Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1940.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1940.

Frequently called the first American classic, and the only American classic never to be out of print, The Scarlet Letter has been indelibly marked on the American consciousness since Nathaniel Hawthorne published it in 1850. Generations have grown up with its characters and their profound struggle against each other, their community, and themselves. Since the earliest days of film, The Scarlet Letter has been re-presented to each of those generations in a series of diverse cinematic adaptations, providing audiences with an opportunity to re-evaluate those characters, their struggle, and the lessons implicit in them. This dissertation surveys those films in order to produce a production history—one that extends beyond the production details and critical reception to consider how the lessons of The Scarlet Letter have been made to contribute to the cultural conversations of the American twentieth century. Following Chapter One's presentation of the method and intent of the study, in Chapter Two I consider the most enduring film in this novel's cinematic tradition, Victor Sjostrom's 1926 production starring Lillian Gish. In Chapter Three I examine Robert Vignola's 1934 ' B ' movie version in the context of Depression-era sexual politics. In Chapter Four, I unearth two live television plays that come to terms very differently with the Red Scare and the social retrenchment of Eisenhower's America. Chapter Five also presents a comparison of two very different but contemporaneous Scarlet Letters, one an eccentric feature from Wim Wenders (1972) , and the other a prestigious PBS miniseries (1979 ) . Finally, in Chapter Six I examine the 1995 Demi Moore vehicle in the context of the Family Values debates. By identifying the specific re-presentation strategies as rhetorically motivated, and linking them with the most salient social debates of their times, I argue for the ideological flexibility of the novel as a key to its endurance. I also demonstrate the effectiveness of film study, and specifically of a film adaptation production history focusing on one novel, as a tool for understanding emerging cultural attitudes and values.

Inaug.-Diss.--Erlangen. / Lebenslauf.

Frequently called the first American classic, and the only American classic never to be out of print, The Scarlet Letter has been indelibly marked on the American consciousness since Nathaniel Hawthorne published it in 1850. Generations have grown up with its characters and their profound struggle against each other, their community, and themselves. Since the earliest days of film, The Scarlet Letter has been re-presented to each of those generations in a series of diverse cinematic adaptations, providing audiences with an opportunity to re-evaluate those characters, their struggle, and the lessons implicit in them. This dissertation surveys those films in order to produce a production history—one that extends beyond the production details and critical reception to consider how the lessons of The Scarlet Letter have been made to contribute to the cultural conversations of the American twentieth century. Following Chapter One's presentation of the method and intent of the study, in Chapter Two I consider the most enduring film in this novel's cinematic tradition, Victor Sjostrom's 1926 production starring Lillian Gish. In Chapter Three I examine Robert Vignola's 1934 ' B ' movie version in the context of Depression-era sexual politics. In Chapter Four, I unearth two live television plays that come to terms very differently with the Red Scare and the social retrenchment of Eisenhower's America. Chapter Five also presents a comparison of two very different but contemporaneous Scarlet Letters, one an eccentric feature from Wim Wenders (1972) , and the other a prestigious PBS miniseries (1979 ) . Finally, in Chapter Six I examine the 1995 Demi Moore vehicle in the context of the Family Values debates. By identifying the specific re-presentation strategies as rhetorically motivated, and linking them with the most salient social debates of their times, I argue for the ideological flexibility of the novel as a key to its endurance. I also demonstrate the effectiveness of film study, and specifically of a film adaptation production history focusing on one novel, as a tool for understanding emerging cultural attitudes and values. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Thesis (Doctor of Medicine)--Oxford University, 1890. / "Printed and published at the expense of the University, as a mark of distinction, in conformity with the statutes." Includes 1 folded leaf displaying "symographs taken with Marey's instrument." Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-145). Also available on the World Wide Web.

