Falling Down the Rabbit Hole: World Building in YA Literature

World building is a key component to many young adult novels, but what is world building and what are some different styles and techniques that authors use when constructing fictional universes? In this thesis, Falling Down the Rabbit Hole: World Building Techniques in YA Literature, I will examine Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865), The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973), and my own unpublished novel, The Sun Kingdom, to compare different techniques and styles of world building. These works will be explored through the aspect of world building, focusing specifically on the importance of the geography, language, and traditions and culture that were created for their respective worlds, how these elements were created, and what effect this has on the story

Falling Down the Rabbit Hole: World Building in YA Literature

I will examine Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865), The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973), and my own unpublished novel, The Sun Kingdom, will be used to compare different techniques and styles of world building. These works will be explored through the aspect of world building, focusing on the importance of geography, language, and traditions and culture that were created for their respective worlds, how these elements were created, and what effect this has on the story

The 'gude regent?': a diplomatic perspective upon the Earl of Moray, Mary, Queen of Scots and the Scottish Regency, 1567-1570

This thesis examines and re-evaluates the political career and reputation of James Stewart, Earl of Moray, who acted as Regent of Scotland for the young King James VI from 1567-1570, after the deposition of Mary, Queen of Scots. Drawing upon a rich and varied body of evidence located in both the English and Scottish archives of state papers, together with contemporary propaganda, memoirs and histories, this work constructs a much needed political narrative of the period, investigating the often highly complex politics which lay behind the outbreak and the initial stages of the Marian Civil War. It questions Maurice Lee's image of Moray as the 'gude regent', an image which was first present in Buchanan's History, and which depicts Moray as a highly successful regent, and an altruistic Protestant reformer. Dispelling Lee's view of Moray as a 'reluctant regent', it shows instead that the Earl was determined to gain, and then maintain, his position of power. It incorporates a discussion of the constitutionality of the actual regency itself, together with the theories of election which were drawn up to justify both it and the deposition of a monarch. In addition, the thesis sheds light upon the dynamics of Scottish political alignment during the period, emphasising the great fluidity which was to be found, and showing how issues of internal government, and attitudes towards England, affected men's allegiances as much as, if not more than, the ostensible issue of monarchy itself. This study also builds upon recent work by Tudor historians such as John Guy and Stephen Alford, and sets Moray's regency within an Anglo-Scottish context, demonstrating the importance of the interconnections between events in England, such as the Norfolk plot, and Scottish politics. It investigates the English attitudes towards Mary, and towards the two rival parties within Scotland, taking into account the sometimes conflicting objectives of Elizabeth I and her leading ministers, such as William Cecil, yet showing how they consistently sought to gain dominance over Scotland. Moray's regency was cut short by his assassination, and this thesis concludes by considering both his murder and its aftermath. It explores how his death impacted upon the political situation, together with the way in which his reputation was shaped in the immediate period after his death. Finally, it investigates the opportunity that both Moray's assassination and the Northern Rising of late 1569 had given England to intervene in Scottish affairs, and further pursue policies to that country's own advantage

Forging a New York City Practice Rooted in a Social Agenda

Need architects adhere to a social agenda, or any agenda at all? Driven by an ideal of achieving harmony of material and form, architects seek to improve the built environment. How can an architect’s ambitions of reaching “the ideal,” and an impulse to inject theoretical architectural ideas into projects, collide with practical realities of creating progressive educational centers, or housing the homeless and other underserved groups

Exploring the Experience of a Crisis of Faith: A Qualitative Study

For some, religion and spirituality play a crucial role in one's life, influencing their values, behaviors, and relationships. Research suggests that spirituality gives one a sense of purpose and identity, and can allow an individual to make meaning out of negative life events. A crisis of faith is a painful experience in a Christian's life when he or she begins to doubt his or her beliefs, causing grief and confusion for the individual, as well as a sense of disconnection from God. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of a crisis of faith and gain a deeper understanding to why one might remain committed to his or her faith, or choose to abandon it completely. Grounded theory methodology revealed that crises of faith were connected to a relationship with God. This relationship fluctuated based on the individual's acceptance of self and acceptance of God's love. The results indicated that a crisis of faith could lead to a deeper relationship with God as well as spiritual growth. Findings also supported God as an attachment figure, who Christians interact with differently depending on attachment style and past attachment injuries

Improving health and education outcomes for children in remote communities: A cross-sector and developmental evaluation approach

