Fictional memoirs : authorial personas in contemporary narrative

"This dissertation examines fiction writers who include themselves as characters within their fictional constructions. I look at the cultural emphasis on simulation in contemporary society which creates a context for these figures, hybrids of truth and fiction, to exist within a fictional landscape. In this way, by problematizing classification and rejecting fixed definitions of fiction, the authors included in this study use a poststructural paradigm to undermine conventional thinking about gender, the modern role of the writer, the function of the memoir, and life writing as a means of explaining a life. By creating a pseudo-biographical life within the fictional text, these authors have found a way to critique our culturally constructed ideas about truth, fiction, and identity. I begin by looking at authors who investigate the imperative of locating authority in the writer and the failure of postmodern writers to live up to this expectation. Following this metafictional look at authors who find themselves unable to complete their own texts, I include an examination of contemporary rewriting of the trauma narratives associated with the Holocaust. In a world filled with simulations, telling the truth about this event, the responsibility of all those who write about the holocaust, is an impossibility and these authors all find an alternate mode of writing about this event. Next, I focus on authors who use themselves as characters to challenge conventional thinking about gender and identity, love and sexuality. These writers all incorporate themselves into their work to critique how simulations (family stories, fictional texts, academic commentaries) have dictated contemporary thinking about gender and sexuality. Finally, I use Mark Leyner to point towards a new conception of the author figure, one that moves out of postmodernism into another literary movement, avant-pop. Leyner's view of "Mark Leyner," is all simulation--a writer who is not an outside observer but the center of society--and points to another use of this author figure, one who celebrates the impossibility of making distinctions between truth and fiction in life writing and revels in the simulated life he has created for himself."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

A study of program relevance and student preparation in business education and administrative services curricular programs with respect to business employment experiences of the graduates of the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

The purpose of this study was to develop (1) a method of compiling first-hand information from the graduates, (2) a means of identifying those elements which have enhanced the ability of graduates to meet the demands of business employment, and (3) a basis for revision and improvement in the curricular programs offered by the Department of Business Education and Administrative Services. The problem was to examine the curricular programs offered in the Department of Business Education and Administrative Services at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to determine (1) the relevancy for business employment and (2) the extent of preparation received by the graduates of those programs at the university level. For purposes of this investigation, the descriptive survey was used. The procedures used in studying the curricular programs included: (a) making an analysis of the curricular programs pertaining to business education and administrative services subject-matter components, (b) making an analysis of the occupational experiences of graduates, and (c) determining the relevancy of the curricular programs to the business employment experiences of the graduates

A survey of methods, procedures, and materials used for teaching critical thinking in a selected school system

This study centers on the teaching of critical thinking and the extent to which it is emphasized by some educators. Literature reveals that it has been of concern in the past and that interest in it seems to be increasing, especially since the 1960s. Critical thinking is defined as the use of basic thought processes to solve problems, analyze arguments, and generate insight into specific meanings and interpretations. The study investigates experiences, activities, and materials that instructors in a selected public school system use for the purpose of teaching critical thinking in social studies classes. Within the study seven questions are addressed. They center upon how social studies teachers define critical thinking, skills believed to enhance critical thinking, components of critical thinking skills emphasized, activities used to stimulate or to develop critical thinking, the utilization of experiences outside the classroom to encourage critical thinking, the extent to which textbooks and other instructional material emphasize critical thinking, and how the teachers test for evidence of critical thinking

Two cantatas for tenor voice by Alessandro Stradella : Il Xerse and Pieta` di Belisario, modern editions with historical and analytical commentary

The purpose of this document was to prepare modern performing editions of two solo cantatas by Alessandro Stradella. Historical commentary includes an overview of Stradella's life and musical output, the poetic style and structure of seventeenth-century Italian cantata texts, and pertinent information about the historical subjects of the cantata texts, Xerxes and Belisarius. A synopsis of each cantata is followed by analytical observations which describe the correlation of the musical setting to the text of the cantatas. A study of the musico-poetic relationships includes investigation of both the open and closed poetic forms of the cantata texts and the tonal aspects as they relate to the text setting

Repertoires of habitual emotion regulation strategy use in trauma-exposed undergraduates: associations with PTSD symptoms and emotional awareness

Emotion regulation (ER) is theorized to play a prominent role in the development and maintenance of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although a large literature has documented the links between several ER strategies and PTSD symptoms, recent advancements in ER research emphasize the need to move beyond the treatment of ER strategies as isolated processes. Instead, there is a growing movement to understand ER repertoires, or the patterns in which trauma-exposed individuals select and deploy the multiple ER strategies available to them based on the demands and opportunities imposed by the situation. Accordingly, the nuanced information derived from attending to and understanding one’s emotional experiences might play a key role in facilitating the effective selection and implementation of ER strategies. The current study examined person-centered repertoires of the habitual use of eleven ER strategies among 372 undergraduates exposed to Criterion A trauma – and their relations to PTSD symptoms and two key facets of emotional awareness (attention to emotion and emotional clarity). Latent profile analysis yielded a three-profile solution (Adaptive, Average, and Maladaptive Regulators) and profile differences were evident with respect to PTSD symptoms and emotional clarity, but not attention to emotion, even after adjusting for negative affect. Findings suggest that successful identification and understanding of one’s emotions might help foster healthy use of ER strategies and buffer against the development of PTSD among trauma-exposed individuals

Constraining The Ages Of Late Devonian Extinction Events In The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB): U-Pb Geochronology And Igneous Petrology