The wild populations of the Scarlet Macaw subspecies native to southern Mexico and Central America, A. m. cyanoptera, have been drastically reduced over the last half century and are now a major concern to local governments and conservation groups. Programs to rebuild these local populations using captive bred specimens must be careful to reintroduce the native A. m. cyanoptera, as opposed to the South American nominate subspecies (A. m. macao) or hybrids of the two subspecies. Molecular markers for comparative genomic analyses are needed for definitive differentiation. Here I describe the isolation and sequence analysis of multiple loci from 7 pedigreed A. m. macao and 14 pedigreed A. m. cyanoptera specimens. The loci analyzed include the 18S rDNA genes, the complete mitogenome as well as intronic regions of selected autosomally-encoded genes. Although the multicopy18S gene sequences exhibited 10% polymorphism within all A. macao genomes, no differences were observed between any of the 21 birds whose genomes were studied. In contrast, numerous polymorphic sites were observed throughout the 16,993 bp mitochondrial genomes of both subspecies. Although much of the polymorphism was observed in the genomes of both subspecies, subspecies-specific alleles were observed at a number of mitochondrial loci, including 12S, 16S, CO2 and ND3. Evidence of possible subspecies-specific alleles were also found in three of four screened nuclear loci. Collectively, these mitochondrial and nuclear loci can be used as the basis to distinguish A. m. cyanoptera from the nominate subspecies, A. m. macao, as well as identify many hybrids, and most importantly will contribute to further reintroduction efforts.

No description available.

In Hawthorne criticism there is a tendency to categorize The Scarlet Letter as allegory and then fail to distinguish it carefully from traditional forms of this literary mode. Hawthorne is not, in this work, an allegorist of the same ilk as Bunyan or Spenser because his allegory is not a didactic strategy imposed from without but an emblematic structure that evolves from and is governed by internal necessities of the tale. A failure to understand the nature of these necessities leads us to an overly theologized view of Hawthorne’s purposes and achievement in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne's own moralizing editorials tend to complement the brazenly emblematic function of characters such as Pearl and Chillingworth and create the appearance of traditional religious allegory. Pearl and Chillingworth are punitive, avenging figures and resemble the stock allegorical images of guilt and penitence that afflict Hester and Dimmesdale in the aftermath of their crime. Their distinction lies in that they are not everyman's guilt, as a Bunyan of Spenser might depict them, but they specifically incarnate the self-torment Hester and Dimmesdale are prey to. Their roles fulfill primarily a psycho-allegorical scheme rather than any patently Christian parable of sin and expiation. The clues to this psychological priority Hawthorne gives his allegory are contained in the author's frequent allusions to the "mutability" of the substantial world and the extent to which the perturbed perceiver may "extend his egotism over the whole expanse of nature", creating events and omens which reflect his internal disorder. There is evidence that Dimmesdale himself inflicts Chillingworth on his person just as he, miraculously or otherwise, carves an "A" upon his bosom. It is Dimmesdale who consents to being attended by the leech by reason of his "fascination" for this man of science with his probing intellectuality. Dimmesdale's culpability in creating the presence of Chillingworth is further underlined by Hawthorne's observation that the minister's only "real existence on this earth, was the anguish in his inmost soul." Chillingworth's appearance and the increasingly demonic nature of his character is thus an inevitable byproduct of Dimmesdale's increasing introversion into the turmoil of his mind. Similarly Pearl's emblematic being usurps the humanity of her character as a result of her direct relation to Hester's psyche. Hester dresses Pearl in lavish finery with "morbid purpose" just as she embellishes the appearance of the letter on her dress. These are the superficial clues to the extent to which Hester creates the punishing role Pearl's personality fulfills. Hester's sense of guilt, like Dimmesdale's is sufficiently severe to re-create the realities of the external world and create the embodied phantoms of her inward strife. Hawthorne's psychological allegory creates a state of surreality in the world of The Scarlet Letter; a dream state where "the Actual and the Imaginary" do meet and the meeting ground is the interior of the human heart. Our insight into the minds of Hester and Dimmesdale derives from our participation in their anguished distortion of experience and their projected allegory. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate