Selective Memory Research Articles

Island neighboring heuristics harmony search algorithm for flow shop scheduling with blocking

• Island Neighboring Heuristics Harmony Search (INHS) for Flow Shop Scheduling is proposed. • Island model concept utilized in INHS to enhance solutions diversity. • Three neighboring heuristics are utilized in INHS to improve the local exploitation. • Two selection memory consideration methods are utilized: roulette-wheel and global-best. • Constraints are maintained during the search through repair strategy. This paper proposes an island neighboring heuristics harmony search algorithm (INHS) to tackle the blocking flow-shop scheduling problem. The island model is used to diversify the population and thus enhance the algorithm performance. The proposed method distributes the individuals in the population into different islands or sub-population. Then the harmony search algorithm iterates to look for and to develop a new solution enhanced by using neighboring heuristics. A migration process is applied, after a predefined number of iterations, to perform an exchange between some individuals in islands. The proposed algorithm is evaluated using 12 real-world datasets, each with 10 instances. A sensitivity analysis of the island model parameters is conducted to choose values that minimize the total flow time. The evaluation is conducted using two criteria, the number of evolutions and the Central Processing Unit (CPU) time using six comparative methods and sixteen comparative methods, respectively. For the first criterion, the proposed algorithm excels other comparative algorithms when solving instances of four datasets. For the second criterion, the proposed algorithm outperforms other comparative methods in six out of the twelve datasets. In conclusion, The obtained results prove the efficiency and competitiveness of the proposed algorithm when tackling the blocking flow-shop scheduling problem.

Approaching History through the Future: Some Thoughts from a Feminist Pragmatist

Approaching History through the Future: Some Thoughts from a Feminist Pragmatist

Stock Price Prediction Based on Spatio-Temporal Coupling with Deep Learning

Stock price prediction is a nonlinear dynamic problem, and the stock price is susceptible to its autocorrelation and inertia effect, as well as other stock price fluctuation on the same plate. Traditional Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model (ARIMA) only builds a linear prediction model, but the neural network model has strong nonlinear modeling ability. In this paper, we propose a Convolutional neural networks with Long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) method to predict stock price fluctuations. This is because the selective memory advanced deep learning function of LSTM is used to deeply mine the internal rules of time series information, and the convolution in CNN is used to integrate the original stock data to extract the relationship between features of different variables. Finally, the feasibility of the method and the model's applicability are analyzed by comparing with the results of other prediction models and a conclusion is drawn. The results show that, compared with the prediction model based on time series alone, the model has a significant accuracy advantage. In addition, the hybrid model can better help investors make decisions, expand returns, and avoid risks.

Ethanol sustains phosphorylated tau protein in the cultured neonatal rat hippocampus: Implications for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) are comprised of developmental, behavioral, and cognitive abnormalities caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, affecting an estimated 2%-5% of children and costing $4 billion annually in the United States. While some behavioral therapies help, the neurobiological mechanisms that underpin FASDs need further elucidation for development of effective pharmacotherapeutics. The role of the tau protein in the hippocampus is likely to be involved. Tau catalyzes microtubule polymerization in developing neurons. However, this function can become disrupted by hyperphosphorylation. Many of the cognitive deficits observed in neurodegenerative tauopathies overlap to some degree with what is observed in juvenile developmental disabilities, such as FASDs (e.g., selective memory, executive dysfunction). Thus, tau protein phosphorylation may be one important mechanism of dysfunction in FASDs. The purpose of this study is to provide an empirical basis for a tauopathic characterization of FASDs. To do so, hippocampal slices were extracted from rats at postnatal day 10 (PND10); hippocampal slices were then exposed to 5 days of 50-mM ethanol between 6 days invitro (DIV) and 11DIV. Immunoblots were taken for Total and p-Tau (Threonine231) at 12DIV and 24DIV. Immunohistochemical fluorescent images were taken for p-Tau (Threonine231) at 12DIV and 24DIV. Separate p-Tau measures were taken for the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1), CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG). Total Tau protein expression remained unchanged between 12DIV and 24DIV regardless of ethanol condition. In the control group, longer DIV was associated with decreased p-Tau. However, in the ethanol-exposed group, p-Tau was sustained across DIV. This is the first study to show that ethanol exposure sustains tau Threonine231 phosphorylation in the perinatal hippocampus regardless of Total Tau expression. These findings could lead to innovative pharmacotherapeutic targets for the treatment of cognitive deficits seen in FASDs.

