URCW Innovation Journal of Creative and Scholarly Works Volume 5/2017

Innovation: Journal of Scholarly and Creative Works

2017

Volume 5, 2017

Innovation The Journal of Creative and Scholarly Works

www.highpoint.edu/urcw/hpu-journal/ journal.urcw@highpoint.edu Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works High Point University One University Parkway High Point, NC 27268

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Editor-in-Chief

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Dr. Joanne D. Altman, PhD Director, Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Professor of Psychology

Cover design by Laura Schramm Laura Schramm, creator of Innovation’s cover design, was a nonprofit business major and graphic design minor at High Point University. Schramm won the journal cover design competition hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works in the fall of 2012. She began by brainstorming different ideas and jotting down anything she thought of in her sketch book. She decided to use light bulbs because they symbolize all majors and the trial and error it takes to come up with that one brilliant idea. Schramm graduated High Point University in May 2013 and today works as a graphic designer in North Carolina.

Copyright @ 2017 High Point University

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2017 Board of Reviewers Dr. Laura Alexander Assistant Professor of English

Dr. Shirley Disseler Associate Professor of Education and Chair of Middle Grades Education

Dr. Meredith MalburneWade Director, Office of Fellowships & Awards and Assistant Professor of English

Dr. Joanne Altman Director of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works and Professor of Psychology

Dr. Matthew Emerson Associate Professor of Design

Dr. Angela Bauer Professor and Chair of Biology

Dr. Emily Estrada Assistant Professor of Sociology

Dr. David Bergen Professor and Chair of Human Relations

Dr. Michael Grider Assistant Professor of Biology

Dr. Vern Biaett Assistant Professor of Event Management

Dr. Daniel Hall Chair and Assistant Professor of Economics

Dr. Melissa Richard Instructor of English

Dr. Jennifer Brandt Assistant Professor of English and Director of Women’s and Gender Studies

Dr. Chanyu Hao Assistant Professor of Human Relations

Dr. Suryadipta Roy Associate Professor of Economics

Dr. Tess Hegedus Assistant Professor of Education

Dr. Miguel Sahagun Assistant Professor of Marketing

Dr. Michael Kennedy Instructor of History

Dr. Aurijit Sarkar Assistant Professor of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences

Dr. Victoria Brown Assistant Professor of Visual Merchandising Design Dr. Doug Brown Associate Professor of Performance Dr. Matthew Carlson Assistant Professor of English Dr. Dinene Crater Professor of Biology Dr. Stephanie Crofton Associate Dean of Phillips School of Business and Professor of Economics

Dr. Kirsten Li-Barber Associate Professor of Psychology

Dr. Patrick McConnell Associate Professor of Communication Dr. Philip Mulder Professor of History Dr. Sarah Nielson Assistant Professor of Human Relations

Dr. Donna Scheidt Assistant Professor of English

Dr. John Linn Assistant Professor of Interior Design

Dr. Karen Summers Instructor of English

Dr. Stacy Lipowski Assistant Professor of Psychology

Dr. Peter Summers Assistant Professor of Economics

Dr. Christopher Lootens Assistant Professor of Psychology

Dr. Allison Walker Instructor of English

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Letter from the Editor-in-Chief The office of Undergraduate research and Creative Works (URCW) encourages and supports the establishment of collaborative partnerships between nurturing faculty mentors and enterprising students. Within these partnerships, critical inquiry, brainstorming, debate, and mutual discovery intertwine, leading over time to the production of finished work suitable for presentation, exhibition, and publication. This journal gives students the opportunity to follow their completed work all the way through the professional process to publication.

Thus, URCW is pleased to publish the fourth volume of the refereed journal, Innovation: Journal of Creative and Scholarly Works. In this issue, we include 14 submissions in a range of disciplines from students who have completed independent undergraduate creative or scholarly work, including a play, a documentary, and exhibited artwork. We hope this journal inspires many young scholars to consider publishing their undergraduate academic work before they graduate college.

Joanne D. Altman, Director of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Editor-in-Chief of Innovation: Journal of Creative and Scholarly Works

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Table of Contents English as “Spiritual Subjugation” in Nervous Conditions Sarah Anderle .............................................................................................................. 7 Girl Scout Internationalism During the Cold War Emalie Ashe ................................................................................................................ 13 Putting Myself in Their Shoes: A Study of Children’s Empathic Reasoning Olivia Baynes ............................................................................................................. 26 No Time for Vigilante Violence Cameron Cleveland ....................................................................................................... 37 Framing of Domestic Violence in the Media: And Exploration of India and the United States Shannon Driskell ........................................................................................................ 42 The Washington Redskins and Disparaging Trademarks: Where the Courts Are Headed Shayne Fitol ............................................................................................................... 48 How Do Commonly Measured Related Reading Constructs Correlate in a Sample of Struggling Readers?

