SCCUR
California Lutheran University students are given a wide variety of opportunities to interact with local, regional, national, and international communities. In particular The Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) allows students from all disciplines to present their research, scholarship, and creative work during this celebration of undergraduate discovery, held each November. This year, SCCUR was held on the campus of California State University Los Angeles on November 17, 2007.
CLU English students are encouraged to prepare projects, and have presented at the SCCUR conferences in 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007. CLU faculty help support this effort by chairing various conference sessions, participating in SCCUR workshops, helping their students prepare abstracts for submission, and taking students to the conferences to present their work.
SCCUR 2007 at CSU Los Angeles
"Hollow Imagery and Imperialism in Heart of Darkness"
Amy M. Lever, (Dr. Marja Mogk)
Critics of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness have found it difficult to pinpoint the novel’s stance on imperialism. The novel has been read as a critique of imperialism in general, to a critique of only certain kinds of imperialism, to a representation of imperialism itself. Many of these arguments center on the character of Marlow, Conrad’s narrator, and his attitudes towards European engagement in Africa, a focus that tends to implicitly equate Marlow’s ideas with Conrad’s beliefs. This paper argues that focusing on Marlow is too narrow a lens to use in assessing the novel. Heart of Darkness does, in fact, offer a strong critique of European imperialism that is not simply articulated through Marlow himself, but through the characterization of the Europeans he encounters in Africa, many of whom are described specifically as “hollow” in some way. The images of emptiness associated with these characters are juxtaposed with Marlow’s growing awareness of the humanity of the indigenous peoples, who demonstrate qualities that the hollow Europeans lack: restraint and emotional engagement. This contrast and the repetition of hollowness as a dominant image call into question the “civilizing” mission of the imperialists, revealing that they have no reason to be in Africa other than profit, the ultimate hollow motive.
"Aging and Duality: A Non-Modernist Interpretation of 'Prufrock'"
Jessica Porter, (Dr. Marja Mogk)
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot has been read as a portrait of the post-war "lost generation" and the modernist ethos of fragmentation. In this context, Prufrock's own anxieties and perspectives are interpreted as symbolic or representative of a larger cultural malaise, rather than as articulations of an individual life experience. This is particularly true of references to age or aging in the poem. This paper argues, instead, that although Eliot was still relatively young when he wrote the poem, that "Prufrock" can be read as a meditiation on the actual experience of aging and the challenges it may bring in cultural environmnments that do not privilege or value the elderly: social powerlessness and ostracism, a sense of bodily decay, and an awarenss of the inevitability of death. Furthermore, Prufrock's experience of age is articulated not through the narrative fragmentation so often lauded in the poem, but through a series of dualities the poem poses that include dual "voices" conveying Prufrock's internal struggle with his visceral experience of living in a particular body that has reached a particular point in life.
"Rogue Women in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Grendel's Mother and The Lady"
Megan M. Purdum, (Dr. Ariane Balizet)
The central villains of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are the bodies of Grendel's mother and the lady of the Green Knight. Each body inflicts its unique antagonism on the heroes of the tales. Grendel's mother terrorizes the Geats and Danes with her strength. The lady seduces Sir Gawain into defeat with her beatuty. Both women effectively illustrate characteristics their authors considered abhorrent in eighth and fifteenth century women. Grendel's mother, who was strong and ferocious, reflects a culture that keeps women shackled by weakness and passivity. The lady tells the audience of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight of a societal structure that views women's sexuality as a dangerous, negative instrument that must be broken and brought to rein by a rigorous taxonomy of social constraints.
"The Culture of Dreams"
Kristina R. Richter, (Dr. Ariane Balizet)
Dreams are a recurrent element in early English literature. While these dreams are typically linked to the divine, there are variations in the way these dreams are viewed and the way they are used in literature. "The Dream of the Rood," an Old English Christian poem, and "The Nun's Priest's Tale," from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, both feature and discuss dreams in interesting ways and can be examined to see the way that they represent differing attitudes about the nature of dreams. "The Dream of the Rood" is primarily a vehicle for educating a newly Christian country about their religion, and the way that the dream is used reveals much about the understanding of dreams at the time, as well as the understanding of the Christian God. "The Nun's Priest's Tale," written several hundred years later, shows some striking similarties in the understanding of dreams, but also demonstrates the doubt and current debate on religious and medical issues through its discussion of the nature of dream. Thus, these two pieces, coming from two different eras of English culture, demonstrate a continuty as well as great change in the concept of dreams. The culture in which "The Nun's Priest's Tale" was written is clearly rooted in the culture of "The Dream of the Rood" and just as clearly diverging from this culture.
"Piety in Relation to Characters in Medieval English Literature"
Brigette H. Stevenson, (Dr. Ariane Balizet)
This paper discusses the general morals of characters in The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in relation to their piety. The cause for this topic is from a discussion of the intense religious lifestyle of medieval England and yet how the authors of its famous literature did not always reflect that. The thesis is that a character's relationship with the church and his or her level of true spirituality related with the way in which the author portrays his or her personality or morals. The Prioress, the Pardoner, and the Nun's Priest will be used from The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight will be used from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Each character has a unique relationship with religion and also a distinguishable personality. The authors use the 'goodness' or 'badness' in the characters' temperaments as a means of showing whether a relationship with God and the church determines an identity. It was concluded that not only did the authors use religious sincerity as a means to establish a character's morality, but also to give their own critical and cautionary opinions on the state of religion and the state of the established church in their time.
