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Item The analogous writer: literary evolution in modernist Virginia Woolf(2016) Hall, AndrewSome of Virginia Woolf's writing is analytical of the literary world, including its history and processes. Woolf's essay "Modern Fiction" and short story "Solid Objects" analyze and criticize modern writing and can be seen as doing so within similar contexts, albeit in different modes. The main character of "Solid Objects" is arguably representative of Woolf's feelings, made clear in "Modern Fiction" of where modern writing is in the midst of going.Item Barnburner(2015) Monahan, Justin PatrickOn an August night in the dying part of the North Country summer, there is no moon, only stars, and the dark sweeps fast over the sky and beds into the grass with the cattle. The night is still. A crowd encircles a barn with a sagging roof. The people murmur, clasp hands, shuffle in place. Men, women, and children place objects inside the barn—faded photographs, old dolls, clothing, letters. A young woman, crying, rests a pair of small boots inside the barn door. Across the road at the far end of the field stands a Ford dealership.Item Comparative analysis of survivor identity and traumatic memory(2022) Gagnon, Alexandra; Lipes, ReganTraumatic memory and survivor identity are intertwined. When traumatic events occur, such as the Holocaust, the experiences which the survivors undergo will permanently change their perception of self and the world around them. This paper will analyze the relationship of traumatic memory and survivor identity in the graphic novel series Maus: A Survivors Tale, Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began, and the documentary Hiding and Seeking, and will discuss their similarities.Item Comparing the role of the outsider in Beowulf and Marie de France’s Lanval(2020) Krentz, CourtneyThe character of the outsider can be identified in a diverse range of medieval works, including the Old English heroic epic and the Middle English lai. Indeed, both Beowulf and Marie de France’s Lanval prominently feature characters who are outsiders, although these characters are presented quite differently within each work. In Beowulf, the characters of Grendel and his mother are outsiders with respect to the heroic society of Beowulf and his kingdom, and in Lanval, Marie de France’s titular character begins his lai in a melancholic state as he struggles to understand why his king neglects him and favours the other retainers. While both of these works feature outsiders, though, the reasons why they are outcast from their respective societies are quite different. Grendel and his mother are outcast because they are descendants of Cain, whose bloodline God condemned after Cain killed his brother Abel. As a method of taking vengeance for his exclusion, Grendel attacks the court of King Hrothgar every night for many years, killing as many of Hrothgar’s loyal retainers as he possibly can. Conversely, Marie de France does not suggest that Lanval bears any similar condemnation; instead, she indicates that he is unjustly cut from society because his king forgets him and the other retainers are jealous of him. Despite these differences between Grendel and Lanval, both characters function to comment upon the nature of their respective civilizations; however, where Grendel effectively reaffirms the importance of the hall and the king’s relationship with his retainers, Lanval does the opposite, and instead serves to question whether life in King Arthur’s court actually benefits those who live within it.Item Contrasting nature, gender, and genre in Anne Finch's "A Nocturnal Reverie"(2021) Martens, KairoAnne Finch came to be considered one of the most influential female figures of the Augustan era because of her free, intimate exploration of nature and gender through poetry as well as her ability to seamlessly blend both classical and modern genres. In this article, Finch's unique style, voice, and perspective are examined in the context of "A Nocturnal Reverie," the final poem in her only published collection in 1713. "A Nocturnal Reverie" best showcases Finch's subtle but subversive style as she revisits scenes from John Milton, criticizes the idyllic presentation of mankind's relationship with nature, and makes a proto-feminist argument against woman's confinement to the domestic sphere all while operating under the pretext of nature poetry.Item Cutting into the abyss: the subtle knife as the pharmakon in Pullman's His Dark Materials(2013) Blomquist, Gregory; Thompson, William; Wiznura, RobThe Subtle Knife as the Pharmakon in Pullman's His Dark Materials In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the subtle knife (or Æsahættr, literally meaning "god-destroyer") is the most significant of the trilogy's three central instruments. It is both a tool and a weapon, a device which is capable of revealing the abyssal void between the parallel universes that combine to form Pullman's multiverse; and capable of repairing the damage done by the all-consuming nothingness it exposes. Almost counter-intuitive in nature, the tool aspect of the knife creates the negative consequences of its use, whereas the weapon aspect of the knife comes to signify the positive consequences of its use. Having the potential for both good and evil, construction and destruction, I argue the subtle knife is the pharmakon of Pullman's trilogy. Originally a term referred to by Jacques Derrida, the pharmakon is a paradoxical aspect of being both the poison and the cure, or a dissembler of binaries. The pharmakon does not represent evil anymore than it represents good; it is purely neutral and thus a neutralizing agent. [Honours thesis]Item Depictions of women in Victorian literature: precursors of social change or stereotypical?