“Gold” is a colour indicating the colour of an object. It is a unique colour word which represents the colour of gold. From ancient to the present, “gold” is a common Chinese word which is frequently used in the literature. Furthermore, “gold” is the symbol of goodness in the traditional Chinese society. Nowadays, “gold” represents noble, luxury, wealth, hope, etc in the cultural connotation. This dissertation consists of five chapters. The first chapter introduces the research background, purpose of the topic and key points of the study. The second chapter is divided into three parts. In the first part, it begins to look for the semantic origin of the colour word “gold” by analyzing its original meaning, aboriginal meaning and quotative meaning. In the second part, it demonstrates the development of cultural connotation in China and elaborates the cultural connotation in the present Chinese society. In the third part, the colour word “gold” is compared with the colour words “yellow” and “red” to identify their differences and similarities of cultural connotations. In the third chapter, it mainly focuses on phraseology function of “gold” and its combinations. Meanwhile, the aspects of word-formation, syntactical functions, sentence structure of “gold” and its combinations will be discussed. The fourth chapter analyzes the usage and effect of “gold” and its combinations with regard to rhetoric. It also illustrates and explains the features of usage and rhetorical effects on seven categories of figures of speech which are fairly typical. The last chapter is the conclusion of the whole dissertation. “Gold” is a very unique colour word which differentiates from other colour words such as “red”, “yellow” and so on. “Gold” has been representing a positive image from the past, even nowadays, “gold” is still one of the most glamorous colours. / published_or_final_version / Chinese Language and Literature / Master / Master of Arts

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This thesis examines the Historical Critical method and its opponent Deconstruction in relation to the Logos tradition from the perspective of Orality-Literacy Studies. The resultant paradigm seeks to revise the logical procedures underlying the Historical Critical method and Deconstruction, so as to approximate the media realities that underlie the Logos tradition and its power for resistance. The first part of the thesis undertakes a detailed historical critical analysis of the Logos tradition and the proposed religious influences in the Gospel of John. The Historical Critical Method of the Logos has focused exclusively on written text, i.e.Words committed to chirographic space. This analysis is followed by a critical analysis of the Logos-Hymn, which is followed by an indepth exegetical study ofJohn's Prologue (1: 1-18) in locating the form and character of the Logos-Hymn. The Logos tradition will serve as bedrock in understanding the polemic in Chapters five and six and its relationship to John's Prologue (1: 1-18) in the Gospel of John and that of primarily! oral communities prior the 1994 democratic era in South Africa. The second part of the study will focus on Derrida' s Deconstruction critique of the metaphysics of presence against the Logos which presents as a leading case for Logocentrism. Deconstruction should be seen as a series of recent displacements among philosophy, literary criticism and Biblical studies. Current reaction to Derrida in philosophy and literary criticism includes enthusiastic acceptance but also hostility and rejection from academic humanists who perceive him as a threat to their metaphysical assumptions. Reaction from Biblical scholars could be similarly negative, although most of Derrida's writings should stimulate them to a healthy rethinking of their positions. Derrida's insistence that meaning is an affair of language's systems of difference "without positive terms" and his proposition that writing is prior to speech are two main elements in his attack on the foundations of Western metaphysics and its 'logocentric' convictions that we can experience meaning in 'presences' removed from the play of differential systems (Schneidau 1982:5). Derrida repudiates the classical logos behind this assumption but also the Christian Logos, yet the Biblical insistence on our understanding of ourselves in relation to a historical past, rather than in terms of a static cosmic system, breaks with the tendencies of logocentrism and allows us to align Derrida and the Bible. This radical way of appropriating history, without the possibility of reifications of various sorts, should lead Biblical scholars further into kerygmatic reflection. Derrida's deconstruction demonstrates the dubious status of ordinary language, literal meaning, and common sense thinking and invites us to see the illusory metaphysics behind the written text, a metaphysics that some Biblical structuralists seem to accept uncritically. It is these metaphysical analyses of the Word that unravel the binary opposition between the spoken Logos and that of the written text and its relation to meaning and representation in the reality of primarily oral cultures. The third part of the thesis will focus the attention on tradition perceived as transmissional processes towards a means of communication in primarily oral cultures. In the place of the Historical Critical Method and Deconstruction henneneutics of the Logos tradition, an oral thesis is developed which will focus on an Anthropology of Liberation. The Logos can be seen as a liberating force for primarily oral communities against the falsely constructed realities of the written text in our South African context. The written text has played a major role in the social engineering of segregation and social boundaries by the Apartheid government in South Africa. It is suggested that Orality-Literacy research is an appropriately inclusive metaphor in understanding the Logos as a collective memory for primarily oral cultures shared by hearer and speaker alike. Orality-literacy helps us to understand the literary dynamics between speech and writing and to dialogue with the history of the 'Other' or those from the 'otherside, 'the marginalized and the dispossesed. Finally this thesis suggest that the discourse of the 'Other' is able to produce meaning and representation in the construction of knowledge, and is a discourse that is shared by hearer and speaker alike. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1987.

