English

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Research from the Department of English. The department website may be found at https://www.ndsu.edu/english/

The Northern Eclecta is a student literary magazine and may be found at http://hdl.handle.net/10365/26088

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Analysis of a Facebook Freakout: Rhetoric of Agency in the Places Privacy Debate
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Bakke, Abigail Rose
New technologies often generate fear regarding privacy threats, and social networking sites like Face book have lately experienced the brunt of the criticism. Face book users, even as they post greater amounts of information online, express concern over privacy violations. This paradox suggests that the issue is more complex than the private/public dichotomy and that the rhetoric used during these protests could yield insights regarding the competing worldviews expressed in a privacy debate. My paper examines discourse by the ACLU and Face book at the time the controversial Facebook Places application came out. I use cluster criticism to show how the two rhetors position themselves, each other, Face book users, and users' friends in terms of the degree of control each ;:igent is portrayed as having. My findings suggest that appealing to users' agency will be a key persuasive strategy as concerns over social networking privacy violations increase, and I comment on how sentence structure in corporate discourse can be used to enhance or detract from users' sense of agency when using social networking sites.
"Better Safe Than Sorry": Social Media Responses to Emerging Covid-19 Research in the News
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Wegner, McKenna Matty
In late 2019 and early 2020, the world faced the onset of a novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19 or Coronavirus, that would ultimately impact the lives of millions around the world. The COVID-19 Pandemic brought widespread attention to both the scientific process and communication of research from researchers through media outlets to the public. This study examines public responses to emerging and changing scientific research on surface transmission of COVID-19 as it was reported in New York Times articles during three different points in the pandemic. Three articles, published in March, May, and November of 2020, offer developing information about the surface transfer of COVID-19 as it became available. This study uses qualitative and quantitative analysis to analyze public Facebook comments on each New York Times article to document how public audiences understood and responded to changing COVID-19 research over time.
"Building a Class Library": Emphasizing Summary in Teaching Source Use
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Haich, Niles Andrew
The study presented here is a qualitative study evaluating four objectives for teaching source use, ones I emphasized in my Spring 2011 classes with an assignment called the "Building a Class Library Assignment." I relied on two methods for evaluation: (1) process reflection, with audio recordings of one-on-one sessions serving as my data set; and (2) product analysis, with student-written profiles serving as my data set. In analyzing the profiles, as well as the interviews, it became obvious that my students fell short in the areas I wanted them to demonstrate an understanding in. However, it also became obvious that, because of the Class Library, the message that source integration means writing summary was one all of my students retained. Also successful was the structure of the Class Library, one that provided students with a recurring context in which to practice summary, and provided me with an additional setting in which to work with students on their writing. It is for these reasons that I argue that the Class Library, and the four objectives that are emphasized in the assignment, provide one answer to the larger, pedagogical question of how to improve instruction of source use. 111
"Convoluted Words of French Origin": Student Conceptions of Academic Writing
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Willden, Clair
Student beliefs about academic writing convince them that academic writing should sound boring or familiar in a way that precludes innovation. Composition teachers are clearly telegraphing something to students about writing, it’s just not the message that we want to send. In a qualitative study of five student interviews about academic writing, this paper argues that the message students receive tells them that academic writing should be stilted, awkward. It should sound as “smart” as possible. It should sound like other “academic texts” they have read. Some of the goals of composition, however, are to teach that writing is something versatile, worthwhile, and something that we can pursue in recognizable forms. Students conceive of “academic writing” as its own genre whose recognizable form relies just as heavily on awkward wording, boring topics, and prescriptive but subjective instructor feedback as it does on features such as citations and credible research.
Dangerous Silences: South Asian Immigrant Women and the Threat of Domestic Violence
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Akter, Syeda Salma
Immigrant women coming from South Asian countries to countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada are often shocked when they become victims of domestic violence at the hands of their sole companions in a foreign country. Because of their unfamiliarity with the new country, victimized women are often forced to endure violence for long periods of time in silence. Scholars have identified the reasons behind this silence. William A. Stacey explains that victim women do not want to speak of violence because they are thinking of their children and hoping for an end of violence one day (55). Loise I Gerdes agrees and adds that remaining silent about domestic violence is a cultural practice in some countries (118). While discussing the reasons for silence within this community of women, I will argue that silence does not end violence, rather intensifies it.
