ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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Description
Belief affects behavior and rhetoric has the potential to bring about action. This paper is a critical content analysis of the ideology and rhetoric of key Islamist intellectuals and the Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, as stated on the website http://english.hizbuttahrir.org. The responses of specific Muslim Reformers are also analyzed. The central argument underlying this analysis centers on the notion that such Islamist ideology and its rhetorical delivery could be a significant trigger for the use of violence; interacting with, yet existing independently of, other factors that contribute to violent actions. In this case, a significant aspect of any solution to Islamist rhetoric would require that Muslim Reformers present a compelling counter-narrative to political Islam (Islamism), one that has an imperative to reduce the amount of violence in the region. Rhetoric alone cannot solve the many complicated issues in the region but we must begin somewhere and countering the explicit and implicit calls to violence of political Islamist organizations like Hizb ut-Tahrir seems a constructive step.
ContributorsBoyer, Paul Daniel (Author) / Mean, Lindsey (Thesis advisor) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Carter, Heather (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
The most horrific, darkest, and powerful forms of the sublime take place inside the enclosure of the human psyche; the interior of the mind is the playground for the sublime--not the crag and canyon filled natural world. For Immanuel Kant and Edmund Burke, the driving force of the power of the sublime stems from the feelings of pain and fear: where is that more manifested than in the mind? Unlike the common, traditional, and overwhelmed discussion of Percy Shelley and his contemporaries and the power of the sublime in nature, I will argue that in The Cenci, Shelley, through well-chosen diction and precise composition of terrifying images, fashions characters and scenes in an emotion-driven play that elevates the mind of the reader to a transcendent sublime experience. Through a discussion of the theories of the aesthetic of the sublime laid out by Longinus, Burke, and Kant, I will provide a foundation for the later discussion of the rhetorical sublime evoked by Shelley in the ardent and horrifying play that is The Cenci. Looking at the conventional application of the theories of the sublime to romantic writing will make evident the holes in the discussion of the sublime and romantic writings that have almost forgotten the powerful and psychological rhetorical aspect of the sublime that is emphasized in the theoretical writings of both Burke and Kant. To clarify what is traditionally associated with Shelley and the sublime, a brief analysis of the Shelleyean sublime and Shelley's 1816 poem "Mont Blanc" will prepare the reader for an unconventional, but every bit important and powerful, function of the sublime in the 1819 play The Cenci based on the horrific happenings of a historical 16th century Italian noble family.
ContributorsGowan, Kaitlin (Author) / Lussier, Mark (Thesis advisor) / Corse, Douglas Taylor (Committee member) / Broglio, Ronald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In the first thirty years of the XX century, an old literary visual tradition was reborn in a series of new striking visual texts better known as calligrams. They were produced by some avant-garde poets such as Vicente Huidobro, José Juan Tablada, Alberto Hidalgo and Carlos Oquendo de Amat in Latin America, and Juan Larrea, Guillermo de Torre, Francisco Vighi, Luis Mosquera, and others in Spain. However, with few exceptions, the interpretation of those written drawings has caught little attention from literary critics. This research, contrasted to that of Willard Bohn's, is a contribution to the deciphering of such literary art form, designated here as the figurative visual poem. It is a proposal for its visual reading which draws from the fact that this type of text is concretely a drawing formed by written verses. As such, it can be regarded as a plastic writing, combining pictorial and verbal signs in one perceptible configuration on the page. The result of this semiotic operation is a hybrid product in which the iconic forms become symbolic and vice versa. It is in fact, an art object which should be approached as a text that can be seen as well as read. The study leads to the conclusion that Willard Bohn misreads the order in which language and image are articulated in the visual poem identified with the second order semiological system proposed by Roland Barthes, placing preeminence on language over image. This results in reading the avant-garde visual figurative poem in an ekphrastic fashion. Consequently, the role of the image in the system is left in an ambiguous realm at the time of deciphering this hybrid text. Our contribution to re-conducting this undertaking has been equally drawn from a semiotic stance taken from Louis Hjemslev that balances language and image as correlates of a semiotic function. Due to the signaling nature of both, language and figure, a visual poem becomes an iconic metaphor as well as a metaphoric icon, and moreover a self-referential sign, thus justifying its status of an autonomous art.
