TITLE: "Holiday" short story genre in A. P. Chekhov's writings SUMMARY: In its theoretical part, this thesis gives an overview of origination and progression of Christmas and Easter short poem genre on the background of Russian Orthodox culture. Main object of this work's practial part is characterization and description of progression of so- called "holiday" short story in the work of A. P. Čechov. Divided into seven thematic groups, short stories are by means of interpretation put into contrast against the Christmas and Easter short story prototype of the last third of 19th century. Using the original quotations of short stories texts the creative modifications of nowadays classical genre are explained: new narrative techniques, modern lyrical view of the world and last but not least the ideal of humanistic view of man. KEYWORDS: Christmas, Easter, short story, genre, A. P. Chekhov

During September through December 1994 I completed an internship with Christmas in October, an organization that uses volunteers and donated cash and supplies to paint and repair the homes of low-income elderly and/or handicapped homeowners in New Orleans. CIO is a program of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, a historic preservation organization dedicated to promoting and preserving the architecture and neighborhoods of New Orleans. I performed a variety of jobs for Christmas in October including assisting with the daily operation of the office and warehouse, working on promotion and public relations, shooting photographs, and writing a plan for CIO's 1995 promotional campaign. This report discusses my experiences while I worked with the CIO staff and volunteers, discusses some managerial problems that I encountered and makes recommendations for their improvement. I also discuss my short and long-term contributions to the organization.

This report accounts my time spent as an intern with French Quarter Festivals, Inc. from March 2013 through August 2014. FQFI, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in New Orleans, Louisiana, began with French Quarter Festival in 1984 and now produces three festivals each year. This paper seeks to discuss how the organization has changed over time, examine the structure of FQFI in its current state, and make recommendations for FQFI as they continue to “promote the Vieux Carré and the City of New Orleans through high quality special events and activities that showcase the culture and heritage of this unique city, contribute to the economic well being of the community, and instill increased pride in the people of New Orleans.”

Thesis advisor: Sara Moorman / My grandfather passed away four years ago of cancer. Every family member made their way to Cape Cod during his last few days in order to say their good-byes. It was not until the day after the last grandchild said good-bye that my grandfather passed away. We all felt that he wanted to wait so he could say good-bye to all of us. I have talked to many people who have had similar experiences with family members and friends. Some people have held on to see people one last time; others have wanted to make another birthday, while others have wanted to see another holiday that is special to them. In the present study, I explored the death dip, death rise phenomenon. Specifically, I analyzed mortality rates around the New Year’s Day, Christmas, and Pioneer Day. I examined two days before and two days after the holiday within specific cities (Project 1: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago; Project 2: Salt Lake City, Boise, Little Rock; Project 3: Atlanta, Oklahoma City, New Orleans) within a five-year period (1998-2002). The data observed found a death dip and death rise present for New Year’s in New York City and Chicago. There was not a death dip or death rise observed for Project 2, Project 3, or Los Angeles in Project 1. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

Many critics have examined metanarrative aspects of Dickens's writing, and many have studied Dickens's ethics. None, however, has yet assessed the ways in which Dickens's directly interrogates the ethics of fiction. Surprisingly philosophical treatments of the ethics of fiction take place in A Christmas Carol and A House to Let, both of which turn the ghost story of the traditional winter's tale to metafictional purposes. No one has yet dealt with Dickens's own meta-commentary on the ethics of fiction with the degree of philosophical nuance it deserves. Writings about the ethics of Dickens's fiction (and of fiction generally) often involves a simplistic separation of the real and the fictional: the text is ethical inasmuch as it effects positive change in the "real world." Yet Dickens constantly blurs the line between the real and the fictional. He adopts a somewhat Kantian stance, namely that both the real and the fictional are fundamentally imagined. Dickens reflexively makes the ghosts in A Christmas Carol embodiments of the fictional imagination, seen most explicitly in the Ghost of Christmas Past, who is closely associated with the narrator, with imagination, with memory, and with fiction. The other two spirits also personify aspects of the fictional imagination: that of Christmas Present embodies social imaginings; the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come embodies intentions. Dickens shows that these imagined realities are crucial parts of the real, proving that fiction cannot be defined as that which is merely "imagined." How, then, is "fiction" to be defined? Dickens's answer anticipates Levinas: the ethical encounter determines the real as real; its absence is what defines fiction. A House to Let is also strongly Levinasian: its very structure makes it a parable of the ethical relation. The plot centers on Sophonisba's "haunting" by an eye seen in the supposedly uninhabited house to let opposite. This "eye" and its effect are described in terms that equate it with the Levinasian "face," or the foundational ethical reality that precedes and conditions all discourse. Sophonisba reacts to this haunting by enlisting her closest male companions, Jarber and Trottle, to investigate the house. These two characters come to symbolize different general comportments by their reactions. The text unfavorably represents Jarber's primarily narrative orientation, and approves Trottle's response, which disrupts narrative self-satisfaction in favor of real-world intervention in behalf of the Other. There is a productive friction, then, between the metafictional message of A Christmas Carol (looking back to Kant and emphasizing fiction's positive effects) and that of A House to Let (looking forward to Levinas and emphasizing fiction's ethical dangers), evidencing Dickens's complex awareness of both narrative and pre-narrative levels of ethical reality.

A disassembling of the Virginia Theatre Machine (VTM), LLC and its annual restaging of an adaption of Charles Dickens’ novella, A Christmas Carol. The VTM is a custom-built trailer theater that combines the performance energy of street theater with the magic and wonder of a fully designed theatrical production. I provide a historical context for this 21st century revising of mobile theater that switches the paradigm of the traditional theater experience by bringing the stage to audiences, for free. I draw from critical social and cultural theory to make sense of the audience impact in public and private outdoor spaces. I examine how each new performance environment brings its own resonance to bear on the wonder of the presentation at hand. I present the VTM as an alternative business model and form of theater outreach to inspire a new generation of theater-makers to rethink the traditional constraints of producing theatre.

Christmas is generally described as cultural, ritual and sociological phenomena of devotion, community and consumption. The topic of this dissertation concerns a specific stream of research within the general domain of consumer behaviour. The focal objective of this study is to develop a model and generate theory about parental gift giving behaviour at Christmas. My study is unique because it attempts to model parental gift giving at Christmas in a consumer behaviour context. Consumer behaviour theory suggests that parents seek information about possible gifts, set selection criteria for gift purchase, evaluate alternatives and buy the gifts for their children. Following this broad view of theory, parents respond to children's request behaviour, evaluate the suitability of any requests and purchase the approved or appropriate items as Christmas gifts. Children are encouraged to request any gifts that they desire, and these gift requests are often for specific brands. In general Christmas gifts are selected from children's products and brands and there is extensive debate and research relating to television advertising and children's request behaviour at Christmas. However, parents are not exposed to the same sources of advertising as their children and there is little evidence of research into the very important topics concerning motives, strategies, evaluations and the giving of brands that characterize parents' Christmas gift giving to their children. The significance of this dissertation resides in the development and presentation of a comprehensive model for the conceptualisation of parental gift giving at Christmas, based on antecedents to parents' social roles of gift giving and direct and indirect behavioural outcomes of those gift giving roles. Measures for each of these outcomes are developed and gender effects are also explored. The sample frame was described as a parent with at least one child between the ages of 3-8 years and a survey package was delivered to parents of children from participating schools and kindergartens. There were 2560 surveys distributed, with 450 individual responses representing a return rate of 17.6%. The 450 cases available for analysis were factor analysed and formed into composite and latent variables to facilitate statistical analysis via Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression, which is an appropriate procedure when the relationships are unknown or theoretical. The results of the research have two distinct streams. The first stream relates to the creation and validation of measurement constructs for the concept of Christmas spirit, parental gift giving, request communication, brand benefits and use of information sources, as well as involvement in giving gifts and involvement in giving brands as gifts. The second stream relates to the relationships between variables; the results support the relationships antecedent to the parents' social roles of gift giving. There is a significant relationship of Christmas spirit with involvement in giving gifts and with parental gift giving roles. A significant relationship also exists between involvement in giving gifts and parental gift giving roles. However, there is limited support for propositions related to outcomes of parental gift giving roles where there are significant relations between these roles and Christmas request communication, brand benefits and information sources. There is also a significant, indirect relationship between brand benefits and involvement in giving brands as gifts. As part of the second stream, gender differences were examined; the results show that mothers' Christmas spirit has no effect on their gift giving roles and gift giving roles have no significant effect on request communication and information source usage. On the other hand, the results show that the fathers' gift giving activities reflect the relationships outlined in the parental model. The study has academic implications for sociology and consumer behaviour disciplines and commercial implications for manufacturers, advertisers, brand owners and retailers. Further investigations will be necessary to incorporate other elements into the parental gift-giving model and to extend the theory toward a fuller understanding of the parental Christmas gift giving phenomena.

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2005. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-193).

The shake and wash technique (samples placed in a jar with alcohol added and shaken to remove the mites) was effective in removing 100% of the predator mites, and adult spruce spider mites from Douglas-fir foliage and 98% of the spruce spider mite nymphs. Eighty-eight percent of the spruce spider mite eggs was removed. This technique was considered efficient for removal of spruce spider mite and its predators from Douglas-fir foliage. Sodium hypochlorite (0.84%) added to the alcohol did not increase the number of spruce spider mites or phytoseiid mites removed from the foliage. The intracanopy distribution of spruce spider mite and its predator mites was studied on Douglas-fir Christmas trees in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. When overwintering spruce spider mite egg densities populations were low (<5 eggs/19 cm of stem), significantly more eggs were found on the current season's growth. No significant differences were found between top and bottom halves of the tree or between compass directions. Differences between current and previous season's growth were not found when egg densities were high (>40 eggs/19 cm of stem), but significant differences were found between levels for current season's growth with more eggs found in the upper portion of the canopy. Quadri-directional differences did not exist with either low or high mite populations. Sampling tip or basal stem-halves with low overwintering egg populations did not bias population estimates. Heavy spring rainfall appeared to reduce mite populations as has been reported elsewhere by washing them off the tree and causing increased mortality. Spruce spider mite disperse to the current season's growth shortly after budbreak. Population density rapidly increased in late May and then abruptly declined in mid-July. / Graduation date: 1991

Each December thousands of Swedish families sit down to watch the annual "Christmas calendar", a series containing 24 episodes. Since the start in 1960, the Swedish public service television company, Sveriges Television, have broadcast a Christmas calendar every year, and is now seen as a firm tradition, attracting audiences of all ages, though the main audience is children. Research has shown that children’s television programs to a certain extent have the same function as news journalism has in agenda setting. Media, together with feedback and interaction with other individuals, plays a big role in the process of socialization. Researchers have though not yet been able to show how much media and media content matters when it comes to shaping people's perception of the world and reality. Thus, we are now concentrating on how gender is depicted in children's programs, in our case the Christmas calendars. How are men and women depicted? What characteristics do the characters have? Does this change due to time? Are there parallels that can be drawn to society as a whole? Our research resulted in ten overall analyses of Christmas calendars, picked from five decades, and five thorough analyses of episodes from these calendars.