121 research outputs found
Conspecific brood parasitism: reevaluating a bird’s-eye view
No full textConspecific brood parasitism, also known as intraspecific brood parasitism, is characterized by individuals depositing eggs into the established nests of others of the same species. One of the most widely held explanations for this behavior is that the brood parasites “make the best of a bad job,” or the BOBJ hypothesis, put forward by Dawkins (1980). That is, they are able to reproduce successfully via parasitism and persist within the population despite having fitness that is less than the average of the non-parasitic, nesting individuals. We show that brood parasitism in modern birds may instead represent a conditional polymorphism that persists because nest loss, social interactions, or other environmental influences may prevent a fraction of the population from rearing offspring within their own nests. When the fitness of unsuccessful females is included in the form of a “zero class” along with the fitness of successful females, calculations of average fitness reveal that the fitness of parasitic and non-parasitic females is equivalent. These conditions are necessary and sufficient to maintain quantitative genetic variation underlying the tendency to become a brood parasite. These findings suggest that the BOBJ hypothesis as the de facto interpretation of brood parasitism should be re-examined and open the door to new understandings of the relationship between conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) and population ecology. A potential next step in this re-examination of CBP is to look to the ancestral lineage of modern birds. Like many other aspects of modern bird biology, CBP as a polymorphism in the breeding population may have a dinosaurian origin. Using a published literature review by Yom-Tov (2001) which identifies the nest characteristics of modern birds that engage in CBP, we suggest non-avian dinosaur taxa that could be viewed in the context of potential CBP
A comparison of Margaret Atwood's dystopian text, The Handmaid's tale, and Catherine Helen Spence's utopian text, Handfasted
No full textThe two texts which have been compared in this thesis are Handfasted written by the South Australian author Catherine Helen Spence and The Handmaid's Tale written by the Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Although written nearly one hundred years apart both books follow the tradition of the Utopian genre, although Spence's attitude to the future is much more optimistic than Atwood's. Spence creates a Utopia in her fictional American Columba where the inhabitants, male and female, experience religious and social tolerance. The radical practice of handfasting has given the inhabitants of Columba freedom to change sexual partners every year if they are not satisfied and any children from the union of handfasted parents are privileged in Columba. They are the only ones who are taught to read and write and form the bureaucracy of the Plantation of Columba. Atwood, on the other hand, has created the dystopian Republic of Gilead where any aberrations from the religious and social practices of this mythical American society are brutally punished. The inhabitants of Gilead are ruled by fear and there is not even the pretence of equality in Gilead. Women are required to be silent and, to guarantee that silence, they are under constant surveillance
Effective kindergarten phonemic awareness instruction
No full textThe research question addressed in this project is, what teaching strategies most effectively teach phonemic awareness to kindergarten students? The capstone defines phonemic awareness, states its importance and documents how to best teach it to kindergarten students. The author found that quality phonemic awareness instruction uses letters during teaching, focuses on segmenting and blending and teaches students to apply their skills to reading. Key influences in the research and curriculum development were Linnea Ehri, Hallie Kay Yopp and Ruth Helen Yopp. The author used Understanding by Design to create a kindergarten phonemic awareness curriculum that focuses on segmenting and blending phonemes. Diagnostic, formative and summative assessments are included
Frank Swinnerton : the life and works of a bookman
No full textFrank Swinnerton worked as a clerk for J.M. Dent & Co. between 1901 and 1907 and as a publisher's reader for Chatto & Windus from 1907 until 1926, during which time he began his career as a writer of fiction, became influential as a reviewer and commentator on literary fashions, and began close friendships with Arnold Bennett, HG Wells and Hugh Walpole. In 1926 he left London to live in Cranleigh, Surrey, as a full-time writer of novels, short stories, critical works, book and theatre reviews, and miscellaneous articles for newspapers and periodicals. He died at the age of ninety-eight in 1982. This is the first biography of Frank Swinnerton to be undertaken in Great Britain. An analysis has been made of each of his works, both novels and non-fiction. His influence in literary circles has been assessed, and his contribution to the book world is placed within the background of literary output and trends in the twentieth century. Swinnerton was not a great writer, but his temperament, circumstances and talent combined to produce a respected literary figure whose strength was his perception and understanding of the progress of the British literary world through the centuries.
