English-language Narratives Research Articles

Portrayal of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Popular Films.

Stigmatization of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) threatens provider-patient relationships and contributes to the underutilization of STI services. Media can shape public attitudes toward healthcare topics by perpetuating or reducing stigma. Given the high prevalence of STIs and the widespread consumption of media, it is essential for healthcare providers to be cognizant of factors influencing societal perceptions of STI symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment. This study is a scoping review of popular films depicting STIs. Full-length English-language narrative films featuring characters with confirmed or suspected STIs were included. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the proportion of characters accurately portrayed with STI symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment. The final analysis comprised 128 characters from 77 films, with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) being the most frequently featured STI (42 films, 54.5%). The overall accuracy across all four clinical variables of symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment was 87.4%. Transmission was the most depicted clinical variable, represented in 74 characters (57.8%). All four clinical variables were simultaneously depicted in only four (3.1%) characters, with two characters portraying all four clinical variables accurately. Death occurred in 39 characters (30.5%), with HIV accounting for the majority (82.1%). Most films accurately portrayed STI clinical variables, including symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment. Rates of individual variable depiction were inconsistent, while death secondary to STIs was common. Understanding the portrayal of STIs in popular films can provide valuable insights for clinicians, enabling them to effectively address patient misconceptions and knowledge gaps.

A Taste of Spain: Images of Rioja Wine in Britain and America (1890-1960)

ABSTRACT The Rioja wine that we drink today was invented in the 1860s. By the late nineteenth century, it had become widely recognized as Spain’s best red wine. One way to analyze what this success meant during the first half of the twentieth century is to look to foreign accounts. This article examines the English-language narrative that was constructed about Rioja wine between 1890 and 1960. Utilizing travelogues, food and drink guides, reference books, and other texts as sources, we find that the manner in which Rioja was depicted remained fairly constant over this time span. During these seventy-odd years, it was generally recognized as Spain’s best red wine; a wine that was available to American and British consumers at a better price than Bordeaux, after which it was patterned. As Rioja came to be known and accepted as the Spanish table wine, we argue it was often also incorporated into the ways Spain and Spaniards were imagined or entwined with broader social and cultural developments. In particular, we observe that Rioja’s story was tied to perceptions of Spain’s “backwardness,” that it played a role in the Pure Foods movement as a product that was advertised as unadulterated, that it formed part of the Lost Generation’s escapism and desire to find meaning, including Ernest Hemingway’s exploration of masculinity in The Sun Also Rises, and that it was present as a middle-class commodity in 1950s and 1960s America, arguably the height of the country’s postwar preoccupation with good living.

The Effect Of Corpora On Improving Secondary Stage Students' English language Narrative Writing

The Effect Of Corpora On Improving Secondary Stage Students' English language Narrative Writing

МУЛЬТИМЕДИЙНЫЙ НАРРАТИВ В РУССКОМ И АНГЛОЯЗЫЧНОМ МЕДИАДИСКУРСАХ

The article considers actively developing multimedia media in Russian and English. The relevance of this work is due to the insufficient coverage of the specifics of multimedia narrative in Russian studies, therefore, the question of the similarities and differences between Russian and English-language multimedia narratives remains open. The aim of the work is to identify integral and differential narrative categories in the Russian and English media spaces. The research was carried out at the junction of related sciences: linguistics, communication theory, media journalism. The material was the Russian-language and English-language versions of the popular magazine Marie Claire,freely available on the Internet. In total, about 200 articles on various topics were analyzed. The criteria of the comparative analysis were seven consolidated narrative categories: the author's position in relation to the narrated, the theme of the narrative, the way of characterization of the characters, the type of plot, the type of conflict, the time of the narrative, as well as the organization of space. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the published multimedia materials allowed us to conclude that the similarity of the Russian and English-language narratives in the subject, the way of organizing the plot, the time of narration. The differences are more evident in the use of a different number of multimedia elements working to attract attention to social conflicts and media personalities in the English edition. Russian narrative is marked by the text-centricity and dominance of mat erials that actualize the frame space of the language, appealing to background knowledge and reflection, which brings the Russian media narrative closer to the artistic one.

