The Hylas myth, in which the eponymous boy beloved of Heracles is raped by water nymphs while drawing water from a spring, seems to have been a wildly popular subject among the literary circles of Augustan Rome. Indeed the rape of Hylas had been so ubiquitous that Virgil himself could claim that no one was unfamiliar with it (Georgics 3.6: cui non dictus Hylas puer?). Yet despite this declaration, few renditions of the Hylas myth survive. Propertius 1.20, an Augustan era Latin poem in elegiac couplets, is one extant version of the rape of Hylas. While the similarities between this poem and Theocritus Idyll 13, a short Hellenistic hexameter poem composed well before Propertius, have long been observed by modern scholars, there has been no sustained effort to connect these two accounts of the Hylas myth conclusively. Instead, what little scholarly work that has been done on these poems either appraises them in isolation, or seeks a non-Theocritean template behind Propertius 1.20. With this thesis, I aim to prove definitively that Theocritus Idyll 13 is the major model for Propertius 1.20. In my first chapter, I provide a brief overview of the rape of Hylas throughout all of Greek and Latin literature. In my second chapter, I examine Theocritus Idyll 13 with particular attention to its wit, humour, and narrative. In my third chapter, I offer a thorough literary-critical appreciation of Propertius 1.20, establishing links to Idyll 13 wherever possible. Finally, in my conclusion, I consider the possible influence of other poets and mythographers upon Propertius, before appraising 1.20 both independently and within the context of the Propertian Monobiblos. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / The rape of Hylas is a minor event occurring during the famed expedition of the Argo. A handsome boy named Hylas, who is the beloved of the mighty hero Heracles, fetches water during a brief landing on their voyage to Phasis. As Hylas draws water from a spring, water nymphs abduct him. Heracles, now bereaved, rampages madly in futile search while the other Argonauts sail on without him. Such are the general details of the Hylas myth. This thesis examines two versions of the Hylas myth, the first by Theocritus, a third century BC Hellenistic poet, and the second by Propertius, a first century BC Roman poet. My objective is to prove definitively that these two accounts are connected, with Propertius having modelled his treatment on the rendition provided by Theocritus. This will be achieved through a thorough literary-critical appreciation, with particular focus on wit, humour, and narrative.

Originated by Jacques Derrida, deconstruction analyzes the relationship between text and meaning. This thesis applies Derrida's theory of deconstruction to three early American Puritan figures: John Winthrop, Mary Rowlandson, and Anne Bradstreet. By questioning the conceptual distinctions known as oppositions in Puritan ideology through the works of these aforementioned individuals, this thesis questions and corrupts the binaries within each text used. The emergence of new meaning through a deconstruction of Puritan ideology establishes a valid site from which to explore radical, repressed, historical, cultural, and theological narratives of religious prosperity. By enforcing narratives from Derrida's Of Grammatology, post-structuralist ideology will presume no absolute truths within a text; therefore, ambiguity is pertinent in a deconstructive critical examination. The argument in this thesis is then—through a deconstructive critical examination of Puritan ideology, are similarities present though different mediums of linguistic discourse, and can this thesis formally decenter the transcendental signifiers present. The critical approach to deconstructing each medium of discourse analytically breaks down the systematic organization of language as a whole and overturns structuralist oppositions—as to displace the authority, and formally find new importance in a text.

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This study explores aspects of the theoretical basis of Louise M. Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reading and its focus on the reader's efferent and aesthetic stances during transaction with nonfiction and fiction. The study explores the following questions: Does genre (nonfiction or fiction) influence the reader's response to a literarytext? Does a reader's process of reading change during a nonfictional reading compared to a fictional one? Are there certain factors that persuade a reader to view a nonfictional piece of writing differently than a fictional one? To examine these questions and to ensure the validity of the study, I wrote a story titled "The Exit" and presented the writing to three freshman English classes, first as nonfiction and then during the next class period as fiction. I chose to follow Rosenblatt's class procedure: an initial reading with free responses, an interchange of ideas, and then a rereading of the same text. For research purposes I needed bulk written and verbal responses to compare and contrast. This three-day immersion in nonfiction and fiction reflections produced sufficient data to analyze: (1) written free responses from the initial reading of the text as nonfiction; (2) recorded audio tapes of their small groups, responding to five inquiry questions regarding the nonfiction text; (3) written individual take-home responses to the same five inquiry questions; (4) written free responses from the second reading of the text as fiction; (5) recorded audio tapes of the small group discussions on their nonfiction and fiction responses; and (6) recorded audio tapes of the entire class reflections on the responses to reading the story as both nonfiction and fiction. During this expedition I kept a journal of each day's events so that as my students and I experienced this exploration together, I could capture what we all were feeling and thinking as it was actually happening. Although the students were unaware of genre influence until the third-day class reflection, there were distinct differences in student responses to nonfiction and fiction. These students predominately read nonfiction aesthetically and fiction efferently. In this study with these students, genre did influence the reader's response; the reader's process of reading did change during the nonfictional reading compared to a fictional one; and there were certain factors which persuaded the reader to view the nonfictional piece of writing differently than the fictional one. The contrast and comparison of the students' responses to nonfiction and fiction are shown in a detailed Venn diagram. In addition, I have included an extensive essay titled "The Transactional Dance: Louise Rosenblatt's Presence in the History of Literary Criticism." Her transactional theory of reading transcends time and continues to invite research. / Ed. D.

