Goblin Market and the Madonna-Whore Complex

“The woman question” refers to a centuries-long debate over what role women play—or ought to play—in society. In the Victorian age, halting strides toward gender equality narrowed the question to such subjects as what skills women and men had in common, what level of education was appropriate for a woman, and how women should or should not compliment their male counterparts. Responses were wide-ranging; most Victorians favored some form of gender roles, some sought their absolute destruction, and many fell between the two camps. Among these voices, Christina Rossetti’s stood out for the strength and acumen with which she sought to right societal wrongs. Her poem “Goblin Market,” for instance, features a pair of sisters who possess agency in their own story, undercut prevailing stereotypes regarding women, and end the story with a redemptive picture of feminine solidarity

Ivan and his Doubles: The Failure of Intellect in The Brothers Karamazov

The purpose of this research is to explore Dostoevsky’s theodicy in The Brothers Karamazov, including key critical commentary that enhances an understanding of the text. One of the novel’s title characters, Ivan, embodies the emerging spirit of intellectualism and freethinking in nineteenth-century Europe. He confronts the Christian concept of God in two famous speeches. First, Ivan’s “Rebellion” epitomizes the problem of evil by asking why an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God allows earthy atrocities. Second, Ivan’s “Grand Inquisitor” rejects the moral freedom given to men, reasoning that it is too great a burden for mankind to bear. These arguments remain relevant in theological and apologetic debate today. Dostoevsky’s internal rebuttal to Ivan’s arguments, then, offers a rich and multi-faceted approach to overcoming present-day gripes with Christian faith and faith in general. Research includes two prongs: an intimate study of the text of The Brothers Karamazov, and a broad assessment of critical interpretations of said text. The former details explicit interactions with Ivan’s argumentation in the narrative, such as incredulity from his brother Alyosha and praise from his lackey Smerdyakov. The latter attends to the narrative’s implicit rebuttals to Ivan—especially through parallelism, foils, and dramatic irony—which critics extrapolate into more formal arguments against a spirit of secularity. This critical survey shows how Dostoevsky, without creating a straw-man for intellectualism, deconstructs Ivan’s arguments comprehensively. The novel strikes artful balance of refutation and subversion. As Ivan’s prototypical skepticism persists to this day, this research serves both as a marker to show how well Dostoevsky’s dialogic theodicy has aged, and as an invitation future Christians and skeptics alike into new dialogue

Not Your Average Rose: Cultural Inversion in Pizan’s \u27City of Ladies\u27

This research addresses Le Livre de la Cité des Dames—translated into English as The Book of the City of Ladies—as an outstanding work of proto-feminist literature from 1405. It is written by a woman, in defense of women. Christine de Pizan plays the central character in her own work, in which she combats misogyny with a revised account of history. She battles prevalent ideals of courtly love and gender inequality as things that are not merely repulsive or immoral, but wholly heretical. Rather than focusing on historical accuracy, de Pizan uses the literary power of her narrative to expose and reverse the inaccuracies in traditional, male-dominated histories. In doing so, she elevates the substance of her argument by masterfully imitating a dominant storytelling medium of her day. The work overturns patriarchal violence by inverting the cultural, literary, and theological tropes of her day, establishing herself as an authority equal in intelligence and eloquence to any man

Khmer Phonetics & Phonology: Theoretical Implications for ESL Instruction

This thesis develops an approach to English teaching for Khmer-speaking students that centers on Khmer phonetics and phonology. Cambodia has a strong demand for English instruction, but consistently underperforms next to other nations in terms of proficiency. A significant reason for Cambodia’s skill gap is the lack of research into linguistic hurdles Khmer speakers face when learning English. This paper aims to bridge Khmer and English with an understanding of the speech systems that both languages use before turning to the unique challenges Khmer speakers must overcome based on the tenets of L1 Transfer Theory. It closes by outlining strategies for English teachers to build the comprehensibility and confidence of their Khmer-speaking students

Tension over Terms: Root, Stem, and Affix in Greek and Hebrew

Undergraduat

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity as a predictor of changes in physical self-concept in adolescents