Longitudinal associations of pain and cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults.

Pain is inversely associated with cognitive function in older adults, but the effects of pain on cognitive decline are not fully clear. This study examined the associations of baseline pain, pain persistence, and incident pain with changes in cognition across 10 years in a sample of healthy community-dwelling older adults (n = 688; Mage = 74, SD = 6.05) from the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) trial. While ACTIVE was a four-arm single-blind cognitive training randomized controlled trial, the present study includes only participants from the no-contact control group. Pain was examined using the Medical Outcomes Survey SF-36-Item (MOS SF-36) and cognitive tests examined simple processing speed, complex processing speed, divided and selective attention, memory, reasoning, and cognitive status. Multilevel models tested the associations of baseline pain, incident pain, and pain persistence on cognitive function and cognitive decline, adjusted for baseline age, time (years after follow-up), race, gender, education, marital status, and depressive symptoms at baseline and over time. Thirty-one percent reported pain at baseline which was related to worse baseline memory and accelerated decline in processing speed. Forty-two percent of older adults reported incident pain had accelerated decline in complex processing speed, divided attention, memory, reasoning, and cognitive status. On average, older adults reported a mean of two waves of pain persistence related to accelerated decline in memory. In sum, pain is common in community-dwelling older adults and is related to accelerated cognitive decline, especially when the incident. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Co-existence of bipolar nonvolatile and volatile resistive switching based on WO3 nanowire for applications in neuromorphic computing and selective memory

A two-terminal memristor can be used for information memory and logic operation as well as serving as an artificial synapse for neuromorphic computing. Selective memory with some enjoyable information to be remembered and other to be screened out can be emulated by an artificial synapse. In this work, a memristor based on a single WO3 nanowire can be constructed, which demonstrates the co-existence of bipolar nonvolatile and volatile resistive switching (RS) behaviors that can be tuned by the amplitude of the operation voltage. For small operation voltages (2 V), the device demonstrates nonvolatile analog RS, which can be utilized as an artificial synapse with long- and short-term plasticity. The learning–forgetting experience of human can be emulated based on the artificial synapse. Moreover, the artificial synapse can be used for image recognition with the recognition accuracy up to 94% for small hand-written image. On the other hand, volatile RS can be observed with large operation voltages (6 V). Furthermore, based on the diverse nonvolatile and volatile RS behaviors, selective memory can be emulated. Our fabricated memristor can be used as an artificial synapse to achieve image recognition and to emulate selective memory, which paves a way to construct smart neuromorphic systems facing complex information.

Molecularly Imprinted Nanoparticles towards MMP9 for Controlling Cardiac ECM after Myocardial Infarction: A Predictive Experimental-Computational Chemistry Investigation

The recent advances in nanotechnology are revolutionizing preventive and therapeutic approaches to treating cardiovascular diseases. Controlling the extracellular matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activation and expression in the failing human left ventricular myocardium represents a significant therapeutic target for heart disease. In this study, we used molecularly imprinting polymers (MIPs) to restore the correct balance between MMPs and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs), and explored the potential of this technique exhaustively through chemical synthesis, physicochemical and biological characterizations, and computational chemistry methods. By molecular dynamics simulations based on classical force fields, we simulated the early stages of the imprinting process in solution disclosing the pivotal interaction established between the monomers and the MMP9 protein template. The average interaction energies of methacrylic acid (MAA) and poly (ethylene glycol) ethyl ether methacrylate (PEG) units were in the ranges 17–22 and 30–37 kcal/mol, respectively. At low coverage, the PEG monomers seemed firmly anchored to the protein surface and were not displaced by water, while only about 20% of MAA was replaced by water. The synthesis of MIPs was successfully with a monomer conversion higher than 99% and the production of spherical particles with average diameter of 344 ± 33 nm. HPLC analysis showed a specific recognition factor of MMP9 on MIPs of about 1.3. FT-IR Chemical Imaging confirmed the mechanisms necessary to generate a “selective memory” of the MIPs towards the enzyme. HPLC results indicated that the rebound amount of both TIMP1 and MMP2 to MIPs is lower than that of the template, showing a selectivity factor of 2.1 and 2.3, respectively. Preliminary tests on the effect of MIPs on H9C2 cells revealed that this treatment has no cytotoxic effects.