This dissertation focuses on the development and evaluation of an interactive, multimedia learning environment intended to help college students learn how to interpret poetry from various literary perspectives. Four literary perspectives--feminist, psychological, religious, and reader-response--were thoroughly explained and applied to a poem through the use of "hot words". As the students chose a hot word or phrase in the poem that they wanted to explore further, they then chose which literary perspective that they wanted to see. A literary interpretation, then, was given below the poem from that perspective. At the same time, responses from other students who had gone through the program before also appeared. The current student participant had the choice of responding in writing to the poem itself, the given literary interpretation, or the other student responses. There were also photographs, videos, and music clips that could be accessed which illustrated the literary interpretations of the particular hot words chosen, and the students could respond to these as well. The research questions that were being asked through the development and evaluation of this program were: 1. Can such a technological approach help students to learn something as nontechnical as evaluating and interpreting poetry from various literary perspectives? 2. Will students become more sensitive and understanding of the opinions of others, even when extremely different from their own, through such a computer program? 3. Will students be able to analyze a poem in greater depth because of going through this program, instead of just looking for the usual, surface level, literal meanings? The results of the program were very encouraging, with ninety-eight percent of the student participants indicating that the program was effective, and the desired results were achieved with the majority of these. The students overall showed remarkable growth in understanding literary theories, in becoming more sensitive to the opinions of others, and in being able to interpret poetry at a much deeper level. Due to these exciting results, several ways of adapting this program to other educational and economic pursuits were explored, as well as ways to improve the current product. / Ed. D.

In this paper I have strived to provide a new view on a timeless classic of children’s literature, Winnie-The-Pooh. In psychoanalytic literary criticism concepts and theories of psychoanalysis is implemented while interpreting literature; in this paper, I have interpreted the novel incorporating concepts of the psychoanalytic schools of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan while arguing that the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood are manifestations of parts of the narrator’s unconscious. The first two sections of the paper present the theories and concepts of the two major schools of psychoanalysis as an introduction aimed at increasing the readability of the interpretation. The individual interpretations of each character are then presented separately, every section in some way involving psychoanalytic theory. Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, Rabbit, Owl and Eeyore are shown to be repressed memories, feelings or thoughts. Included theoretical concepts are the Oedipus complex, the sexual development of infants, the journey of children towards consciousness, Lacanian desire and lack, Freudian dream interpretation and the conception that the unconscious is structured as language, among others.

<p>In this paper I have strived to provide a new view on a timeless classic of children’s literature, Winnie-The-Pooh. In psychoanalytic literary criticism concepts and theories of psychoanalysis is implemented while interpreting literature; in this paper, I have interpreted the novel incorporating concepts of the psychoanalytic schools of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan while arguing that the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood are manifestations of parts of the narrator’s unconscious. The first two sections of the paper present the theories and concepts of the two major schools of psychoanalysis as an introduction aimed at increasing the readability of the interpretation. The individual interpretations of each character are then presented separately, every section in some way involving psychoanalytic theory. Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, Rabbit, Owl and Eeyore are shown to be repressed memories, feelings or thoughts. Included theoretical concepts are the Oedipus complex, the sexual development of infants, the journey of children towards consciousness, Lacanian desire and lack, Freudian dream interpretation and the conception that the unconscious is structured as language, among others.</p>

This dissertation examines the complex story of Korah’s rebellion found in Numbers 16 and 17 utilizing narrative critical theory. This study is first grounded in the context of historical questions surrounding Israel’s emergence as a nation and the narrative’s potential for historical veracity. Many narrative critics do not feel the theoretical necessity to establish the connection between an autonomous text and a historical context. This study does seek to collaborate with historical research, but only as permitted by the data. Though only biblical and tangential evidence supports the historicity of the wilderness sojourn, the narrative accounts should not be repudiated because of philosophical bias or the lack of corroborative extra biblical evidence. Especially important to a literary interpretation of this narrative is the work of source critics who during their own enquiries have identified the fractures and transitions within the story. In considering the text of Numbers 16 and 17, the hermeneutical approach employed in this study carefully endorses a balanced incorporation of the theoretical constructs of the author, text, and reader in the interpretive enquiry. From this hermeneutical approach recent literary theory is applied to the texts of Numbers 16 and 17 focusing particular attention on three narrative themes. First, the narrator’s point of view is examined to determine the manner that information is relayed to the reader so as to demur the rebellion leaders. Though features of characterization are often meager in biblical narratives, there remains sufficient data in this rebellion story to support the aims of the Hebrew writers and does not undermine the reader’s engagement with the story’s participants. Finally, the three separate plotlines in this narrative sustain the dramatic effect upon the readership holding attention and judgment throughout and beyond the story. In sum, this dissertation highlights the powerful contours of this ancient narrative by appropriating the theoretical work of narrative critics. The strategies employed in the writing and editing of this story uniquely condemn the rebels and at the same time serve to elevate God’s chosen leader Moses. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Th. (Old Testament)