The Late Devonian was a time of drastic changes in climate and biodiversity. Two of the top six most devastating extinction events occurred during the Late Devonian, although the reasons for these extinction events remains unknown. More than 96% of studies on these Late Devonian extinction intervals have been conducted on continental margins or in epicontinental basins, with 77% on the Euramerican continent alone. There are very few studies of these Late Devonian mass extinction events in a paleogeographically different region: the open ocean island arc systems in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Sedimentary rocks and lava flows were collected from the Samnuuruul Formation in western Mongolia during fieldwork in 2014 for U- Pb geochronology analyses of zircons. The chemical-abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometer (CA-TIMS) technique was used to analyze these zircons. Age results for sample SAM 4-8 show a final age of 375.81 +/- 1.20 Ma, and sample MBL 7 show a final age of 376.75+/- 0.90 Ma. These ages indicate that both samples have a Frasnian age. Until now, the only age constraints that existed for these sections were based on limited biostratigraphy; this is the first study to radiometrically date Late Devonian rocks from western Mongolia. This study will further constrain the location of Late Devonian extinction intervals in a section that was once part of the CAOB, therefore opening doors to new research opportunities of these events in a geographically different region than what has been studied before

Anxious People Report Less Emotional Distancing While Imagining Negative Future Events

This study examined the association between future thinking, anxiety, and emotional distancing. The primary goal of this study was to investigate whether psychological distance has the same emotional impact while imagining future events that it does when remembering past events. A second goal was to determine whether individual differences in anxiety might moderate the impact of psychological distancing. I expected anxious individuals to feel more negative when imaging anxiety-provoking negative events than non-anxious individuals (Wu et al., 2015). Secondly, I expected individuals in the immersed condition to have increased negative feelings when describing the event than participants in the distanced condition. Lastly, I expected the difference between high- and low-anxious participants to be larger in the immersed than distanced condition. Upon coming into the lab, participants were randomly assigned to either an immerse (i.e., fully experience feelings of anxiety that may arise while describing the event) or distancing (i.e., adopt a distant-future perspective and reflect on typicality of event) condition and were asked to describe a future event that was at least two weeks away. Highly anxious people reported more immersion while imagining the events. They did not differ in how they felt while describing the event from low-anxious participants

Cognitive control of attention, emotion, and memory : an ERP study

Unwanted retrieval of negative memories can be problematic for many clinical populations. The Think/No-Think (T/NT) task (Anderson & Green, 2001) is a new paradigm for studying cognitive control during cued recall. In this task participants view a cue item and are asked to consciously retrieve (think) or interrupt retrieval (no-think) of the associated target item. Eyer (2009) found that self-reported mindfulness was correlated with T/NT cued recall, suggesting a relationship between control of memory retrieval and a general cognitive control skill. The current study measured event-related potentials (ERPs; i.e., electrical brain responses time-locked to cue presentation) for negative and neutral stimuli on the TNT task to assess cognitive control during retrieval. Method: Participants (N = 35) completed questionnaires (e.g., mindfulness, intrusive thoughts) and cognitive tasks related to cognitive control (e.g., attention, working memory span). Then, ERPs were recorded during the TNT task, followed by a final cued recall test. Results: Analyses of ERPs found evidence to support somewhat separable neural networks for control of memory retrieval and for processing the emotional content of the target pictures, with some time windows only exhibiting a main effect of strategy or of emotional valence. However, there was widespread evidence for interactions of these subsystems across a range of time latencies post-cue presentation. Of particular note was a significant Strategy x Valence interaction for the early P1 component (125-164 ms). The overall size of the N2 (250–324 ms) peak was correlated with a wide range of self- report and cognitive test measures of cognitive control at frontal electrode sites. Discussion: The present study adds to knowledge of the timing of control processes during performance of the TNT task through its use of ERP methodology. The effect of the emotional valence of the to-be-recalled target on the early P1 ERP component suggests surprisingly early emotional processing during memory retrieval. The present results also suggest that at least some of the control processes used during the TNT task are part of a larger general-purpose cognitive control system. These results suggest that individual traits provide important and varying influences on the cognitive control of emotional memories

Genetically–Mediated Leaf Chemistry in Invasive and Native Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) Ecosystems

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is one of the few examples of an intra-continentally invasive species. Few genetic studies have been conducted on black locust and none compare North American invasive and native populations. Chapter 1 is a summary of what is currently known about the taxonomy of the species and the genetic structure of black locust populations. Because black locust is a nitrogen-fixing tree, it has the potential to greatly alter the ecosystems in which it invades. The goal of Chapter 2 is to characterize the genetic and chemical variation among populations throughout the native Appalachian region and in two invaded regions in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S. Understanding the role that genetic identity contributes to altering ecosystem function may help elucidate how invasion can cause changes across local and regional scales. To assist in understanding the impact of black locust across ecosystems, it is essential to develop rapid and non-destructive means of estimating genetic and chemical characteristics. The focus of Chapter 3 is to test whether or not in situ leaf spectra-based models can be used to accurately determine leaf chemistries and predict genet membership

Interactivity between a saxophone performer and a computer operator

"The purpose of my thesis is to create an interactive environment between a saxophonist and computer operator via a musical composition. The composition, 4thoughts, consists of written music for the saxophonist, performance directions for the computer operator and a "patch" (created in the computer application Max/MSP) that generates sounds based in part on the input of the live performer. The goal of the composition is to attain the subtleties that are common in acoustic music within an electroacoustic composition. In this composition, the computer modifies the product of the saxophone performance, while the computer operator uses a MIDI controller in order to communicate with the computer. This approach indeed leads to a greater degree of interaction between the electronic sounds and the performer."--Abstract from author supplied metadata