[Independent Study]
2001
Bryan Appel I investigate ideas of masculinity in the lyrics of
four of the most influential performers in the last forty years: Bob Dylan,
Marvin Gaye, Bruce Springsteen, and Tupac Shakur.
Emily Asmus My I.S. is a study of the
Crystal Palace, which housed The Great Exhibition of 1851. I explore the Crystal
Palace as a symbol of Victorian culture generally.
Karen Auble My I.S. project focuses
on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as a complex
cultural discourse, with specific attention to literary responses in white
South African writing since 1996. I am interested in exploring the fictional
post-apartheid landscape in which "white" themes -- for example, historical
complicity, self-criticism, alienation, power reversals and moral ambiguity
� respond to issues born out of the TRC.
Elise Becchetti My I.S. is an exploration
of absurdist theater and specifically of Samuel Beckett in performance. I
will look at the difficulties of putting on a production in a foreign language
as well as looking at the problems faced when putting on Beckett itself.
Sid Bose My I.S. is the conception,
construction, and execution of a novella that explores the life of a young
man from India living in New York City. I hope to explore the cultural, artistic,
religious, and moral ambiguities that confront the "nationally displaced"
individual.
Ashley Brister My I.S. focuses on contemporary
literature written by women of Native American and African descent. Using
feminist literary theory, I hope to explore how the location of voice
is central to the formation of one�s identity.
Libby Byrer I am examining how Chitra
Divakaruni and Bharati Mukherjee, two women who were born in India and emigrated
to the US, deal with the meshing of the two cultures in their literature.
Michelle Cady Using the potential of
the genre of the ghost story, authors in Victorian times could express fears
and anxiety concerning fast moving cultural and societal change. Readers could
also have the freedom to interpret each story as they wanted.
Sarah Chazan My I.S. will discuss the
format of fashion magazines in the past fifty to sixty years and their relation
to the changing face of American society. Then I will publish a magazine that
is relatable now to the lives of the 18-24 year old demographic.
Erika Chouinard I am studying the history
of slam poetry focusing on 3 poets of the movement, examining the slam poetry
scene in Cleveland, and hopefully going to Chicago to interview and watch
some slam poetry in action. I will compose and perform some slam poetry of
my own.
Marjorie Cooper My topic is a comparison
between George Eliot and George Sand and their texts, The Mill on the Floss,
Indiana, and Fran�ois le Champi. I am interested in comparing the two authors'
styles, realism versus romanticism, as well as the different cultural context
in which these two women wrote.
Matthew Frank My I.S. is a literary
exploration and documentation of local restaurants and their role in the community.
I will be documenting four local restaurants in the Wooster area: Applebee's
Neighborhood Bar & Grille, Coccia House, Leroy's Place, and Matso's Family
Restaurant and Pizza.
Kate Gessler For my fictional writing
IS, I am interviewing people and then turning them into characters in short
stories with a focus on the creation of character.
Jeffrey Guciardo My IS project deals
with the use of quantitative analysis to study qualitative judgements of non-fiction
texts.
Tim Hagen Examining text and image theory
through fiction and photography, I intend to explore the narrative relationship
between Henry James' "New York Edition" and Alvin Langdon Coburn's photographic
frontispieces displayed on the front cover of each volume.
Caleb Heimlich My senior I.S. is a collection
of poetry aimed at improving my skills as a writer and reader of poetry.
Adam Harter My project is a collection
of original poetry. In the collection I explore issues of perception and the
indeterminacy of meaning.
Stephanie Hoffman I will be publishing
a women's magazine that will serve as a source of information of events that
affect women globally as well as nationally and locally, offering articles
of progress towards a just and compassionate world.
Amelia Kays My I.S. project is an exploration
of journalistic ethics with respect to the right of privacy, including an
analysis of how the language of the law has constructed what we understand
(or do not understand) as ethical responses to rights of privacy issues.
Naomi Kresge I am translating poetry
of an East German woman into English. The project will include a forward on
my own experiences with translation as well as possible appendices of criticism
in the German language and/or a transcribed interview with the poet.
Lauren Kulchawik My IS will focuses on
adaptation of the contemporary novel into film. I am studying how the narrative
form varies in the two art forms, and what filmmakers add or subtract from
the text to try to convey the original concept of the novel. I want to see
if popular culture and sociological events in the 1960s and 1970s related
to the types of films that were made from novels during this time period.
Jon Lindsay My I.S. is a sociological
approach to reading the contemporary urban novel.
Sheri Marker My project takes the autobiographies
of Sui Sin Far and her sister, Winnifred Eaton, and evaluate how their autobiographical
works were significant in the establishment of an Asian American identity
and literary tradition.
