This paper examines the feminist perspective in Didion’s collection of essays Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Throughout the text, Didion looks closely at the West and the changing social climate which surrounds her. Her essays chronicle women struggling to find a balance between the domestic and independence promised by myth the West. I analyze how women are granted only limited participation within the American Dream because of the masculine power structures which dominate our society. As the values of the American Dream shift, the women that Didion depicts attempt to find identity and independence despite the restrictive forces around them.

Using concepts of cognitive evolutionary theory, the author explores how narrative storytelling manifests itself in Denis Johnson's novella Train Dreams. The novella form is also discussed, focusing on its manipulation of linear time, its naturalization of supernatural elements, and its deconstruction of dichotomous relationships. Utilizing the novella's distinct structural and thematic elements, Johnson's text shows the myth of American expansionism and industrial progress and that of Kootenai holism in collision, resulting in a narrative renegotiation that seeks to affirm coexistence and complexity.

Cette recherche est axée sur le mythe du sacrifice dans le folklore roumain et russe. Nous tentons premièrement de résumer les principales définitions du mythe, pour observer ensuite les rapports entre le mythe et la littérature, comme ceux entre la mythologie et le folklore, des notions qui sont parfois confondues. Deuxièmement, nous mettons en évidence les particularités du folklore roumain et russe, dont le mythe du sacrifice, qui est illustré, dans la dernière partie, dans deux textes choisis : la ballade roumaine « Maître Manole » (« Le monastère Argis ») et la byline russe « La Tour de la Palanche » (« la Tour Koromyslova »). L’objectif de notre thèse est de prouver l’existence du mythe du sacrifice dans le folklore des deux peuples, grâce à l’analyse comparée des deux textes. / Our research is focused on the myth of sacrifice in Roumanian and Russian folklore. Firstly, we try to summarize the definition of the myth and the literary myth, which allows a deeper analysis of the myth of sacrifice and the relationship between the mythology and the folklore, concepts that are frequently confused. Then, we study the importance of the folklore in the written literature as well as the particularities of the Romanian and Russian folklore, including the myth of sacrifice, illustrated in the last part of our research, in two selected writings: the Romanian ballad "Master Manole" and in the Russian byline Koromyslova Tower», («The Shoulder-Yoke Tower»). Our main intention is to demonstrate the existence of the myth of sacrifice in both folklores through the comparative analysis of the two texts.

Sport is a relatively common topic in the Czech literature. The authors often focus on team sports like football or ice hockey or on the individual competitions, for example, gymnastics. Through sport various stories that include different ideas can be produced. This diploma thesis lay stress on the documentation of the transformation of sport´s image in the 30´s, 40´s and 50´s of the 20th century. The thesis also concentrates on the clarification of the term sport, different outlooks on sport because this topic is also connected with the cult of the human body. The chosen literary works research the image of sport and the ways of the interpretations. Furthermore, the thesis concerns oneself with the film, the representation of the sport and its narrative patterns in it.

This thesis concerns itself with the relationship between media and politics and politicians, particularly in those media messages where visual stimuli predominate.First, the author introduces key terms in the field of media and visual culture. The following part of the present paper focuses on two prominent figures of our political scene. These figures are briefly introduced and an attempt is made to analyse their means of visual self-presentation and the effect of this message on the public, namely their voters. The method chosen to carry out this analysis is semiotic analysis, inspired predominantly by Roland Barthes' book Mythologies. The author uses the concept of interpreting an image, denotation, and connotation, and subsequently situates her findings in a broader social context. Semiotic analysis helps to decipher messages used by media to influence voters' perception of politicians.

The diploma thesis Evil Called Brussels! Why Czech Media Release euromyths deals with the issue of Euromyths. The aim of the thesis is to find out which common elements have the articles that are considered euromyths. The paper examines twenty cases of misinformation or inaccurate information about the European Union and consequently determines what the main issues are. The thesis deals with the definition of the word euromyth and its theoretical framing. The thesis shows on individual media articles where the journalists make the biggest mistakes and how to prevent those mistakes. The thesis describes the functioning of the work of the foreign rapporteur with advice on how to improve the Czech referencing on the EU. The theoretical part sets the boundaries of content analysis. The analytical part confirms that there are simple intelligence procedures that would greatly improve the journalist reporting on the EU.

Thesis advisor: Bonnie Jefferson / This thesis analyzes the discourse surrounding two of the most celebrated professional athletes in the present generation. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are two highly talented basketball players who have both been hailed within the world of sports ever since they left high school and entered directly into the NBA. This study argues that the media has presented the careers of both Bryant and James in the form of carefully constructed and familiar narratives. The analysis incorporates concepts drawn from Walter R. Fisher, Seymour Chatman, Karyn and Donald Rybacki and Kenneth Burke, in order scrutinize the narrative elements existing within specific artifacts presented by the media. The analysis demonstrates how the selected artifacts uphold plotlines that are already recognizable to the audience. Through influential rhetorical devices, the media frames the careers of Bryant and James so that the two men are featured as the mythological heroes of their tales. This study reveals the power of framing a message as an identifiable narrative as well as the implications the construction has for both the athletes and the audience. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

Orientador: Renata Medeiros Paoliello / Banca: Ana Lucia de Castro / Banca: Maria Cristina Pompa / Resumo: Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o mito da serpente do município de Araraquara - SP através da fórmula canônica do antropólogo Lévi-Strauss e, a partir daí, apontar possíveis articulações entre os usos de um discurso mítico e as relações políticas da cidade de Araraquara. A construção da cidade é um projeto de disputa político pela definição do espaço. Constitui-se assim um campo de sensibilidade a partir do mito, que produz intensos conflitos discursivos, impondo um ethos à cidade. O referido "mito da serpente" narra uma praga rogada, pelo padre da Matriz na época, enunciando que Araraquara, por 100 anos, não teria progresso, que uma enorme serpente ficaria em baixo da igreja, e que, se um dia o município progredisse, ela sairia e destruiria toda a cidade. Caso saia, uma águia localizada no chafariz, no centro do largo da Matriz, irá enfrentá-la para proteger a cidade. Assim, este projeto tem por objeto os usos do mito e sobre como é apropriada sua narrativa em favor da produção de novos conteúdos sobre a cidade, na tentativa de obter exclusividade da enunciação da modernidade como valor. A modernidade aqui é pensada em sua dimensão conflituosa, interventora na urbe, buscando instaurar novas centralidades de poder. Por fim, busca-se através desta pesquisa contribuir para a compreensão da dimensão tensa e negociada que permeia o processo de formação das cidades médias brasileiras / Abstract: This paper's objective is to analyze the serpent myth from the municipality of Araraquara, SP, through the use of anthropologist Lévi-Strauss' canonic formula and, from there, point out possible articulations between the uses of a mythical discourse and the political relations in the city of Araraquara. The construction of a city is a project of political dispute for the definition of the space. Thus, a field of sensibility is constituted from the myth, which generates intense discursive conflicts, imposing an ethos to the city. The referred "serpent myth" narrates a curse cast by the Matriz priest at the time, stating that Araraquara would not have progress for a 100 years, that an enormous serpent would stay beneath the church, and that, should the city ever develop, the serpent would come out and destroy all of it. If the serpent does come out, an eagle, located at the fountain at the center of the Matriz's plaza, would face it in order to protect the city. Therefore, this project's object is the uses of the myth and how its narrative is appropriated in favor of the production of new contents about the city, in an attempt to obtain exclusivity in the enunciation of modernity as a value. Modernity is thought of here in its contentious dimension, inventor of the urbis, seeking to establish new centers of power. Lastly, this research aims to contribute to the comprehension of the tense and negotiated dimension which permeates the formation process of Brazilian middle-sized towns / Mestre