(2015) Hermary, DorothyEngland’s Victorian Age was pregnant with the seeds of social change, inter-sown with the nutrients of personal and national introspection. Within this upheaval, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Charles Dicken’s Hard Times expose concerns about the position and value of Victorian females. This stereotypical portrayal of their characters can be transplanted to the current, twenty-first century struggle with gender equality. Exploration of our past can light our present as well as illuminate our gendered/non-gendered future.Item Distortion of reality in Orwell’s 1984 and O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”(2016) Massa, Cossette; Krys, SvitlanaO’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried” and Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 suggest that the ruling imperial government attempts to cover up the truth behind society’s dismal reality by exploiting an individual through dominance and control. This is analyzed through escapism, propaganda, the manipulation of fear and perspective, and, finally, a distorted portrayal of freedom.Item Equalizing extremes to master the mean(2011) Barlow, ChelseaThe MacEwan Book of the Year Student Contest invites students to submit creative and/or critical essay responses inspired by the university's current Book of the Year. Submissions are judged by MacEwan University's Book of the Year committee members. This work was the 2010/11 winning entry for Annabel Lyon’s The Golden Mean (2009) and was awarded Critical Essay winner.Item Fighting the fear: everyday terror in the American short story collection after 9/1: a study of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge(2016) Kruger, Rae-LeeJennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge represent the emphatic force that can be created within a short story collection and each contain at their core what has become a fundamental aspect of American literature since September 2001: terror. In A Visit from the Goon Squad and Olive Kitteridge, characters feel and attempt to cope with terror in their everyday lives. Both Egan and Strout contextualize individual terror against the broader national and cultural form felt by the United States after the events of 9/11. The presence of the void left by the Twin Towers is a potent symbol of terror within each collection, paralleling the characters’ experiences with that of post-9/11 America while highlighting the existence of everyday terror and providing a lens for character self-reflection. This essay focusses on two categories of terror that figure into both collections, terror of the unknown and terror of being alone, and how strategies employed by Egan’s and Strout’s characters to cope with this terror correspond to the American public response to the wider terror instilled by 9/11.Item From science as solution to science as suspect: science fiction and the canonical decline of technoidealism(2021) Fuhrer, NathanEdified in Isaac Asimov's canonical Foundations trilogy, the exemplification of science as a panacea to human quandaries--herein referred to as technoidealism--is a central element of the 1950's science-fiction canon. Faced with a period of upheaval and a wave of new science fictions authors, this article explores the manner in which this assumption is modified, complicated, and popularly rejected. Drawing on the work of authors such as Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, Jeff Somers, and Iain Reid, the technoidealist impulse serves to highlight the utopian current undergirding Asimov's work and the genre's complication of the human-science relationship. In drifting from its nascent futurist idealism, the literary endorsement of "science as solution" has veered toward "science as suspect" through a complication and reproval of the technoidealist assumption.Item Human after all: an exploration of Steven Galloway's The cellist of Sarajevo(2010) Horvath, StevenThe MacEwan Book of the Year Student Contest invites students to submit creative and/or critical essay responses inspired by the university's current Book of the Year. Submissions are judged by MacEwan University's Book of the Year committee members. This work was the 2009/10 winning entry for Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo (2008) and was awarded Critical Essay winner.Item "If everything is stable, one is not going to move very far": reality as illusion in Ondaatje's The cat's table(2014) Barratt, JessicaThis essay examines one of the major themes of Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table: Perception and Reality. While on the surface the novel is about a young boy on a journey, it is Michael's unique perspective that reveals an elusive truth about our reality: that it is a fragile illusion, at best. Via a comparison of Michael's past (specifically the twenty-one days he was aboard a ship named Oronsay) and present realities, then, both Michael and the reader come to realize the highly subjective nature of our collective 'reality.' The MacEwan Book of the Year Student Contest invites students to submit creative and/or critical essay responses inspired by the university's current Book of the Year. Submissions are judged by MacEwan University's Book of the Year committee members. This work was the 2012/13 winning entry for Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table (2011) and was awarded Critical Essay winner.Item If only reality wasn’t so…real: beyond the adventure in Michael Ondaatje’s The cat’s table(2013) Malin, CarrieThe MacEwan Book of the Year Student Contest invites students to submit creative and/or critical essay responses inspired by the university's current Book of the Year. Submissions are judged by MacEwan University's Book of the Year committee members. This work was the 2012/13 winning entry for Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table (2011) and was awarded Critical Essay honourable mention.Item Immense suffering and the journey of a refugee: analyzing Candide(2017) Hindocha, Rajoo; Sayed, AsmaVoltaire’s Candide is a novel that explores how individuals suffer from moving from one place to another. The objective of this essay will be to analyze Candide the main character who suffers enormously by not being able to find a home and Cunegonde his beloved from the novel Candide and, to examine how their experiences are similar to the life of a refugee. Candide relates to the journey of a refugee because a refugee must escape from chaos in his or her country to sustain life itself. Candide also shares a similar experience in that he endures this kind of