Christina Honeycutt .................................................................................................... 56 Billets-Doux Ceili Lang ................................................................................................................... 64 Religion, Postmodernism, and Don DeLillo’s “Underworld” Kaitlyn McCracken...................................................................................................... 109 Project Scientist Intern Training Manual Ashley Rifenburg ......................................................................................................... 118 Parents and Leadership: Relationships between Parental Style, Leadership Preferences, and Personal Leadership Styles Sarah Schaible ............................................................................................................. 134 Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and its Place in the Colonial Narrative Mary Torres ................................................................................................................ 148 5

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Probing the structure-activity relationship of Escherichia coli extracellular death factor Rebecca Ulrich ............................................................................................................. 154 Appearance and Reality in Ian Rankin’s Knots and Crosses Mara Wedekind ........................................................................................................... 160

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English as “Spiritual Subjugation” in Nervous Conditions Sarah Anderle Sarah Anderle, a junior English literature and religion major, originally became interested in postcolonial literature when she read Nervous Conditions in Dr. Richard's Women Writing Worldwide class. When she was later introduced to Ngugi wa Thiong'o's theory in Dr. Carlson's Postcolonial Literature class, Anderle was reminded of Nervous Conditions and knew she wanted to explore the connection. For Anderle, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research was having the opportunity to work with Dr. Carlson and receiving an introduction to the world of research. After graduating from HPU, she plans to pursue a career in editing.

Abstract In the first chapter of Decolonising the Mind, Ngugi wa Thiong'o argues that English is a means of “spiritual subjugation” in a colonial education; because language carries culture, the dominance of the English language also results in a dominance of English culture. While this theory is centered in the debate on the language of African literature, the concepts are applicable to other settings. Nervous Conditions, a novel set in colonial Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), largely focuses on the tension between traditional Shona culture and what is termed “Englishness.” Ngugi’s concepts—that language is the carrier of culture and that English is imperialistic—are embodied particularly in the characters of Nhamo and Nyasha. Nhamo rejects his Shona language as a way of rejecting his family’s poverty. Comparatively, Nyasha's childhood in England results in the loss of her native Shona language and culture, which then drives her awareness of the colonial condition. The complexities of Nyasha's character make her an especially fascinating example of what Ngugi's theory could look like in practice.

I. n Decolonising the Mind, Ngugi wa Thiong'o contributes to the debate on the use of English in African literature, particularly through the book's first chapter, “The Language of African Literature.” This essay first sets up his argument by discussing his own experience in colonial schools in Kenya. The essay goes on further to develop an argument about the English language being a means of “spiritual subjugation” (Ngugi 9), a concept which can be further broken down into two sub-concepts: (1) that language is the carrier of culture and (2) that the English language is imperialistic. While these concepts come out of a larger debate about the language of African literature, they are applicable to the circumstances of several characters in Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions, a novel set in colonial Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe) that largely focuses on the tension between traditional Shona culture and what is termed “Englishness.” Ngugi’s concepts of English being a carrier of culture and imperialistic are

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embodied particularly in the characters of Nhamo, who rejects his Shona lanuage as a way of rejecting his family’s poverty, and Nyasha, whose childhood in England results in the loss of her native Shona language and culture, which then drives her awareness of her colonial condition.

II. Published in 1985, Decolonising the Mind is Ngugi's most important and well-known work of non-fiction. In this text, Ngugi asserts that the English language is imperialistic and is a form of “spiritual subjugation.” Ngugi prefaces this argument by relaying to the reader his own experiences in the colonial school system of Kenya. He describes starting school as “breaking the harmony” of language and culture; before attending primary school, “the language of our evening teach-ins, and the language of our immediate and wider community, and the language of our work in the field were one” (Ngugi 11). When he began his formal schooling, however, English, not his native language, was the dominant language. The ability to learn English determined whether children were considered successful or not in school: “Nobody could pass the exam [to proceed from primary to secondary school] who had failed the English language paper no matter how brilliantly he had done in the other subjects,” and the same then came to be true for graduation from university (Ngugi 12). Not only was the English language dominant, but so too was English literature – only English literature and no Kenyan literature (which was oral, and thus would have had to be presented in the Kenyan languages, not English) was taught to these Kenyan students. Ngugi argues that teaching English language and literature instead of the native languages and literatures is imperialistic: the “most important area of domination was the mental universe of the colonized, the control, through culture, of how people perceived themselves and their relationship to the world” (Ngugi 16). By teaching English language and literature, the native child is exposed only to a foreign culture – “it meant the child would now only see the world as seen in the literature of his language of adoption” (Ngugi 17) – their universe is now centered not in Kenya but in Europe, particularly Britain. As English literature replaces native literature, English culture replaces native culture.

This “domination of the mental universe” is possible because language is the carrier of culture. Ngugi sets up for the reader a system of how this occurs, which is prefaced by an assertion on the nature of language: “Language, any language, has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture” (Ngugi 13). These two functions are interrelated: communication creates culture, which language then carries. Additionally, culture carries “the entire body of values by which we come to perceive ourselves and the world” (Ngugi 16). Ngugi describes this with the metaphor of “spiritual eyeglasses,” stating, “Culture embodies those moral, ethical and aesthetic values, the set of spiritual eyeglasses, through which they come to view themselves, and their place in the universe”; this is especially important because “values are the basis of people's identity” (Ngugi 15). The native language needs to be taught in order to create and perpetuate the native culture. In teaching only English, the native culture and its values are not passed on to children, the new generation. Native children will come to view the world only through the spiritual eyeglasses of the colonising culture, leaving their own behind to fade out.

