The potential of female love to transform and redeem immoral male behaviour is a theme that can be seen in three novels: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)...Show moreThe potential of female love to transform and redeem immoral male behaviour is a theme that can be seen in three novels: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), and Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848). This thesis will examine to what extent these novels perpetuate the romanticised ideal of women as the moral and spiritual saviours of men. Through their portrayal of abusive, oppressive or otherwise problematic relationships, the Brontës explore how much influence a woman truly holds over a man’s behaviour. In doing so they navigate different perspectives on whether this ideal makes women submissive or empowered. Rather than subverting the idea of female moral authority, I argue that Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall reshape the idea to include the possibility for female agency and independence instead of self-sacrifice, whereas Wuthering Heights rejects the concept of moral authority as gendered.Show less
Machiavelli’s theory as described in The Prince has been a great influence on the theories of acquiring political power. Because Machiavelli’s name is connected with deceit and immorality,...Show moreMachiavelli’s theory as described in The Prince has been a great influence on the theories of acquiring political power. Because Machiavelli’s name is connected with deceit and immorality, especially in early modern England, many Elizabethan playwrights engaged with his doctrine to excite their audiences. This thesis argues that Marlowe engages with Machiavelli in two distinct manners. On the one hand there is the simplified, misinterpreted Machiavellian. These characters may appear to follow Machiavelli’s doctrine. However, because their actions go against Machiavelli’s doctrine, they are not able to achieve their goals. On the other hand there are the true Machiavellian characters, who are able to show the power of the individual by following Machiavellian doctrine. These characters can overcome their troubles and achieve actual political power. An analysis of The Jew of Malta and Tamburlaine the Great makes this distinction clear. Although Barabas is introduced as a Machiavellian by Machevill himself, his actions continuously go against his doctrine. The secondary, Christian character Ferneze does use his tactical planning skills to turn unpredictable situations to his advantage. Tamburlaine uses these same Machiavellian tactics on an epic skill. Although Tamburlaine’s cruelty is extreme, Machiavelli would approve as they are essential to his reputation and conquest. In Doctor Faustus, although often overlooked in this discussion, Marlowe depicts the importance of focus and knowledge in the acquirement of political power. Lucifer and Mephistopheles use Machiavelli’s doctrine to victory. In Doctor Faustus, Machiavellianism truly is the devil’s doctrine.Show less
This thesis will examine one novel that portrays the disintegration of human life if non-human memory is irrevocably broken, and one novel that portrays survivors rebuilding communities from...Show moreThis thesis will examine one novel that portrays the disintegration of human life if non-human memory is irrevocably broken, and one novel that portrays survivors rebuilding communities from cultural memories because non-human memory fortuitously remains intact. This thesis argues that healthy non-human memory is essential to the survival of humans and non-human memory.Show less
This thesis aims to elucidate which approach is the most advantageous in the analysis of acceptability judgments of native speakers: whether it is a categorical or a gradient approach....Show moreThis thesis aims to elucidate which approach is the most advantageous in the analysis of acceptability judgments of native speakers: whether it is a categorical or a gradient approach. Acceptability judgments have often been recognized as a relevant source of language knowledge (Chomsky, 1965; Sorace & Keller, 2005; Schütze & Schütze, 2011). Judgment elicitation procedures consist of asking speakers directly about their opinion on linguistic elements, such as sounds, words and sentences. However, interrogating participants directly about their language knowledge is not as simple as it seems. Several confounding factors, such as the order of presentation of the stimuli, and the repetition of instructions (Sprouse, 2007; Schütze, 2016) can interfere with such judgments, casting doubt on the reliability of the data. This thesis discusses some theories and methods involved in judgment elicitation procedures, in order to be able to examine whether categorical or gradient procedures are more successful in tapping into speakers’ knowledge while circumventing potentially confounding factors. Additionally, two empirical studies are discussed in detail, as examples of categorical and gradient approaches in the analysis of speakers’ innate language knowledge; one on syntax (Sprouse, 2007) and one on phonology (Turton, 2017).Show less
The focus of this thesis is the change in Pamela due to her entrapment in Mr B.’s household, and the elements of violence that are present in the relationship between Mr B. and Pamela. This is...Show moreThe focus of this thesis is the change in Pamela due to her entrapment in Mr B.’s household, and the elements of violence that are present in the relationship between Mr B. and Pamela. This is examined by close-reading Pamela, and by investigating elements of Oroonoko and Beauty and the Beast to show how romanticized violence, Stockholm syndrome, and complex PTSD can be applied to literary characters.Show less
This thesis aims to research the way L1 pronunciation transfer occurs and how this could potentially be employed in order to improve pronunciation teaching. Dutch ESL learners were chosen for the...Show moreThis thesis aims to research the way L1 pronunciation transfer occurs and how this could potentially be employed in order to improve pronunciation teaching. Dutch ESL learners were chosen for the research and their pronunciation errors were analysed. Afterwards, the learners were offered two ways of instruction, one that explained how English sounds are made and one that compared Dutch sounds to English sounds. Finally, the learners were asked to explain which instruction type they ought to be more beneficial and their pronunciation was examined once more.Show less