Early childhood is one of the most influential developmental life stages. Attainments at this stage will have implications for the quality of life children experience as they transition to adulthood. Children residing in remote Australia are exposed to socioeconomic disadvantage that can contribute to developmental delays and resultant poorer education and health outcomes. Complex contributing factors in far west New South Wales have resulted in children with speech and fine motor skill delays experiencing no to limited access to allied health services for a number of decades. More recently, growing awareness that no single policy, government agency, or program could effectively respond to these complexities or ensure appropriate allied health service access for children in these communities has led to the development of the Allied Health in Outback Schools Program, which has been operational since 2009. The program is underpinned by cross-sector partnerships and a shared aspirational aim to improve the developmental outcomes of children to enhance their later life opportunities. It was identified early that the initiative had the potential to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes for communities and participating partner organisations.Over the last five years the program has been the catalyst for partnership consolidation, expansion and diversification. The developmental evaluation approach to continuous program adaptation and refinement has provided valuable insights that have informed health and education policy and enabled the program to be responsive to changing community needs, emerging policy and funding reforms.This article explores the evolution of the program partnerships, their contribution to program success and longevity, and their capacity to respond to an emergent and dynamic environment. The authors propose that a community-centred and developmental approach to program innovation and implementation in remote locations is required. This is based on the premise that contemporary linear, logic-based policy development and funding allocations, with predetermined program deliverables and outcomes, are no longer capable of responding appropriately to the complexities experienced by remote communities.Keywords: allied health, remote communities, cross-sectoral partnerships, service learnin

Coastal cliff ground motions and response to extreme storm waves

Coastal cliff erosion from storm waves is observed worldwide, but the processes are notoriously difficult to measure during extreme storm wave conditions when most erosion normally occurs, limiting our understanding of cliff processes. Over January–February 2014, during the largest Atlantic storms in at least 60 years with deepwater significant wave heights of 6–8 m, cliff-top ground motions showed vertical ground displacements in excess of 50–100 µm; an order of magnitude larger than observations made previously. Repeat terrestrial laser scanner surveys over a 2 week period encompassing the extreme storms gave a cliff face volume loss of 2 orders of magnitude larger than the long-term erosion rate. The results imply that erosion of coastal cliffs exposed to extreme storm waves is highly episodic and that long-term rates of cliff erosion will depend on the frequency and severity of extreme storm wave impacts

The dominant mechanism(s) for populating the outskirts of star clusters with neutron star binaries

It has been argued that heavy binaries composed of neutron stars (NSs) and millisecond pulsars (MSPs) can end up in the outskirts of star clusters via an interaction with a massive black hole (BH) binary expelling them from the core. We argue here, however, that this mechanism will rarely account for such observed objects. Only for primary masses $\lesssim$ 100 M$_{\odot}$ and a narrow range of orbital separations should a BH-BH binary be both dynamically hard and produce a sufficiently low recoil velocity to retain the NS binary in the cluster. Hence, BH binaries are in general likely to eject NSs from clusters. We explore several alternative mechanisms that would cause NS/MSP binaries to be observed in the outskirts of their host clusters after a Hubble time. The most likely mechanism is a three-body interaction involving the NS/MSP binary and a normal star. We compare to Monte Carlo simulations of cluster evolution for the globular clusters NGC 6752 and 47 Tuc, and show that the models not only confirm that normal three-body interactions involving all stellar-mass objects are the dominant mechanism for putting NS/MSP binaries into the cluster outskirts, they also reproduce the observed NS/MSP binary radial distributions without needing to invoke the presence of a massive BH binary. Higher central densities and an episode of core-collapse can broaden the radial distributions of NSs/MSPs and NS/MSP binaries due to three-body interactions, making these clusters more likely to host NSs in the cluster outskirts.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, submitted to MNRA

Heterogeneous models place the root of the placental mammal phylogeny

Heterogeneity among life traits in mammals has resulted in considerable phylogenetic conflict, particularly concerning the position of the placental root. Layered upon this are gene- and lineage-specific variation in amino acid substitution rates and compositional biases. Life trait variations that may impact upon mutational rates are longevity, metabolic rate, body size, and germ line generation time. Over the past 12 years, three main conflicting hypotheses have emerged for the placement of the placental root. These hypotheses place the Atlantogenata (common ancestor of Xenarthra plus Afrotheria), the Afrotheria, or the Xenarthra as the sister group to all other placental mammals. Model adequacy is critical for accurate tree reconstruction and by failing to account for these compositional and character exchange heterogeneities across the tree and data set, previous studies have not provided a strongly supported hypothesis for the placental root. For the first time, models that accommodate both tree and data set heterogeneity have been applied to mammal data. Here, we show the impact of accurate model assignment and the importance of data sets in accommodating model parameters while maintaining the power to reject competing hypotheses. Through these sophisticated methods, we demonstrate the importance of model adequacy, data set power and provide strong support for the Atlantogenata over other competing hypotheses for the position of the placental root