Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-155).

No description available.

The Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps numbered among its members some of the most important American writers of World War I, Including E. E. Cummings and John Dos Passos. What is less well-known is that the ambulance corps had strong tIes to a pre-war generation of American expatriates, whose participation first created the elite aura of the unit known as the "gentlemen volunteers." Henry James served as chairman until his final illness, and the family of the late Charles Eliot Norton operated the organization in France and America. This study, making use of unpublished archival material, outlines the history of the Norton-Harjes during the war, from its beginnings in Paris and London, to its activities on the Western Front, and its dissolution in late 1917. Around this historical context, the foundations of the unit are traced to Harvard University and an ideal of humanitarian service and social duty drawing from the late nineteenth-century concept of the gentleman. The war writings of the Norton-Harjes authors are examined in view of this historical and cultural evidence. Affirmation of the artist's role in society and criticism of American industrial-commercialism feature in the work of the authors connected with the unit, themes which gained new impetus from the war. A discussion of Charles Eliot Norton's moral aestheticism, expatriation, teaching at Harvard, and attitudes towards war, along with an outline of the Harvard careers of Norton's sons Eliot and Richard and of the future Norton-Harjes writers Cummings, Dos Passos, and Robert Hillyer, make up the chapter following the Introduction, which establishes the background of early American involvement in the war. Henry James' work for the ambulance corps and his move from intense observer to direct participant in war-time is explored in the third chapter. The fourth chapter presents the bulk of the historical information about the unit's war activities while examining the career and writings of Richard Norton, founder and leader of the corps. The succeeding three chapters are devoted to the ambulance volunteers who studied together at Harvard. E. E. Cummings' The Enormous Room is interpreted in light of the author's whole experience with the Norton-Harjes, emphasizing his use of primitivism in support of aesthetic individualism. Robert Hillyer's traditionalism stands opposed to Cummings' Modernist experimentation, but the Harvard professor-poet was equally critical of American industrialism. John Dos Passos' war novels attack the commercial basis of American culture and present as alternatives the rural culture of Spain and the ideal of the gentlemen volunteers as represented by Richard Norton. A brief Epilogue describes the last stage of Norton's war career and the post-war attempts to organize former volunteers into an association and to produce a history of the ambulance service.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among and between three factors that were hypothesized to affect a reader's evaluation of an author of persuasive material as credible or not. The three factors examined were the following: (1) the occupational status of an author; (2) the gender of an author; and (3) the gender of the reader. The instruments used in the study included a questionnaire, ranking and rating scales, and a set of four persuasive articles with corresponding response scales. The questionnaire was used to obtain a list of relevant and controversial topics. The ranking and rating scales were used to determine the order of preference or importance of each topic and the attitudes concerning the issue. The four persuasive articles were written by the researcher in a letter-to-the-editor format. Each article was attributed to a male author associated with a high and low status occupation. Each article version was accompanied by a response scale. Subjects were to rate their feelings regarding the credibility of each author. Subjects for the study were freshman and sophomore sociology students at The University of Arizona. A total of 223 students participated in the study. Significant differences were found regarding author occupational status. For two of the persuasive articles, the high occupational status author was rated as more credible than the low status occupation author regardless of author or reader gender. Significant differences were also found for reader gender. Female readers overall rated authors as more credible than did male readers for two of the persuasive articles. No significant differences were found regarding author gender.

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / English / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The twentieth century is a time when the discourse of exile is prevalent in culture and literature as well as in political life. This study explores the nature of exile, its relation to Western culture, politics, and writing through the use of critical theory and specific literary works. The extended introductory chapter examines how stories of exile function as formative concepts in the Hebrew Bible. Foremost is the story of the flight from Egypt and the wandering in the wilderness as told in the Book of Exodus, but examples of separation as a type of exile are also examined, specifically in the laws in Exodus and Leviticus. The idea of exile as a paradox in Western culture and literature is developed in this chapter. While exile was already known as a punishment, the Hebrew Bible portrays exile as a positive idea that enables the formation of religious and cultural identity. An examination of exile as a sociopolitical concept also comprises this chapter. The relation of Karl Marx's definition of alienation (entfremdung) to exile is explored, and exile in its negative aspect, as punishment and estrangement from family and self, is discussed. As a counterweight to this negative aspect, the theories of Michel Foucault on power and knowledge are studied, and exile is proposed as a resistance to power. Finally, the relation of exile to discourses on writing and literature in the twentieth century is examined, specifically in the work of Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes. The remaining three chapters of the work are devoted to three culturally diverse twentieth century authors. Chapter Two examines the work of Egyptian-born Jewish poet Edmond Jabes, whose poetry and meditations are interwoven with thoughts on Judaism, exile, and writing. Chapter Three takes up the work of Cristina Peri Rossi, an Uruguayan fiction writer and poet, who fled to Spain in 1973. Peri Rossi's work not only creates interesting fictional homes wherein characters and readers alike can dwell, but is also concerned with the issue of feminism and womens' particular relation to exile. Finally, the work of Modernist author Gertrude Stein is explored, raising and examining questions of exile in her work.