Devon McDowell I am looking at how the
South influenced the literary group of poets called the Fugitives. I am also
looking at the collaboration of the group and may look at their influence
on the Southern Literary Renaissance.
Molly McKinney My IS is a fictional
exploration of the relationship between writing and experience. How much do
we have to experience something to write about it? At what point are we too
close to something to write about it?
Eleanor Mear I am writing a screenplay
about love and alcoholism.
Matthew Miller I am examining the structural
and philosophical issues surrounding life writing and will write my own memoir.
The analysis of my work will include a look at self-definition and issues
of privacy.
Caroline Morrell My project is a collection
of my own poetry.
Bridget Mroczkowski I am doing a combined
studio art and English IS based on themes found in Eastern European folk tales.
John Park I am presenting the life of
my father, his trials and triumphs as a man who has fought for God's religion,
in a biographical piece. Jeannette Petras My IS is a fictional writing project
based in fantasy, conceived from a dream.
Andrew Phelan My IS discusses hypertext
theory in relation to the World Wide Web. In conjunction with this, I am creating
a web site that covers the history of the club and rave scenes in Chicago.
Liliona Quarmyne I am looking at the
work of African-American playwright - Suzan Lori-Parks, Chicana playwright
- Cherrie Moraga, and Asian-American playwright - Velina Hasu Houston, and
examining the common or uncommon themes between their works, and looking at
how broader feminist theories can be applied to their plays and their reception
by audiences. I will do a performance related to these same themes.
Jon Raessler "Mud, heat, snakes, snapping
turtles and crazy farm workers. Kevin, with his self-inflicted tattoos and
piercings, and stuttering Cleo, with his stories of one legged ladies and
skinny-dipping with his daughter-in-law. A story of a summer spent on the
seine crew at Sonny's Fish Farm in Keo, Arkansas."
Alex Reed My I.S. is a combined project
involving the writing of a concerto for brass, winds, piano, and percussion
to accompany an extended monologue/novella.
Jashar Rentz My I.S is a collection
of poetry.
Katie Rybak I am investigating William
Faulkner's circular concept of time and evaluating others who use similar
concepts including Anne Hebert, Virginia Woolf and Michael Dorris. I am also
writing a fictional piece using these different concepts of time.
J. Marie Shannon I am writing a novel
that is based on the experiences of four college women during one Friday night.
Shannon Sonenstein My IS looks at voices
and the silence that surrounds them. I'll be conducting interviews with people
who hold a wide range of views on homosexuality. I'll use these interviews
to write a script for and perform a one-woman show.
Ben Spieldenner My IS explores why three
popular European bands, The Sex Pistols, Depeche Mode, and Radiohead, had
albums that became instant classics.
Jill Treftz I am looking at the ways
in which writers' groups interact and how their writings reflect common thematic,
political, and artistic concerns.
David West My I.S will be a literary journal devoted to the discussion
and practice of Structuralism.
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2000
If This House Stands, by Angel M. Jernigan
-- A memoir focused on the author's mother and the author's efforts to reunite
with siblings with whom she had lost contact.
Stanley Kubric's Thematic and Cinematic Art
in 'Eyes Wide Shut', by James Andrew Jones -- A study of how Kubric's Film
addresses most notably the themes of dreams vs. reality, subjects and objects
of 'the gaze,' and construction of male and female identity.
The Multigenre Research Paper: An Alternative
to Standard Research, by Stacy K. Ingraham - A study and application of
Thomas Romano's theory of multigenre research, a technique drawing on the intersection
of fiction and fictional narrative stategies; this I.S. included two multigenre
papers, one on the concept of love and one on the history of the Berlin Wall.
America's Biographers: The Personal and the
Political Poetry of Robert Lowell and John Berryman, by Nathan Wilkinson
-- An exploration of Lowell's Life Studies and Berryman's Dream Songs,
focused on their use of personal experience to convey public and political content
in both subject and style.
Manipulation of Newspaper Media, by Ryan
Dansak -- A study of how journalists are manipulated by readers, government
officials, and journalists themselves; the I.S. draws on extensive interviews
with working journalists and presents analyses and critical reconstructions
of news stories that have been manipulated.
Under the Lunar Neon, by Paul T. Richlovsky -- A collection of poetry,
some of which incorporates folk and popular culture materials.
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1999
Cracked Cranium: A Collection of Fictional
Works, by Daniel S. Bailey -- Ten fictional texts including poetry, short
stories and a stage scene.
Creating and Implementing an Effective Elementary
Reading Program: A Discussion of a whole Language, Literature Based Reading
Program, by Laura J. Chazan -- An exploration of strategies to motivate
children's desire to read and an investigation of already implemented programs,
classroom environment and the popularity of selected children's books.