III. First published in the UK in 1987, Nervous Conditions is set in 1960s Rhodesia, a former British colony that declared its independence in 1965. The novel explores themes of race, class, gender, and particularly the psychological affects – or “nervous conditions” – of colonialism.

Narrated by a young girl named Tambu, Nervous Conditions follows several years in the lives of 8

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Tambu and her family. The patriarch of this family is Babamukuru, who attains this title due to his economic success as compared to his poor relatives. This economic success is a result of having obtained an English education. As part of his responsibility as patriarch, he pays for the oldest son from each branch of the family to get an English education in order to set the families up for future prosperity. At the beginning of the novel, he and his wife, Maiguru, and their children, Chido and Nyasha, return home to Rhodesia after a five-year stay in England where he and Maiguru were earning master’s degrees. Upon his return, he tells his brother Jeremiah that he will now start hosting Nhamo, Jeremiah's oldest son, at his own home so that Nhamo can go to the mission school of which he is headmaster. This will allow Nhamo to receive a much better education than he is currently receiving at the village school. Nhamo is excited by this, and Tambu, his sister, is jealous. Looking forward to a more privileged life at the mission, Nhamo declares, “I shall no longer be Jeremiah's son” (Dangarembga 48), disowning his father and his family's poverty. When he returns home for the first time only a year later, Nhamo “was no longer the same person” (Dangarembga 52) – he has “forgotten” his native language, speaking in broken, accented Shona to his mother only sparingly and speaking to everybody else only in English, even when spoken to in Shona; however, he suddenly can speak fluent, unaccented Shona again when an important topic of discussion comes up. These moments of sudden fluency make evident that Nhamo is purposefully rejecting his native language. Just as he disowned his father in order to distance himself from his past life of poverty, he too disowns his native language. This association of the Shona language with Shona culture – which symbolizes to Nhamo (as well as Tambu at the start of the novel) poverty – echoes Ngugi's argument that language is the carrier of culture: Nhamo rejects his culture by rejecting his own language and adopting in its place his colonizer's language, whose education system he believes will rescue him from poverty, just as it did for his uncle Babamukuru.

Nhamo's response to his English education – to stop speaking to his family – shapes his mother's opinion of what she terms “Englishness.” After Nhamo's untimely death from mumps, which he contracts at the mission, she comes to denounce this “Englishness,” seeing it as having taken her son away from her, first linguistically and then in an ultimate sense through his death (Hill 87). When Tambu tells her she is going to study at the convent school, Mainini responds negatively, telling her, “what will I, your mother, say to you when you come home a stranger full of white ways and ideas? It will be English, English all the time” (Dangarembga 184). In line with Ngugi’s argument, Mainini equates an English education with an adoption of English ways.

This opinion is also fueled by what she sees as Nyasha's inappropriate behavior following her return from England.

Ngugi's argument that language is the carrier of culture is further embodied in the character of Nyasha, for whom language and culture are inextricably linked. She spent most of her childhood – from five to ten years old – abroad in England with her parents. She returns to Rhodesia clearly changed by her time abroad: she wears English clothing – which is inappropriate in the eyes of the Shona women – and she and her brother can now only barely understand Shona. Her cousin Tambu finds this “bewildering and offending”: “Shona was our language. What did people mean when they forgot it? . . . Now they had turned into strangers” (Dangarembga 42). Forgetting one's own language is an alien concept to Nyasha's thoroughly African cousin, so much so that they no longer seem like family members but like strangers; they no longer belong. English has essentially become her first language; even a few years after returning to Rhodesia, a time span that should have given her time to re-learn Shona, Tambu observes, “when Nyasha spoke seriously her thoughts came in English” (Dangarembga 77).

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In forgetting her native language, Nyasha has also forgotten her native culture. Now holding English values instead of Shona values, she no longer knows what is appropriate in the context of Shona culture. Furthermore, Nyasha never recovers the values and thus behaviors of her native culture. This drives a wedge between her and her family, both immediate and extended.

She frequently antagonizes her father with her Anglicized behavior when she unwittingly acts against Shona values. Tambu also disapproves of Nyasha's Anglicisation, such as her Anglicized dress at her homecoming, as well as her seeming disrespect to Babamukuru. Tambu's parents “thought she was a miserable child” because of her behavior at the homecoming celebration (Dangarembga 52), as she no longer knew how to act in her native culture, and even several years later, Tambu observes that her mother “was delighted with Nyasha's bad manners” (Dangarembga 130). She also is disliked by her classmates at the mission for her Anglicisation.

Tambu, when she first starts at the mission school, is surprised to find out that the other girls do not like Nyasha because they think that “she thinks that she is white” (Dangarembga 94). Even a few years later, when Tambu goes to the convent school, Nyasha is still disliked by her classmates; Nyasha writes, “I find it more and more difficult to speak with the girls at school. . . .

They do not like my language, my English, because it is authentic and my Shona, because it is not!” as well as because she does not hold the same values as them: she does not read romance stories and “I do not feel that I am inferior to men” (Dangarembga 196). In this reasoning for why the girls at school do not like her, Nyasha herself links language and culture: they do not like her because of her language and because she does not act like, or hold, the same values as them.