Effect of volume energy density on selective laser melting NiTi shape memory alloys: microstructural evolution, mechanical and functional properties

Equi-atomic NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) samples were manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM) with different laser volume energy densities via synchronously varying laser power and scanning speed. The processing quality, phase transformation, and microstructural evolution were investigated to explore the mechanisms that are responsible for mechanical and functional properties. The results showed scattered micro-sized spherical gaseous defects inside the deposit. One-stage phase transformation occurred without intermediate R-phase transition, and the temperature of both endothermic and exothermic peaks was lower than that of the ingot. The microstructure initially grew along the building direction, but displayed different crystal orientations between coarse columnar grains and refined irregular sub-grains. The micro-hardness mapping revealed that homogenous anti-indentation properties were acquired independent of location variations. While the anisotropic behavior in tensile properties occurred due to the passive effect of columnar B2 austenitic grains, a synergistic effect of strength and plasticity was acquired primarily due to the combined effect of sub-grain refinement strengthening and transformation-induced plasticity. The pre-deformed NiTi samples recovered to their original shape when heated above its critical phase transition point. This work demonstrated that the crack-free NiTi SMA with exceptional comprehensive performances could be fabricated by SLM through the control of energy density.

‘Remember that time?’: introducing retrospective collaborative autoethnography

ABSTRACT Autoethnography is a well-established methodological approach in research, including tourism studies. Despite the frequent application of autoethnography in research, some scholars have raised challenges in employing autoethnography such as individual bias, selective memory, change of participants’ attitudes over time, logistical challenges, conducting synchronous research, and influence by dominant researchers within the group. This Research Letter proposes Retrospective Collaborative Autoethnography (RCA) as a method of qualitative inquiry situated within autoethnography, collaborative autoethnography, and retrospective autoethnography, which mitigate/reduce these challenges.

A-277 Neurocognitive and Psychological Profile of a 57-Year-Old Long-COVID Patient After 42 Days an a Ventilator

Objective: The neuropsychological impact of COVID-19 is a budding area of research. Studies suggest greater neurological abnormalities in patients presenting with a severe illness course, particularly those with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The purpose of this case study was to characterize the neurocognitive and psychological profile of a 57-year-old male following prolonged hospitalization for COVID-19 in March 2020, including 42 days on mechanical ventilation.Method: Relevant data were collected via clinical interview, neuropsychological testing, and medical record review. Hospital course was notable for hypertension, acute kidney failure, and pressure ulcers. Computerized tomography and electroencephalogram revealed mild cortical atrophy and mild to moderate generalized slowing, respectively. Approximately 15 months post-discharge, subjective complaints during the evaluation included cognitive “fogginess,” increased impulsivity, decreased frustration tolerance, forgetfulness, fatigue, mobility difficulties, and dyspnea upon exertion.Results: Neuropsychological testing, within the context of likely average premorbid functioning, revealed declines in motor functioning, confrontation naming, phonemic fluency, planning/organization, visual memory, and aspects of verbal memory. Poor performance on select memory tasks was likely driven by executive dysfunction. Behaviorally, the patient presented as disinhibited, impulsive and labile. Emotionally, he endorsed symptoms of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression. These post-COVID-19 sequelae have impacted functioning across multiple domains including ability to work, medication and finance management, and complex decision-making.Conclusions: Results suggest bilateral frontal and temporal dysfunction rather than subcortical deficits from hypoxia. Similar to post-intensive care syndrome, the etiology of functional impairment in severely ill, hospitalized COVID-19 patients appears multifactorial. Likely mediating factors include COVID-19 itself, associated complications, intervention methods, and psychological distress.

Turning Attention Inside Out: How Working Memory Serves Behavior.

Flexible behavior requires guidance not only by sensations that are available immediately but also by relevant mental contents carried forward through working memory. Therefore, selective-attention functions that modulate the contents of working memory to guide behavior (inside-out) are just as important as those operating on sensory signals to generate internal contents (outside-in). We review the burgeoning literature on selective attention in the inside-out direction and underscore its functional, flexible, and future-focused nature. We discuss in turn the purpose (why), targets (what), sources (when), and mechanisms (how) of selective attention inside working memory, using visual working memory as a model. We show how the study of internal selective attention brings new insights concerning the core cognitive processes of attention and working memory and how considering selective attention and working memory together paves the way for a rich and integrated understanding of how mind serves behavior.

