This dissertation consists of an interpretation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32) from the perspective of Greco-Roman moral philosophy. It is divided into three parts. Part 1 traces the history of relating the New Testament to Greco-Roman literature and philosophy. Despite the importance of this perspective for the study of Luke-Acts, the relationship between Luke 15: 11-32 and Greco-Roman moral philosophy has not been investigated before. The legitimacy of this approach is demonstrated by a literary analysis of the parable, which demonstrates the formal emphasis placed upon the liberal and compassionate words and actions of the father. The strong moral orientation of the parable is further illustrated by the formal, linguistic and thematic features which it shares with the other L parables. Part 2 consists of a study of the Greco-Roman moral topos On Covetousness. The use of the Greco-Roman topos as a critical tool for the study of the New Testament is evaluated, the term is defined, and the influence of the topos On Covetousness upon representative works of moral philosophy is studied. This part ends with a summary of the characteristic features of the topos and its use by writers with differing philosophical affiliations. Part 3 reads the whole parable in terms of the topos On Covetousness,with the emphasis being placed on the relationship between the Lukan text and works of Greco-Roman moral philosophy. The parable is seen to be structured according to the influential Peripatetic doctrine of the mean, with the father representing the virtue of liberality, and his two sons the opposing vices of prodigality and meanness. The comparison with the topos reveals Luke's strong rejection of the two vices, and his endorsement of the Greco-Roman virtue of liberality, which is modified by his emphasis upon the Christian virtue of compassion. The approach affirms and demonstrates the internal unity of the parable and its close relationship to the Lukan theme of the correct use of possessions.

This dissertation focuses on the first Parable of Vincent Ludwig Persichetti, written for alto flute in 1965. Persichetti spent from 1965 to 1986 (almost the last twenty years of his life) composing twenty-four additional Parables for various solo instruments, instrumental combinations, and even one in the form of an opera.

This essay is a meta-study that assesses the existing theories and hypotheses regarding the origins of language. The development of language is one of the most remarkable historical developments for humankind. Through different historical periods and from multiple perspectives, renowned theorists such as Rousseau, Jespersen and Chomsky have tried to find the origins of language and trace its evolution. The natural sound source, for instance, connects the origins of language with the imitation of natural sounds. The gesture primary  hypothesis states that gesture language existed before the development of spoken language. A gradual development of protolanguage during the period of the existence of the homynim Homo erectus took place closely in connection with social interaction and the progress of multiple activities. Music has significance in the human brain and language development and, therefore the importance of music as part of  human evolution will be as well part of this research. The process of human civilization has an effect on brain activity and cognition because it projects abstract concepts to sounds, accumulating gradually knowledge and experience. In this essay, a selection of parables, songs and gestural communication situations are described in order to illustrate relevant parts of the theory. Finally, the author will select what is considered the most convincing theory/hypothesis for explaining the origins of language.

In classrooms and textbooks the “Director's Vision” is often identified as the unifying concept for the production, and my goal in returning to graduate school was to explore my own vision as a director. In my own practice as a director, I tend to “hear” the play in my head before visualizing it. From my interpretation of the text, to the staging of the performers, to my collaboration with design team, my approach to the production of theatre stems from a place of musicality. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice explores my creative journey as multi-disciplinary theatre artist through a series of case studies detailing my practice as a Director/ Sound Designer. It examines my evolving process, which often utilizes audio collage to shape the dramatic arc of a piece or scene, experiments with using music to inform character, emotion, and movement, and values the impulses of the cast and creative team as important collaborative resources. By detailing my process on three productions (as Director/ Sound Designer of the University of Central Florida's Theatre for Young Audience's Tour, Emily Freeman's And Then Came Tango, as the Assistant Director/ Dramaturg/ Sound Designer for UCF's production of Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz, and as the Director/ Sound Designer of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable, for Titusville Playhouse, Inc.), my process as director/designer is critically analyzed and reflected upon. Through my analysis, I explore the benefits and challenges of being a Director-who-Designs and a Designer-who-Directs, utilizing aural dramaturgy, collaboration, rhythm and emotion as essential tools in practicing theatre production. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice reflects on my practice through the lens of David Roesner's Musicality as a Paradigm for the Theatre: A Kind of Manifesto, analyzing the ways in which the 'notion of musicality' was exemplified in the preparation, performance, and perception of my work. This thesis examines the benefits and challenges of multidisciplinary artistry, pondering the merits and pitfalls of taking on multiple roles in each of my processes. It further explores the impact applying musicality to theatre practice can have on both actors and audiences and cherishes sound design as a valuable tool capable of enriching theatrical storytelling.

No description available.

This essay considers the interplay between character narrators, the implied author, and the authorial audience in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Talents. The aim of the study was to investigate how narrators, the implied author, and readers position themselves in relation to each other and in relation to the novel’s ethical dimensions. The theoretical framework is based on James Phelan’s theories on the rhetorical and ethical aspects of fiction. The essay argues that the implied author’s communication to the authorial audience is one of the reasons that the novel, like its prequel Parable of the Sower, often succeeds to function as warnings to the audience of dangers ahead. This is especially true regarding one of the implied author’s most consistent messages to the audience throughout the Parable novels: every choice has consequences, and those consequences need to be considered when we decide how to act and react in different circumstances, both as individuals and as a society.