Nyasha's Anglicisation links language and culture. Being bilingual, like Tambu or her parents or her classmates, is one thing – their cultural values are unaffected by knowing another language – but Anglicisation means that her behavior as well as her language is English (Gorle 187). Just as she speaks unaccented English but accented Shona, her behavior is accented: she acts in accordance not with Shona values but with English values. This lends to Ngugi's point that culture carries “the entire body of values by which we come to perceive ourselves and the world” (Ngugi 16). In England, during formative years of her life, Nyasha attended English schools that taught English culture and thus English values. She came to perceive herself and the world through the lens, the “spiritual eyeglasses,” of English values. This is seen, as mentioned, in her inappropriate behavior, but additionally in her rejection of her native culture's conceptions of modesty and respect and its patriarchal system: “it is her English schooling” – which taught her English values – “that has given her the tools with which to challenge the patriarchal assumptions of Shona culture” (Gorle 188). Similarly, and ironically, it is also her English education which has given her the tools with which to recognize and challenge colonial culture (Hill 80). Her fluency in English and her father's privilege in the colonial structure gives her the access to information about her world. At one point, Tambu reflects on Nyasha's reading choices: “She read a lot of books that were about real people, real peoples and their sufferings,” on a wide variety of historical and current events, from South Africa to Britain to World War II, “because, she said, you had to know the facts if you were ever going to find the solutions” (Dangarembga 94-95). Nyasha seeks out knowledge about political situations, desires to know about the terrible things that have happened and are happening in the world. Her English education and her intelligence, as well as her desire to be politically knowledgeable, leads Nyasha to be aware of both her colonial and hybrid identities.

Nyasha's awareness of her colonial identity is made clear throughout the novel. On several occasions, she attempts to educate Tambu on the matter of colonialism, although Tambu is 10

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skeptical of Nyasha's statements. When Tambu is trying to reason out a way to accept her parents' impending Christian wedding (despite them already being married in Shona tradition) and does this by saying that maybe the Christian way is more progressive than the Shona tradition, Nyasha rebukes her by saying, “It's bad enough when a country gets colonized, but when the people do as well! That's the end, really, that's the end” (Dangarembga 147). Similarly, when Tambu expresses her excitement over the prospect of attending the convent school, Nyasha sarcastically replies that “It would be a marvelous opportunity to forget. To forget who you were, what you were and why you were that. The process, she said, was called assimilation” (179); Nyasha sees Tambu in danger of assimilating into the colonizer's culture, of forgetting her Shona roots as Nyasha has forgotten her own, a condition which deeply troubles her.

Her awareness of colonial identity culminates in a “nervous condition” of an eating disorder, which itself culminates in a psychotic episode where she has a breakdown that she explicitly links to colonialism, saying, “I don't want to do it, Tambu, really, I don't, but it's coming, I feel it coming. They've done it to me” (Dangarembga 200). She goes on further to say that “they” do it to “all of us,” depriving “you of you, him of him, ourselves of ourselves” (Dangarembga 200).

The English have stripped Nyasha of her African identity. That her father is bound up in the system is of further trouble to her: “Daddy grovels to them. We grovel to him” (Dangarembga 200). Significantly, during this episode Nyasha takes on a Rhodesian accent, which she has not possessed through the entire novel. The breakdown soon turns violent. She shreds her history book “with her teeth” while shouting that “their” history is lies; she breaks mirrors and clay pots, “jabbing the fragments viciously into her flesh”; she tears the sheet off her bed and the clothes from her wardrobe to trample them on the floor (Dangarembga 201). When this flash of fury passes, she says, “I don't hate you Daddy. They want me to, but I won't” and curls up to sleep in her mother's lap, “looking no more than five years old” (Dangarembga 201), the age that she was when she went to England. The “they” she refers to throughout this episode is clearly the English. Her powerlessness over her hybridity, caused by her time in England, and her colonial condition, also caused by the English, have caught up with Nyasha (Gorle 186). She (rightly) blames her Anglicisation for both the divide between herself and her father and her current condition.

When Tambu observes that she is calm the next morning, Nyasha assures her that the calm is “an illusion, the eye of a storm,” stating, “'There's a whole lot more. I've tried to keep it in but it's powerful. It ought to be. There's nearly a century of it” (Dangarembga 201). In this she even more explicitly links her breakdown to the colonial condition. While the night before she spoke more specifically about her own hybrid and colonial identities, this statement links it to the colonial condition as a whole; she is grouping herself in with her entire country. In taking on a Rhodesian accent the night before and in linking her condition to her country's condition, she seeks to reclaim the Rhodesian identity that was stripped of her in England. At the end of her breakdown, right before falling asleep in her mother's lap, Nyasha tells Tambu and her parents, “Look what they've done to us. I'm not one of them but I'm not one of you” (Dangarembga 201), thereby linking her colonial condition with her cultural hybridity.