Disruption of Gender Norms to Advance Contemporary Politics: A Radical Feminist Analysis of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe's In the Chest of a Woman
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Chrappah, Abigail
This paper deconstructs leadership and kingship politics in the Ghanaian West-African culture as it pertains to gender. It proves that what governs the concept of the throne is unequivocally masculine and simply a game. The thesis further argues the need to encourage subversively radical methods in dealing with entrenched sexism that permeate the royal system and the current political system. Through Efo Kodjo Mawugbe's play In the Chest of a Woman, the research establishes that the concept of power in the Ghanaian traditional system is rigid and, consequently, requires unorthodox deviance to challenge gender oppression. It concludes that for women in Ghana to have any substantive political transformation, radicalism must be reconceptualized and integrated into West-African feminism for activism purposes and not avoided entirely.
Enculturating Gender: Examining Bestselling Children's Picture Books
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Smith, Kara Michele
This research examines gender depictions in 20 current bestselling children's picture books. I argue that children's picture books, specifically those aimed at children 0-5 years of age, portray gender in a way that potentially limits girls in developing and achieving their goals because of the limited options presented to them based on gender and also constrains boys' emotional growth due to the rigid standards depicted for them. These depictions are especially critical during the Sensorimotor and Preoperational stages in children's development because they are developmentally primed for acquiring and being socialized to gender knowledge. Extending the work of Hamilton et al., this research reaffirms their findings, showing that nearly a decade later, in terms of gender depictions in children's picture books, little progress has been made. Females are still largely underrepresented in central roles and in illustrations, are passive, and are presented with limited options in terms of occupations, while males are portrayed as active and independent and have a variety of occupational choices available to them. Additionally, this study employs a contemporary visual rhetorical lens to further enrich our understanding of the gender depictions in children's picture books by analyzing illustrations in terms of McCloud's definitions of the relationships between text and images and Horn's notions of proximity, white space, placement, distance, and angle. This portion of the analysis reinforces the findings and allows for a more articulated discussion of gender depictions in children's picture books.
The Feminist Cure: Feminist Identity As a Shield from Hyper-Sexualized l'vledia Induced Self-Objectification in College Women
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Carlson, Natalie Smith
This paper explores the impact of hyper-sexualized media on college women in terms of inducing self-objectification and/or inhibiting feminist identity. The survey and resulting analysis showed participants' feminist orientation ostensibly affected their inclination to self-objectify after watching and responding to a slideshow of common images of women in our culture. By comparing the reactions of women \Vith high feminist orientation and low feminist orientation, suggestions were clear about connections between an identification with feminism and a propensity to value the self and other women for characteristics beyond those of appearance and sexuality.
FROM PAGES TO PLACES: SITUATING KELLY ET AL.’S THE ROBOT ZOO: A MECHANICAL GUIDE TO THE WAY ANIMALS WORK IN REAL-LIFE CONTEXT
(North Dakota State University, 2024) Alam, Nasih
The Robot Zoo: A Mechanical Guide to the Way Animals Work (1994), written by John Kelly, Dr. Philip Whitfield and Obin, consists of textual descriptions and visual images of sixteen robot animals. Among them, my discussion of Giraffe, Platypus and Rhino highlights the fact that they are endangered animals who are facing extinction due to climate change, human encroachment, poaching, illegal trade, and a lack of biodiversity. Although my other subjects of discussion such as House Fly, Grasshopper, Chameleon and Bat do not necessarily face any immediate extinction, this paper shows how scientists are using the heights and zips of these flying beings for wildlife conservation and construction engineering, even raising the possibilities of conserving real-life giraffes, rhinos, and platypuses. Therefore, in my paper, I prove that the more people watch and interact with electronic animatrons on display in robot zoo exhibitions, the more informed they will be about conservation, extinction, and the global climate crisis.
“I Am a Priest”: The Construction and Adaptability of Identity in the Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Sarkar, Majalisa Rose
The following paper investigates the construction and adaptability of identity, especially in regard to gender, religion, and culture in Louise Erdrich’s novel The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. The goal of this paper is to explore how a broader understanding of one aspect of identity, can lead to a more complex understanding of other aspects of identity. This work performs textual analysis to examine how the character Agnes/Father Damien’s gender and their religious persona are constructed in the novel as they blend their religious beliefs and their masculinity/femininity as well as how this causes them to exist in an in-between state where they are both man/woman and Catholic/Ojibwe in their spiritual beliefs. Secondary research is used to give context about gender, religion, culture, and identity, as well as how those aspects relate specifically to The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse.
