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- All Subjects: Composition
- Creators: Knowles, Kristina
Description
From its founding, the United States has always claimed to be a nation of immigrants, yet in the past century the issue of immigration has become an even more contentious political issue surrounded by heated rhetoric filled with passion, but devoid of information. This thesis hopes to interrupt this rhetoric with a thorough analysis of immigration politics in Arizona through a legal lens, a theoretical lens and an empirical lens. While this thesis by no means looks at all facets of immigration politics, it informs in a manner that adds depth by providing information on the history behind, and legal arguments surrounding, the most contentious piece of immigration legislation in the United States at the moment. It then provides a theoretical analysis of how immigration legislation has created carceral networks and a panoptic gaze in Arizona specifically. It ends with a recommendation for further empirical research to partner with both the legal and theoretical frameworks. This thesis concludes that, fortified with over a century of case law, the plenary power doctrine is unwavering, and it makes federal immigration legislation an overly powerful tool in our political system from which the courts can offer little if any protection. Congress walks a fine line between preempting immigration regulation and devolving immigration regulation. SB 1070 and the 287(g) program are two contested areas of immigration regulation, which both exhibit and alter the power relationships of immigration politics in Arizona. Additionally, the application of the theories of Michel Foucault illuminates the power relationships at play in Arizona - from the power relationships among nation states in the broader political arena of geopolitics and colonialism to the face-to-face power relationship between a police officer and a stopped/detained/arrested person in a Foucauldian carceral network. This thesis ends with a call for empirical research that would yield an opportunity to analyze these relationships. This thesis discusses the importance of empirical study. It situates the study within the genre of surveillance studies and its theorists. It analyzes similar studies, and identifies the variables the most illuminating for this analysis. This thesis is written in the hope that a researcher will pick up where this thesis has left off.
ContributorsBycura, Marquette (Author) / Schweitzer, Nick (Thesis advisor) / Vargas, Perla (Committee member) / Simmons, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This dissertation examines collaborative inquiry as a form of graduate mentoring. To investigate this issue, I analyze the research and writing process of a team of five multilingual graduate students and their mentor as they collaboratively design, implement, and report a study based in their local writing program over the course of two years. Through a qualitative activity analysis of team meetings, participant interviews, and the team’s written drafts and email correspondence, I investigate the ways in which self-sponsored, team-based collaborative research and writing supports participants’ learning and development of a professional identity.
Key findings show that unanticipated obstacles in the research context present participants with “real-world” dilemmas that call forth disciplinary alignments, reinforce existing disciplinary practices, and, most importantly, generate new practices altogether. An example of this process is reflected in the research team's frequent need to adjust their research design as a result of constraints within the research environment. The team's ability to pivot in response to such constraints encouraged individual members to view the research enterprise as dynamic and fluid, leading ultimately to a heightened sense of agency and stronger awareness of the rhetorical challenges and opportunities posed by empirical research. Similarly, participants’ demonstrated an ability to recognize and resolve tensions stemming from competing demands on their time and attention during the course of their graduate study. Actively constructing resonances across various domains of their graduate worlds—coursework, teaching, and non-curricular research and professionalization activities—served to clarify purposes and increase motivation.
An additional aspect of this study is the way graduate students leverage their language resources in the collaborative process. This dissertation extends the disciplinary conversation by investigating ways in which language resources function as rhetorical tools within the research context. This focus on language, in concert with collaboration and rhetorical stances to inquiry, challenges persistent views of authorship, apprenticeship, and language norms, while simultaneously lending insight into how graduate students invent new ways of participating in their professional worlds.
Key findings show that unanticipated obstacles in the research context present participants with “real-world” dilemmas that call forth disciplinary alignments, reinforce existing disciplinary practices, and, most importantly, generate new practices altogether. An example of this process is reflected in the research team's frequent need to adjust their research design as a result of constraints within the research environment. The team's ability to pivot in response to such constraints encouraged individual members to view the research enterprise as dynamic and fluid, leading ultimately to a heightened sense of agency and stronger awareness of the rhetorical challenges and opportunities posed by empirical research. Similarly, participants’ demonstrated an ability to recognize and resolve tensions stemming from competing demands on their time and attention during the course of their graduate study. Actively constructing resonances across various domains of their graduate worlds—coursework, teaching, and non-curricular research and professionalization activities—served to clarify purposes and increase motivation.
An additional aspect of this study is the way graduate students leverage their language resources in the collaborative process. This dissertation extends the disciplinary conversation by investigating ways in which language resources function as rhetorical tools within the research context. This focus on language, in concert with collaboration and rhetorical stances to inquiry, challenges persistent views of authorship, apprenticeship, and language norms, while simultaneously lending insight into how graduate students invent new ways of participating in their professional worlds.