Swinnerton's numerous friendships are dealt with as they occurred, although major relationships are examined more fully at the point where the friend died. For example, details on HG Wells can be found with his death in 1946 and on Compton Mackenzie with his death in 1972. Greater space has been given to his involvements with Arnold Bennett and Hugh Walpole, in separate chapters placed close to the time of their deaths in 1931 and 1941. One other chapter stands out of sequence. This examines Swinnerton's relationship with his two wives: his complex courtship of Helen Dircks and his second marriage to Mary Bennett. This period, between 1917 and 1924, which also includes a
description of his first lecture tour of the USA in 1923, has been placed immediately after chapters 7 and 8, which examine Swinnerton's general life and work during the same period. Apart from published works and newspaper and periodical articles, the main material used has been Swinnerton's personal diaries, which date from 1910 to 1978, and the correspondence and miscellaneous papers in his personal possession. Also consulted has been a doctoral thesis by Jesse Franklin McCartney presented to the University of Arkansas in 1965, which annotates the large collection of correspondence by Frank Swinnerton to writers, publishers, boakmen and other literary figures, as well as their
replies, which are housed in the University library. Full texts of these letters have been obtained where appropriate and used in this work. Professor Blair Rouse of the University of Arkansas wrote a critical appreciation of Swinnerton's work in the 1960s and his widow has allowed use of the unpublished manuscript and letters exchanged between Rouse and Swinnerton, and has sent correspondence between Swinnerton and the Pinker family. Finally, Swinnerton's friends and family have provided facts, opinions and reminiscences
Contextualizing narrative theory: reading the politics of formal innovation in contemporary women's fiction
No full textTo ignore the strategies and structures through which stories are told, this thesis contends, is to neglect a vital dimension of their politics. Narratology provides productive analytical tools to illuminate the complex and varied mechanics of narrative form, yet it also bears the traces of its structuralist origins. Its value is therefore contingent upon its continuing reformulation as an expansive, pluralist and contextualized critical discipline. Participating in this expansion, this
thesis evidences the pertinence and vitality of some narratological models and the limitations of others. It opens up alternative critical possibilities by drawing upon insights within contemporary critical theory, from poststructuralist philosophy to transcultural feminism to
sociolinguistics. Above all, my interventions proceed from close readings of innovative fiction by women writers hitherto all but unrepresented in, and therefore potentially subversive of, existing models: Nicole Brossard, Daphne Marlatt, Hiromi Goto, Ali Smith, Jackie Kay, Erna Brodber, Dionne Brand, Aritha van Herk.
The first chapter formulates an in-between critical space where feminist and postmodernist theories of narrative intersect. It re-examines metafiction through the lens of auto(bio)graphical practice and feminist poststructuralist theories of self, and introduces the notions of folds and
echoes to describe specific structural innovations. Chapter Two examines unconventional uses of second-person address and reconsiders existing narratological approaches in their light, focusing on the `push and pull of narrative' that the `you' form enacts. Chapter Three addresses the insufficient attention paid to multiply narrated novels, theorizing them as `narrative communities' and introducing terms to describe different internal relations between narrators, relations that can often be read as determinedly 'democratic'. The final chapter contests the
hegemony of temporal models of narrativity by formulating a 'spatial poetics' that accounts both for how spatial structures can be agents of narrative change and for the complexity of textual constructions of space, which frequently exceed static definitions of 'setting'.
Running throughout is a reconception of narrative as located not with the figure of the narrator, but in relations of intersubjectivity. The narratological criticism formulated here works towards a situated ethics of reading responsive to the politics of writing: it is engaged, relational, and ever in process
Identity and dislocation in Caribbean women's literature: a study of the writings of Velma Pollard
No full textJamaican-born Velma Pollard has been publishing poetry and short stories for nearly
thirty years. Her first poems appeared in the 1970s, her first volume of short stories in
1989, and her first novel in 1994. Despite this considerable literary output, in the evergrowing
critical literature on Caribbean women's writing Pollard's work has not attracted
any of the scholarly treatment accorded to other writers. Given this lack of critical
attention to Pollard's considerable body of work, this thesis aims to provide the first
detailed and contextualised study of her writings (excluding the majority of her poetry
and of her writings on linguistics), and to accord Pollard the recognition her work
deserves.
Chapter 1 of this thesis situates Pollard's writings in the context of Caribbean
(women's) literature, and writings on identity, dislocations and (Caribbean) migration. I
argue that Pollard's principal contribution to Caribbean literature is found in her
engagement with two main subjects, return migration and relationships (male-female and
female-female), within a wider context of debates on identity and dislocation.
Chapter 2 introduces Pollard's work by way of a general discussion of her novella
Karl, which won the Casa de las Americas literary award in 1992. I consider Karl to be
central to Pollard's work, not least because it features many of the themes explored by
her later writings, including her novel, Homestretch, which is the subject of Chapter 3.