Identity & Activism: Helping Educators Understand Intersectionality & Cultivate Intersectional Acceptance Through Young Adult Literature
(North Dakota State University, 2022) DeVries Stinar, Meghan Anna
The issue I address is intersectionality in K-12 education. To address this issue, the purpose of this paper is to identify intersectionality, explore ways to help educators understand and accept intersectionality, and then bring the new knowledge into their classrooms. This will be done by the creation of a continuing education course using Young-Adult and Middle-Grade literature and appropriate supplemental materials on identity, activism, and intersectionality. The primary goals are to eliminate a color-blind approach to teaching and to showcase rich diverse texts that educators can learn from and bring into their classrooms.
Independent Press Awards: Diversity in Young Adult Literature Awards From 2010-2019
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Vietz, Zachary
While researching small presses and young adult book awards, I concluded independent press awards would be awarding more diverse young adult literature than large, well-known book awards. To find data-backed support for this conclusion, I investigated the diversity of fiction young adult book awards by comparing demographic data between three well-known book awards and three independent book awards from 2010 to 2019. Ultimately, my dataset did not prove my original thesis correct and instead the data showed large awards awarded more diverse young adult fiction than independent awards. By exploring the rise of young adult literature and its importance to the literary marketplace, classrooms, and librarians, I show the need for increased awareness and scholarly engagement with independent presses and their book awards.
Indigenous Ecocriticism and the Relationships Between Humans and Nature in Catherine Knutsson’s Shadows Cast by Stars
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Nelson, Kerri Nicole
In the midst of the climate crisis, Young Adult dystopian literature offers a glimpse of the possible dark futures in store for all of us. Yet Indigenous Young Adult literature revises the natural world not as the enemy of the survival of human beings, but as a possible ally. In Cassandra Knutsson’s Shadows Cast by Stars, a plague is raging and Indigenous blood is key to human survival. Through her journey to save her community, Cassandra demonstrates how she builds a more positive relationship with nature. By offering alternative possibilities for how to treat and interact with nature, Shadows Cast by Stars recreates nature as agentive and sentient rather than inert or bent on destroying human beings. Instead, Shadows educates its readers on the positive relationships with nature possible within Indigenous ecocritical epistemologies.
Jacques Lacan and Mary Shelley: Repressed Abandonment in Frankenstein
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Garey 111, Kyle Rasmussen
Mary Shelley's early life was fraught with developmental problems. Like Victor Frankenstein's Creation, she lacked a genuine chance to experience what Jacques Lacan calls the Real with her mother. While some readings of Frankenstein point to Mary's early development as being successful and properly supported by William Godwin's love, thus making her upbringing parallel to Victor's, Mary nonetheless experienced many of the same deprivations the Creation in Frankenstein did. In this paper, the author maintains that, based on a Lacanian analysis of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's emotional detachment from his Creation and others reflects Mary Shelley's psychological sense that she had been abandoned and betrayed by the principal people in her life, including William Godwin, Mary Jane Godwin, Percy Shelley, and her dead mother, Mary Wollstonecraft. The feeling of being an outcast that the Creation expresses so eloquently in his Lacanian Symbolic phase coincides, in Mary's life, with the repressed abandonment issues that were coming to the forefront of her consciousness at the time she wrote her famous novel. Mary's chain of signifiers, indicating her repressed feelings, came out during her "session on the couch" in Lake Geneva and became metaphorically embodied in her seminal novel. In a Lacanian sense, the Creation was Mary's alter ego. Mary used the written word to express her feelings and was destined for such a creative expression of her inner life by being born into a literary family. Mary Shelley used Frankenstein as a vehicle to deal with the pain and the injustices she experienced during the first two decades of her life.
Lord of the Living Souls: Dominion and the Spiritual Lives of Animals in Milton's Paradise Lost
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Russow, Kurt William
This paper examines Milton's views of the spiritual status of animals as presented in Paradise lost. It discusses how Milton enters into discussion with the discourses of 111 theology, philosophy, and both antique and modern science to construct his own nuanced view on the dominion humankind was theologically mandated to have over animals. Milton promotes a complex animal ethic based simultaneously on both hierarchy and kinship. Ultimately this ethic is used not only to celebrate animals, but also to celebrate a stewardship-oriented notion of a divinely ordained hierarchy.
