This thesis compares J. K. Rowling’s contemporary Harry Potter series (1997-2007) with Thomas Hughes’s Victorian school story, Tom Brown’s School Days (1857), in order to identify how Rowling and Hughes use British public school literature as a means for the widespread dissemination of moral pedagogy. Given the disparate time frames and political outlooks, Rowling and Hughes teach dissimilar ideologies in different socio-historical contexts. However, both stories reveal the necessity of the schoolmaster’s teaching methods to form morally responsible school leaders, demonstrate the titular character ‘chosen’ as a moral leader, and exemplify the use of organized sports as a method of moral and social instruction. In sum, my thesis presents a comparison of the narratives by Rowling and Hughes as an acknowledgement of the continuing influence of Hughes’s work on modern literature and the employment of children’s literature for the advancement of moral and socio-ideological themes.

"Sometimes I Think I’m Going Crazy" is a short story collection containing three stories of more or less equal length. Each of three main characters face conflict that tests their resolve and ultimately forces them to reevaluate who they are as human beings. Stress helps people to grow and evolve and the protagonists in these stories are forced to face their greatest fears head on and (with varying degrees of success) come out the other end better for it. But not before going a little crazy in the process.

As my diploma thesis I created a series of expresive figurative paintings. The series tells fragments of stories from romantic fantazy sceneries combined with contemporary subcultural and life style motives. My inspiration comes from a strong game play experience and a deep emotional bond with the central european landscape. The story is situated somewhere between a fairy talish past and a dystopic future.

No description available.

No description available.

This study investigated story journaling to enhance story comprehension. Eighteen kindergarten children participated in this six-week study with the teacher reading a total of twenty-four stories to the class. The class was randomly divided into Group A and Group B, with 3 focus participants from each group retelling the story. The retelling was audio taped and analyzed using Morrow's (2001) procedures. Group B experienced the intervention of story journaling on the third week of the study and showed an improvement in story comprehension during the fifth and sixth weeks of story journaling. Group A did not experience the intervention of story journaling until the fifth week of the study and showed a slight improvement by the end of the sixth week of story journaling. There appears to be a connection of story journaling to story comprehension when children are given the opportunity to story journal after hearing a story.

In this thesis I am studying how we can make the past accessible in the present through thecombination of objects and stories. The aim is to look at how we are connected to the past andinterwoven with the stories and the objects around us. My interest lies in how and why theseprocesses are important to us and to art pedagogy. In the study I explore the method of objectelicitation to see how it can be useful in art education.Through an ethnography-inspired approach I conducted four interviews, two in Sweden andtwo in South Africa. The narratives that were unfolded from objects in the interviews wereanalyzed with the theoretical concepts relationship and life story from theory on materialculture and narrative theory. I have also used the concept trace from Paul Ricoeur’s writingon narrative time.Using an object of the participant’s choosing as a point of departure, triggered long focusedconversations about the past in relation to personal history and present life. Variousexpressions emerged where the objects in this study can be interpreted as active agentsshaping the people around them, holding knowledge and bridging time. When actualizing theobjects through storytelling relationships to people and places were revealed, giving theabstract perishable past form and meaning in the present. Powerful emotions involved in theseprocesses were expressed in the interviews.This study has a double perspective with both an academic and artistic research process. Theresult of the study is presented in this thesis as well as in an artwork consisting of three shortfilms that were exhibited on Konstfack’s graduation show in 2013.To carry out the field study at the Human Rights Media Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, Ireceived an MFS-stipend.

This creative thesis includes five short stories that explore paradoxical ways in which people can feel alone, even if they are together. Although a combination of isolation and intimacy can occur in any human relationship, the stories in this collection spend much of their time with family circles in particular, considering the way that our closest, most permanent relationships can simultaneously prove the most intimate and the most isolating. The critical introduction that precedes the collection examines each story individually, discussing strategies and subject matter in terms of the collection's guiding concept. The introduction discusses the binary of intimacy and isolation, and how it relates to fiction's ability to evoke sympathy in its readers.

Kvicksund is located in north west Eskilstuna and is an area with very unique conditions. It's an area that is both divided by the lake Mälaren but also by two municipalities: Västerås in the north and Eskilstuna in the south. In this area you are surrounded by nature while still having access to communications such as trains. My proposal is to build a nursing home in Kvicksund, combined with both a preeschool and café to form a "Meeting point". The building is located near the center for the area with close proximity to the coast and the train station. By connecting the nursing home to a public building the public space is made available to those who have the most difficulty to reach it. Having elders not become isolated is very important and by activating the brain with different activities and new meetings the risk of dementia decrease. In the building there are three departments: one for people with dementia and two somatic departments. There's also a large dining room, living room, exercise room and multiple large courtyards located in and around the building. In the public area of the building there's an open preschool, a café and several common rooms. The building is organized in a way so that the nursing home has one side of the building and the preschool and the cafe have the other.  The two sides are connected by the common areas, this is to simplify different activities between the two sides. The preschool is the only one with a second story and the rest of the building is one story. It's design to be as accessible as possible and create a feeling of independence in the elderly as they can reach all premises without assistance. Personally, I have always gotten an anxious feeling at the thought of a home for the elderly and that is precisely my reason for designing one. This is not a place to skimp on and it is not a place for people to be hidden away in. This is a place which should be full of activities, joy and life! / Kvicksund ligger I nordvästra Eskilstuna och är ett område med väldigt unika förhållanden. Det är en plats som både delas av Mälaren men även mellan två kommuner: Västerås I norr och Eskilstuna I söder. Här finns både närhet till natur men även bra tillgänglighet I form av en egen tågstation.  Mitt förslag är att bygga ett äldreboende I Kvicksund med tillhörande ”mötescentrum”. Byggnaden är placerad centralt I området med närhet till kusten, det som idag är centrum och tågstationen. Genom att koppla äldreboendet till en offentlig byggnad tillgängliggör man det offentliga rummet för de som har det svårast att nå det. Att inte bli isolerad som äldre är väldigt viktigt och genom att aktivera hjärnan med olika aktiviteter och nya möten minskas risken för demenssjukdomar. I byggnaden placeras en demensavdelning och två somatiska avdelningar med stor matsal, vardagsrum, motionsrum och stora innergårdar. I den offentliga delen finns en öppen förskola, caféverksamhet samt ett flertal gemensamma rum. Byggnaden organiseras på det vis att äldreboendet har ena sida och förskolan och caféverksamheten har den andra. Mellan dem placeras de gemensamma ytorna för att förenkla olika gemensamma aktiviteter mellan verksamheterna. Endast förskolan har en övervåning och resten av byggnaden är I enplan. Allt för att göra den så tillgänglig som möjligt och skapa en känsla av självständighet hos de äldre då de kan nå alla lokaler utan assistans. Personligen har jag alltid fått en ängslig känsla vid tanken på äldreboenden och det är just därför jag valt att gestalta ett. Detta är inte en plats att snåla på och inte heller en plats som ska skuffas undan. Här ska det vara fullt av aktiviteter, glädje och liv!

Sunset View is a linked collection of short fiction that explores the dynamics of dysfunctional families. Characters in this collection have been affected by the neglect, absence, or death of their family members and friends. They search for recognition and love as they try to find their place in life. Some turn to animals or fleeting relationships to fill this void. Others attempt suicide or simply disappear. The characters are in denial, unsure how to deal with grief, and often make decisions that alienate them from the friends and family they do have. Set in northeast Tennessee and named after a local trailer park, the collection creates a portrait of Candace Annette, a young woman who struggles to come of age and distance herself from the only life she's ever known.