2016 Spring English Senior Honors Theses (MU)
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The items in this collection are the 2016 spring semester Senior English Honors Theses.
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Item Not a comeback : the persistence of decadence in film noir(University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences, 2016) Arnold, Elizabeth; Glick, ElisaIn this thesis, I will argue that the decadent movement survives in twentieth-century America through noir films, or what I refer to as "noir decadence." However, noir films make decadence more accessible to a wider audience through a change in perspective and more complicated depictions of class and gender. The first section of this thesis, "The Decadence of Film Noir," compares and contrasts fin-de-siecle decadence and noir decadence through the noir film Sunset Boulevard. This section also discusses the shift in the narrator's perspective to set up the discussion of narrative structure, characters, and how they come together to form a perspective that makes decadence accessible to mass audiences. "Narrative Structure," the second section, examines the way fin-de-siecle decadent narratives are constructed and how that relates to noir decadence. The third section, "Primary Characters," discusses the noir detective archetype, the fin-de-siecle decadent dandy, and the shared character of the "femme fatale." Finally, the conclusion extends noir decadence into the twenty-first-century and examines the perseverance of decadence in neo-noir films.Item Parody and media literacy in "Nathan For You" and [creative final] "Adrift"(University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences, 2016) Finnegan, Mitchell; Lewis, Trudy (Trudy L.)Concluding paragraph from Parody and media literacy in "Nathan For You": Over three decades after The Simpsons broke onto the primetime scene, Nathan For You harnesses a brand new form of comedy that makes similar use of parody as a means of instilling media literacy in audiences. While The Simpsons offered a disruptively humorous take on news media, advertising and generic television in its earlier run, Nathan For You serves as a more current example of how a television show can distort the boundaries of genre and use parody to reveal valuable truths about the construction of contemporary media. The show�??s unconventional form allows it to explore the murky ties between commercial and journalistic media as it constantly lampoons the paradoxes of reality television, offering valuable insights on how to better contextualize the institutions it mocks. While it may seem opportunistic and crass on its surface, Nathan for You demonstrates how comedy, particularly television comedy and parody, can engage with other media and texts on a critical level and help modern audiences develop media literacy.Item Talking back: the role of poets and poems in literary conversation(University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences, 2016) Lockard, Paige; Cairns, ScottConcluding paragraph: "In discovering the expansive history of poetic conversation and poetic influence, the question of authenticity now seems irrelevant. Authenticity may now be described as the extent to which a poem or poet takes on its predecessors, either intentionally or not, and creates new work within the context of the ongoing conversation. It is neither total conformity, nor is it total retaliation. The influence that old poems have on new (and, as we�??ve discussed, vice versa) is all-encompassing. The only way to avoid poetic influence in the conversation is to remain silent, or create nothing at all. However, we have found that it is in the creation that poems become not only catalysts of influence, but also themselves become influencers, and the cycle continues. Whether a poet contradicts, expands upon, or enlightens a former or future poet, the success is in the creating, and in keeping the conversation alive."Item "Immortal Harps": Milton and musical morality in Handel's Samson(University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences, 2016) Hobbs, Katherine; Myers, AnneConcluding paragraphs: "If Handel's contemporary James Harris is correct in observing that music and poetry "can never be so powerful singly, as when they are properly united," (152) and that Handel's "Genius ... being itself far the sublimest and most universal now known, has justly placed him without an Equal, or a Second," (153) then Handel has -- either purposely or inadvertently -- rendered the poetry of the Philistines, already elevated through their source in Milton, even more "powerful" and "sublime." The first act features a festive anthem, complete with trumpets, chorus, and a victory celebration; this is a standard sort of scene for Handelian oratorio. But upon closer investigation, the anthem, that paragon of Anglican musical worship, is being applied to a pagan deity. The scene becomes even more troubling with the addition of Milton's psalm text, formally perfect for pious religious observances but here twisted out of context to elevate Dagon. Dalila, too, poses a moral-musical threat. She retains many characteristics of Italian opera, and although these align with the immoral tendencies of her character, Handel ensures that the audience seriously listens to her through his vocally-oriented musical setting. These scenes render it doubtful whether Samson is a worthy moral substitute for Italian opera or a worthy use of the edifying textual and musical potential of oratorio. However, Handel leaves musical hints to guide us: the Philistine anthem is ritualistic and less complex than its Anglican analogue would be, and Dalila could be interpreted as a harmless operatic parody in the line of Kitty Clive's English farce roles. These musical traces of vice nonetheless do not diminish the time spent on the Philistines in Samson's musical structure or their deep alliance with music and music-making up until the oratorio's final scene. The Philistines, in Handel's and Hamilton's rendering, deserve to be heard, and deserve to be heard as humans. The Israelites, when they regain musical control, must do so quite forcefully, employing the same trumpets and festive music as their enemies, and existing in a parallel state to that of their pagan antagonists at the beginning of the work. The Israelite festival has brought the oratorio full circle; although the concluding Israelite "Grand Chorus" is more impressive in scale than that of the Philistines, echoes of the Philistine festival still ring in the listener's memory through Handel's exultant D Major setting of the last chorus and the resonance of Milton's musical words in this final scene with their first appearance in the parallel celebration of Act I. The Israelites have won, but they eventually find themselves dependent on the same human "voice and verse" they had to silence in order to be victorious."Item In sympathy : how to read -- and view -- Edith Wharton's The house of mirth(University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences, 2016) Cantrall, Amy; West, Nancy Martha, 1963-In the second Gilded Age that we live in now, it has been surprising to me to find that Edith Wharton's presence in homes and classrooms has been waning. In order to understand why this is, I turn to one of Wharton's most popular works to find out what makes her relatively undesirable to read today. In The House of Mirth, I discovered that a large problem with the main character, Lily Bart, is the fact that readers feel unable to sympathize with her. By looking closely at both the text and Terence Davies's 2000 film adaptation, the aim of my thesis is to argue that there are reasons why Lily Bart should be treated with compassion. With evidence in the text, such as Wharton's clever uses of names, it is clear that Wharton has a strategy in which she emphasizes readers' sympathy for Lily. Similarly, the film also constructs Lily in such a way that viewers feel for her and are devastated at her fall from grace. It is true that due to Wharton's high status in life, it is initially difficult to feel compassion for her characters who are, for the most part, also equal in status. However, I have discovered that her characters, such as Lily Bart, still face human dilemmas and have emotions; as such, they are equal to readers in that we can understand their problems, even in today's day and age. I argue that there is a reason why Wharton presents her characters as difficult to sympathize with, and that we should look to her difficult heroes and heroines for more lessons on life than our typical literature idols.
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