This linking is also seen a few years before this breakdown, when Tambu first arrives to live at the mission. In this incident, Maiguru excuses Nyasha's bad behavior by saying that she and her brother “are too anglicized” and that “They picked up all these disrespectful ways in England, and it's taking them time to learn how to behave at home again” (Dangarembga 74). In turn, Nyasha confides to Tambu that because they brought her and her brother with them to England, her parents are now “stuck with hybrids for children” (Dangarembga 78). She follows 11

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this by saying, “They don't like it at all. It offends them. They think we do it on purpose, so it offends them. And I don't know what to do about it, Tambu, I really don't. I can't help having been there and grown into the me that has been there” (Dangarembga 78). At this point, Nyasha is aware that she does not know how to act correctly but does not have the proper values internalized to know how she should act in this different culture. Her Anglicisation, the internalization of English values during her time abroad, irreparably separates Nyasha from her native culture (Bubvenechik 22). She is an outsider to both English and Shona cultures, is neither fully African nor fully English (Bubvenechik 26) – her Anglicisation separates her from Shona culture and her awareness of her colonial identity, while her African nationality in a colonial system prevents her from becoming part of English culture.

IV. For Nyasha, the colonial education system is a double-edged sword – it affords her a good education and her family's socioeconomic privilege, but it also leads to her hybridity and an awareness of the colonial condition. Her Anglicisation and English education forces a break in her native identity; she loses touch with her Shona background, forgetting her native language, customs, and values. As a fictional account of the psychological effects of colonialism, Nyasha's colonial identity culminates in the “nervous condition” of a psychotic episode and an eating disorder. While Nyasha's circumstances do not match up exactly with the context that Ngugi's theory stems from – what the language of African literature should be – and while Nhamo more succinctly embodies Ngugi's ideas, the complexities of Nyasha's character make her a fascinating example of what Ngugi's theory of English as “spiritual subjugation” looks like in practice.

Works Cited Bubvenechik, Milena. The Trauma of Colonial Condition in Nervous Conditions and Kiss of the Fur Queen, Anchor Academic Publishing, 2014.

Dangaremba, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. Seal Press, 1998.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o. “The Language of African Literature.” Decolonising the Mind, Heinemann, 1986, 4-33.

Gorle, Gilian. “Fighting the Good Fight: What Tsitsi Dangarembga's 'Nervous Conditions' Says About Language and Power.” The Yearbook of English Studies 27, 1997, 179-192.

Hill, Janice E. “Purging a Plate Full of Colonial History: The 'Nervous Conditions' of Silent Girls.” College Literature, 22, 1, 1995, 78-90.

Sizemore, Christine W. “Negotiating Between Ideologies: The Search for Identity in Tsitsi Dangarembga's 'Nervous Conditions.'” Women's Studies Quarterly, 25, 3, 1997, 68-82.

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Girl Scout Internationalism During The Cold War Emalie Ashe Emalie Ashe, a senior with majors in history and women's and gender studies, completed an independent study with Dr. Joey Fink during her junior year in which she examined the sociopolitical history of the Cold War with a focus on women's roles during the period. At the suggestion of the late Dr. Stitt, she chose to combine her foundational knowledge of the Cold War with the history of the Girl Scouts – an organization that she had a deep personal connection with. For Ashe, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research has been the freedom of choice to create and study her own topics. This freedom not only contributed to her enthusiasm, but allowed her to go in depth with topics that support both of her majors. Working with Dr. Jenn Brandt has allowed Ashe to become a more well-rounded and informed scholar. Through Dr. Brandt's classes, she has developed a keen understanding of feminist theory and practice as well as how those concepts largely apply to both personal lives and the world. Collaborating with Dr. Brandt has also allowed Ashe to present around the country at both the National Women's Studies Association Conference and the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders. After graduating from HPU, she will enter the Women's and Gender Studies Master's Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She then plans to enter the nonprofit sector and make meaningful change for international women's rights.

Abstract In a decade in which rampant fears of Soviet infiltration demanded the “containment” of communism within its post-WWII borders, the Girl Scouts’ promotion of international friendship and world-mindedness subverted Cold War containment policies. The international idealism of the Girl Scouts created bridges between different cultures and countries, negating the “us against them” mindset of the Cold War. By choosing to retain their international focus throughout WWII and the Cold War, the Girl Scouts challenged the status quo of the decade, becoming vulnerable to red-baiting. During the 1950s, the Girl Scouts experienced a “redscare” in which they were heavily scrutinized by right-wing personality Robert LeFevre and the Illinois Chapter of the American Legion, and were deemed to be un-American. While the Girl Scouts had a documented history of the promotion of American democracy and patriotism, its critics found what they considered to be damning evidence within the Girl Scouts’ promotion of the United Nations in their handbooks, and the organization’s focus on internationalism. By the end of the controversy, the Girl Scouts altered their handbook radically, eliminating any “misunderstandings” but continued to be a progressive, international-minded institution.

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O

n August 11, 1954, Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the nation in her nationally syndicated “My Day” newspaper column about the growing controversy over the alleged communist nature of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA). She rose in defense of the organization, stating “I am certain that nothing un-American is in the Girl Scout handbook,” and calling the accusers “screwy.” 1 How could such a trusted, formative, childhood institution be involved in a scandal? What could possibly be controversial about selling cookies and learning to make s’mores over a fire? Furthermore, how did it come to be that the First Lady had to rise in defense of the organization?

