The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the societal changes that took place in Cuba during the last decade of the twentieth century, period know as The Special Period in Times of Peace, created the necessary conditions for the development of a new type of narrative. The first chapter constitutes an historical overview of the role of the State in the literary and artistic creation in revolutionary Cuba. The second, third, and fourth chapters analyze the major characteristics in the narrative of this period, creating a contrast with previous decades of the revolutionary era. With such purpose the study is divided into three categories: language, themes, and ideology. The usage of language as a means of transgression, the recurrence of the topic of need, and the rebirth of critical thinking, represent the principal characteristics of this literary period, and confirm the main idea of this dissertation: the fall of the ideal of the New Man. The final chapter summarizes the findings of the study and poses a question: If the ideal of the New Man has ceased to exist, what has replaced it? The question of whether or not a new ideal has replaced that of the New Man, and what that ideal might be, constitutes a steppingstone for further studies in the area of Cuban narrative of the Special Period and beyond.

Lino Novas Calvo (1903-1983) is by many considered the best Cuban short story writer. Critics acknowledge his major contribution to the modernization of narrative prose in that country. With Cayo Canas and La Luna Nona, the short story achieved a language of its own, a precise technique, an acute outlook and an awareness of its own individual art form. Nevertheless, his novels and short stories have not received the recognition and the distribution they deserve, in part because his books have not been reprinted. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the innovative character of Novas Calvo's work. From the starting point of traditional discourse, he gathered together the main tendencies that until then co-existed in Cuban literature (realism, social criticism, criollismo, Afro Cuban themes and cosmopolitism) and renewed them with modem contributions, mainly assimilated from American authors writing between the two World Wars. He based himself in a concept of realism that does not limit itself to recreating reality and that eludes language localisms and the portrayal of environments. He brought Cuban characters and themes to his stories which at the same gave them a universal Dimension. Novas Calvo participated in debates which amounted to a rupture between tradition and localism and brought universality to the Cuban short story. This achieved the aesthetic syncretism imposed by modernity.

Problem: The purpose in undertaking this study was to determine more exactly the contemporary usage of the Spanish relative pronouns, thus making it possible (1) to supplement existing descriptions of the usage of the relative pronouns, and (2) to restate contemporary usage. Method: For this study, representative works of the best contemporary Spanish and Spanish-American authors were used, employing Keniston's sampling technique. Three passages of ten pages each were selected from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the work in question. All examples found were recorded individually for analysis, thus making possible a study of a much larger number of actual examples than are available from the Keniston study. Conclusion: A. The following findings which have been established in this thesis in some cases supplement existing descriptions by the authorities and in others, are at variance with them. 1. Que is not frequently replaced after con by el cual to avoid confusion with conque. 2. Que does not necessarily follow its antecedent immediately. In fifteen per cent of all cases observed que was removed from its antecedent in such a way that determination of its antecedent was difficult. 3. Que does on rare occasions as object of a preposition refer to a person. 4. Quien is frequently used to distinguish a person from a thing, as antecedent. 5. Quien as a substantive refers more frequently to indefinite persons than el que. 6. Quien as a substantive is used almost exclusively after como (meaning "as one who"). 7. El que, as well as el cual, is regularly removed from its antecedent by a comma (or similar punctuation, and/or one or more words.) B. Restatement of Contemporary Usage. 1. In a restrictive clause: a. The subject is regularly que for persons and things. b. The object is usually que for persons and things. Quien is used with "personal a". Al cual and al que are rarely so used. 2. In a non-restrictive clause: a. The subject is usually que for persons and things, but may be quien, el cual, and to a lesser extent, el que. b. The object is usually que for persons and things; quien is used frequently with "personal a"; al cual or al que, rarely. 3. Object of a (exclusive of "personal a"), en, de and con: a. Referring to persons, quien, el cual or el que are used. In non-restrictive clauses quien is most frequently used. b. Referring to things, que, el cual or el que are used. Que is normal in restrictive clauses; que, el cual or el que in non-restrictive. 4. Object of por, sin and tras: a. El cual or el que are used; possibly, quien. 5. Object of dissyllabic prepositions: a. El cual or el que are normally used. 6. Object of compound preposition: a. El cual is normally used; el que, rarely. NOTE: Where there are choices in the usage indicated throughout Section B to this point, variety, rhythm and euphony are considerations. However, the choice of quien, el cual and el que to avoid ambiguity must be particularly borne in mind. 7. Lo cual and lo que as restrictive and non-restrictive relatives: a. After monosyllabic prepositions both are used. b. After dissyllabic and compound prepositions, only lo cual is used. 8. Quien and el que as substantive relatives: a. As object of a preposition, quien and el que are both used, the latter more frequently. b. Referring to indefinite persons, quien is used more frequently. c. Referring to definite persons, el que is used more frequently. d. After como (meaning "as one who") quien is used. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

The intent of the thesis, as explained in the Introduction, is to examine the development and use of the verb + preposition + infinitive construction in Castilian. The Introduction serves to present the problem and to suggest an explanation. That is, the postulation of an initial prepositional meaning within the construction, which has since been lost in many cases. Chapter One deals with the three terms employed in the construction, and indicates the possible ambiguity of each term, and the complexity inherent within its use. It examines several accepted definitions of the terms and of their relationship to one another, and seeks to resolve several consequent problems. Chapter Two consists of a study of the development of the construction from Latin to Old Spanish. It attempts to deal briefly with various Latin constructions and their subsequent influence, and tries to show how many of them resulted in the Spanish construction under consideration. Chapter Three examines a number of examples of this construction in Old Spanish. It presents a possible interpretation of these quotations in the context of the verb + preposition + infinitive construction, and attempts to demonstrate how and why they occurred, comparing and contrasting Old and modern usage. Chapter Four is an examination of the situation of Modern Spanish, in terms of the same construction. It looks at a number of verbs in the language, indicates their etymology briefly, and points out various comparisons and contrasts with modern French. A discussion of these forms follows, with the intent of corroborating the original hypothesis. The Conclusion consists of a summation of the information gained in the course of the study. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

This study was designed to investigate the usefulness of the administration of a Spanish translation of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Form A, in the language assessment of bilingual children.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

This thesis will give a brief biography of Miguel Mihura, summarize and discuss his more important plays, comment on the less important ones, and point out recurrent patterns and themes, with the hope that the general public as well as the student of Spanish, may be better informed of the values to be found in the works of this writer.

"The purpose of this paper is to analyze certain significant changes in subject matter presentation that have occurred in Spanish textbooks since the participation of the United States in World War I and to relate these changes to selected aspects of the growth and reorientation of the American education system during this period. The textbooks chosen for comparison are the 1915 edition of A Spanish Grammar by E. C. Hills and J. D. M. Ford and First Year Spanish by C. H. Staubach and J. W. Walsh, published in 1954"--Introduction. / "August 1957." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Marion J. Hay, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 70).

"This paper will consider the critical reception of Madariaga's major English works by the important reviewing media in England and the United States. The Book Review Digest has been the major tool in gathering data. Its concise summaries of books have been used to indicate the scope and content of the books. It has also been used as a source of critical opinion found in the general reviewing media. In addition, scholarly journals in special fields of Madariaga's interest have been consulted for reviews of books which pertain to their respective fields"--Introduction. / Carbon copy of typescript. / "August, 1957." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Robert Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis reports on an evaluative study of the first 300-level Spanish class at Brigham Young University. The information gathered describes the history of the class and changes in curriculum and goals over the years. It also describes students who have taken the class: native Spanish speakers, heritage speakers, returned missionaries, students from lower-levels, students with a background in another Romance language, and presents information as to how well the class has met the needs of each group of students, as well as suggestions to better meet student needs. Results indicate that there is a general satisfaction with the first 300-level Spanish class across the different categories of Spanish students in this class. Data also indicate that additional review of the class may be beneficial in order to 1) increase horizontal articulation, 2) better meet General Education requirements, 3) increase the student preparedness from Spanish 206 to 321, and 4) improve instructor training.