Narrative in the Discourse of Interrogation

The a nalysis of the English-language narrative of interrogation at the stage of pre-trial investigation from the standpoint of communicative pragmatics helps to optimize international professional communication, specifies and clarifies the speech situation "investigator - interrogated person ", and corresponds to modern scientific research in the field of cognitive-discursive paradigm of linguistics. The purpose of this study is to analyze the communicative and pragmatic characteristics of the narrative of the interrogated person in the modern English interrogation discourse at the stage of pre-trial investigation. The formality, stenciling and ritualization of the interrogation discourse is manifested by the structurally invariant parts in the dialogical text of the interrogation: "introduction", "directed narrative" and "verification". This structure is typical for both primary and secondary stages of interrogation . The institutional form of interrogation is a combination of a narrative with dialogic al communication of a police officer and an interrogated person ("narrative as an interactional event"), in the process of which an investigator specifies, reformulates or expands the interrogee’s narrative with leading questions and comments. The specificity of the chronotope is a constitutive characteristic feature of the interrogation discourse: the prototype place of communication is a police investigator's office; in terms of time, the discourse of interrogation is marked by anachronism as the discrepancy between the time of discourse and the time of narration by an interrogated person, which is manifested in the use of different grammatical verb forms and adverbs for the time of discourse and for time of "stories" told by an interrogated person . T he structure of the temporal organization of interrogation discourse is characterized by frequen t mentioning of a key event by both investigators and interrogees in order to identify or emphasize details and circumstances of the case.

Disaster Narratives by Design: Is Japan Different?

Disaster movies remain a relatively under-studied “genre” of narrative, particularly in relation to which conventions are used within such narratives. One of the key works is by Yacowar (2012) and not only categorized disaster narratives into eight types, but also highlighted 16 conventions that exist in these movies. However, that study was done in 1976. Furthermore, Yacowar's study was primarily on English-language narratives. Just as Mileti (1999) has suggested that disasters are “designed” by a range of cultural and social influences, are disaster narratives similarly constructed through inherent cultural and social influences? This article not only looks at the conventions in 38 disaster narratives covering the 40-year period from 1978 to 2018, but it also analyzes 22 Japanese-language narratives in order to assess the degree to which conventions may be universal. Japanese disaster narratives were chosen due to Japan being linguistically and culturally different from the countries where English-language narratives were made, and that Japan has a developed film industry and one that has produced many disaster movies over the years. The article finds that many of the conventions suggested by Yacowar no longer apply, but that there are 17 conventions that can be placed into one of three groups; those found in English and Japanese narratives, those found only in the former and those found in the latter. That there are three separate groups reveals that there are clear differences between what constitutes a disaster narrative in different areas. These differences, ultimately, are likely to not only influence the degree to which a narrative will be successful in its own country, but also the degree to which it could be exported to other countries.

Parallax Visions of the Belt and Road Initiative

Parallax Visions of the Belt and Road Initiative Jonathan Fulton (bio) Daniel Markey's China's Western Horizon: Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia offers an important, original, and timely analysis of one of our time's most significant geopolitical transitions, as the People's Republic of China (PRC) evolves from an East Asian power to a global power. It is the type of comprehensive book that many would shy away from given its vast territorial coverage, and Markey should be commended for his ambitious undertaking. The result is an informed and engaging work that analyzes China's foreign policy as well as those of several states across South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. As China's interests and influence spreads, we need a clearer picture of the PRC's foreign policy objectives, and to understand the PRC in the Xi Jinping era, we have to start with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The second chapter, "Beijing's Global Aspirations," capably articulates the motivations of Chinese policymakers in developing BRI, putting it in the context of a foreign policy that has grown increasingly confident and ambitious. Perhaps the most important contribution of Markey's book is its emphasis on the agency of countries partnering with China in BRI projects—a part of the BRI story that is sometimes neglected. In nearly every bilateral relationship, excepting only the Sino-U.S. relationship, China's economic leverage creates asymmetry that contributes to a sense of the PRC marching toward dominance while taking advantage of weaker states' needs for development loans and FDI. China's emergence as a funding source represents a challenge to the liberal Western model, which has become increasingly irrelevant to many countries' infrastructure projects. David Dollar, formerly of the World Bank, has compared the Western model's limitations when measured against BRI: Only about 30 percent of World Bank lending is for infrastructure these days. Having run the largest infrastructure program in the World Bank, I can say that it's extraordinarily bureaucratic. Mostly, clients don't like to come the World Bank because it's just too time consuming. It takes many, many years to get things going. China is offering to finance infrastructure, not at highly concessional terms, at what we would generally call commercial terms, but frankly at interest rates that most of [End Page 146] these countries could not get from any other lender, unless they jumped through the hoops to go with the World Bank.1 The English-language narrative about BRI is often dangerously simplistic: China is using its economic might to overturn the liberal order through massive loans and infrastructure projects primarily designed to strengthen its own economy. Developed by Chinese state-owned enterprises, monitored by Chinese technology, and staffed with Chinese labor, the result is environmental degradation, the spread of an illiberal surveillance state model, unfair labor practices, and crippling debt. Partnering countries accept these adversities as the price of doing business with China. The implication is that with relatively little practical experience in dealing with the PRC, these smaller states do not know what they are getting themselves into. However, this perspective reflects a Western view of BRI in general, and a U.S. view in particular. China's Western Horizon illuminates how this process looks from the perspective of Eurasian countries working with China, explaining the motivations to forge closer ties and take on these loans and providing a more nuanced approach to BRI than we normally get from great-power competition analysis. An important theme throughout the book is that elites in partner countries adopt a logic reflecting pressures at the domestic or regional level. The chapter on South Asia offers the best illustration—not surprising given Markey's background in the region. The book begins with an interview with former Pakistani prime minister Pervez Musharraf discussing Gwadar port, the anchor of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): "'Yes, Gwadar was entirely my idea, not a Chinese idea. I was concerned only about Pakistan's strategic interests'" (p. vii). This is an important but underreported aspect of BRI—local projects in need of funding are often folded into BRI cooperation. In Oman, for example...

Reader, I Married Him, or the Mechanism of Attentional Convergence in the English-Language Narrative

The current paper investigates the mechanism of attentional convergence viewed as a type of formal text organization which is based on the convergent potential of several types of foregrounding and is used by writers to stimulate cognitive activities of their readers. The article offers the analysis of the "attentional effects" produced by the combinatorial use of the false expectancy mechanism, coupling, convergence of stylistic devices, salient textual positions of the ultimate narrative beginning and ending, intertextual markers. The hypothesis formulated in the article suggests that the effect of the attentional convergence might be responsible for causing cognitive dissonance as an inherent component of the interpretational programmes modern writers devise for their readers. The article describes the effect caused by the attentional convergence on the readers of short stories created by renowned English-Language female authors, such as J. Briscoe, T. Chevalier, E. Freud, T. Hadley, S. Hill, S. Vickers, to name just a few of the 21 writers, who contributed to the collection entitled "Reader, I Married Him" inspired by "Jane Eyre" and Charlotte Bronte's bicentenary. The analysis carried out in the article focuses on the linguocultural features of gender constructing, undertaken in these modern stories and reflecting diverse attitudes of modern female authors to the issues of gender stereotypes, gender roles, gender motivated patterns of behaviour. The findings presented in the article prove the relevance of a further investigation of various attention focusing mechanisms enhancing the expressiveness of the literary texts and increasing their pragmatic effect on readers.

Chinese Anthologies of American Literature, Multiculturalism, and Cultural Import-Export

Chinese Anthologies of American Literature, Multiculturalism, and Cultural Import-Export Qin Dan (bio), Joe Lockard (bio), and Shih Penglu (bio) Discussions of the anthology genre need to emphasize the genre's scale of importance. Understanding the centrality of the anthology genre as a foreign language and cultural teaching vehicle can illuminate that importance. For many non-native readers encountering English or American literatures, the anthology is either the basic or an exclusive means of access, using selected short texts or excerpts rather than complete novels, dramas, or non-fiction prose volumes. For these readers, a literature anthology replaces the variety of texts that native English speakers would ordinarily employ in their studies. The anthology genre mediates foreign-ness to readers for whom English-language narrative is alien. The importance of anthologies grows as the likelihood of classroom exposure to a wider range of literature diminishes. Theoretical discussions have addressed American literature anthologies as artifacts of nationalism, racial exclusion, gender discrimination, and their interrelationships (Lockard and Sandell 2008). These editorial ideologies emerged in the context of the use of anthologies by Americans attempting to define, assemble and explicate their own literary traditions. Yet today "to discuss the 'American-ness' of American literature is to discuss minority discourse of the United States" (Lockard and Sandell 2008, 230). Contemporary American literature anthologies have paid particular attention to cultural groups that have been denied citizenship or equal rights, have been economically or socially marginalized, or have been suppressed by means of law. These anthologies range from the first African American literature anthology, The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922) edited by James Weldon Johnson, to Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar's foundational Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The English Tradition (1985), to early compendia of gay literature such as Winston Leyland's Angels of the Lyre: A Gay Poetry Anthology (1975). U.S. literature anthologies are not only for domestic readers: they are created, published, read, heavily used, and exert influence far beyond the [End Page 277] borders of the United States. What is the relationship between U.S.-published American literature anthologies and those published elsewhere in the world? Is this a heavily dependent relationship, copying prevailing organization and selections of standard American literature anthologies, or is it a more autonomous relationship that adapts, explicates, and shines a different ideological light over the landscape of American literatures? As with so much U.S. culture, have American literature anthologies become a product that replicates American cultural self-positioning and values? Might there be a reflexive reception through which these anthologies are re-invented to mediate both Chinese and U.S. cultures? Anthologies are the primary and often exclusive vehicle for American literature studies in China. Virtually all these anthologies are edited and published domestically, and few if any U.S.-published anthologies are employed in university classrooms. There are two classes of American literature anthologies—a) "indigenous" anthologies published locally, and b) anthologies from trade publishers or UPes. Anthologization practices in China are complicated by use of the term "English" to cover both English and American literatures and by creation of mixed American-English anthologies. Frequently a mixed anthology contains near-entirely American literature, or even in the case of Hong Zengliu's American Fiction: The Canons of British and American Literature (2003), contains only American literature despite the appearance of "British" in the title. We shall discuss this second class in terms of both entirely American literature anthologies and mixed American-English anthologies. The frequent collapse of a distinction between "American" and "British" literature indicates a destabilization of these national categories in "English" anthologies published in China. After reviewing the modern history of Chinese anthologies of American literature and their editorial ideologies, we will discuss selected examples as they relate to multiculturalism. We will conclude with a theorization of the uses of U.S.-style multiculturalism in Chinese-produced anthologies of American literature. The argument that will emerge, broadly phrased, is that Chinese anthologies of American literature tell us as much or more about China as they do about the United States or American literature. The present study locates itself within the context of Chinese-U.S. comparative studies, especially as they...

Anxiety (of influence) and (absent) fathers in Sorrentino’s English-language narratives

This article examines the role of damaged or absent fathers – actual, metaphoric and artistic – as represented in Sorrentino’s works that are filmed in English: This Must Be the Place (2011), Youth (2015) and The Young Pope (2016). The (non-biological) father figures that appear in these films and television episodes function sometimes as extensions of a failed father, and at other times as correctives to a failed father. The psychoanalytic thesis of the anal father as developed by Žižek (via Freud and Lacan) as a postmodern response to Lacan’s symbolic father paired with Bloom’s theory of the anxiety of artistic influence serve as my theoretical structure. Any deficiencies, failures or crises depicted by father figures on-screen is countered by the success of Sorrentino himself off-screen, as extradiegetic elements make their way into the diegesis, complicating the relationship between the filmmaker and his creations, but also with his cinematic forebears with whom he is frequently judged.

The Search for Balance: Prolonged Uncertainty in Parent Blogs of Childhood Cancer.

Illness blogs are the online narrative expression of the experience of illness and its treatment. The purpose of the present research was to explore, describe, and analyze blog narratives created by parents during their child's cancer experience in the hope that knowledge generated would amplify the voices of these vulnerable families. The study aimed to answer this question: What themes are evident in illness blogs created by a parent when a child has cancer? The purposive sample of 14 parent blogs included publicly accessible, English language narratives that contained descriptions of life with a child who had undergone treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL; five blogs analyzed) or neuroblastoma (nine blogs analyzed) in the previous 5 years or who was currently undergoing treatment for these types of cancer. Analysis resulted in discovery of new knowledge of the uncertainty inherent in daily family life during illness and treatment. The parents' vivid depictions of the quest for balance while living with prolonged uncertainty during the illness experience suggested new ways to understand experiences of parents of children with cancer.

Формы репрезентации внутренних состояний персонажа в англоязычной художественной прозе

The paper shows that the author of English language narrative discourse can discuss with his/her readers such topics as inner state of fiction characters. It presents forms of representation of inner state of fiction characters. Firstly, the inner state of a character is described in contexts without metaphor. In this case, the main markers are verbs of mental state, names of emotions, physical representation of emotions, taste perception. Secondly, the inner state of fiction characters is represented via another situation. In this case, the comparison can be either direct or literal. Desperation is compared with a nightmare, beating into the wall, with the sense that the walls are closing in on a hero. Unreality of events is compared with the theatre where everything is make-belief. Thirdly, the inner state of a character is represented via comparison with a person who is experiencing similar feelings: The character can feel like a condemned prisoner, or like a captain of a sinking ship. Finally the inner state of heroes is represented via conceptual metaphor.

Типология внутренних состояний персонажа в художественной коммуникации «персонаж – читатель»

The paper deals with one of the aspects of fictional communication, namely communication between the protagonist and the reader. Heroes of English language narrative discourse with the help of introspection (inner mental, emotional and physical state) can tell the reader about their feelings and emotions. Such an insight into the inner world of characters can help better decode their mood, attitude to current events, motivation of their actions and etc. The paper presents the typology of inner states of protagonists. These are intellectual states, emotional states, inner physical states and physical sensations. With the help of introspection the reader can perceive the fictional world through the character’s mind and senses, which helps to better decode the writer’s message.

Гендерный аспект обсуждения сущности человека в художественной коммуникации «автор–читатель»

The paper shows that English language narrative discourse is multidimensional and heterogeneous. The author explicitly addresses the reader concerning things that are not directly connected with the fictional reality of the story. The aim of the paper is to analyze gender aspect of fictional communication between the writer and the reader. It’s a fact that the writer may reveal his presence in the narrative irrespective of the time the piece of narrative was written. The main markers are time shift, shift of narrative perspective and the use of maxims. When the author of a narrative text touches upon peculiarities of women’s nature he (she) usually emphasizes their negative sides, such as rivalry, flirtation and so on. When dealing with peculiarities of men’s character the author usually shows positive features such as friendship between man and man, loyalty and many others. Studying the role of the author in the narrative text with the correct analysis of the author’s views, ideas and attitudes may help to get a deeper insight into the way the narrative is structured and model the way in which narrative is formed in the process of creating a work of fiction.

