche une observation participante auprès des acteurs sur une période de trois ans. Nos résultats montrent la spécificité de la pratique du podcasting indépendant et exposent comment se constitue le sens de son style qui s'inscrit en réaction au modèle médiatique traditionnel. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Internet, Usage, Usage contributif, Culture participative, Style, Sous-culture, Podcasting, Podcasting indépendant.