“Parabasis in Nikolay Gogol’s The Inspector General: The Proverbial Medium

While not attached to the original 1836 text of his play, The Inspector General, Nikolay Gogol appended the famous proverb-epigraph “Don’t grumble at the mirror if your [own] puss is distorted” to the 1842 edition of his comedy, which he recognized as the final and definitive version. Fond of the pithy folk language of both Russia and his native Ukraine, it is not surprising that he would do so. In addition, this proverb-epigraph captures the moralistic message that Gogol clear-ly intends to impart to his readers, a message that the Mayor blasts to his audience in the closing scene of Act Five. In light of his fondness for Aristophanic Comedy, however, Gogol may have had another purpose in mind as he opened the 1842 version of his play with this famous Russian proverb. The Russian literary critic Vyacheslav Ivanov first called attention to this aspect of Gogol’s play early in the last century, when he made an argument for the Mayor’s outburst at the close of Act Five as a parabatic statement in the style of the Old Comedy of fifth-century Greece (B.C.). While acknowledging the genius of Ivanov’s analysis of the play, the present article departs from his conclusion that this outburst represents the central parabatic moment in the play. Instead, a case is made for considering the proverb-epigraph that opens Gogol’s play as either the main parabasis or, at least, as one that is parallel, perhaps a prequel to the Mayor’s famous address to his audience at play’s end

A. M. Melerovich, V. M. Mokienko, et.al., eds. Жизнь русской фразеологии в художественной речи/ The Life of Russian Phraseology in Artistic Speech. (Kostroma, Russia 2010) – (Kevin J. McKenna)

Жизнь русской фразеологии в художественной речи/The Life of Russian Phraseology in Artistic Speech. Ed. by A. M. Melero-vich, V. M. Mokienko, et.al. Kostroma, Russia: N. A. Nekrasov Kostroma State University, 2010. Pp. 729

“Parabasis in Nikolay Gogol’s The Inspector General: The Proverbial Medium

While not attached to the original 1836 text of his play, The Inspector General, Nikolay Gogol appended the famous proverb-epigraph “Don’t grumble at the mirror if your [own] puss is distorted” to the 1842 edition of his comedy, which he recognized as the final and definitive version. Fond of the pithy folk language of both Russia and his native Ukraine, it is not surprising that he would do so. In addition, this proverb-epigraph captures the moralistic message that Gogol clear-ly intends to impart to his readers, a message that the Mayor blasts to his audience in the closing scene of Act Five. In light of his fondness for Aristophanic Comedy, however, Gogol may have had another purpose in mind as he opened the 1842 version of his play with this famous Russian proverb. The Russian literary critic Vyacheslav Ivanov first called attention to this aspect of Gogol’s play early in the last century, when he made an argument for the Mayor’s outburst at the close of Act Five as a parabatic statement in the style of the Old Comedy of fifth-century Greece (B.C.). While acknowledging the genius of Ivanov’s analysis of the play, the present article departs from his conclusion that this outburst represents the central parabatic moment in the play. Instead, a case is made for considering the proverb-epigraph that opens Gogol’s play as either the main parabasis or, at least, as one that is parallel, perhaps a prequel to the Mayor’s famous address to his audience at play’s end

A. M. Melerovich, V. M. Mokienko, et.al., eds. Жизнь русской фразеологии в художественной речи/ The Life of Russian Phraseology in Artistic Speech. (Kostroma, Russia 2010) – (Kevin J. McKenna)

Жизнь русской фразеологии в художественной речи/The Life of Russian Phraseology in Artistic Speech. Ed. by A. M. Melero-vich, V. M. Mokienko, et.al. Kostroma, Russia: N. A. Nekrasov Kostroma State University, 2010. Pp. 729

Investigating the Effect of Urea Pretreatment on Bloodstain Detection

Throughout the years, many chemical enhancement methods for bloodstain detection have been developed. One of these chemicals is luminol. Blood detection using luminol and its derivatives, like Bluestar™, have been commonly used at many crime scenes. The pre-treatment of 8M urea on bloodstains was proposed in order to increase the intensity of chemiluminescence of the reaction, and to eliminate false positive reactions that can occur. This study takes a look at bloodstains that are placed on two types of surfaces, at varying dilutions, and analyzed after different amounts of time. These bloodstains were analyzed to see how strong of a reaction is obtained after the addition of both 8M urea and the blood detection reagent Bluestar™ to the bloodstain. The addition of Bluestar™ created a chemiluminescent reaction that can be measured both visually and digitally in terms of its strength. It was determined that bloodstains at higher dilution factors, and bloodstains on non-absorbent surfaces like tile, are more likely to have a stronger and more easily detectable chemiluminescent reaction after the addition of urea. Although some improvements were seen from this study, most of the samples tested did not show any significant trend in increasing the strength of their chemiluminescent reaction. This emphasized the necessity to further explore the feasibility of the method and increase its efficiency through improved methods and testing

The Tolstoy “Connection”: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s In the First Circle Through the Prism of Peasant Proverbs in War and Peace and Anna Karenina

Like his nineteenth-century predecessor, Leo Tolstoy, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn displayed a keen fascination for the folk wisdom and simple speech of Russian peasants. And, like Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn was fond of interspersing large numbers of proverbs into the speech of central characters and protagonists of his fiction. A case in point is his novel In the First Circle, which shares a number of features in common with Tolstoy’s masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina: in particular, the predilection of his predecessor to resolve the ethical-moral crisis faced by his protagonist through the introduction of a Russian peasant into the narrative, whose folksy wisdom and speech succeed in shedding light on the existential search in the novel, undertaken by the protagonist

The Tolstoy “Connection”: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s In the First Circle Through the Prism of Peasant Proverbs in War and Peace and Anna Karenina

Like his nineteenth-century predecessor, Leo Tolstoy, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn displayed a keen fascination for the folk wisdom and simple speech of Russian peasants. And, like Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn was fond of interspersing large numbers of proverbs into the speech of central characters and protagonists of his fiction. A case in point is his novel In the First Circle, which shares a number of features in common with Tolstoy’s masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina: in particular, the predilection of his predecessor to resolve the ethical-moral crisis faced by his protagonist through the introduction of a Russian peasant into the narrative, whose folksy wisdom and speech succeed in shedding light on the existential search in the novel, undertaken by the protagonist

A Proposition with a Powerful Punch: The Legality and Constitutionality of NCAA Proposition 48

In January, 1983, the Division I schools of the NCAA promulgated Proposition 48, NCAA 5-1-G), to be effective August 1, 1986. The extent of Proposition 48 was two-fold. Beginning in the fall of 1986, student-athletes were expected to be able to demonstrate basic minimum academic competencies as evidenced first by satisfactory completion of a very modest and yet well-balanced high school corecurriculum and, secondly, by reasonable, minimum performance standards in essential verbal and mathematics skills on nationally administered examinations. The record of the 1983 National Collegiate Athletic Association Convention concerning the debate over the proposed adoption of Proposition 48 reveals that discussions only vaguely related to raising academic standards for the student-athlete. The debate actually centered on whether Proposition 48 discriminated against traditionally black institutions. Despite the adoption of Proposition 48, two questions persist. First, does it actually discriminate against minorities and others from poor socio-economical backgrounds? Second, given the number of athletes sidelined by Proposition 48, why have none of them challenged its legality