The current study provides insight into how Dutch students react to two different didactic methods used to learn English vocabulary. In order to investigate this, students at a high school in The...Show moreThe current study provides insight into how Dutch students react to two different didactic methods used to learn English vocabulary. In order to investigate this, students at a high school in The Hague voluntarily participated. The participants were divided over two classes which were split into two groups. One group memorized 15 words with help of visualization while the other group memorized the words with plain memorization in silence. Results showed that the group who memorized the words with plain memorization did better on the questionnaires they had to fill out to test their retainment. The same questionnaire had to be filled out again a week later and showed that the students did not remembered much, as they now made more mistakes. To see how this pattern arose, opinions of students were asked on how they felt about the method they had to use.Show less
This thesis aims to prove children's literature and adult literature share a similar format, merely altered to fit the needs of the intended audience. It does so by providing an analysis of both J...Show moreThis thesis aims to prove children's literature and adult literature share a similar format, merely altered to fit the needs of the intended audience. It does so by providing an analysis of both J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and The Little White Bird and compares the two by means of four literary features: perspective, themes, motifs and style.Show less
This thesis examines the gender representation in the animated series Avatar: the Last Airbender by analyzing several male and female characters of the series. Gender theories by Judith Bulter...Show moreThis thesis examines the gender representation in the animated series Avatar: the Last Airbender by analyzing several male and female characters of the series. Gender theories by Judith Bulter served as the main sources for this thesis.Show less
This thesis aims to argue that the child’s perspective elicits sympathy, empathy, and humor in order to evoke moral criticism in Henry James’ What Maisie Knew and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird...Show moreThis thesis aims to argue that the child’s perspective elicits sympathy, empathy, and humor in order to evoke moral criticism in Henry James’ What Maisie Knew and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter focusses on how the young girl’s perspective evokes moral criticism through sympathy in James’ Maisie. Through a close reading of the novel, this section argues that the child’s point of view brings forth sympathy through a representation of the protagonist’s beleaguered benevolence and that this feeling, in turn, is amplified by the young girl’s growing awareness. In contrast, chapter two provides an analysis of the moral criticism induced as a result of the reader’s empathy with Scout in Mockingbird. The segment displays how the child’s perspective invites the reader to empathize with the young protagonist. Furthermore, it presents how Scout’s moral development highlights the amorality of the Maycomb community. The final chapter contains an exploration of the satirical sense in both James’ Maisie and Lee’s Mockingbird. The chapter analyzes how the young girl’s perspective elicits irony and thereby criticism of characters in the novels.Show less
This thesis analyses Gloria Anzaldúa’s redefinition of "home" in her ground-breaking book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza and applies it to Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street....Show moreThis thesis analyses Gloria Anzaldúa’s redefinition of "home" in her ground-breaking book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza and applies it to Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street. Anzaldúa redefines home as a space of contradictions, instead of comfort, and this notion of home can also be seen in The House on Mango Street, especially towards the end of the novel. Importantly, home in the borderlands Anzaldúa and Esperanza inhabit is closely connected with their fractured sense of identity. However, both Anzaldúa and Esperanza eventually are able to make a home in the borderlands and resolve their identity struggles, albeit in different ways. Anzaldúa accomplishes this by theorizing what she calls a “mestiza consciousness,” which allows her to accept her multiple identities and to make a home in the contradictory space of the borderlands, while Esperanza makes her home by writing about growing up in the poor urban Latino neighborhood of Mango Street and thus comes to terms with her identity conflicts by constructing an identity for herself as a Chicana writer.Show less
This thesis deals with the meta theatrical devices Shakespeare uses throughout Hamlet, and the effects these devices have on the viewers of film adaptations of this play. The meta theatrical and...Show moreThis thesis deals with the meta theatrical devices Shakespeare uses throughout Hamlet, and the effects these devices have on the viewers of film adaptations of this play. The meta theatrical and meta cinematic distances the audience. The alienation of the audience allows them to reflect upon the events in a way that would not be possible without employing Brecht’s theory of alienation. THis thesis will examine the meta-theatrical elements in Hamlet, and show how these can be applied to alienate the audience.Show less
This thesis looks into two of Margaret Atwood's famous novels, Alias Grace and The Handmaid's Tale, to analyse how the female protagonists of both novels illustrate the marginalisation of women who...Show moreThis thesis looks into two of Margaret Atwood's famous novels, Alias Grace and The Handmaid's Tale, to analyse how the female protagonists of both novels illustrate the marginalisation of women who were being suppressed in a patriarchal society during Atwood's own early adulthood. Furthermore, it looks into how the women in Atwood's novels respond to this marginalisation and whether the response is comparable to the ideals of feminism.Show less
Heinrich Kaufringer, ein Märenautor aus dem Mittelalter. Wie geht er mit den Geschlechterrollen in seinen Mären um? Drei Mären werden in dieser Bachelorarbeit verwendet: drei listige Frauen, die...Show moreHeinrich Kaufringer, ein Märenautor aus dem Mittelalter. Wie geht er mit den Geschlechterrollen in seinen Mären um? Drei Mären werden in dieser Bachelorarbeit verwendet: drei listige Frauen, die unschuldige Mörderin, der feige Ehemann.Show less
The focus of this thesis is belief. Belief here is defined as the human act of believing in the validity of a thing, concept or creature, without a necessity of empirical evidence to sustain the...Show moreThe focus of this thesis is belief. Belief here is defined as the human act of believing in the validity of a thing, concept or creature, without a necessity of empirical evidence to sustain the conviction. Human society itself is founded upon belief as it requires humans to believe in abstract concepts that maintain human society such as mercy, justice, and honour. According to Grunner (227), religion is of central importance in the Discworld novels, particularly in The Last Hero, Pyramids, Reaper Man and Hogfather. Pratchett lays emphasis on the necessity of belief and the nature of religion to be a societal tool, belief rather than religion is the central focus of these novels. Pratchett holds that belief is a necessary capacity for the human condition; that the ability to believe is humanity’s defining characteristic. Thus belief – and the humans that express it – always hold authority over the religion – and the Gods that inhabit it – that it happens to create. The evidence for the argument presented above is found in the relationship between the Divinities and humans. The Discworld is inherently polytheistic, as many religions exist and all their gods exist in varying degrees of manifestation and power. These Gods are part of the Divinities class. Other members are Anthropomorphic Representations (henceforth ARs) and Auditors. The nature of Divinities is further explored in chapter three. For now, it suffices to say that the relationship of humans to their belief is mediated through the Divinities as on the Disc. What is believed in must exist. Thus, the relationship between Gods and humans reflects on the nature of human belief whereas the relation between Auditors and ARs reflects on the human capacity to create their social reality. Both these relations will be discussed in chapter four. It is through the relations between Gods and humans, humans and ARs, and Auditors and ARs that this thesis seeks to prove its argument.Show less