Following a close reading strategy, the research seeks to discover what the intratextual relations of each selected poem, three by Ingrid Jonker and three by Sylvia Plath, reveal. Flowing from the thematic overlaps that exist between the selected Jonker poems and Plath poems, it explores what similarities or differences in poetic form, the use of poetic devices and content, in other words intratextual relations, can be discovered via a comparison. Given that Jonker and Plath were contemporaries and shared biographical events, and after having considered and compared the intratextual relations of the selected poems, the research seeks to show what similarities or differences can be discovered in the exploration and comparison of the intertextual and extratextual relations of the selected poems. Thus, the thesis’ critical approach includes the close investigation of the structure of each of the selected poems, in order to discover its communication first, before delving into biographical, historical, social, political, and thematic approaches and interpretations. The research reveals that exercises of close reading, with a few exceptions, have not been the main focus in the discussion of either poet’s poetry. In other words, context has, for the most part, been favoured over text and over form. What the research reveals is that there are overlaps in the intratextual, intertextual, and extratextual relations of the selection of poems, but also differences. A comparison of intratextual relations reveals Plath’s formal training in comparison to Jonker’s largely informal training, for example, and that generally Plath was the more disciplined author of the two. The intertextual and extratextual relations of each poem (and how these relations compare) reveal and highlight that the selection of poems is a reflection or sampling of the poets’ ‘own’ voices. It also reveals the development of their maturity as writers and the development of themes across their poetry and collections of poems. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Afrikaans / unrestricted

The aim of the study is to investigate how theories of close reading and literature conversations can be used in the practice of teaching. As a way to achieve insight into this, I have applied the method of action research to study different strategies for reading comprehension. Action research is a suitable method to acquire knowledge about one’s own work for purposes of development. The result indicates that a classroom where more than one voice can be heard and where different forms of conversation can be represented can further the pupils’ experience of and engagement in the teaching. The pupils’ evaluations allow me to draw the conclusion that the methods by which I worked – close reading, whole-class discussions and group discussions, and individual writing – appear to have had a positive effect on the development of the pupils’ reading comprehension.

This essay argues that Mark Twain’s novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Pudd’nhead Wilson can be applied in Swedish upper secondary schools to address racial inequality in the purpose of achieving intercultural competence and understanding. Racism is a vast issue, evident in both schools and in our society, locally as well as globally, where ethnical minorities are abused or disfavored societal privileges. This leaves teachers with the vital task of counteracting racism in classrooms, in accordance with the educational goals of imparting democratic values. The essay is conducted through a Close Reading, which is beneficial in exposing a text’s complexity by examining its literary aspects. The primary focus from the Close Reading is put on narration and its subordinate categories. Word choice, repetition or metaphors are highlighted and analyzed from the selected passages as they are literary aspects that the students can react to and further discuss in relation to racism in their everyday lives. The findings show that Twain’s ways of narrating racism and stimulating empathy are integral features in promoting an increased understanding to meet the curriculum’s requirements.

This thesis is a close reading of the horror film His House (2020) and has its theoretical base in the works of Sara Ahmed. It focuses on the emotional experience of the film’s lead characters who are South Sudanese asylum seekers in the United Kingdom. The study is set out to chart which emotions the characters feel, which of them are the most overpowering and what does the presence of these emotions imply about the asylum experience. Close reading shows that feelings typically understood as negative are dominant – guilt being particularly present as it is tied to the film’s monster. The thesis argues that the film calls for attention to asylum seekers’ mental health through showing the horrors experienced by the heavily traumatized lead couple. The study also argues that horror fiction is a window to public anxieties, and as such offers a valuable research avenue to ethnic and migration studies as well as social sciences at large.

The present dissertation examines how culture in terms of webs of significance comprises even everyday genres, and how everyday genres in turn partake in creating cultural contexts. The theoretical cornerstones of this study are to be found in a dialogical notion of context and a semiotic notion of culture. Furthermore, the study benefits from the analytical concept of communicative genre by which texts can be set in the broader context of societal or socio-cultural relevancy. The methodological framework – with contrastive viewing as an overall heuristic approach – has been developed by combining elements from linguistic hermeneutics, literary cultural analysis, and critical discourse analysis. The study shows that the most significant trait of Swedish milk package texts is the recontextualization of national historical topics, closely entangled with elements of school discourse and children’s literature. This endows the texts with a certain socio-cultural meaning, even though this meaning is dependent on other interactive resources. However, on recent milk packages, changes of communicative patterns can be seen, indicating socio-cultural change. The most significant trait of German milk packages is – besides the ubiquitous use of fresh generating an advertising context – the recontextualization of the fictionalizing topos of locus amoenus, closely intertwined with control and surveillance. The contrastive viewing of 19th-century texts in the dissertation makes clear that contemporary German milk packages still imply urban-bourgeois perspectives on rurality. Finally, the study shows that culture in terms of webs of significance has no location where it is, but a location where it is represented – for instance in everyday genre texts. It illustrates how linguistic hermeneutics can be done.

Vi undersöker den narrativa stilen som Flower och Journey använder sig av. I denna narrativastil finns det varken dialog och text. Utifrån Flower och Journey skapade vi en designmetodsom ska finnas till som inspiration för utvecklare som vill testa denna stilen. Resultatet avundersökningen ger upphov till en designmetod som vi applicerar på vår gestaltning för atttesta den i en annan spel genre. Mycket av metoden är fokuserad på hur Flower och Journeygör då vi bara undersöker de två spelen. Vi skulle vilja göra en mer generell undersökning dåvi undersöker mer spel som också har ett narrativ utan dialog och text. / We study the narrative style that Flower and Journey uses. In this narrative style, there is nodialogue and text. Based on Flower and Journey, we created a design method that will be aninspiration for developers who want to test this style. The result of this bachelor thesis givesrise to a design method that we apply to our game idea this applies the method to anothergame genre. Much of the method is very focused on what Flower and Journey do when weonly examine these two games. We would like to do a more general study when we examinemore games that also have a narrative without dialogue and text.

“The Wanderings of Oisin” was published in 1889 and is one of W.B Yeats’ earliest poems and is the main focus for this essay. The poem depicts the duality of Irish identity and the transition from one system of belief to another. This essay will demonstrate that W.B Yeats uses Celtic and Catholic mythology in “The Wanderings of Oisin” in order to reflect his contemporary Ireland. The essay begins with a deifintion and a discussion about the words 'myth' and 'mythical method'. The second part of the essay describes the depiction of Celtic and Catholic mythology in “The Wanderings of Oisin” and the connection to late nineteenth century Ireland. The first section presents information on Irish nineteenth-century history and the second section focuses on five parallels to Yeats' contemporary society: The vitality of Celtic mythological beings, the depiction of Oisin as mediator, the sense of loss regarding Irish culture, the juxtaposition of Celtic and Catholic and the ambivalence that follows in a society where two conflicting mythologies coexist and compete. The main body of arguments discusses these parallels between Yeats’ portrayal of Celtic mythology and nineteenth century Ireland and shows that "The Wanderings of Oisin" reflects Yeats' contemporary Irish society.

Denna uppsats är en textanalytisk studie som studerar artisten Håkan Hellströms låttexter. Texterna i fokus är från två olika album från olika delar av hans karriär. Detta i syftet att utifrån tematiken, influenserna och den klingande texten visa vad texterna representerar i olika delar av Hellströms liv. Metoderna som har använts vid analys av texterna har utgått från begreppen närläsning, fonotext och intertextualitet där närlyssning och närläsning har varit den huvudsakliga metoden för att få fram material ur texterna. Konklusionerna av denna studie är att Hellström skildrar ämnen i respektive album som är relevanta för den aktuella plats i livet han är i samt att metoderna i låtskrivandet har visat sig sammanfattningsvis vara att använda liknande metaforer för att beskriva olika ämnen, intertextualitet används som en konstnärlig metod och att Hellströms karaktäristiska bräckliga röst är den huvudsakliga kärnan i förmedlandet av texterna.

Uppsatsen består av en komparativ studie gjord genom kritisk närläsning av två separata läromedel, Svenska impulser 3 (2013) och Svenska 3 – Helt enkelt (2015). Jämförelsen utgår från hur läromedlen konkretiserar det centrala innehållet och kunskapskraven som berör litteraturundervisning i kursen Svenska 3, och om de samverkar med didaktisk forskning och om de har ett formativt förhållningssätt. Att konkretisera det centrala innehållets roll och kunskapskraven har, sedan den nya kursplanen Gy11 släpptes, varit ett fortsatt dilemma. Det förklaras genom undersökningar från Skolverket. Resultatet visar att Svenska 3:s litteratursegment har konkretiserats på olika vis, trots att de utgått från samma centrala innehåll och kunskapskrav. Förutom konkretiseringen synliggörs också att de aktuella läromedlen förhåller sig till utvalda delar av Skolverkets didaktiska forskning och att läromedlen har ett formativt förhållningssätt. Likheterna och skillnaderna är också många i analysexemplen, något uppsatsen belyser. / The essay consists of a comparative study brought on by a critical close reading of two separate teaching aids, Svenska impulser 3 (2013) and Svenska 3 – Helt enkelt (2015). The comparison emanates from how the two teaching aids define the core content and knowledge requirements about literary studies in the upper secondary school course Swedish 3, and how they conspires with research in didactics and whether they have a formative approach or not. To define the core content’s role and to define the knowledge requirements has, since the new curriculum and syllabus Gy11 was released, been problematic. That is explained through enquiries made by Skolverket. The result shows that Svenska 3’s part about literary studies have been defined differently in the teaching aids, even though they transpire from the same core content and knowledge requirements. The teaching aids also relate to chosen parts of Skolverket’s research in didactics and they have a formative approach according to the analysis. The similarities and differences are plenty in the two examples, which the essay highlights.

This essay analyzes the depictions of urban nature in Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018). The theoretical framework consists primarily of Astrid Bracke’s thoughts on “urban ecology”, Christophe Den Tant’s descriptions of “the urban sublime” and William Cronon’s thoughts on the concept of “Wilderness”, all of which work in the ecocritical field. My Year of Rest and Relaxation explores the concepts of naturalness and artificiality through language and various themes. It takes place in an urban environment where the main character chooses to isolate herself in her city apartment, hence the existence of nature in the traditional sense is absent, yet the text works consistently with elements of urban nature in varying situations. The way in which this urban nature is presented relates to other themes such as the exploration of borders and dichotomies such as nature and culture, organic and artificial as well as animate and inanimate.