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In all their various categories, the arts serve as the dominant subject matter of Gesamtkunstwerk and Other Trifles. The title itself begins with a German word-meld—gesamt (total) + kunstwerk (work of art). Thus a primary aim of these poems is to bring as many elements of art together as possible and to use their various forms (self-portraits, nocturnes, odes, etc.) as metaphorical frameworks that inform abstractions such as regret ("How to Draw Regret"), psychological disorders ("Insomnia Nocturnes") and confusion in how one should feel about living realities as opposed to inanimate objects ("Dead Starling"). Most of the poems that are not related in some way to the arts (other than their inseparable relation to the art of poetry itself) deal with death or some other form of loss. Some of them humorous ("Commencement Speech"), others poignant ("In Places Where We Store Our Deaths"), these poems ironically find their place as the "other trifles" of the work. The purpose of this somewhat irreverent categorization of death and tragedy is to create ironic commentaries on the triviality of humankind's grand designs and accomplishments and to show the many similarities shared by comedy and tragedy alike, a project Tony Hoagland took up in his first book of poems, Sweet Ruin. My aim in writing these poems is to better understand how various art forms relate to each other and how aligning those arts in poetry allows the various genres to be "in conversation" one with another. I hope that readers will come away with a better understanding of how art forms are interconnected, but at the same time, I always aim to construct my poems in such a way that multiple readings can occur.

Cotton plant growth and development, as well as monitoring nutrient use efficiency were evaluated using hydroponic approach. Two set of experiments were conducted to determine the influence of phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and PK and exogenous application of Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA3), zeatin (Z) and their combinations on growth and development of cotton plants (Gossypium hirsutum) grown hydroponically. In the nutrient solution experiment, cotton vegetative growth was positively influenced by low P (half strength Hoagland standard solution), low K (one-sixth strength Hoagland standard solution) and high PK treatments (Hoagland standard solution). Phytohormone experiment negatively supported vegetative growth except root length at 43 days after transplanting (DAT). The nutrients levels applied significantly favoured NPK uptake by cotton plants while exogenous phytohormones application did not affect NPK uptake by cotton plants, except N uptake by stem. Low P and low K treatments estimated to have high nutrient use efficiency (NUE). For chlorophyll formation, low K and high PK significantly increased formation of chlorophyll a, b and total ab while the application of GA3, IAA, Z and IAA x GA3 x 2Z treatments significantly increased chlorophyll a, b and total ab at 80 DAT only. Low K and low P treatments stimulated endogenous phytohormone contents in the cotton plants. In the phytohormone experiment, cotton plants treated to IAA x GA3 x Z increased endogenous phytohormone contents in the cotton plants. Low P, low K, high PK treatments and phytohormones treatments significantly increased root area, root volume and root activity. Low P, low K and high PK treatments applied significantly influenced residual level of P and K in the hydroponics while phytohormone treatments did not affect residual level of P and K except at 43 DAT. Evapotranspiration rate was high at early and reproductive stages of plant growth. This report shows the response of mineral nutrients and phytohormones to support growth and development of cotton plants grown hydroponically. / Description as in abstract