ContributorsBommarito, Daniel Vincent (Author) / Matsuda, Paul Kei (Thesis advisor) / Long, Elenore (Committee member) / Rose, Shirley K. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Ethos or credibility of a speaker is often defined as the speaker's character (Aristotle). Contemporary scholars however, have contended that ethos lies with the audience because while the speaker may efficiently persuade, the audience will decide if it wants to be persuaded (Farrell). Missing from the scholarly conversation is attention to how ethos is performed between speaker and audience under institutional structures that produce inequitable power relations subject to changing political contexts over time. In this dissertation I analyze how ethos is performed that is a function of a specific social and political environment.
My grandfather, Al Foon Lai, was a paper son. As an adult, I learned that paper sons were members of paper families that may or may not actually exist except on paper; furthermore paper immigration was the way many Chinese entered the United States to get around the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). Grandfather held legal status, but grandfather's name was fictitious and thus his entry to the United States in 1920 was illegal. Today by some authorities he would be classified as an illegal immigrant. As Grandfather's status as a paper son suggest, Grandfather's credibility as someone with the legal prerogative to reside in the U.S. was a dynamic construct that was negotiated in light of the changing cultural norms encoded in shifting immigration policies. Grandfather constructed his ethos "to do persuasion" in administrative hearings mandated under the Chinese Exclusion Act that produced asymmetrical power relations. By asymmetrical power relations I mean the unequal status between the administrator overseeing the hearing and Lai the immigrant. The unequal status was manifest in the techniques and procedures employed by the administrative body empowered to implement the Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent laws that affected Chinese immigrants. Combining tools from narrative analysis and feminists rhetorical methods I analyze excerpts from Al Foon Lai's transcripts from three administrative hearings between 1926 and 1965. It finds that Grandfather employed narrative strategies that show the nature of negotiating ethos in asymmetrical power situations and the link between the performance of ethos and the political and social context.
My grandfather, Al Foon Lai, was a paper son. As an adult, I learned that paper sons were members of paper families that may or may not actually exist except on paper; furthermore paper immigration was the way many Chinese entered the United States to get around the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). Grandfather held legal status, but grandfather's name was fictitious and thus his entry to the United States in 1920 was illegal. Today by some authorities he would be classified as an illegal immigrant. As Grandfather's status as a paper son suggest, Grandfather's credibility as someone with the legal prerogative to reside in the U.S. was a dynamic construct that was negotiated in light of the changing cultural norms encoded in shifting immigration policies. Grandfather constructed his ethos "to do persuasion" in administrative hearings mandated under the Chinese Exclusion Act that produced asymmetrical power relations. By asymmetrical power relations I mean the unequal status between the administrator overseeing the hearing and Lai the immigrant. The unequal status was manifest in the techniques and procedures employed by the administrative body empowered to implement the Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent laws that affected Chinese immigrants. Combining tools from narrative analysis and feminists rhetorical methods I analyze excerpts from Al Foon Lai's transcripts from three administrative hearings between 1926 and 1965. It finds that Grandfather employed narrative strategies that show the nature of negotiating ethos in asymmetrical power situations and the link between the performance of ethos and the political and social context.
ContributorsCarter, Karen Lynn Ching (Author) / Long, Elenore (Thesis advisor) / Hannah, Mark (Committee member) / Warriner, Doris (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This dissertation posits that a relationship between a feminist rhetorical pedagogical model and autobiographical theoretical tenets engage students in the personal writing process and introduce them to the ways that feminism can change the approach, analysis, and writing of autobiographical texts. Inadequate attention has been given to the ways that autobiographical theory and the use of non-fiction texts contribute to a feminist pedagogy in upper-level writing classrooms. This dissertation corrects that by focusing on food memoirs as vehicles in a feminist pedagogical writing course. Strands of both feminist and autobiographical theory prioritize performativity, positionality, and relationality (Smith and Watson 214) as dynamic components of identity construction and thus become frames through which this class was taught and studied. I theorize these “enabling concepts” (Smith and Watson 217) as identity pathways that lead to articulation of identity and experience in written work.