The Emergence of Mind: Representations of Consciousness in Narrative Discourse in English ed. by David Herman

Reviewed by: The Emergence of Mind: Representations of Consciousness in Narrative Discourse in English ed. by David Herman Laurence M. Porter, Affiliate Scholar in Comparative Literature Herman, David , editor. The Emergence of Mind: Representations of Consciousness in Narrative Discourse in English. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011. Pp. 315. This volume, the thirteenth to appear in the distinguished Frontiers of Narrative Series edited by David Herman, collects nine essays arranged chronologically to cover "trends in the representation of consciousness in English-Language Narrative Discourse from 700 A.D. to the present" (vii). Through comparison or contrast, many of its observations on character depiction and on the "developmental trajectories" of stories can of course be applied to fictional characters and narratives created in other languages, cultures, and media. The essays aim to inspire research on "narrative universals" such as "constraints on consciousness representation built into narrative as a discourse genre" (3). The book also aspires to promote dialogue among narratologists, philosophers, linguists, psychologists, and anthropologists (2), not to mention neurologists. The authors consulted each other closely. They deepen their surveys with "snapshots" analyzing specific passages. At times they evaluate the efficacy of various elements of a text as revelations of character: linguistic categories such as speech acts; modalities of discourse (direct, indirect, and free indirect) (as usual, free direct discourse is the neglected orphan in this range); thought report; and reports on characters' feelings. One finds much less emphasis on framing discourses such as authorial intervention, background, and description (of landscapes, structures, artifacts, and persons), and on the narrator's or implied author's allusions, foreshadowing, or implicatures. On these last two elements, see Gary Saul Morson's noteworthy Narrative and Freedom (Yale, 1996). David Herman's introduction argues cogently against "the Exceptionality Thesis." Although he concedes that narrative fiction has certain distinctive language patterns and discourse features, such as "verbs of consciousness in third-person contexts, interior monologues, and temporal and spatial adverbs [deictics] referring to the characters' here and now" (7), he disagrees with the claim that "only fictional narratives can give us direct, 'inside' views of characters' minds, and that fictional minds are therefore sui generis" (9). From everyday life, Herman invokes the counter-examples of folk psychology—the body of cultural conventions for inferring and reasoning about other people's reasons for acting—and simulation (the act of psychic projection whereby you "put yourself in another's place" in order to try to understand their motives). He adds a third argument derived from phenomenology: from observing others' facial expressions, gestures, postures, and actions, we can often infer their thoughts and feelings with relative accuracy. Herman concludes: "it is not that folk-psychological abilities support the construction and interpretation [End Page 164] of a story of self or others; instead, the construction of the story facilitates reasoning about one's own and others' mental states, in fictional as well as real-world scenarios, by allowing those states to be intermeshed with broader contexts for acting and interacting" (18). He concludes his introduction (23-30) with a diachronic analysis comparing three passages from the 18th, 19th, and 21st centuries respectively. He modestly admits that his comparisons are tenuous, but adds that they "nonetheless indicate the kinds of questions that can be asked, and potentially translated into quantitative, corpus-based procedures of analysis" (29). At this point, Herman could have reinforced his position by generalizing beyond humans to other highly evolved species. Lest this suggestion seem too far-fetched—and leaving aside fables and anthropopsychic animals—note, for example, the extensive thought reports of animal minds in Ernest Thompson Seton, the memorable evocations of a donkey's and a rooster's sensorium in Driss Chraïbi's The Mother of Spring, and the many accounts of animal teamwork and altruism in other fictions. Neurologists' research with the "mirror neurons" that allow other creatures as well as humans to observe kindred beings and learn from their behavior can be readily confirmed by observations in daily life. For instance, one spring I observed two fledgling robins that had just left their nest. One started eating the seeds that had fallen on the ground from our bird feeders. The other...