This dissertation investigates the validity of the hypothesis that biblical images [imagery] in the narrative model of preaching enhance relevance and recall possibilities of the sermon, filling the open spaces for the listener in a meaningful way. "Imagery" is researched in its application in various genres of the narrative sermon, e.g. the inductive, the narrative as such, metaphor, parable and transformational preaching. In the final analysis, the Midrash hermeneutical model as theoretical exposition and fresh proposition for homiletical possibilities for today was suggested and instruments proposed to aid in the preparaUon of Midrashic narrative sermons. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006), the first major African-American woman science fiction writer and the only science-fiction author to win the MacArthur "genius" grant, died from an accidental fall in February 2006. She is remembered for her work, which clearly fits into the science-fiction tradition, with imagined near- and far-future technologies, telepathy, aliens, space travel, and time travel. Yet Butler's stories are not clichéd space operas featuring white men in spaceship battles. Whatever the near- or far-future setting, the challenging themes that form the substance of Butler's writing are always power, dominance, slavery, and the complexity of human relationships. Butler's best-known works include the Parable novels (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents), in which the main character Lauren Olamina writes a series of verses that become a new religion in an imagined near-future dystopian version of the United States. This dissertation is a composition for SATB chorus, orchestra, and speaker based on these verses and on quotations from Butler herself describing how she became a writer and the genesis of the Parable series. The musical setting of these quotations highlights parallels between Butler's novels and her own life. In the accompanying paper I analyze my process of extrapolating selected themes from Butler's life and work. My intent is to demonstrate how these themes are interwoven into the musical setting at many levels, and to show how the particular quotations and themes I chose to set musically reveal Butler's insights about present-day human experience on a larger scale. / text

This dissertation ascertains the meaning of the Unjust Steward parable (Luke 16:1-13) by examining its language, historical background, and literary context. Chapter 1 introduces the parable's interpretive problems, acknowledges that it is perhaps the most difficult of Jesus' parables to understand, and offers a method for deciphering the meaning. Chapter 2 offers a detailed history-of-interpretation with special attention given to the work of Dennis J. Ireland ( Stewardship and the Kingdom , 1992) and the interpreters who have come after him, especially those who depart from the traditional interpretation. Chapter 3 first examines the text-critical concerns for the parable and then analyzes the language of 16:1-13 at the lexical, grammatical, and syntactical levels. Chapter 4 examines four historical background matters that some scholars have offered as interpretative keys for understanding the parable and determines that most of these background features have been overemphasized and are of limited help. Chapter 5 examines the literary concerns of the parable. This chapter first examines the nature of the "parable" genre, Luke's use of parables, and the history of parable interpretation in general. The chapter then examines the literary context of the parable, giving special attention to the relationship between the Unjust Steward and all of the major units in Luke 15 and 16. Finally, the chapter examines a few literary conventions that some scholars have proposed as interpretive keys. The conclusion is that some are of more value than others. Chapter 6 synthesizes the information and conclusions from Chapters 3, 4, and 5 to answer the nine most pressing questions that the parable presents to the reader. The dissertation concludes that the traditional interpretation, which perceives the parable to be about a dishonest transaction that serves as an exhortation about both the proper use of monetary possession and preparing for the kingdom of God, is still the most plausible. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

A presente dissertação tem como objetivo estudar o livro de estórias Luuanda, de José Luandino Vieira, mais especificamente a passagem denominada por muitos estudiosos como a parábola do cajueiro, situada na segunda estória, e por meio da identificação e análise de possíveis elementos parabólicos, buscaremos identificar a função dessa passagem para a compreensão da obra como um todo. Partindo da conceituação das parábolas neotestamentárias e de suas funções didática e confrontativa, nossa intenção é demonstrar que a passagem do cajueiro constitui-se como o elo entre as três estórias, pois promove a quebra de um comportamento passivo e conformista, descrito na primeira narrativa, além de estabelecer um princípio de reflexão e um ato de autoconfronto, na segunda narrativa, cujo resultado se materializará no comportamento das personagens da terceira estória. / The present dissertation aims to study the book of estórias Luuanda, written by José Luandino Vieira, more specifically, a passage named by many scholars as cashew parable, found out in the second narrative, and through identification and analysis of possible parabolic elements, we intend to identify the function of that passage to understand the whole book. Bearing in mind conceptions and functions of the New Testament parables, our intention is demonstrate that the cashew passage is the link between the three narratives of the book, for it promotes a break of a passive and conformist behavior, found out in the first narrative, moreover it also promotes a beginning of reflective and a self confrontation act, in the second narrative, which result will materialize itself as a new behavior in the characters in the third narrative.