Role of anterior thalamic circuitry during sleep

Increased attention has been paid to the structure and function of anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT), since deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment for epilepsy launched a decade ago. The efficacy of the treatment on seizure count varies patient from patient and we have limited information on the predictors of better outcomes. While the thalamus is considered the key brain region responsible for maintaining sleep, ANT was traditionally not involved in this function. Recent experimental and human data point to a possible role of ANT in sleep processes, although the underlying mechanisms are still ambiguous. Beside evaluating the current knowledge on sleep disturbances experienced during ANT-DBS treatment, the search for valid biomarkers primarily resides on a better understanding of sleep circuits implicating ANT and its subnuclei. Hypothetically better selectivity within the target may increase seizure outcomes and reduce psychiatric and cognitive side effects. Hence, the main scope of this review is to summarize the evidence on the activity measured in the ANT during non-REM and REM sleep. Furthermore, we aim to find shared properties of sleep processes and ANT-related functions examined more thoroughly during wakefulness, such as selective attention and memory.

Information transmission in action video gaming experts: Inferences from the lateralized readiness potential.

Research showed that action real-time strategy gaming (ARSG) experience is related to cognitive and neural plasticity, including visual selective attention and working memory, executive control, and information processing. This study explored the relationship between ARSG experience and information transmission in the auditory channel. Using an auditory, two-choice, go/no-go task and lateralized readiness potential (LRP) as the index to partial information transmission, this study examined information transmission patterns in ARSG experts and amateurs. Results showed that experts had a higher accuracy rate than amateurs. More importantly, experts had a smaller stimulus-locked LRP component (250 – 450 ms) than amateurs on no-go trials, while the response-locked LRP component (0 – 300 ms) on go trials did not differ between groups. Thus, whereas amateurs used an asynchronous information transmission pattern, experts used a reduced asynchronous information transmission pattern or a synchronous pattern where most of processing occurred prior to response execution – an information transmission pattern that supports rapid, error-free performance. Thus, experts and amateurs may use different information transmission patterns in auditory processing. In addition, the information transmission pattern used by experts is typically observed only after long-term auditory training according to past research. This study supports the relationship between ARSG experience and the development of information processing patterns.

Responsible attention: the effect of divided attention on metacognition and responsible remembering

We are frequently exposed to situations where we need to remember important information when our attentional resources are divided; however, it was previously unclear how divided attention impacts responsible remembering: selective memory for important information to avoid consequences for forgetting. In the present study, we examined participants’ memory for valuable information, metacognitive accuracy, and goal-directed cognitive control mechanisms when under full and divided attention. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with words paired with point values counting towards their score if recalled but were required to “bet” on whether they would remember it. Results revealed that selective memory for high-value information was impaired under divided attention. In Experiment 2, we presented participants with unassociated word pairs and solicited metacognitive predictions of recall (i.e., JOLs). Results revealed that the relative accuracy of participants’ metacognitive judgments was enhanced when studying under divided attention. Experiment 3 examined cognitive control mechanisms to selectively remember goal-relevant information at the expense of information that could potentially be offloaded (i.e., responsible forgetting). Results revealed that participants’ ability to strategically prioritize goal-relevant information at the expense of information that could be offloaded was preserved under divided attention. Collectively, responsible attention encompasses how attentional resources impact one’s ability to engage in responsible remembering and we demonstrate that responsible remembering can be impaired, enhanced, and preserved in certain contexts.