Pollard's first novel, Homestretch, which was published in 1994, explores the themes
of identity and dislocation through the experiences of 'return migrants' and 'repeat
migrants' and their comparison of life in England, the United States and Jamaica. The
novel chronicles how these migrants come to reconnect with and accept their cultural
heritage.
In chapters 4 and 5 I discuss selected stories taken from Pollard's two collections
of short stories, Considering Woman ('Cages', 'My Sisters', 'My Mother', and 'Gran') and
from Karl and Other Stories ('A Night's Tale', 'Miss Chandra', 'Betsy Hyde', and 'Altamont
Jones'). In these stories Pollard explores male-female relationships and the lives of
several generations and a wide range of Caribbean women and men. Pollard utilises the
West Indian setting, speech, situations and conflicts in these stories to graphically
describe familiar Caribbean role models and to provide a narrative and literary
examination of the frustrations and conflicting desires of women in the region.
In my conclusion, I address the ethnographic quality and significance of her work,
and its contribution to an understanding of the Caribbean
Iowa History and Culture : A Bibliography of Materials Published Between 1952 and 1986, 1989
No full textThis bibliography was compiled by two reference librarians, Patricia Dawson and David Hudson with the goal of making it easier of tracking down material on Iowa history and culture. This supplements the Iowa History Reference Guide published in 1952 by William Petersen
Paediatric musculoskeletal matters (pmm) – collaborative development of an online evidence based interactive learning tool and information resource for education in paediatric musculoskeletal medicine
No full textBackground
We describe the collaborative development of an evidence based, free online resource namely ‘paediatric musculoskeletal matters’ (pmm). This resource was developed with the aim of reaching a wide range of health professionals to increase awareness, knowledge and skills within paediatric musculoskeletal medicine, thereby facilitating early diagnosis and referral to specialist care.
Methods
Engagement with stakeholder groups (primary care, paediatrics, musculoskeletal specialties and medical students) informed the essential ‘core’ learning outcomes to derive content of pmm. Representatives from stakeholder groups, social science and web development experts transformed the learning outcomes into a suitable framework. Target audience representatives reviewed the framework and their opinion was gathered using an online survey (n = 74) and focus groups (n = 2). Experts in paediatric musculoskeletal medicine peer reviewed the content and design.
Results
User preferences informed design with mobile, tablet and web compatible versions to facilitate access, various media and formats to engage users and the content presented in module format (i.e. Clinical assessment, Investigations and management, Limping child, Joint pain by site, Swollen joint(s) and Resources).
Conclusions
We propose that our collaborative and evidence-based approach has ensured that pmm is user-friendly, with readily accessible, suitable content, and will help to improve access to paediatric musculoskeletal medicine education. The content is evidence-based with the design and functionality of pmm to facilitate optimal and ‘real life’ access to information. pmm is targeted at medical students and the primary care environment although messages are transferable to all health care professionals involved in the care of children and young people
Tudor women writers fashioning masculinity
No full textThis thesis contributes to the growing interest in early modern masculinity and its literary representations by introducing texts by women writers into dialogue with their male-authored counterparts. It argues for a more nuanced approach that recognises that the concepts of masculinity and femininity can only be fully understood when studied in relation with each other.
The first chapter explores how, notwithstanding the wisdom of conduct books and marriage guides, the demands of the state may not always be commensurate with those of the domestic realm and shows that this conflict necessitates a rethinking of existing definitions of masculinity by focusing on selected writings of the Tudor sisters Mary and Elizabeth and Jane Fitzalan’s *Tragedie of Iphigeneia*. The second chapter identifies how Elizabeth’s unique discursive strategies were designed to elicit support from her male subjects and subdue the belligerence that simmered under polemic like John Stubbs’ *Gaping Gulf*. In her letters to Anjou, the chapter examines how Elizabeth manoeuvred around her position as a beloved and as a monarch to fashion a husband who would not only be sympathetic but also subordinate to her political authority. This chapter also shows how the fabulous world of John Lyly’s *Galatea* consummates the Queen’s desire for the ideal male subject. The final chapter investigates the construction of martial manhood. It juxtaposes Mary Sidney’s *The Tragedy of Antonie* with William Shakespeare’s *Antony and Cleopatra* to determine how the figure of Cleopatra, common to both plays, challenges and revises the martial code of masculinity as embodied by Antony. By examining the authorial position appropriated by Cleopatra in the plays and its impact on the narrative, this chapter also extends this thesis’ interest in the extent to which female characters within texts compete for diegetic control with male protagonists
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