Objective: Physical self-concept and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) are fundamental components of adolescents’ health and well-being. Previous research suggests that physical self-concept and MVPA share reciprocal relations whereby physical self-concept is both an antecedent (i.e., self-enhancement) and outcome (i.e., skill development) of MVPA. However, these studies rely on subjective reports of MVPA, which can produce social desirability bias and challenge youth’s recall capabilities. In order to address this gap, we test a reciprocal effects model examining the interplay between adolescents’ physical self-concept and its facets and 7 days of objectively measured MVPA. Method: Australian adolescents (N = 1,767) completed 4,136 time-specific observations across 3 waves of data. Structural equation modeling was used to test the reciprocal effects model. Results: After controlling for body mass index and sex, results only supported the role of MVPA as an antecedent of physical self-concept. The percentage of time adolescents spent in MVPA during school was especially important to predicting a higher physical self-concept in the future. Conclusions: Findings did not support a reciprocal effects model of physical self-concept and objectively measured MVPA. Rather, physical self-concept and facets were outcomes of school-based MVPA, suggesting emphasis be placed on promoting adolescents’ physical activity participation. This study demonstrates the benefits that school MVPA provides to adolescents’ development of a positive physical self-concept, which is essential to optimizing long-term health and well-being

Galaxy Zoo: the fundamentally different co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their early- and late-type host galaxies

Original article can be found at: http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/ Copyright IOP Publishing & American Astronomical Society [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and visual classifications of morphology from the Galaxy Zoo project to study black hole growth in the nearby universe (z 1040 erg s–1 in early- and late-type galaxies is fundamentally different. AGN host galaxies as a population have a broad range of stellar masses (1010-1011 M ?), reside in the green valley of the color-mass diagram and their central black holes have median masses around 106.5 M . However, by comparing early- and late-type AGN host galaxies to their non-active counterparts, we find several key differences: in early-type galaxies, it is preferentially the galaxies with the least massive black holes that are growing, while in late-type galaxies, it is preferentially the most massive black holes that are growing. The duty cycle of AGNs in early-type galaxies is strongly peaked in the green valley below the low-mass end (1010 M ) of the red sequence at stellar masses where there is a steady supply of blue cloud progenitors. The duty cycle of AGNs in late-type galaxies on the other hand peaks in massive (1011 M ) green and red late-types which generally do not have a corresponding blue cloud population of similar mass. At high-Eddington ratios (L/L Edd>0.1), the only population with a substantial fraction of AGNs are the low-mass green valley early-type galaxies. Finally, the Milky Way likely resides in the "sweet spot" on the color-mass diagram where the AGN duty cycle of late-type galaxies is highest. We discuss the implications of these results for our understanding of the role of AGNs in the evolution of galaxies. [check original online for correct symbols]Peer reviewe

Empagliflozin in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Background The effects of empagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease who are at risk for disease progression are not well understood. The EMPA-KIDNEY trial was designed to assess the effects of treatment with empagliflozin in a broad range of such patients. Methods We enrolled patients with chronic kidney disease who had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of at least 20 but less than 45 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2) of body-surface area, or who had an eGFR of at least 45 but less than 90 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2) with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (with albumin measured in milligrams and creatinine measured in grams) of at least 200. Patients were randomly assigned to receive empagliflozin (10 mg once daily) or matching placebo. The primary outcome was a composite of progression of kidney disease (defined as end-stage kidney disease, a sustained decrease in eGFR to < 10 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2), a sustained decrease in eGFR of & GE;40% from baseline, or death from renal causes) or death from cardiovascular causes. Results A total of 6609 patients underwent randomization. During a median of 2.0 years of follow-up, progression of kidney disease or death from cardiovascular causes occurred in 432 of 3304 patients (13.1%) in the empagliflozin group and in 558 of 3305 patients (16.9%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64 to 0.82; P < 0.001). Results were consistent among patients with or without diabetes and across subgroups defined according to eGFR ranges. The rate of hospitalization from any cause was lower in the empagliflozin group than in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.78 to 0.95; P=0.003), but there were no significant between-group differences with respect to the composite outcome of hospitalization for heart failure or death from cardiovascular causes (which occurred in 4.0% in the empagliflozin group and 4.6% in the placebo group) or death from any cause (in 4.5% and 5.1%, respectively). The rates of serious adverse events were similar in the two groups. Conclusions Among a wide range of patients with chronic kidney disease who were at risk for disease progression, empagliflozin therapy led to a lower risk of progression of kidney disease or death from cardiovascular causes than placebo