suffering as well. Similarly, Cunegonde also suffered enormously in the hands of the Bulgars who invaded the Castle of Thunder-Ten-Tronckh which led to her getting stabbed and more. Ultimately, Candide and Cunegonde finally settle in the Garden of Eden which is a peaceful and safe place for them to live and their suffering ceases in this place.Item Indigenous resurgence and futurism in literature(2024) Webber, Crystal; Marel, L. Camille van derIn the realm of Canadian literature, the general question emerging asks “Is Indigenous literature considered Canadian literature?” To reframe the question, should Indigenous literature stand as its own category and how do Indigenous stories demonstrate history and culture within the framework of Indigenous resurgence? While Indigenous literature includes various genres and styles, I argue it is separate from Canadian literature as a whole. If Indigenous works remain under the category of Canadian literature, then another colonial constraint is placed on the native voice. Indigenous literature should be thought of as uniquely heterogeneous as there are a multitude of different cultures, languages, and practices which apply to their literary works. However, my focus will be on the regeneration and resurgence of the Indigenous voice through literature. Michi Sagiig Nishnaabeg author Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Metis writer Chelsea Vowel challenge the depiction of narrative and storytelling by bringing indigenous stories to life in their works in a non-traditional way (with regards to Canadian literature). Simpson’s short story “Big Water” and Vowel’s comic “Kitaskinaw 2350” illustrate resurgence in literature demonstrated through the futurism of Indigenous culture alongside settler society.Item Inside, outside, inside–out: circles in Indian horse(2014) Regan, RebeccaThe MacEwan Book of the Year Student Contest invites students to submit creative and/or critical essay responses inspired by the university's current Book of the Year. Submissions are judged by MacEwan University's Book of the Year committee members. This work was the 2013/14 winning entry for Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse (2012) and was awarded Critical Essay winner.Item Intersectionality and empathy in Afrofuturist feminist dystopian narratives: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the sower and Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown girl in the ring(2021) Gartner, LindseyThis article analyzes dystopian fiction’s representation, critique, and attempted rectification of oppressive social structures related to violence against women, black motherhood, and (dis)ability. The 1990s novels Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson represent what dystopian critics call “patriarchy on steroids.”. Drawing on feminist narrative theory and Afrofuturism theory, this article extends the scholarly discussion of feminist elements in both texts by analyzing representations of physical and sexual violence, which critics have largely overlooked, and the intersectional representation of black motherhood. Although Butler and Hopkinson depict violence against women and black motherhood in different ways and use different narrative techniques, both offer amplified reflections of the real-world intersectional and diverse experiences of women. Butler’s and Hopkinson’s young female protagonists challenge the societal oppressions and inequities they face through empathic reasoning: Butler’s Lauren reframes her embodied hyperempathy (dis)ability as a gift, enabling her to found an equitable community amidst violent social collapse, and Hopkinson’s Ti-Jeanne reframes her temporary zombification as an opportunity to empathize with other characters’ trauma, enabling her to defeat the violent gang leader Rudy. Lauren and Ti-Jeanne thereby imagine new positions for themselves and for women in general.Item Intrusion, immersive or irregular: classifying the fantasy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell with the intertextual influence of Sir Orfeo(2020) Kulchisky, AlyssaOften when we think of fantasy we think of far off places or some magical world completely removed from our own. We think of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia or J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Even J. K. Rowling’s wizards and witches are distinctly divided from and inaccessible to non-magical people. But what happens when this Other Place comes into contact with our world? Susanna Clarke explores this type of contact in her novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Relating the adventures of two magicians in early nineteenth century England, the novel describes what happens when the magic of the Faerie realm interacts with our world or, more specifically, with England. The ultimate effect is one where each place does not exist independently of one another but rather are ontologically connected. Unpacking the particulars of this existential coexistence and identifying the exact nature of Clarke’s fantasy is no easy task. For this it is helpful to turn to Farrah Mendlesohn’s Rhetorics of Fantasy, a book dedicated to the classification of five different types that a fantasy work might fall into: portal-quest, immersive, intrusion, liminal and irregular. Despite the thorough detail that Mendlesohn achieves in outlining and explaining each category, Clarke’s novel remains exceedingly difficult to place. In addition to Mendlesohn’s book then, we must also turn to the outside influence of other primary texts, like the Middle English poem Sir Orfeo, to classify the intricate fantasy that is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.Item It’s not gothic - it’s about the stories within the story(2019) Sorensen, Kelsey; Robinson, JackEden Robinson uses a variety of Haisla stories in her novel Monkey Beach. Some critics have viewed her novel as a gothic story, however, the novel is filled with cultural dimension that outshines any gothic elements. These elements and stories, not only preserve Haisla culture; but make it available to a variety of readers. Interdisciplinary Dialogue Project.
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