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To investigate how Chinese ESL learners feel about the peer review process in oral and email-based modalities and how Chinese cultural barriers such as concerns about face saving and shyness might impact their learning attitudes, I taught an ESL writing course to collect data and write this dissertation. Tools for investigation I used included two identical peer review attitude questionnaires that were conducted at two occasions (at the beginning and the end of the course), a Peer Review Guideline and Sign Test.Many published studies on peer review focus on how to implement computer technology in the classroom, but ignore cultural impacts on ESL. The results of the Sign Test revealed that a large number of the students preferred to do oral and email comments in an indirect way, because they felt that they would need group harmony.It was noted that some students would like to receive email comments from their partner, not provide the comments to him/her, because commenting on his/her essay would hurt him/her. In many participants' view, teacher's reviews are more important than their partner's, since cultural barriers such as face saving and shyness prevented them from voicing their own opinion. The results also indicated that the students reacted favorably to the e-mail modality, although some of them still thought that it was a waste of time. Therefore, this modality did serve some students to allay their concerns about face-saving. In the study, a few students favored "anonymous" peer reviews, which could be achieved through email peer review. / Department of English

The "self-disclosures" in Jeremiah, including not only the so-called "confessions" but also other first person material which seems to express the prophet's inner feelings, are examined in a detailed, exegetical fashion with careful attention to-both the ancient versions and the subsequent history of exegesis. Special attention is given to the works of Rashi and Kimchi. Three basic questions are asked: 1) What do the "self-disclosures" represent? 2) To what degree can the "self-disclosures" be said to portray the historical Jeremiah? 3) Why are the "self-disclosures" included in the corpus of Jeremianic literature? These questions are approached by examining the relevant passages against the backdrop of the prophetic orthodoxy of the late 7th century B. C., which is seen to consist of commonly held notions of the role, message, and perhaps even temperament of the prophet within the current socio-religious framework. This orthodoxy is viewed as having initially defined Jeremiah's understanding of the prophetic office. But in the "self-disclosures" Jeremiah wrestles with the other side of his experience as a prophet, the painful and mysterious side, and attempts to forge a new understanding of the prophetic vocation. In the end, the fundamental element of the prophetic vocation for Jeremiah is seen as the "Word of the Lord." The prophet's conviction that he had been entrusted with the powerful, efficacious "Word" became the touchstone of both his vocational self-understanding and his authentication against the false prophets who represented prophetic orthodoxy. And the "Word" was ultimately the source of his suffering. All of these elements may be seen in the call-narrative which is examined in detail as the introduction to the entire book. The closing chapter of the thesis takes a closer look at the theological kerygma of the "self-disclosures," particularly in relation to the problem of suffering.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The aim of this study is to examine Revelations 1-11 in a narratological framework. There are various formal divisions of the Revelation to John. Amongst the formal divisions the narratological division is likewise accepted. Regarding the development of Revelations, a narrative analysis depends upon the viewpoint that the message of Revelations may be perceived as functional. Readers in a specific situation are provided with a supportive message upon which they can rely and according to which they may live (A Y Collins 1994a). The author derives his images and figures of speech, which occupy the central position, from the traditional apocalyptic visions, through the symbol of the cosmic battle. The theological convictions of the writer, which are presented in a narrative form, intend to involve the reader. The sequence of events reveals the plot of the events of Revelations. The reader of Revelations observes the functional application of recapitulation, interjections and symbolism. The events in Revelations 1-11 concentrate primarily upon God, through the glorified Christ, who brings salvation and conviction of the church and cosmos. The salvation through Christ is symbolically revealed in Revelations 1-11. Due to the symbolism in the drama, the book can be divided into three acts. The first act depicts the risen Christ who presents the seven letter-messages to the church. The second act covers the unlocking and unfolding of the sealed scrolls by the Lamb of God. The third act historically describes the warfare between the Lamb and his opponents. The study concentrates upon the first two acts which cover Christ in the church (Rev. 1-3) and Christ in the cosmos (Rev. 4-11). The researcher realises that there are many different divisions of Revelations and therefore intentionally accepts this particular division for this study.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract