Dissertations of Note

Abstract

Dissertations of Note Rachel Fordyce (bio) Becker-Slaton, Nelle Frances. "The Role of Oral Tradition in Influencing Reading and Reading Comprehension." Ph.D. diss. Claremont Graduate School, 1988. 248 pp. DAI 49:3290A. Becker-Slaton explores how oral tradition shapes parent-child interaction. "Results showed that low-income parents of gifted children consistently had informal narrative communication with their children, while parents of at-risk students did not." Belgrade, Kathleen Ann. "Teachers' Use and Perceived Value of Fairy Tales in California and British Elementary Schools." Ed.D. diss. University of San Francisco, 1988. 267 pp. DAI 50:1284A. Belgrade discusses cultural differences as well as "psycho-social, historical, and educational factors" as they influence teachers' use of fairy tales. She found no significant difference between the two cultural groups, although British teachers had greater knowledge of fairy tales. Each teacher used fairy tales primarily as a "reading skill builder" rather than as literature. Bleecker, Timothy Jonathon. "The Christian Romanticism of George MacDonald: A Study of His Thought and Fiction." Ph.D. diss. Tufts University, 1990. 280 pp. DAI 51:3750A. Although this study focuses on MacDonald's theological romances, Bleecker discusses MacDonald's fantasies as "subversive myths" that "form a mythological core underlying the rest of his work." He gives particular attention to The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, The Wise Woman, and At the Back of the North Wind. Born, Daniel Keith. "The Late Victorian and Edwardian Novel and the Birth of Liberal Guilt." Ph.D. diss. City University of New York, 1990. 309 pp. DAI 51:3750A. Born shows how Kipling becomes "a lightning rod for liberal antipathy" when compared with such writers as Dickens, Eliot, Gissing, Conrad, Forster, and Wells. Branch, Piyada Vajaranant. "The Development of Theatre for Children in Thailand." Ph.D. diss. University of Kansas, 1990. 201 pp. DAI 51:3562A. Branch traces the history of theater for children in Thailand from the inception of Western children's theater in the early twentieth century through the infusion of television in the later 1950s and the founding of the first theater designed exclusively for children in 1975—although drama for children is still found mainly in universities in Thailand. Branch notes recent attempts "to move away from Western playscripts and to turn to traditional sources" for plays. Bremser, Martha. "The Poetry of Walter de la Mare." Ph.D. diss. Oxford University, 1986. 333 pp. DAI 50:3598A. Bremser demonstrates "the profound concerns of a poet whose imagination runs deeper, and darker, than a deceptively charming verse style may suggest," and for this reason her work should have an impact on those who view de la Mare as a poet primarily for children. In the second part of the dissertation she examines his critical writings and alliances and finds him "both isolated in his own unique pursuit and yet of a haunting relevance to our modern age." [End Page 203] Cerra, Kathie Krieger. "Intellectual Freedom and the Use of Books in the Elementary School: Perceptions of Teachers." Ph.D. diss. University of Minnesota, 1990. 135 pp. DAI 51:1905A. Cerra gives attention to elementary teachers' perceptions of intellectual freedom and censorship. She shows that most support the First Amendment but also alter texts when reading them aloud if they think language or subject matter offensive or inappropriate. Almost all teachers said they had had a course in children's literature, but only 37 percent reported having a class devoted to intellectual freedom. Chartrand, Claudine Denise. "Fairyland Revisited: A Gynocentric Reading of Selected English, French, and German Folk and Fairy Tales." Ph.D. diss. Pennsylvania State University, 1990. 357 pp. DAI 51:3063A. Chartrand considers the works of Joseph Jacob, Mme d'Aulnoy, Mme de Murat, Mme Leprince de Beaumont, and the Brothers Grimm in light of how they treat women in fairy tales of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She questions the feminist condemnation of the roles of women in fairy tales and finds that older women and stepmothers are generally portrayed as evil. But she locates "inspiring and dynamic heroines who are not as helpless as commercialized heroines" such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. She also finds that French and English...