This study posits that Royster and Kirsch’s four feminist rhetorical practices— Critical Imagination, Social Circulation, Strategic Contemplation, and Globalizing Point of View (19)—taken together offer a model for instruction geared to help learners chart identity pathways in the context of one semester of their undergraduate rhetorical education. This model is operationalized through a writing classroom that focused on feminist ideals, using a food memoir, The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber, as the vehicle of inquiry. This study offers a starting point for analysis of food memoirs in university writing classrooms by focusing specifically on the ways that students understood and applied the framework, model, and vehicle of the study. This dissertation prioritizes the composition and valuing of individual and communal lived experiences expressed through the articulation of identity pathways. Teachers and scholars can use the knowledge and takeaways gained in the study to better support and advocate for the inclusion of the students lived experiences in writing classrooms and pedagogy.
This study posits that Royster and Kirsch’s four feminist rhetorical practices— Critical Imagination, Social Circulation, Strategic Contemplation, and Globalizing Point of View (19)—taken together offer a model for instruction geared to help learners chart identity pathways in the context of one semester of their undergraduate rhetorical education. This model is operationalized through a writing classroom that focused on feminist ideals, using a food memoir, The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber, as the vehicle of inquiry. This study offers a starting point for analysis of food memoirs in university writing classrooms by focusing specifically on the ways that students understood and applied the framework, model, and vehicle of the study. This dissertation prioritizes the composition and valuing of individual and communal lived experiences expressed through the articulation of identity pathways. Teachers and scholars can use the knowledge and takeaways gained in the study to better support and advocate for the inclusion of the students lived experiences in writing classrooms and pedagogy.
ContributorsBruce, Kayla Ann (Author) / Daly Goggin, Maureen (Thesis advisor) / Boyd, Patricia (Committee member) / Long, Elenore (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
“The Mystery of Light” is the first movement of a yet to be completed larger work titled ...to melt into the sun for chamber choir and percussion quartet. The text of the work is an excerpt from Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet. This book tells the story of a prophet-like man, Almustafa, who, before embarking on the journey back to his native land, stops in the city of Orphalese, where the townspeople, having known him for many years, entreat him to share his wisdom before he departs. The seeress, Almitra, urges him, “speak to us and give us of your truth.” Almustafa proceeds to philosophize on a range of topics including love, laws, pain, friendship, children, time, beauty, and self-knowledge. Just before his farewell to the people of Orphalese, he speaks of death, saying that it is not something to be feared, but rather, embraced as a necessary and beautiful part of life.
This interconnectedness of the life and death process, of which Almustafa speaks, is the subject of “The Mystery of Light.” Almitra’s aforementioned request returns directly and indirectly throughout the movement as a reference to humanity’s undying desire to understand the great mysteries of our own mortal condition. The choir shifts throughout the movement between the three following perspectives: 1) that of people who live in fear, whose anxious whispers grow into shouts of horror as they are faced with the threat of death, 2) that of people who share Almitra’s inquisitiveness and are inspired with wonder by the secret of death and 3) that of the prophet, as he speaks words of comfort and wisdom to those who look, either in terror or wonder, upon the face of death. My hope with this music is to share the comforting words which Gibran has spoken through the character, Almustafa, so that, as they have done for me, these words may provide comfort to those who will stand trembling in the presence of life’s most inevitable consequence.
This interconnectedness of the life and death process, of which Almustafa speaks, is the subject of “The Mystery of Light.” Almitra’s aforementioned request returns directly and indirectly throughout the movement as a reference to humanity’s undying desire to understand the great mysteries of our own mortal condition. The choir shifts throughout the movement between the three following perspectives: 1) that of people who live in fear, whose anxious whispers grow into shouts of horror as they are faced with the threat of death, 2) that of people who share Almitra’s inquisitiveness and are inspired with wonder by the secret of death and 3) that of the prophet, as he speaks words of comfort and wisdom to those who look, either in terror or wonder, upon the face of death. My hope with this music is to share the comforting words which Gibran has spoken through the character, Almustafa, so that, as they have done for me, these words may provide comfort to those who will stand trembling in the presence of life’s most inevitable consequence.
ContributorsStefans, Karl (Author) / Temple, Alex (Thesis advisor) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Rockmaker, Jody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Temporal Creative Entanglement and the Composer’s Search for a Unique Voice is about some of the creative challenges inherent in the composing process. Creative entanglement is when a composer gets caught up—entangled—in the creative process and it tarnishes their sense of how to appropriately assemble the formal structure of a piece. The word temporal means that I’m focusing on how a lot of creative entanglement happens because of process / product disparities related to time. Process / product disparity is the term I use to describe the enormous differences between the experience of composing and the experience of hearing the premiere of a work. And, I bring up the composer’s search for a unique voice because composers are especially vulnerable to creative entanglement when they are trying to write in a new style. I try to identify some different ways a composer can become entangled by discussing some specific ways that people subconsciously process music (musical expectations and information flow). I draw on the works of David Huron, Fred Lerdahl, and John Sloboda, among others, to paint a picture of the different mental processes that occur during composing and listening. I discuss how schematic, veridical, and dynamic expectations work in the mind of composer and the listener, and how these relate to creative entanglement. I also discuss how the conception of large-scale form fits into this topic. In the conclusion, I offer some thoughts on approaching composing from the perspective of creative entanglement. To close, I offer a perspective about artistic satisfaction and composing.