The Girl Scouts has been an influential institution in the lives of American girls and young women since its founding in 1912. Juliette Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts, started the organization in Savannah, Georgia after a visit to Lord and Lady Baden-Powell in England. Lord Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement in England after his experience with untrained soldiers in the African Boer War. During his service, Lord Baden-Powell realized that many of the soldiers were not prepared for the vigorous life in the outdoors. To help them learn, Lord Baden-Powell developed a series of games he called “Stunts in Scouting.” After returning to England victorious, he rewrote his games into a handbook called Scouting for Boys and founded the Boy Scout organization in 1908. As popularity for the Boy Scout movement increased, girls became interested and even participated in some of the early Boy Scout rallies. Before the end of 1909, some 6,000 girls were participating in the Boy Scout movement, and Lord Baden-Powell felt that the girls necessitated their own separate girl’s movement.

The Girl Guide organization was founded in response to girls’ interest in 1910 by Lord Baden-Powell’s sister, Lady Agnes Baden-Powell. Lord Baden-Powell felt that it was important to designate between the two organizations, and the titles of “scout” and “guide.” He stated: “The scout movement, so popular among boys, is unfitted for the needs of girls, but something [along] the same lines has been devised the present system giving them more womanly training for both mind and body.” 2 He chose the name “guide” distinctly because he felt that women were destined as a gender to be the mothers and “guides” of the next generation. 3 He carried this gender distinction throughout the programming of the Girl Guide organization by focusing on domestic tasks such as childcare and homemaking.

After seeing the success of these movements in Britain and its territories, Juliette Low became determined to bring the movement to the United States. In the “famous” telephone call to her cousin Nina Pape, Juliette announced that she had “something for the girls of Savannah and all America, and all the world.” 4 Low founded the Girl Scouts of the United States of America in 1912. By choosing to name the organization “Girl Scouts” she ignored Baden-Powell’s genderbased distinctions between organizational titles. Despite disagreements between Lord BadenPowell and Low on the organization’s name, the Baden-Powells remained close to the Girl Scout organization and fostered international friendship between the Girl Guide and Girl Scout organizations. 5 During the early half of the 20th century, the Girl Scout organization was both 1 Eleanor Roosevelt, “My Day, August 11, 1954,” The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition, accessed November 5, 2016, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1954&_f=md002930.

2W. J. Hoxie, How Girls Can Help Their Country: Handbook for Girl Scouts (Savannah GA.: Juliette Low, 1913), Vii. 3 Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Scouting for Girls: Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts (New York: Girl Scouts, Inc., 1920), forward.

4 Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Girl Scout Handbook (New York: Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., 1947), 15.

5 For more information, see: “To Scout or to Guide? The Girl Scout-Boy Scout Controversy, 1912-1941” by Mary Aickin Rothschild in Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 6. no. 3 (1981).

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progressive in the encouragement of development in women’s nontraditional roles and fields of knowledge, and conservative in its promotion of patriotism, civic duty and women’s traditional roles.

In the 1950s, progressive institutions and individuals were attacked and undermined under the guise of anti-communism. For example, the movie industry in Hollywood became the target of red-baiting through an investigation by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) into the influence of communist propaganda in American films. They did not escape this battle unscathed, and suffered the loss of prominent figures known as the “Hollywood Ten.” While the Girl Scouts never officially came under the scrutiny of HUAC or the fiery Senator Joseph McCarthy, they did have a “red scare” of their own. During the mid-1950s, the Girl Scout organization was scrutinized by Robert LeFevre, a prominent Florida television personality, and the Illinois Chapter of the American Legion. They both deemed the Girl Scouts to be unAmerican. While the Girl Scouts had a long documented history of the celebration of American democracy and patriotism, LeFevre and the American Legion found what they considered to be damning evidence in the Girl Scouts’ promotion of internationalism and the United Nations. By the end of the controversy, the Girl Scouts chose to rewrite their official handbook, eliminating any “misunderstandings.”

In a decade in which rampant fears of Soviet infiltration demanded the “containment” of communism within its post-WWII borders, the Girl Scouts promotion of international friendship and world-mindedness subverted Cold War containment policies. The international ideal of the Girl Scouts created bridges between different cultures and countries, negating the “us against them” mindset of the Cold War. By choosing to retain their international focus throughout WWII and the Cold War, the Girl Scouts challenged the status quo of the decade and became vulnerable to red-baiting. In short, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America was perceived as subversive and un-American during the Cold War years of 1949-1963 for their promotion of international friendship and world-mindedness.

Girl Scout Internationalism and World-Mindedness Girl Scouts has promoted a message of international friendship and world-mindedness from its inception in 1912 into the present. Early gender-based beliefs about women as naturally peaceful and peace-loving held sway during the formative years of the institution, influencing notions that girls were interested in and naturally knew how to cultivate international friendships. 6 Not only were women more likely to be interested in such friendships, but the organization felt that Americans were afforded a “greater opportunity than any people of the world to promote international friendship” due to the nation’s long and diverse immigration history. 7 As girl scouts continued to support this ideal, they developed an official definition and scope of their mission: [International Friendship] stands for friendship among people of many nations. It is based on understanding and love. It begins with within your own heart and in your own home. It spreads from home to home, community to community, and

6

Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” Bulletin of the GHI 55 (2014): 106, Accessed September 15, 2016, http://www.ghidc.org/fileadmin/user_upload/GHI_Washington/Publications/Bulletin55/bu55_105.pdf.

7 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 189.

