This thesis explores the influence of the voluminous travel literature of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries on the imagination of Romantic writers such as Wordsworth and Byron, with particular reference to the theme of suffering in travel. It examines the ways in which Romantic travel, and Romantic writings about travel, are often 'scripted' by a body of prior travel literature which today is largely overlooked. The travel texts in question all foreground the elements of danger and discomfort in the travelling experience, and the thesis begins by arguing that an interest in the traveller's misadventures was an integral part of the appeal of travel writing in this period, constituting almost a mode or sub-genre within Voyages and Travels. Taking one strand of this literature of 'misadventure', the narrative of shipwreck, mutiny and other maritime misadventures, Chapter 1 explores the different rhetorical strategies used by writers to recount the sufferings of travellers. Accounts by John Newton, William Dampier, John Byron, George Shelvocke and others illustrate, broadly, a shift from Providentialism to sentimentalism in the handling of misadventure; they illustrate also the various philosophical, theological and political issues which are involved for any reader trying to make sense of the sufferings described. Chapter 2 then considers how these conventions of misadventure are borrowed by another sub-genre of Voyages and Travels, the exploration narrative. Using the accounts of James Cook, John Ross, Edward Parry, James Bruce and Mungo Park, the chapter argues that in being thus exploited by explorers, a further layer of political significance - touching on matters of empire and modernity attaches itself to the idea of suffering in travel. Chapters 1 and 2 illuminate positive stimuli to the Romantic interest in misadventure, showing how suffering in travel could be regarded as signifying, variously, divine election, authenticity, moral worth, political protest, and much else besides. Chapter 3 is short contextual chapter which suggests that there was also a negative stimulus to the Romantic taste, for misadventure, in the form of a rapidly growing, diversifying tourism. Focussing especially on the picturesque tourist delineated by William Gilpin, and the classical Grand Tourist influenced by Joseph Addison, it suggests that Romantic writers and travellers prized discomfort and danger in travel not only for its own sake, but also because it served to distinguish them from other types of recreational traveller. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss Wordsworth and Byron respectively, showing how the conventions and attitudes explored in Chapters 1 and 2, and the use of travel as a mode of social distinction explored in Chapter 3, play out in both the writings and the actual travels of these two major Romantic figures. Both men present themselves as misadventurers, and borrow rhetorical strategies from the earlier travel literature to do so. At the same time, Wordsworth and Byron each borrow different elements from the earlier texts, or make a different inflection of the same inherited conventions. Exploring these differences, and referring to a range of texts notably the Salisbury Plain poems, The Borderers and the 'Analogy Passage' of The Prelude for Wordsworth, and Childe Harold, Don Juan Canto 2 and The Island for Byron chapters 4 and 5 articulate the very different political, philosophical and aesthetic points being made by Wordsworth and Byron as they pose, both on the page and in actuality, as suffering travellers.

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This case study examines the participant outcomes, critical elements, and processes of young people's experiences on a ten-week expedition to West Africa. A secondary aim was to explore how one expedition structure caters to the varied goals of the participants. The study's rationale lies in the limited research focusing on young people's accounts of their experiences and how outcomes in overseas youth expeditions are achieved. Symbolic interactionism provides a framework for exploring the ways in which young people construct meaning and identity from their experiences. Mead's (1934) and Cooley's (1962; 1964) work illustrate how individuals develop their 'self through interaction with expedition team-members'. Blumer (1969) helps to understand how participants are influenced by their interpretations of the physical, social, and abstract objects with which they interact. Principal data collection involved interviewing 14 young people before, during, and six months after the expedition. Secondary data were derived from informal discussion and participant observation. Interview transcripts were interpreted using a combination of phenomenology and thematic analysis. Verification relied on member checks, investigator triangulation, and peer review. The data suggest that an overseas expedition is a highly subjective experience. People came for a wide range of reasons and took away learnings with personal relevance. The principal outcomes are improved relationships with one's self, with others, and with greater society. The critical elements of the experience are living with three different and diverse groups, being self-sufficient in an unfamiliar rural environment, and participating in activities perceived as challenging and worthwhile. Participants processed their experiences through reflection, one-to-one conversations with staff, and informal dialogue with their peers. The thesis concludes that effective expeditions encourage each participant to determine their own learning. Groups comprised of people from varied backgrounds who interact in unfamiliar settings yield critical opportunities for individuals to reexamine and modify the attitudes that shape their actions. Finally, staff should ensure that participants have ample time to interpret their own experiences through unstructured reflection and informal conversation.

Thesis (doctoral)--Åbo Akademi, 2006. / Tevens proefschrift Åbo Akademi. Includes bibliographical references (p, 271-287).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1939. / Map on lining-papers. Published also without thesis note. "The American councl of learned societies has generously awarded from a fund provided by the Carnegie corporation of New York, a grant to assist in the publication of this volume." Vita. Bibliography: p. 497-505.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1939. / Map on lining-papers. Published also without thesis note. "The American councl of learned societies has generously awarded from a fund provided by the Carnegie corporation of New York, a grant to assist in the publication of this volume." Vita. Bibliography: p. 497-505.

Thesis--University of Michigan. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of English, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 155).

No description available.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [199]-222).