This thesis presents a comparison between the translations of Beowulf by David Wright, Michael Alexander, Seamus Heaney and J.R.R. Tolkien. With the help of a base translation the grammar and...Show moreThis thesis presents a comparison between the translations of Beowulf by David Wright, Michael Alexander, Seamus Heaney and J.R.R. Tolkien. With the help of a base translation the grammar and vocabulary of the four translations are analysed. Then on the basis of the differences between the translations, a conclusion is made concerning which translation is best suited for a certain audience.Show less
Through a close reading and historical-biographical contextualisation of two eclogues and the introductory poem, “At Toombridge”, in Electric Light concerning poems by W.B. Yeats, I would like to...Show moreThrough a close reading and historical-biographical contextualisation of two eclogues and the introductory poem, “At Toombridge”, in Electric Light concerning poems by W.B. Yeats, I would like to explore Heaney’s and Yeats's opposed responses to violence. I will claim that this response is due to contemporary Irish political upheaval and that both Heaney and Yeats appropriate Eclogue IV by the Roman Poet Virgil to broaden the scope of their claims. This thesis links the marked contrast between Yeats's and Heaney's response to political violence in an Irish context to their interconnected yet very different backgrounds and times. While the selected poems by Heaney and Yeats are imbued with violence, the contrast lies in both poets' treatment of this theme. The chosen poems from Yeats's middle period (the 1910s – 1920s) seem to condone political violence whereas the selected poems by Seamus Heaney published after the 1998 Peace Treaty in Northern Ireland seems to condemn it.Show less
This article examines whether the speeches given by Donald Trump after his election have become more presidential since his election campaign speeches in 2016. Four speeches, selected from both...Show moreThis article examines whether the speeches given by Donald Trump after his election have become more presidential since his election campaign speeches in 2016. Four speeches, selected from both before and after the 2016 elections, have been analysed and compared in two different ways. The speeches selected from before the elections were Trump’s announcement of his run for the presidency and his acceptance of the Republican nomination. The selection of post-election speeches consisted of the first speech Trump gave to a joint session of congress in his official appearance as president and his first official SOTU address. The first manner of comparison used Pennebaker et al’s (2007) Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) programme. The second manner of comparison analysed the speeches for their differences in their use of rhetorical and stylistic figures. The analysis showed that the speeches given by Trump before his 2016 election were less complex, more divisive and less positive than those given after his election. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the use of stylistic devices in the pre-election speeches was more focused on emphasising problems, whereas post-election they were used more to emphasise achievement and to embellish the speech itself. This suggests that there has been a visible change in style between the two periods, which indicates that Trump’s speeches have become more like those of his predecessors.Show less
This thesis analyses the use of six features of African American English in tweets containing #BlackTwitter and #BlackLivesMatter. Six features of the African American English are indentified (i.e....Show moreThis thesis analyses the use of six features of African American English in tweets containing #BlackTwitter and #BlackLivesMatter. Six features of the African American English are indentified (i.e. y’all, ain’t followed by a negative, aspectual be, finna, ’bout, and tryna), and the historical background of variety is discussed. The tweet IDs of corpus of 1489 tweets are included in the Appendix.Show less
After the Danes have been terrorized by the monster Grendel for over a decade, Beowulf finally restores peace by slaughtering Grendel. The Danes are overjoyed and party in their mead hall. However,...Show moreAfter the Danes have been terrorized by the monster Grendel for over a decade, Beowulf finally restores peace by slaughtering Grendel. The Danes are overjoyed and party in their mead hall. However, the mother of Grendel, as could be expected, is less than thrilled that her son has been killed and she takes revenge by killing one Dane. Many debates surround this mother: is she really a woman? Is she an actual monster or does she resemble humans in some way? But one question of particular interest has not been answered yet: the question of why Grendel’s mother does not have a name. This thesis aims to explore possible answers to that question.Show less
There is currently a very wide range of different approaches on the study of emotional meaning in language. This paper discusses how these different approaches might be combined within the same...Show moreThere is currently a very wide range of different approaches on the study of emotional meaning in language. This paper discusses how these different approaches might be combined within the same model. I hypothese a framework, which incorporates both pragmatic and sociolinguistic theory, and illustrates how this framework could be used to compare the emotional meaning of US politicians in relation to their American culture.Show less
When translating a book into a film script, and subsequently into a film, often aspects of the story are changed either because of different interpretations of the story or with the sole purpose of...Show moreWhen translating a book into a film script, and subsequently into a film, often aspects of the story are changed either because of different interpretations of the story or with the sole purpose of changing the source text to fit the new medium (Sanders 2). This thesis will critically explore differences between Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (1990) and The Lost World (1995) and their 1993 and 1997 film adaptations. In doing so, it will show that changes made during the adaptation process were caused, on the one hand, by commercial pressures within the film industry, technical concerns, and the director’s artistic vision, and, on the other hand, by new scientific discoveries in the field of paleontology.Show less