The Monster-as-Slayer in Blade (1998): Blade and Posthuman Identity
(North Dakota State University, 2023) Pennings, Cassandra
Blade (1998) features an African American half-vampire whose goals seem contradictory: save the humans that would fear and hate him. A new character trope, the monster-as-slayer, is introduced in the movie’s eponymous hero, Blade, the half-vampire half-human private eye. Via this trope, the movie explores contradictions in its hero’s identity and motivations, leaving audiences in suspense throughout the film. Although there are examples of the monster-as-slayer in other media, Blade seems to begin this trend for modern film by combining classic elements of the vampire with new science fiction approaches. The result is the creation of a show-stopping posthuman superhero with whom the audience cannot help but empathize, monster or no monster. By analyzing the monster-as-slayer trope, I demonstrate a posthuman future on screen that encourages audiences to accept the monsters we are.
"My 'Eh' Is Authentic"; Commodification of Language and Identity In Michigan's Upper Peninsula
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Perry, Meg Elaine
The following paper is an investigation of the historic, economic, social, and ideological processes that have shaped dialect awareness in Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. The goal of this study is to explore dialect perceptions between “Yoopers” and “Trolls” with a specific focus on the tourist industry and material items. This work performs textual analysis of various commodified dialect features in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to examine the complex relationship between language use and identity. Secondary research is used to synthesize the historical, political, and cultural circumstances resulting in present day dialect features, while textual analysis reveals that material artifacts circulate ideas around Yooper identity through the linguistic concept of “enregisterment.” My hope is that this paper will add to the growing conversation surrounding regional dialect variation and the effects of regional stereotypes on language use and identity.
Nostalgia for the 24th Century: How Nerd Billionaires Use Star Trek for Self-Promotion
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Eggers, Kurt
This paper examines how tech industry leaders, who I dub “nerd billionaires,” use references to Star Trek (ST) as a way to connect with the positive impression fans have of its utopian world. I show how they use ST to imply that their business interests serve to benefit, and potentially save, humanity. My study provides background on ST’s utopia and uses Pierre Bourdieu's Field Theory to demonstrate why ST at first appears incompatible with the goals of big business. By applying post-Marxist critical theory to ST media, I examine ST’s ideological implications and analyze why ST has proven to be such an attractive shibboleth for “nerd billionaires.” I argue that the politics of ST and the tech industry’s business practices prove to be less incongruous than they appear by demonstrating how ST has fostered a cultural narrative that presupposes the virtues and feasibility of saving humanity through futurist technology.
The Not-So-Universal Experience: A Content Analysis of Regional and National Secondary and Postsecondary Standards for Writing
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Rickertsen, Vanessa Anne
In this paper, I analyze six sets of high school and college standards and outcome statements on students writing to identify how expectations of students writing vary in their respective educational levels. I include local samples from North Dakota and Minnesota as well as examples at the national level. Utilizing content analysis, I identify frequently used terminology in these statements to uncover trends in how college-level writing is envisioned through the standards and outcomes. Through this analysis, I explore how the terminology used in standards and outcomes frame writing and how these pictures of writing from the high school perspective and the college perspective are connected and disconnected. My findings note that while there is shared base terminology around writing (particularly ‘audience’ and ‘purpose’), the high school standards lean more heavily on product-focused terms while the college outcomes emphasis process.
Off The Beaten Warpath: Native Representation and Themes in Chris Claremont’s X-Men
(North Dakota State University, 2023) Bittner, Michael James
“Off the Beaten Warpath”: Native Representation and Themes in Chris Claremont’s X-Men Chris Claremont, the long-time writer on several X-Men titles, used the opportunity to develop his own cast of original and highly diverse characters. Several of these new characters either were of Native heritage or became Native through the course of the narrative, and he created one of the first storylines focusing on Native themes, The Demon Bear Saga. The British-born Claremont uses Native themes throughout his tenure on the X-Men titles, sometimes adhering to, but often defying the conventions associated with Native American literature. Although not without some problematic elements, by presenting Native characters and themes in a complex, well-developed manner, Claremont’s work is one of the first mainstream comic book titles to subvert stereotypical depictions of Native Americans. Claremont’s X-Men provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of Native themes when presented by a non-native author.

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