Thesis--Tulane University. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-308).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Northwestern University, 1997. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 58-04, Section: A, page: 1329. Chair: Dennis E. Groh.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / Statement of the Problem Theodore of Mopsuestia (ca. 350-428) appeared at a time when traditional views concerning biblical interpretation were being challenged by the Antiochia scholars. Among the centers of biblical studies in the patristic Church, only the school of Antioch advocated an objective viewpoint and a critical investigation of the Old Testament. In their commentaries on the Bible, the Antiochian Fathers employed the historico-grammatical method of interpretation and defended it against the allegorical method which they termed "mythological." As the foremost theoretician of the school of Antioch, Theodore was severest in applying these critical views. It has been the purpose of this study: to present Theodore's biblical scholarship insofar as it has been preserved for us in the primary sources now available; to ascertain the literary methods by which he investigated and criticized Old Testament documents; to examine the hermeneutical principles which guided his exegesis in the interpretation of the scriptural texts; and, to evaluate his study of the Old Testament in the light of modern critical biblical scholarship [TRUNCATED].

The rise of naturalism in American letters was born out of a reaction against romanticism by writers such as Theodore Dreiser, Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Jack London, Upton Sinclair and Robert Herrick, who attempted to rid the American novel of romanticism by delving deeper into life's truths than did the realists Mark Twain, William Dean Howells and Henry James. The naturalists objected to the limited subject matter of the realists; they focused their attention on "slums, crime, illicit sexual passions, exploitation of man by man"2 and other actualities of the world. George Perkins outlined other distinctions between realism and naturalism in American literature.3 He describes nineteenth-century realism, 1870-1890, as represented by writers who created a world of truth by keeping actuality clearly in mind. The emphasis was on the following: 1. Using settings that were thoroughly familiar to the writer. 2. Emphasizing the norm of daily experience in plot construction. 3. Creating ordinary characters and studying them in depth. 4. Adhering to complete authorial objectivity. 5. Accepting their moral responsibility by reporting the world as it truly was.

A study of strategies and attempts in Theodore Dreiser's novels The Financier, The Titan and The Stoic to resolve the conflict between the material and the spiritual. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate that conflicts in Dreiser criticism reflect unresolved conflicts between these issues in his "Trilogy". Having outlined and shown the division in the literary criticism of the "Trilogy", in the first chapter of this thesis, I will discuss the three main themes, finance, art and women, which can be seen as strategies to bridge the division between the material and the spiritual. I will attempt to transcend the traditional categorization of Dreiser criticism to come to a more complex understanding of the core issues of his writing.

This study will focus on the role of George Perkins in the development and decline of the Progressive Party. Theodore Roosevelt is often at the center of this story for the Bull Moose and the Progressives were closely intertwined. Ultimately, the inconsistencies of the master-politician Roosevelt and the detrimental influence of Perkins contributed to the downfall of the Progressive Party of 1912.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Mainz--Universität, 2003. / Bibliogr. p. 373-420.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 312-319). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Although Theodore Dreiser has gained a reputation for ,objective, scientific observation of life, he also showed a strong tendency to believe in superstition-charms, omens, premonitions, fortune-telling, astrology, prophetic dreams, and spiritualism. Such beliefs do not lend themselves to scientific observation and proof. This paper deals with the part of Dreiser's beliefs which was not disciplined by science. Three major aspects of superstition in Dreiser's life and works--luck, foreknowledge, and spirits--are covered in this dissertation. His investigation of religion is discussed only when it is relevant to the superstitious beliefs presented, and his pseudoscientific beliefs are not covered.The first chapter deals with Dreiser's observation of the lack of correlation between deserving and receiving good or bad luck. His biographical works show times when he felt that luck was a determining factor in his own life, and his fiction shows the operation of chance in the lives of his characters. The coincidences and ironies of his own life and those of his characters are included in this discussion because of the involvement of chance, an unpredictable aspect of life over which people can exercise no control. Along with this idea is Dreiser's inconsistent belief in the possibility of influencing luck by carrying lucky coins, knocking on wood, or hanging a horseshoe on the dashboard of a car.Chapter II deals with ways by which he thought a person might be able to learn about the future. For instance, he watched for cross-eyed women, hunchbacks, and broken or whole horseshoes. Eugene Witla, a character patterned after himself, believed that creaking doors, howling dogs, and black-bearded men were indicators of the future. Dreiser believed in predictions of fortune-tellers, and he experimented with Ouija boards. In The "Genius", astrology was a more accurate predictor than anything which science could provide. Dreams were important to Dreiser and can be found in most of his novels. They were used as both literary devices which allowed him to control the imagery and as predictors of the future. Also included in this chapter are the folk sayings and practices which were important both in his own life and in his works.The final section covers Dreiser's ideas concerning whether there is a continuance of the spirit after death. He himself went to seances and believed in the necessity for careful investigation of spiritualism as a means of gaining new knowledge about death and the operation of the universe. There is a discussion of spirit characters which indicates that, along with heredity and environment as determining factors in life, there is also the possibility of the intervention of spirits in the occurrences of this world.The significance of this study for readers of Dreiser is that he really should not be given so much credit for his scientific approach to philosophy and literature. There were inconsistencies in his thinking caused by his family background and by gaps in his education. His notions concerning such matters as faith healing, thought materialization, and the validity of predictions and signs kept him from being the cold-blooded, objective, scientific observer of life for which he has been credited. His work shows his constant search for answers to questions concerning the Creative Force and the operation of the universe, but his questions were beyond the power of science to answer. He arrived at a philosophy based upon his own observation of life, his reading, his intuition, and his desire to uncover some kind of proof of intelligent planning behind the universe.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2004.