ContributorsSuarez, Nelson M (Author) / Acereda, Alberto (Thesis advisor) / Volek, Emil (Committee member) / Garcia-Fernandez, Carlos J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This dissertation considers why several characters on the Early Modern Stage choose to remain silent when speech seems warranted. By examining the circumstances and effects of self-silencing on both the character and his/her community, I argue that silencing is an exercise of power that simultaneously subjectifies the silent one and compels the community (textual or theatrical) to ethical self-examination. This argument engages primarily with social philosophers Pierre Bourdieu, Alain Badiou, and Emmanual Levinas, considering their sometimes contradictory ideas about the ontology and representation of the subject and the construction of community. Set alongside the Early Modern plays of William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Thomas Kyd, these theories reveal a rich functionality of self-silencing in the contexts of gender relations, aberrant sociality, and ethical crisis. This multi-faceted functionality creates a singular subject, establishes a space for the simultaneous existence of the subject and his/her community, offers an opportunity for empathetic mirroring and/or insight, and thereby leads to social unification. Silence is, in its effects, creative: it engenders empathy and ethical self- and social-reflection.
ContributorsKrouse, Penelope (Author) / Perry, Curtis (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Ayanna T (Thesis advisor) / Fox, Cora V (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The hagiographic comedy written by Tirso de Molina Los lagos de San Vicente (1607) presents the journey of Santa Casilda in search of the cure of an illness in her blood that affects her. Casilda rejects the medical assistance offered to her by Muslim doctors and miraculously she finds the cure in the Christian world. In this quest, the intellectual and theological evolution of the future saint in defense of the Christian faith is presented. This dissertation will study the resources that Tirso de Molina employs to show the rejection and displacement against the Islamic world represented by a series of erotic behaviors that, in the effort of dramatizing these impertinences they are characterized within a second discourse. Tirso de Molina takes advantage of the hagiographic comedy's discourse nature and the baroque's obscure literary characteristics to express his messages. This dissertation will study in detail how the combination of hagiographic theatrical elements with linguistic expressions are used to convey a subversive discourse that therefore suggests the application of queer theory as a frame of reference. As a result of this investigation it is concluded that Tirso de Molina promotes the hagiographic model and in order to contrast the triumph of the moral Catholic world over the immoral Muslim world the play writer makes references to the nefarious sin.
ContributorsMurphy, Anayanci (Author) / Foster, David William (Thesis advisor) / Sanchez, Angel (Committee member) / Acereda, Alberto (Committee member) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Committee member) / Volek, Emil (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
ABSTRACT As referenced in Navajo ceremonial prayers and songs, "Saad bee hahoozhood jini," it began harmoniously with language. This dissertation examines and celebrates in new ways the meaning of language in Navajo literature. The first chapter is an introduction of this dissertation. I share my personal experiences with language, both English and Navajo, and how it has shaped me to be the person I am today as a Navajo speaker, student, educator, and professional. The second chapter contains an analysis and review of Western ideology of feminism and its place in Navajo society and a comparative study of several works written by Navajo authors, including Laura Tohe, Luci Tapahonso, and Nia Francisco, and how their creative works reflect the foundation of Navajo culture, Asdzaa Nadleehe, Changing Woman. The third chapter presents my own short fiction of Navajo characters living in today's society, a society that entails both positive and negative issues of Navajo life. These stories present realistic twenty-first century environments on the Navajo reservation. The fourth chapter consists of a short fiction written originally in the Navajo language. The story also represents the celebration of Navajo language as it thrives in today's time of tribal and cultural struggles. The sense of it being told in Navajo celebrates and preserves Navajo culture and language. The final chapter is the beginning of an oral narrative presented in written form, that of my grandmother's life story. This introduction of her story also is in itself a commemoration of language, oral Navajo language.
ContributorsWheeler, Jennifer L (Author) / Ortiz, Simon (Thesis advisor) / Tohe, Laura (Committee member) / Blasingame, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Nowadays ports play a critic role in the supply chains of contemporary companies and global commerce. Since the ports' operational effectiveness is critical on the development of competitive supply chains, their contribution to regional economies is essential. With the globalization of markets, the traffic of containers flowing through the different ports has increased significantly in the last decades. In order to attract additional container traffic and improve their comparative advantages over the competition, ports serving same hinterlands explore ways to improve their operations to become more attractive to shippers. This research explores the hypothesis that lowering the variability of the service time observed in the handling of containers, a port reduces the total logistics costs of their customers, increase its competiveness and that of their customers. This thesis proposes a methodology that allows the quantification of the variability existing in the services of a port derived from factors like inefficient internal operations, vessel congestion or external disruptions scenarios. It focuses on assessing the impact of this variability on the user's logistic costs. The methodology also allows a port to define competitive strategies that take into account its variability and that of competing ports. These competitive strategies are also translated into specific parameters that can be used to design and adjust internal operations. The methodology includes (1) a definition of a proper economic model to measure the logistic impact of port's variability, (2) a network analysis approach to the defined problem and (3) a systematic procedure to determine competitive service time parameters for a port. After the methodology is developed, a case study is presented where it is applied to the Port of Guaymas. This is done by finding service time parameters for this port that yield lower logistic costs than the observed in other competing ports.