Transient neuroinflammation following surgery contributes to long-lasting cognitive decline in elderly rats via dysfunction of synaptic NMDA receptor

BackgroundPerioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs) are considered the most common postoperative complication in geriatric patients. However, its pathogenesis is not fully understood. Surgery-triggered neuroinflammation is a major contributor to the development of PNDs. Neuroinflammation can influence N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) expression or function which is closely associated with cognition. We, therefore, hypothesized that the persistent changes in NMDAR expression or function induced by transient neuroinflammation after surgery were involved in the development of PNDs.MethodsEighteen-month-old male Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to abdominal surgery with sevoflurane anesthesia to establish the PNDs animal model. Then, we determined the transient neuroinflammation by detecting the protein levels of proinflammatory cytokines and microglia activation using ELISA, western blot, immunohistochemistry, and microglial morphological analysis from postoperative days 1–20. Persistent changes in NMDAR expression were determined by detecting the protein levels of NMDAR subunits from postoperative days 1–59. Subsequently, the dysfunction of synaptic NMDAR was evaluated by detecting the structural plasticity of dendritic spine using Golgi staining. Pull-down assay and western blot were used to detect the protein levels of Rac1-GTP, phosphor-cofilin, and Arp3, which contribute to the regulation of the structural plasticity of dendritic spine. Finally, glycyrrhizin, an anti-inflammatory agent, was administered to further explore the role of synaptic NMDAR dysfunction induced by transient neuroinflammation in the neuropathogenesis of PNDs.ResultsWe showed that transient neuroinflammation induced by surgery caused sustained downregulation of synaptic NR2A and NR2B subunits in the dorsal hippocampus and led to a selective long-term spatial memory deficit. Meanwhile, the detrimental effect of neuroinflammation on the function of synaptic NMDARs was shown by the impaired structural plasticity of dendritic spines and decreased activity of the Rac1 signaling pathways during learning. Furthermore, anti-inflammatory treatment reversed the downregulation and hypofunction of synaptic NR2A and NR2B and subsequently rescued the long-term spatial memory deficit.ConclusionsOur results identify sustained synaptic NR2A and NR2B downregulation and hypofunction induced by transient neuroinflammation following surgery as important contributors to the development of PNDs in elderly rats.

A Psychoanalytic Approach On Marayo's Behaviour As The Impact Of Childhood Trauma In Yejide Kilanko's Daughters Who Walk This Path

This study discusses the childhood trauma caused by sexual abuse that resulted in unwanted feelings such as anxiety, low self-esteem, fear of betrayal, fear of abandonment, and defense mechanism of Marayo as the main character of the novel. This study centres on the impacts of childhood trauma that affect character personality and behaviours. The study uses a psychoanalysis theory related to childhood trauma, anxiety, and its core issues. In the process of analysis, the researcher uses a qualitative method to collect, classify, and conclude the data. Yejide Kilanko's Daughters Who Walk This Path novel as the primary data sources and journals, books, and articles as secondary data sources. The study set out some critical information about how childhood trauma can affect someone's personality and behavior. It found that behavior and personality are deteriorated because of sexual abuse. The consequence of childhood trauma can lead a person to feels anxious that can reveal some core issues, which are fear of abandonment, fear of betrayal, and low self-esteem; that later she grows some defense mechanism, which is avoidance and selective memory.

Interrogating hegemonic embraces: Representative bureaucracy, methodological Whiteness, and non‐West exclusions

AbstractThe United States' racial history infrequently defines the representativeness of bureaucracies outside of the United States. This article explores how selective historical memories and insufficiently critical concept importations limit disciplinary understandings. We articulate how policy transfer assumptions, narrow administrative histories, methodological Whiteness, and incomplete considerations of non‐West administration alter our understanding of what is or is not representative bureaucracy. We encourage scholars to recall how concepts like representative bureaucracy may lack exact comparability outside the West and to be open to its potential alteration by contextual circumstances. The implications for further exploration of the representative bureaucracy concept and the challenges for pedagogy are also discussed.Evidence for Practice West‐derived hegemonic understandings of the public administration discipline limit the development of public administration practice and scholarship outside the West. Insufficient historical and comparative circumspection is a frequent output of West‐based scholars seeking to implement their concepts in non‐West administrations. The discipline and practice of public administration may increase its global dialogues by conversing with non‐West actors and recognizing the limitations of Western data and theories. Like many administrative concepts, the representative bureaucracy concept as developed in the West may not operate similarly in other contexts.

Effects of Hatha yoga on cognitive functions in the elderly: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Hatha yoga practice on cognitive functions in the elderly. Thirty healthy older men participated in this study. They belonged to 2 groups. The first group included 15 Hatha yoga practitioners for at least 2 years. The control group involved 15 male older adults who shared the same characteristics (age, years of formal education, and level of physical activity) as the Hatha yoga group but were naive to yoga, meditation, or any mind-body intervention. Neuropsychological tests were applied to measure selective attention, sustained attention, episodic memory, and processing speed. The following tests were administered: The French adaptation of the Victoria Stroop test, the Zazzo’s Cancellation Task, the Five Word Test, and a battery of computerized tests to evaluate reaction time. Long-term Hatha yoga practice showed promising results related to executive functions and reaction time, but no significant difference was found between the two groups in episodic memory and sustained attention although a trend of improvement was observed in favor of Hatha yoga practitioners. In conclusion, long-term Hatha yoga practitioners have better cognitive abilities compared to the control group in certain aspects of cognitive functions. Further physiological and psychological variables need to be examined in order to highlight the correlation between yoga intervention and cognitive performance.

Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition by Hollis Robbins

Reviewed by: Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition by Hollis Robbins Peter Howarth Hollis Robbins. Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2020. 264 pp. $32.95. In 2018, Hollis Robbins went to hear poet Natasha Trethewey give a prestigious lecture. Trethewey spoke about her mixed-race family, the "racial determinism" of her Southern upbringing, and her fondness for the sonnet, a "received European form" (2). Preempting the inevitable criticism that such forms are endemically white, privileged and male, Trethewey quoted Audre Lorde's warning that the master's tools could be never used to dismantle the master's house, but then added that in her own writing life, "I have turned to such forms to contain the subject-matter necessary to challenge the master narrative." After the applause, Robbins asked a question: "How many sonnets have to be written before someone says she received the form from a Black poet?" (2). Trethewey was silent, and then acknowledged that for her, the sonnet had indeed come from Gwendolyn Brooks, not from Europe. Forms of Contention argues that this has been true for a good while. The sonnet is no longer a form borrowed from Europe or white America but is instead one Black writers now own themselves, given the superb sonnets and sequences written by Brooks, Margaret Walker, Robert Hayden, Terrance Hayes, Marilyn Nelson and Trethewey herself. It also maintains that a distinct Black sonnet-writing tradition has been there all along but has been lost by the nineteenth-century newspaper, the anthologies of the twentieth century, and the late modernism of the Black Arts movement. The result is that a sonnet like Claude McKay's "If We Must Die" is never considered "representative" of influential Black poetry the way Langston Hughes is, and the great number of Black sonnets in newspapers and anthologies are overlooked as inauthentic and genteel. "Too many ancestors have been forgotten," Robbins writes, "too much nineteenth- and twentieth-century poetry was banished from the Black poetry canon in the 1960s because it was too 'traditional'" (2). Forms of Contention aims to correct this act of selective memory on both counts. It wants to recover the Black sonneteers from the eighteenth-century onward, and to show that their work forms an authentic tradition of influences, inheritances and rewritings, a multigenerational chain of sonnets. It succeeds admirably at the first task, but to find a "distinct genre" (118) of the African American sonnet is harder work, historically. This is not because Black poets have not brilliantly wrested the form into shapes that express distinctly African American situations and struggles. Robert Hayden's boundary-bursting sonnet "To Frederick Douglass" or Gwendolyn Brooks's "Gay Chaps" sequence about the US Navy officers penned below decks and their fiancées hemmed in at home are among the best sonnets ever written, without doubt. But the act of adapting the sonnet's pleading to new causes is also part of its tradition. Petrarch made the sonnet famous with his addresses of sexual desire and thwarted ambition, but those appeals were soon transformed into wrestlings with God, or demands for political honor to be restored, or from Milton onward, for both. Wordsworth and Southey took over Milton's enjambed lines and used them to thunder against slavery itself. In that sense, African American poets have been fully traditional from the start, Phillis Wheatley's 1768 appeal to King George: Great God, direct, and guard him from on high,And from his head let every evil fly!And may each clime with equal gladness seeA monarch's smile can set his subjects free! [End Page 242] Scholars debate the degree to which her blessing of the King for repealing the hugely unpopular Stamp Act (a tax paying for British troops in the colonies) contains a plea for other kinds of freedom. But given Wheatley's captive status, to write a sonnet to God and the sovereign at all gave the genre new vigor by giving it a new range of causes to plead. The trickier task that Forms of Contention has set itself, though, is to find a self-aware...

Archival Silence in the Collections of Dietrich Schulz-Köhn

Archival Silence in the Collections of Dietrich Schulz-Köhn