Western Connecticut State University
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Leading Man: Hollywood and the Presidential Image (The)
No full textIn The Leading Man, Burton W. Peretti explores the development of the cinematic presidential image. He sets the scene in chapter 1 to show us how the chief executive, beginning with George Washington, was positioned to assume the mantle of cultural leading man. As an early star figure in the young republic, the president served as a symbol of national survival and wish fulfillment. The president, as head of government and head of state, had the potential to portray a powerful and charismatic role.
Presidents and other politicians have been criticized for cheapening their offices by hiring image and advertising consultants and staging their public events. Peretti analyzes the evolution and the significance of this interaction to trace the convoluted history of the presidential cinematic image. He demonstrates how movies have been the main force in promoting appearance and drama over the substance of governing, and how Americans' lives today may be dominated by entertainment at the expense of their engagement as citizens
Diamond Starred Twilight
No full textDiscusses the importance of understanding new technology before it emerges on the market, finding meaning in suffering, and understanding the values of other people.Thesis Abstract.
The short story "Diamond Starred Twilight" is about Chris Sanchez, a foul mouthed artist living in Oklahoma where six years ago he watched his long time lover be murdered by a gang of homophobic men. Through the story Chris teams up with his best friend Roger Cornell, a scientist at the University of Chicago, Officers Sandra Kay and Garrett Sullivan, and a sociopath named Sean. Together, they search for a missing astrophysicists, Michelle Rasmus, while they battle within themselves as well as with each other about their haunted pasts and the strange occurrences which have brought them together
The Not So Dearly Departed
No full textThese are the first six chapters of The Not So Dearly Departed, a young-adult novel centered on Emma Braxton, a sixteen-year-old girl, who desperately wants to live a normal life. Unfortunately she is not normal; she has a rare paranormal gift that allows her to experience how a person dies when she touches his or her gravestone. Emma finds this gift to be a curse, but chooses to explore it anyway with the help of her best friend, Toby Stone. Emma's tight-knit family includes her father, Sean, a Boston police officer and her older brother, Conrad. Forced to battle with a tragedy that rips her small family apart, Emma has to learn to cope with not only the paranormal nightmares, but the normal ones as well
Type: Gate - The Divergence Zone
No full textThis is only the first two chapters of the book. The rest is either unfinished or unwritten at the time of submission.The Divergence zone is a story that takes place within a wider series of stories called Type:Gate. This particular story is about a 15 year-old boy in a group home who is ignored to an absurd degree by everyone. He almost literally does not exist. Following a dream he cannot remember, he leaves the home to find a place where he can be a person, but somehow ends up in a parallel universe where the city has been destroyed. It is nearly empty except for a group of people with strange powers who do not ignore him and a mysterious organization that is hunting them. From there the plot will deal with the interconnectedness of all these elements: the boy, the home he grew up in, his strange effect he has, the people with powers, the mysterious organization, and the alternate universe. There is also a semi-omnipotent character who seems to be directing events for an unknown purpose
The Last Three Outs: When Closers Choke
No full textThis thesis is a long-form journalistic piece about why baseball closers choke. Pitchers in baseball have always had the reputation of being neurotic and closers are more so because their job is the most stressful in the game. Experts say there are two ways a closer can focus; one is good and one is bad. Focus, confidence and execution are the most important tools for a closer, and without all three, he is destined for trouble. This project looks in depth into how brain processes affect focus, confidence and execution and what actually happens in a closer's mind in the ninth inning
The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Performance Psychology
No full textThe Oxford Handbook of Sport and Performance Psychology includes the latest research and applied perspectives from leaders in the field of performance psychology. Current and comprehensive, this foundational volume presents sport and performance psychology from myriad perspectives.
The chapters collected here also cover the history of sport and performance psychology; the scope and nature of the field; ethical issues in sport and performance psychology; performance psychology in the performing arts and other non-sporting fields; perfectionism and performance; the role of the performance coach and of the sport psychologist with a coach and team; supervision; and a look ahead to the future of the field
Food Fight: A Teen Boy's Struggle to Defeat Anorexia
No full textThe story is told with a very conversational and casual tone. It is laid out in a dated entry format, with the bulk of the story having been written in 2007, during and just following full recovery. End notes and recent entries describe almost five years of reflection and progress; and how the disorder has helped shape and influence the person I am today.This thesis project is the non-fiction account of my struggle to defeat anorexia as a teenage boy. It chronicles the physical and emotional issues I faced over the course of two years while battling the disorder. The story also explores my mindset during the disorder and recovery. This story focuses on the unique nature of anorexia through the eyes of a male victim and helps provide first-hand insight into the complex inner-workings of the disorder
AN EXPLORATION OF THE EFFECTS OF STUDENT-DIRECTED AND TEACHER-DIRECTED INQUIRY LEARNING ON CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY
No full textIn this quasi-experimental study, a convenience sample was selected from eighth grade social studies students. There were 28 students who participated in the Student-Directed Inquiry group utilizing problem-based service learning, and 32 students in the Teacher-Directed Inquiry group.
This study was designed to measure the extent of the effects of problem-based service learning (PBSL) as a Student-Directed Inquiry approach as compared to a Teacher-Directed Inquiry not utilizing problem-based service learning, on eighth graders’ motivation to apply creative problem solving and critical thinking, and as a measure of its impact on students’ sense of civic responsibility.
Three research questions were examined. The first question was analyzed with a MANOVA to determine the effects of assignment to group on creative problem solving and critical thinking skills as measured by the CM3 II+. The five scales from the instrument included: Mental Focus, Learning Orientation, Creative Problem Solving, Cognitive Integrity, and Scholarly Rigor. The Teacher-Directed Inquiry group had significantly higher scores on two scales, Mental Focus (M = 32.06, p =.001), and Learning Orientation (M = 34.44, p = .007). The second research question was a posttest only design, and was analyzed with an ANOVA to determine the effects of assignment to group on students’ civic responsibility. No significant differences were found. The third research question sought to determine the degree and manner in which group assignment, and motivation to use creative problem solving and critical thinking skills, predicts students’ civic responsibility. A Multiple Regression was used to analyze these results. It was determined that the set of independent variables were able to predict the dependent variable (F(6, 53) = 4.392, p < .001).Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
An Unlikely Friendship
No full textThe thesis project is a picture book, An Unlikely Friendship, for ages six and older. In the story, River the raccoon will teach children the process of writing a play. River will work with a bully, Bobby the bear, to write a play. River discovers Bobby bullies because he has two fathers and was a victim of bullying at his previous school. With help from his mother, River accepts Bobby, his family, and defends Bobby against his own bullies. The two animals discover all they can accomplish when working together. The picture book demonstrates the value of new friendships, tolerance of non-traditional families while teaching the process of playwriting
The Art of Secrets
No full textThe Art of Secrets is a fictional story that centers on the rocky relationship between 23-year-old Pippa Bronson and her mother. Pippa, a recent college graduate living outside the city, must return to North Carolina after receiving news that her mother is injured and in need of help at home. Conflicted by her situation, Pippa must face the reality of returning to the small town she tried to leave behind, while anticipating the distance she has let grow between her and her mother after the disappearance of her father in Iraq many years before. She is shocked to find her old living room in complete disrepair, seeing the years that have passed in the mass of objects that her mother has accumulated there. While helping her mother sift through the mess, she finds objects that bring up memories from her childhood, forcing herself to question how things got this way. She battles with a solution to the problem, unwilling to admit that it may be impossible to fix a bond that has already been broken.â€