“Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears a Crown”: A Study of Kingship in Shakespeare’s Middle-Plantagenet History Plays
This project analyzes 7 history plays written by William Shakespeare with the literary theory New Criticism. This methodology delineates the styles of kingship illustrated by Shakespeare in his works, and also examines how said styles of kingship depict politics of Medieval and Renaissance England.
Course: ENG 4443
Supervising Professor: Vivian Casper
Memoir Through Poetry and Prose
I will write a series of poems highlighting significant events in my life to create a memoir and include an explanation of the reasons the memoir was created.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Jamie Barker
Women in Greek Mythology: Ancient and Contemporary Portrayals
I will compare how women in Greek mythology were portrayed in ancient and contemporary times and create my own book presenting the major Greek goddesses.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Gretchen Busl
The Lasso: A Brief History: 1914-2017
I will create a history of The Lasso that explores the evolution of the newspaper over the past one hundred years while highlighting different facets of the newspaper's history from its predominantly female leadership to the changes in production processes that have occurred over time.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Ashley Bender
The Traveled Scholar: A Guide to the Successful Integration of Study Abroad, Academics, and Career
I will highlight the different study abroad programs available to college students and compare these types of study abroad experiences to create a handbook for students.
Course: ENG 4983
Supervising Professor: Ashley Bender
The Tale of Despereaux: A Lesson in Emotional Intelligence
I will research a middle-grade book and the literary moves its author makes to encourage emotional intelligence in effective, if not explicit, ways for more mature audiences and outside the confines of English as a second language.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Ashley Bender
A Dress of One's Own: Little Plain Jane the Bildungsroman Within
I will analyze the heroine's transformation in Jane Eyre from an abused dependent with ambiguous social status into a bourgeoning young woman who defies the limitations that social no-man's-land places on her.
Course: ENG 3023
Supervising Professor: Ashley Bender
Beyond Our Perception: Reading, Understanding, and Engaging the Middle Eastern and Muslim Woman
I will study how reading texts by Middle Eastern and Muslim women helps in understanding them and engaging them on their terms.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Gretchen Busl
The Green Chapel's Perspective; On "The Green Chapel's Perspective
I will explain the research on Morgan LeFay and the symbols and other choices in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and compose an original poem told from the perspective of the Green Chapel.
Course: ENG 3013
Supervising Professor: Vivian Casper
The Necessity in Teaching the Architecture of Narratives
I will research narrative theory and teach it as a tool to support reader response.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Faculty: Gretchen Busl
Chaucer and Close Readings in the Classroom
I will complete a research paper of a close reading of Chaucer's "The Legend of Good Women" and create a unit for teaching high-school students close reading skills using "The Legend of Good Women."
Course: ENG 4903
Supervising Professor: Matthew Brown
Stories of Healing: Narrative and Medicine
I will explore the role that stories and narratives can play in different cultures in treating illnesses, training providers, and improving the patient-provider relationship.
Course: ENG 4333
Supervising Professor: Gretchen Busl
A Blighted World: The Evolution of the New Woman in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure
I will investigate the plight and the purpose of the female protagonists Tess Durbeyfield in Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Sue Bridehead in Jude the Obscure.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Russell Greer
Washington, D.C.--An lntern's Perspective
I will develop a field guide to Washington, D.C., for those considering internships in the city.
Course: ENG 4953
Supervising Professor: Genevieve West
Through Dangers Untold and Under the Faun's Guidance: Two Girls' Journeys through the Labyrinth
I will compare and contrast the characters and journeys of the heroines from the movies Labyrinth (1986) and Pan's Labyrinth (2006).
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Guy Litton
Folkloric Context of Songs and Sympathetic Magic in The Pearl, The Pearl: A Graphic Adaptation of the Novel by John Steinbeck, Fact and Fiction: Recreating the World of the Pearl
I will explore John Steinbeck's use of songs and sympathetic magic in The Pearl.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Phyllis Bridges
Conceptual Toolbox: Teaching and Assessing Reading Comprehension of Fiction in the Ninth through Twelfth Grades
I will create lesson plans that focus on TEK Reading Comprehension of Fiction and scaffold the learning from grade level to grade level, starting at the ninth-grade level and working up through the twelfth-grade level.
Course: EDUC 4113
Supervising Professor: Karen Dunlap
How I Survived Dante's Inferno: An Exploration in Adaptation and Self-Publishing
I will research adaptation theories for texts and produce a creative adaptation of The Inferno.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Gretchen Busl
Journeys within Dreams: How Dante Inspired C. S. Lewis
I will examine how C. S. Lewis draws inspiration for the imagery used in his works of fiction from the classic writings of Dante Alighieri, specifically from his Divine Comedy.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Alfred Litton
A Global Investigation of 21st-Century Travel Writing: A Cultural Capstone
I will investigate the art of travel writing through research, travel, and publication.
Course: ENG 4903
Supervising Professor: Hugh Burns
Dreams: Delayed, Derailed, Deferred, and Sometimes Delightfully Twisted
I will design an English Composition II course that will build upon the writing skills that students studied and developed in English Composition I and will introduce different methods of research and techniques to use when writing a critical, argumentative, or analytical essay.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Genevieve West
Rhetorical Effects of Grammar Choices
I will use Joe Glaser's "12 Rules of Thumb" to analyze the rhetorical effectiveness and grammatical strategies of three travel essays.
Course: ENG 3203
Supervising Professor: Judith Hebb
Mayborn Conference 2009
I will create a video documentary about the Mayborn Conference including interviews with authors and students that will promote the event to future students.
Course: ENG 4903
Supervising Professor: Hugh Burns
Jane Austen: In Her Times; A Lesson Unit on Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice
I will research Jane Austen's life to determine the inspirational and motivational factors for her writing and create a lesson plan for Pride and Prejudice.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Joyce Palmer
Kwa, Lydia (1959-) Loh, Sandra Tsing (1962-)
I will research the lives and works of two writers to create at least one essay suitable for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Faculty: Judith Bean
Kate Chopin's Contributions to the Advancement of Identity Formation for Women
I will discuss the influence that select works of Kate Chopin had on society's perception of one's individual identity formation process.
Course: ENG 3293
Supervising Professor: Stephen Souris, Shannon Rich
The Frowzy-Headed Sockdolager A-Caperin' through the Rag Tag and Bobtail: An Analysis of the Use of Dialect in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pudd'nhead Wilson, Uncle Remus tales, Bayou Folk, and As I Lay Dying
I will analyze the use of regional dialects among several Southern authors, dialects' impacts on the characters who use them, and dialects' indications about the cultures surrounding them.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Faculty: Alfred Litton
The TAKS Dilemma and the Proposal of Portfolios
I will research the history of assessment in Texas and the way the TAKS Test is taught and administered in high school. and propose an improved form of student assessment.
Course: EDUC 4046
Supervising Professor: Sandi Reynolds
The Touchstone of Three Shakespearean Comedies
I will study Shakespeare's use of disguises in Twelfth Night, Much Ado about Nothing, and As You Like It.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Phyllis Bridges
Binary Constructions in Suzan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog
I will refute a statement made by Greg Miller in his article "The Bollom of Desire in Suzan-Lori Parks's Venus" as published in Modern Drama, Spring 2002: "Parks resists binary constructions ... "
Course: ENG 4911
Supervising Faculty: Vivian Casper
Business and Technical Writing: Home-Based Designs
I will write a business plan and create a portfolio of resources, research, business worksheets, and invitation products being sold in a home business.
Course: ENG 4913
Supervising Professor: Hugh Burns