[pt] Este trabalho consiste em uma análise do tratamento dispensado por Platão à poesia no diálogo A República. A proposta que Platão apresenta para a poesia tem profundas motivações éticas e políticas. A poesia (mito) é o principal componente da primeira parte de um processo educacional que tem por principal objetivo instruir a classe de cidadãos que será responsável pela segurança e pelo governo da cidade idealizada no diálogo. Em suas composições, os poetas devem obedecer a normas que são estabelecidas a partir de critérios pedagógicos. Tais normas são necessárias para fazer com que a poesia contribua positivamente para o desenvolvimento de um caráter belo e bom. A teoria poética tem início nos livros II e III, mas, devido a certas noções que serão esclarecidas posteriormente a essa primeira abordagem da poesia, sua conclusão somente pode terminar em um segundo momento. Por isso, defenderemos que o livro X é necessário para completar as determinações que são estabelecidas para a poesia, e que há uma continuidade entre os argumentos defendidos no primeiro estágio com os do segundo estágio da crítica poética. Na primeira parte desta dissertação, analisaremos as teses defendidas nos livros II e III, onde Platão inicia a construção do paradigma de normas poéticas. Em seguida, veremos a conclusão das considerações sobre a poesia apresentada no livro X. / [en] This dissertation consists in an analysis of the poetry in the Plato s dialogue The Republic. The proposal that Plato presents for the poetry has a deeply ethical and political motivation. The poetry (myth) is the main component of the first part of an educational process whose objective is to instruct certain class of citizens responsible both for the security guard and the government of the city idealized in the dialogue. In its works, the poets must follow some norms that obey pedagogical criteria. Such norms are needed to get the poetry to contribute positively for the development of a good and beautiful character. The poetical theory is first approached in Books II and III, but, due to a slight knowledge later clarified, its conclusion could only be reached in the end of the dialogue. Therefore, this work defends that Book X is necessary to conclude the determinations for the poetic art, and that there is a sense of continuity linking the propositions presented in the first period to those of the second stage of the poetical criticism. The first part of this work analyzes the arguments defended in Books II and III, in which Plato initiates the construction of the poetical norms paradigm. The second part analyses the conclusion of the considerations about the poetry presented in Book X.

[pt] O presente trabalho analisa as histórias em quadrinhos de Mauricio de Sousa sob a ótica da Semiologia, avaliando o uso do Mito para a transmissão de um conteúdo ideológico. Para essa análise, foi necessário situar os quadrinhos no âmbito do Design Gráfico e entender que a construção da mensagem utiliza-se não só da imagem, mas também do texto, como elementos de construção de significado. Pôde-se perceber que as figuras ditas mitológicas, presentes na obra de Mauricio de Sousa - especificamente nos quadrinhos da Turma do Chico Bento e da Turma do Papa-Capim publicados nos anos de 2004 e 2005 -, transitam pelos quadros contracenando com as demais personagens. Fazem parte do conteúdo não em ambientes metafísicos, mas tomando o lugar do humano, como qualquer outra personagem nos espaços narrativos das histórias que são referendos do real. Assim, os ambientes ou lugares narrativos das histórias de Mauricio de Sousa permitem que animais, objetos, figuras folclóricas e até plantas sejam representados como humanos, com características antropomórficas, dotados de razão e personalidade, sendo assimilados desta forma pelo imaginário do interlocutor.A pesquisa procurou levantar as imagens presentes nos temas tratados e, assim, pelo viés do design gráfico, vem trazendo algumas questões semiológicas na abordagem a respeito do Mito - baseando- se, principalmente, nos conceitos de Barthes sobre o assunto - usando o conteúdo imagético da obra de Mauricio de Sousa. / [en] This research analyses Mauricio de Sousa´s cartoons under the semiotics´ view by analysing the myth as a communication tool of some ideology content. In order to carry on this analysis, it was necessary place the cartoons into the graphic design scope and understand the construction of the message uses not only image, but also text as building elements of the significance. By studying the so-called mythological characters from Mauricio de Sousa´s work - specially the cartoons from Chico Bento´s and Papa-Capim´s Gangs published in 2004 and 2005 -, the study realised that its flows through the cartoons by playing with others characters, in the same content, not just in metaphysic environment but taken place the human, like any other, into the narrative places that are the reference of the real. Therefore we can say that the environment or the Mauricio de Sousa´s cartoons narrative places, allow animals, objects, folkloric characters and even plants being represented like humans with anthropomorphic characteristic endowed with reason and personality being assimilated by the interlocutor imagination. This analysis, the research tried to discuss the images on the themes through the graphic design view point, bring together some questions on semiology about the myth - based upon, specially, Barthes´ concepts about the subject - by using the imaginary contents from Mauricio de Sousa´s work.