ContributorsMeneses Preciado, Cesar (Author) / Villalobos, Jesus R (Thesis advisor) / Gel, Esma S (Committee member) / Maltz, Arnold B (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Concern regarding the quality of traffic data exists among engineers and planners tasked with obtaining and using the data for various transportation applications. While data quality issues are often understood by analysts doing the hands on work, rarely are the quality characteristics of the data effectively communicated beyond the analyst. This research is an exercise in measuring and reporting data quality. The assessment was conducted to support the performance measurement program at the Maricopa Association of Governments in Phoenix, Arizona, and investigates the traffic data from 228 continuous monitoring freeway sensors in the metropolitan region. Results of the assessment provide an example of describing the quality of the traffic data with each of six data quality measures suggested in the literature, which are accuracy, completeness, validity, timeliness, coverage and accessibility. An important contribution is made in the use of data quality visualization tools. These visualization tools are used in evaluating the validity of the traffic data beyond pass/fail criteria commonly used. More significantly, they serve to educate an intuitive sense or understanding of the underlying characteristics of the data considered valid. Recommendations from the experience gained in this assessment include that data quality visualization tools be developed and used in the processing and quality control of traffic data, and that these visualization tools, along with other information on the quality control effort, be stored as metadata with the processed data.
ContributorsSamuelson, Jothan P (Author) / Pendyala, Ram M. (Thesis advisor) / Ahn, Soyoung (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The discipline of rhetoric and composition established the Writing Program Administrators Outcomes Statement (WPA OS) to fulfill a general expectation about the skills and knowledge students should be able to demonstrate by the end of first-year composition. Regardless of pedagogy used, academic preparation of the teacher, or preference of particular topics or types of assignments, the WPA OS is versatile. This dissertation employs a problem-solution argument showcasing methods to improve assignments through intentional use of the WPA OS for a fluid conversation throughout first-year composition and a more clear articulation of course goals. This dissertation includes summation, analysis, and synthesis of documents that inform first-year composition curriculum from foundational organizations within the field, including National Council of Teachers of English, Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Writing Project, and Conference on College Composition and Communication. This study uses the WPA OS as a lens to examine and revise writing assignments that aid in students' comprehension of the WPA OS with particular focus on the areas of rhetorical knowledge and critical thinking, reading, and writing. Framing assignment design with theoretically grounded content and the use of common topics throughout first-year composition is one way to operationalize the WPA OS. Using common topics throughout course content presents opportunities for teachers to include detailed scaffolding in assignments that expand students' literate practices and engage students as critical thinkers and writers. This study explores how using the topic of family, a common topic to all students, provides a rich bank of social, historical, and cultural elements for research and writing. The topic of family seamlessly employs multimodal composition, which presents students with opportunities for developing rhetorical knowledge and expanding students' literacies. This dissertation displays evidence of praxis of the WPA OS from assignment development to presentation of student samples. This study recommends the use of common topics and intentional application of the WPA OS to construct assignments that clearly articulate learning goals in first-year composition.
ContributorsRankins-Robertson, Sherry, 1976- (Author) / Roen, Duane H. (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Keith (Committee member) / Lauer, Claire (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Reduced space is an important theme in the works of the Marquis de Sade including his epic novel The New Justine and his pornographic performance piece Philosophy in the Bedroom including the political/social treatise "Frenchmen, yet another effort is needed if you want to be a Republic". Through out his life Sade attempted to overcome reduction of space with writing. Tragically, his writing often prolonged the reduction of his space by sending him to or keeping him in prison. It is my theory that his violent, pornographic writing style is "une écriture de surjouissance" or "a writing of over-coming". Surjouissance is my theory for Sade's method, based on textual analysis of Sade's main works, that he combines through his syntactic structure, narrative voice, and semantic themes the orgasm of the mind represented by philosophical discourse with the orgasm of the body represented textually by orgiastic scenes and the language of orgasm to reach an ultimate state of complete freedom. In the political pamphlet "Frenchmen yet another effort..."Sade attempts to set this theory of sur-jouissance, or this transcendent state reached through the combination of physical and philosophical orgasm, as the political foundation for a new republic. Does he succeed in creating a viable political formula for a sustainable republic? My argument states absolutely not. His aristocratic elitism narrows his voice. But he does propose the combination of sexual, literary, and intellectual freedoms as a possible polemic against any form of reduced space.
ContributorsSwankie, Ryan James (Author) / Mullet, Isabelle (Thesis advisor) / Canovas, Frédéric (Committee member) / Bahtchevanova, Mariana (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011