"The Real Hero in Milton's Paradise Lost"
Heather Stanger, English (Dr. Nandra Perry)
The nature of Milton’s portrayal of Satan in Paradise Lost has been long debated. The interpretation of Satan’s role is vital to how one understands the poem. Some believe he is the true hero of the poem, while others believe he is the villain.
Milton is using the classical epic to promote Christian iThe conception that one subscribes to affects how one interprets Milton’s notion of heroism, his theology, and the character of Jesus. In my paper, I explore Satan’s role arguing that he is neither the villain nor the hero, but a hybrid of the two extremes. deals creating a tension between the competing heroic models of classical and Christian through the characters of Satan and Jesus. I examine classical texts, such as, the Iliad and point out the similarities between the classical epics and Paradise Lost, while identifying the similarities between the epic heroes and Satan, like Achilles. Satan looks like a classical hero; however, this is a Christian epic, so Satan cannot be the hero. Milton is not arguing that classical heroes are evil but rather that Satan is flawed in comparison to Jesus. Thus, I examine the similarities and parallels Milton draws between Satan and Jesus and illustrate the key differences that make Jesus the "better" model. I propose that Milton is correcting classical traditions through his representation of Christian heroic qualities, epitomized by Jesus, and using Satan as a distorted mirror image of Jesus to reflect what heroism should be.
"Wallace Stevens and the Construction of The New Stage"
Amy Fuess, English (Professor Lyle Murley)
Wallace Stevens challenges the traditional ideas
that locate divinity in the realm of the supernatural. Stevens does not acknowledge the existence of a supernatural realm, and believes that acknowledging one distracts from the immediate. In his poetry and philosophy, Wallace Stevens embraces the idea of a world without objective order and exalts the imagination as the sole creator of order. In the poem "Sunday Morning," Stevens explores the imagination as a gateway to the sacred and divine.
"The People of God in America: Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards on the 'Saints'"
Meghan Johnston. English (Dr. Bruce Stevenson)
Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards, two of the foremost figures in pre-revolutionary American literature, are linked in distinct ways. Born a mere forty years apart, both men operated from the Calvinist theology that founded and pervaded their native New England, and preserved, in eloquent literary works, a sense of that religious environment as it existed in their respective generations. Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana and Edwards' Personal Narrative make frequent use of biblical references which, interpreted metaphorically, are applied toward the spiritual situation of the "saints" of New England. In biblical references to the same book, Mather and Edwards reveal a very different attitude of interpretation. Because both writers used biblical allusion as a means of expressing and supporting their theological views, a closer reading of selected passages can serve to illustrate fine points of distinction between the perspectives of the two men.
"Whistler's Revival"
Mary Elizabeth Pfeiffer CLU
(English, Dr. Wines)
Whistler (1834-1903) is known as a primary leader of the Aesthetic Movement in England. The movement, influencing all forms of the arts, was a call for reform in design, and occurred at the turn of the century in reaction to the booming Age of Industrialization and the restrictive Victorian Age. Whistler energized the movement, attracting attention by commanding the press with words of controversy, thus stirring a revival of aesthetics that influenced how art and its values are perceived and appreciated.
SCCUR 1996 at Occidental College
"King Lear's Fool: Presenting a Palatable Truth"
Chad VanAcker CLU (English, Dr. Wines)
King Lear's Fool is a good example of Shakespeare's use of his fools to make truth palatable to those who would rather not hear it. Only the Fool is able to express truth without serious repercussions. Although other characters in Lear tell the King the truth, they lack the Fool's license given him by his station. Shakespeare gives only the Fool the singular literary tool necessary for escaping the consequences of truthtelling. This tool is the status of performer. Within the context of pe rformance, the fool's puns, his mockery and satire (of himself and other characters), are acceptable.
"The Limiting Of Potential Through Gender Role Conditioning"
Jennifer Paulsen CLU (English, Dr. Wines)
The impressionable years from childhood to adolescence are thick with landmines in any human society. Most communities offer direction to their future citizens during these early years through education and other means, molding attitudes and behaviors in the process. In the U.S., many people (including high-ranking politicians) have become increasingly concerned about the subtle and not-so-subtle methods and messages we use to fashion
SCCUR 1995 at the Claremont Colleges
"Changing Perspectives of Advertising in American Literature"
Gwen Harrod and Deyanne Nesh (English, Dr. Wines)
This oral presentation includes a slide show--a condensed version of the original collaborative slide show presentations created in an American Authors class. The presentation begins with a look at advertising's roots and milestones, continues with a brief overview of the development of the American advertising industry, describes some of the changing attitudes of the American public toward advertising, and demonstrates how those changes are reflected in selected American novels by Henry James, William Dean Howells, Aldous Huxley, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
"Women's Lives: Men's Fictions"
Robert Mangano and Angela Moller (English, Dr. Wines)
This project examines ways in which women's lives have been incorporated into profitable male-authored fictions and delineates some of the female responses to that appropriation. The presentation begins by recalling the negative female stereotypes created and perpetuated by early male non-fiction writers, and determines that the first males to incorporate women into fiction relied on those stereotypes for characterizing females. The focus then shifts to how male authors began to use real rather than textualized women as models for their fictions. Highlighting how the lives of these models were distorted to suit the aesthetic and marketing purposes of the men who used them, the students categorize female reactions: complicity (Nora Joyce); retaliation (Virginia Woolf); despair (Zelda Fitzgerald); objective theoretical analysis (demonstrated in a Philip Roth novel which epitomizes a new awareness of and a new solution for the problems inherent in the transformation of women's lives into men's often very profitable fictions).
For more information about SCCUR, visit http://www.sccur.org/