ContributorsClay, William (Author) / Bolanos, Gabriel (Thesis advisor) / Temple, Alex (Committee member) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This research project dug into mathematics in music, exploring the various ways a number series was used in the 20th century to create musical compositions. The Fibonacci Series (FS) is an infinite number series that is created by taking the two previous numbers to create the next, excluding 0 and 1 at the very start of the series. As the numbers grow larger, the ratios between the numbers of the FS approach the value of another mathematical concept known as the Golden Mean (GM). The GM is so closely related to the series that it is used interchangeably in terms of proportions and overall structure of musical pieces. This is similar to how both the FS and GM are found in aspects of nature, like to all too well-known conch shell spiral.
The FS in music was used in a variety of ways throughout the 20th century, primarily focusing on durations and overall structure in its use. Examples of this are found in Béla Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste (1936), Allegro barbaro (1911), Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Klavierstück IX (1955), and Luigi Nono’s il canto sospeso (1955). These works are analyzed in detail within my research, and I found every example to have a natural feel to them even if its use of the FS is carefully planned out by the composer. Bartók’s works are the least precise of my examples but perhaps the most natural ones. This imprecision in composition may be considered a more natural use of the FS in music, since nature is not always perfect either. However, in works such as Stockhausen’s, the structure is meticulously formatted in such that the precision is masked by a cycle as to appear more natural.
The conclusion of my research was a commissioned work for my instrument, the viola. I provided my research to composer Jacob Miller Smith, a DMA Music Composition student at ASU, and together we built the framework for the piece he wrote for me. We utilized the life cycle of the Black-Eyed Susan, a flower that uses the FS in its number of petals. The life cycle of a flower is in seven parts, so the piece was written to have seven separate sections in a palindrome within an overall ABA’ format. To utilize the FS, Smith used Fibonacci number durations for rests between notes, note/gesture groupings, and a mapping of 12358 as the set (01247). I worked with Smith during the process to make sure that the piece was technically suitable for my capabilities and the instrument, and I premiered the work in my defense.
The Fibonacci Series and Golden Mean in music provides a natural feel to the music it is present in, even if it is carefully planned out by the composer. More work is still to be done to develop the FS’s use in music, but the examples presented in this project lay down a framework for it to take a natural place in music composition.
The FS in music was used in a variety of ways throughout the 20th century, primarily focusing on durations and overall structure in its use. Examples of this are found in Béla Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste (1936), Allegro barbaro (1911), Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Klavierstück IX (1955), and Luigi Nono’s il canto sospeso (1955). These works are analyzed in detail within my research, and I found every example to have a natural feel to them even if its use of the FS is carefully planned out by the composer. Bartók’s works are the least precise of my examples but perhaps the most natural ones. This imprecision in composition may be considered a more natural use of the FS in music, since nature is not always perfect either. However, in works such as Stockhausen’s, the structure is meticulously formatted in such that the precision is masked by a cycle as to appear more natural.
The conclusion of my research was a commissioned work for my instrument, the viola. I provided my research to composer Jacob Miller Smith, a DMA Music Composition student at ASU, and together we built the framework for the piece he wrote for me. We utilized the life cycle of the Black-Eyed Susan, a flower that uses the FS in its number of petals. The life cycle of a flower is in seven parts, so the piece was written to have seven separate sections in a palindrome within an overall ABA’ format. To utilize the FS, Smith used Fibonacci number durations for rests between notes, note/gesture groupings, and a mapping of 12358 as the set (01247). I worked with Smith during the process to make sure that the piece was technically suitable for my capabilities and the instrument, and I premiered the work in my defense.
The Fibonacci Series and Golden Mean in music provides a natural feel to the music it is present in, even if it is carefully planned out by the composer. More work is still to be done to develop the FS’s use in music, but the examples presented in this project lay down a framework for it to take a natural place in music composition.
ContributorsFerry, Courtney (Author) / Knowles, Kristina (Thesis director) / Buck, Nancy (Committee member) / School of Music (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12