- Dissertations of Note
Adams analyzes twenty realistic works of fiction, published since 1969 by "recommended" authors, in terms of "background descriptors, roles and verbal interactions." She also analyzes the work of Judy Blume to determine whether or not her treatment of adults is consistent. By comparing the results of both analyses she finds that Blume is more likely to have a female relative or parent who is white and middle-class as a dominant character than the recommended authors and that Blume's "mothers spoke more than twice as many lines as did her fathers"—an inverse proportion when compared with recommended authors. Adams also shows that Blume uses "a variety of types of interaction" but that each is limited "to one or two lines."
Alaimo argues that adolescence, as a concept "distinct from youth, is a modern idea" and that it flourished in France at the turn of the century. She notes that "attempts to give social meaning to adolescence were initiated by educators, social reformers, politicians beginning in the 1870s and [they] remained an active effort through World War One." While France during a somewhat conservative Third Republic did not support a full-blown "adolescent experience" Alaimo believes that a study of the topic is significant not only because she is able to trace the inception of the idea of adolescence, and many of the moral judgments associated with its definition, but also for comparative purposes. It is worthwhile to compare early responses to the concept with those prior to World War II in Germany and Austria and subsequent responses in Eastern European countries.
The two purposes of Allingham's dissertation are to explore the extent to which Dickens was involved in the "officially-sanctioned dramatizations of the Christmas Books, 1844-8" and to discuss the methods used by his adapters. He analyzes the texts of Edward Stirling's Christmas Carol, Mark Lemon's Haunted Man, C. Z. Barnett's A Christmas Carol; or, The Miser's Warning!, and Albert Smith's The Battle of Life to indicate that Dickens was innovative as well as astute in his suggestions for dramatizing the plays. Allingham also compares "the relationship between the final printed text of each novella, that of the corresponding official adaptation, and the original manuscript of the play." He provides texts for all sanctioned adaptations in an appendix.
Alqudsi notes that modern Arabic children's literature "is moving toward [End Page 212] realism," although it remains predominantly didactic and moralistic. And though "Egypt's economic dilemma, poverty, pollution," and relations with other countries are common topics in every Egyptian home, "none of these topics seems to appear in children's books." War as a topic is also avoided while "publishing of religious themes is increasing."
Anzul worked with fifth- and sixth-grade students in weekly lecture-discussion sessions to analyze to what extent pupils' sophistication in the discussion of, and aesthetic appreciation for, literature increased over time within a "naturalistic," transactional setting. She concludes that successful strategies include "helping students assume ownership of the discussion, pursuing] topics of intense interest to them, and direct[ing] their attention back to the texts to see what had evoked individual responses." She concludes that teachers of...