Creation at the Intersection of Media,
by Francis Browne, English and Computer Science -- An interactive fiction and
code base for the hypertext adventure. This I.S. aims to provide a sound base
for work in either the world-modeling or story-telling aspects of electronic
narrative.
The Spice: The Making of a Magazine, by
Amy M. Chidiac -- A magazine devoted to food as a lifestyle. The I.S. includes
a discussion of the writer's experience as the creator of the magazine, focusing
on issues of narrative voice, audience, layout, design, and printing processes.
Ya-Ya Mamas and Women Warriors, by Kristen
Demaline, English and Women's Studies -- A study of how women construct their
subjectivity and how narrative participates in this process. Incorporated in
the I.S. are pieces of prose written by the author as a personal response to
her own questions.
Modern Christian Fiction: Bridging the Gap
Between the Believer and the Unbeliever, by Rachel E. Evans -- A study of
the nature of Christian fiction as well as the ways in which a Christian-informed
fictional world can still be accessible to a non-Christian reader and the difficulties
inherent in the attempt to bridge the gap.
Yes, There Are Homeless People in Wooster:
Memories of Invisible Women, by Kathryn A. Klonowski -- A documentary-style
study based on taped interviews recording the oral histories of four homeless
women in Wooster and a look at the concept of being 'invisible' to the rest
of society.
The Examinations of Animals in Literature: What They Are Saying About
Us and Why, by Yael Moore -- How the practice of 'fabling beasts'
has been used in modern works by literature and its significance in determining
the human desire to satisfy their 'awe of the animal world.'
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1998
Why Boobz, by Wende Bitler -- 'Spare vignettes' of a fictional
person's memories and experiences offered 'in pieces.'
Winnie the Pooh for Adults, by Jessica Buell -- A study of various authors'
works that have adapted A.A. Milne's characters to their own novels and
of the distinct human personality traits Milne's characters represent.
Matriarchy, Maternity, Monogamy, and Black Women's Empowerment in the
Novels of Toni Morrison, by Emily Coleman -- A study of the novels of
Morrison as they present black women's various relationship experiences
and the novels' reclamation of black women's bodies by black women.
Inbetween Spaces: Le cas de la litterature postcoloniale de l'Afrique
occidentale, by Helen Flewelling, French and English -- An investigation
of the attempt by fictional characters to define and navigate the 'inbetween'
and 'beyond' that is outside politics, culture, and the present.
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Before 1998
A feminist inquiry into Judy Blume's portrayals of pre-adolescent girls'
growing up experiences (93-94).
A magazine presenting the history of the magazine in American culture
(95-96).
Approaches to teaching three texts by twentieth-century American women
writers: I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen, 'night Mother by Marsha
Norman, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (94-95).
Censorship and the Beat Writers (93-94).
Collection of original Holocaust Poetry, a large portion of which is
a Holocaust Requiem (94-95).
Collection of poems including a sonnet cycle based on the paintings of
Gracisco de Goya (94-95).
Collection of short stories focused on family tales and Babe Ruth baseball
lore (96-97).
Construction of race, gender and class in the context of the American
Dream. Comparison of two black women of different Social status in the
novels The Street by Ann Petry and Living is Easy by Dorothy West (94-95).
Critical essays on and a completion of an unfinished novel by Flann O'Brien
(93-94).
Critical essays analyzing John Berryman's Dream Songs (95-96).
Examining A.S. Byatt's Possession, and its deconstruction of contemporary
notions and stereotypes of Victorian sexuality, and how it uses that to
get at questions of knowledge, evidence, and historical reconstruction
(94-95).
Examining the cultural construction of the vampire in Dracula and Interview
with the Vampire. Examining sexual taboos, the "other," and
separation of genders (94-95).
New Journalism - Comparative analysis of Esquire and The New Yorker (1960s
and 1990s) (93-94).
Reactions to sexual abuse in the writings of selected African-American
women authors (93-94).
Series of Fictional letters from the Cold War years (1945-1989) particularly
in East and West Berlin. Letters based on historical texts, and personal
interviews. Research based on Cold War writers from Germany (94-95).
Study of the effects of newspaper coverage on the Vietnam War (94-95).
Study of the different perspectives of free will that Joyce Carol Oates
and Flannery O'Connor depict through their fiction and how both use violent
themes to question the notion of free will (94-95).
Study of "Honor" in the works of Shakespeare and Lope de Vega
(94-95).
The cultural history of English dictionaries (93-94).
The cultural implications of the wicked stepmother in folktales (93-94).
The transformation of Daphne du Maurier's twentieth century Gothic novel
Rebecca (1938) into an Alfred Hitchcock film (1940) (94-95).
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