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country to country. As it spreads it grows stronger. It brings with it peace among all the people of one nation and all the peoples of the world. 8 The Girl Scouts’ international focus centered on the peace international friendship and world-mindedness would bring to the world. Through organizational efforts and branches such as the Juliette Low Memorial Fund, international programming, badge work, humanitarianism and relief work, and direct international contact the Girl Scouts aimed to accomplish this mission.

The Juliette Low Memorial Fund allowed the Girl Scouts to financially support a number of relief and programming efforts across the world. In the early days of the Girl Scouts, the organizational contact between the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts arose primarily from a predominantly transatlantic network of social reformers and those interested in the future of youth. 9 It was not until the 1920s that a committee was formed to further international cooperation between the national movements of the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. In 1928, where the delegates from both the Girl Scouts and Girl Guides officially voted to form the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). This joint endeavor solidified the friendship and commitment to scouting that both the Girl Scouts and Girl Guides shared. Also, it formalized and codified the programming in both organizations aimed at cultivating international friendship.

The Girl Scouts took advantage of the formation of WAGGGS to announce the creation of the Juliette Low Memorial Fund. The fund was created to honor the memory of the founder of Girl Scouts, as “[Juliette Low’s] hope had always been to unite the children of many countries in common ideals and interests” and the fund was designated “’for the promotion of Girl Scouting and Girl Guiding throughout the world, as a contribution toward world peace and good will.’” 10 By the early 1940s, Juliette Low Memorial Fund contributions were celebrated in Girl Scout troops around the world with fanfare. For example, girls participated in “International Night” where girls dropped pennies into a large globe, or “Ceremonies of Pennies” where they sewed pennies into the skirts of dolls in international costume. They also made piggy banks in the shape of Our Chalet, a Girl Scout retreat center, or logs “to add to the fire of friendship between America and other lands.” 11 Throughout the next few decades, the Low Memorial Fund was used to foster relationships with Girl Guides around the world, even as war broke out in Europe and Asia. With the world divided into Axis and Ally during WWII, the Girl Scouts worked to maintain their progressive idealism about world-mindedness and international friendship. Throughout this time, they used the Memorial Fund to finance humanitarian and charity missions abroad as well as to expand the influence of Girl Scouting in other countries.

Girl Scout humanitarianism and relief efforts continually blurred the intended purpose of the Juliette Low Memorial Fund throughout WWII. As the war deepened worldwide, the line between “‘the promotion of Girl Scouting and Girl Guiding’” and the actions of charity towards 8 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 36; Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Girl Scout Handbook: Intermediate Program (New York: Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., 1953), 207.

9 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 108.

10 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook: Intermediate Program, 214.; Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 108 11 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 114.

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foreign children seemed to disappear. 12 As the world continued to divide along ideological lines, the Girl Scouts remained committed to international friendship programming and humanitarian work. For example, the Girl Scout Handbook reminded girls that “‘political boundaries change swiftly but peoples do not’” and suggested instead “’that the activities in this field be undertaken with peoples – not countries – in mind, reaffirming our belief as a member of a World Association in the possibility of peace and friendship among members of the world’s families.’” 13 By 1944, the changing landscape of world and national politics required the Girl Scouts to reexamine their internationality. As the curtains closed on WWII, the prevailing national sentiment was towards nationalism and the promotion of American patriotism. In opposition to these prevailing new Cold War sentiments, the Girl Scout organization reaffirmed its mission of internationalism by renaming the Juliette Low Memorial Fund the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund. In 1944, the Girl Scouts’ humanitarian efforts increased tenfold, as the GSUSA worked with WAGGGS to reestablish scouting as part of the effort to rebuild and re-democratize Europe.

During this period, groups of adult Girl Scouts were trained to go into Europe and aid with rebuilding. These women later worked to provide normalcy for children in displaced camps and war-torn communities as much as they were able. 14 In addition, by September of 1944, some $56,000 had been raised by the Girl Scouts in a “Victory Fund” to help re-establish guiding and scouting in allied countries. 15 These direct and financial efforts helped to re-establish scouting in Europe. Much as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan worked to re-establish democracy in the war-torn and communist-susceptible European nations following WWII, the direct efforts of the Girl Scout Organization and the financial support of the Juliette Low Friendship Fund helped the Girl Scouts to maintain a sense of democracy and normalcy in young women’s lives across the world through scouting.

As the rebuilding effort continued and waned, a shift towards conducting friendships with girls in other nations through a proxy of goods began to take place. By 1955, the World Friendship Fund had paid for a myriad of humanitarian and charity efforts across the world. 16 The varied usage of the Fund allowed for these projects to be done under the guise of international friendship. More directly, girls participated in the proxy of goods through the “Friendship Bags” and “Schoolmates Overseas” programs. “Friendship Bags” was a program that connected war-torn communities of girls and young women to American scouts. The scouts were encouraged to fill a drawstring bag with little articles that were “commonplace to us but precious to girls who have not had them in years.” 17 The “Schoolmates Overseas” program intended to anchor international friendship within the activity of troops nationwide, as girls were encouraged to make and fill bags with school supplies and a small prize. The bags and their contents were meant to “’express the Girl Scout’s friendly interest in the welfare and happiness of children in other lands’” as well as the belief that “’by making education a little easier for the 12

Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 109.