Rewriting the Grand Narrative of Jewish Music: Abraham Z. Idelsohn in the United States

In 1929, musicologist and composer Abraham Zvi Idelsohn published his major study Jewish Music in its Historical Development. Viewed today as a foundational work in its field, Idelsohn's book attempted for the first time to bring together many fragments of Jewish musical knowledge into a single, grand English language narrative. At the same time, Idelsohn's publication reflected both his time and circumstances: having moved from Jerusalem to a prominent position in Cincinnati's Hebrew Union College. Upon its publication, Jewish Music in its Historical Development received wide coverage, succeeding at least metaphorically in recasting Jewish sound to create a continuous, usable past for musical practice and thought, particularly among Euro-American populations. In this essay, I analyze the history of this work and its author as Idelsohn shifted from his earlier 1924 treatise Toldot ha-neginah ha-ivrit, with particular attention to Idelsohn's arrival in the United States, his dealings with mainline publisher Henry Holt and Company, the book's reception in lay and scholarly Jewish music circles, and finally its subsequent republications and canonization as a comprehensive history of Jewish music. In doing so, I argue that while Jewish Music in its Historical Development helped redefine the borders, and perhaps geographical center, of Jewish music scholarship, the work can also be interpreted as an attempt to codify an agenda of musical activism from within the center of American Reform Jewish life.

Concept synthesis of the art of nursing

The aim of this paper is to add clarity to the concept art of nursing. Nurses have attempted to explicate the art of nursing since the time of Florence Nightingale. Despite these efforts, the concept remains obscure. A clearer conceptualization of nursing art is needed to help guide practice and research. Fifty-nine English-language narratives (e.g. editorials, letters, anecdotes, brief items, etc.) that discuss the art of nursing were located using the Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (1982-2006). Qualitative analysis and synthesis of these documents was completed using an adaptation of Walker and Avant's concept synthesis method. The art of nursing consists of expert use and adaptation of empirical and metaphysical knowledge and values. It involves sensitively adapting care to meet the needs of individual patients, and in the face of uncertainty, the discretionary use of creativity. The art of nursing provides for enhanced mental and physical well-being among patients. It also results in professional satisfaction and personal growth among nurses. Results from this investigation substantiate existing knowledge related to the art of nursing. In addition, the findings extend that knowledge by more clearly identifying the antecedents, attributes and outcomes of nursing art. Specifically, the epistemological and ontological components are more clearly identified. Clarity of this type is important in terms of future development of discipline-specific practice and research.

English Language Narratives of Filipino Children.

The current study focuses on describing the English language narrative skills of children who have been exposed to the Filipino language. Eight children between the ages of 6;0 (years;months) and 7;7 who spoke primarily English but who were exposed to the Filipino language at home participated. Each child produced three narrative samples based on wordless picture books. Samples were analyzed for narrative complexity as well as measures of productivity and grammaticality. The complexity of children's narratives was comparable to that reported in the literature for monolingual English-speaking children. Grammaticality measures show use of an average of 16.55% Filipino-influenced English forms across three stories. The observed patterns of Filipino-influenced English were predictable based on the comparison of English and Filipino structures. Variability in maze use was related to the amount of exposure to Filipino. Care should be taken to evaluate grammaticality with respect to nonstandard English forms predicted by the rules of the language in contact with English. Further, maze use may be related to level of exposure to another language and should be further explored when using such information in language evaluation.

Canada–US border narratives and US hemispheric studies

This article analyzes recent English-language narratives about the Canada–US border, which help to move US inter-American considerations beyond their current emphasis on the Latin American–US relationship and which also help redirect Canadian studies from its internally oriented focus toward a larger, hemispheric perspective. In this fiction, the Canada–US frontier symbolizes Canada's internal diversity, its declining economic, political, and cultural autonomy, and/or its growing relationship to other parts of the hemisphere. Contemporary fiction about the northern frontier thus shifts the cultural nationalist focus on the border as a line of largely cultural distinction between Canadian and US identities toward a more complex emphasis on Canada's position in the hemisphere in the context of the country's continuing dependence on the USA.