13 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 114.

14 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 110.

15 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 110 - 111.

16 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook: Intermediate Program, 213.

17 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 115.

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youth of all nations they can help to safeguard the future of democracy in the world.’” 18 These examples of charity through the exchange of commodities demonstrate how the Girl Scouts fostered international friendship through a proxy of goods.

In addition to the internationalism founded through the financial and direct efforts of the organization, it also celebrated and recognized several international holidays. “Thinking Day,” which celebrates the birthday of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell was established in 1926 and is celebrated on February 22. On this day, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides send greetings and thoughts to friends in other parts of the world, reminding them of “the friendship that exists among the countries that have Scouts and Guides.” 19 Girl Scouts also celebrate International Month in February, “[giving] special thought to things that are of importance to all people, such as good will, peace and health.” 20 These official organizational events helped to solidify internationalism within the Girl Scout organization and individual troops by identifying a specific time for international sentiment.

The official ideology of Girl Scout internationalism was cultivated through the combination of two theories on commonality. The first was that the shared experience of scouting could form an entryway into an understanding of common humanity. The second posited that through the universalized vision of childhood, childhood innocence could trump national biases. The synthesis of these two theories formed the founding impulses of the WAGGGS movement and Girl Scout internationalism. The field of activities promoted by the Girl Scout organization worked to cultivate a reciprocal relationship between girls of the world based on this same understanding of commonality. For example, “rather than emphasizing the ‘funny’ and ‘queer’ customs of other countries, the Girl Scouts ‘[were] striving to substitute a more sympathetic point of view – one that is based on a respect for human personality and achievement.’” 21 Girl Scout programming and institutional language reflected this ideology.

International friendship and world-mindedness were incredibly important to the Girl Scouts.

In the 1950s, the organization intensified its focus on world friendship. The global orientation of the movement had been gaining momentum, and throughout the decade Girl Scouts recognized their worldwide sisterhood through various international activities and events. For example, girls learned about songs, holidays, meals, and handicrafts from different foreign lands, and also how to say familiar phrases in foreign tongues. 22 This emphasis on internationalism continued through the organization’s badge work and programming.

In 1947, the Girl Scout Handbook encouraged girls to become citizens of the world through the promotion of internationalism and world friendship. Through badges like “Interpreter” girls were encouraged to become literate in world languages. 23 The “Western Hemisphere” and “World Neighbor” badges encouraged girls to become knowledgeable about other countries, and to imagine what it would be like to become an ambassador for the United States in another land. 24 Girls learned appreciation for items made outside of America, and the contributions of immigrants to American life through the “World Gifts” badge. 25 The combined knowledge and 18 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 116.

19 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook: Intermediate Program,46.

20 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 39.

21 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 111.

22 Girl Scouts of the United States of America, 75 Years of Girl Scouting (New York: Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., 1986), 25.

23 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 430-431.

24 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 434-435, 437-438.

25 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 435-436.

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appreciation for world culture that girls learned from the earning of these badges is a testament to the internationalism of the Girl Scouts. Through these badges, the Girl Scouts of the post-war period learned a sense of commonality that was contradictory to the Cold War propaganda promoting the supremeness of capitalism and democracy.

Most Girl Scouts learned an international appreciation through their badge work, however, a limited number of Girl Scouts had the opportunity to directly engage with Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from other countries through World Centers. 26 World Centers were places that international Girl Scouts and Girl Guides gathered such as “Our Cabana” in Cuernavaca, Mexico and Our Chalet in Adelboden, Switzerland. Our Cabana was a World Center designed to “’foster intercultural exchanges and friendship among its members’” 27 It was one of the most accessible World Centers to American Girl Scouts, who could easily travel across the Mexican border. At Our Cabana, the Girl Scouts participated in community service projects at the nearby Mexican villages. Through these interactions, “WAGGGS leaders presented the interactions with villagers as a reminder that all people, even those who ‘live in a remote, primitive village in Mexico are interested in world affairs and international friendship.’” 28 Through their Our Cabana experience, girls learned that there could be greater social stability through international friendships. A clear example of this is found in the “Our Cabana Song” in which girls’ efforts were described as causing “’world friendship to increase’ and ‘international peace,’” depicting the Cabana as an exotic, transformative place that collapsed girls’ cultural differences and captured scenes of a multiracial community. 29 Our Chalet was the international home of the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The Juliette Low Memorial Fund, later named the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund, paid for Girl Scouts and Girl Guides to participate in a two week stay here. 30 Because their stay was funded through the financial backing of the organization, only a limited number of Girl Scouts participated in a stay at Our Chalet. Much like Our Cabana, Our Chalet also had a song that explicitly stated its mission to collapse cultural differences and create a multiracial community: High up, high on the mountain, We’ve founded our Chalet; And this its dedication Shall never fail nor be undone: Each race, each creed, each nation, Beneath its roof are one. 31 Through stays at Our Cabana or Our Chalet, a limited number of Girl Scouts participated in the multicultural and international efforts of the Girl Scouts and Girl Guides, and learned to appreciate the cultural differences between themselves and others.

There were other methods of direct contact other than a stay at a World Center. Similarly to stays at Our Cabana and Our Chalet, a limited number of international Girl Scouts and Girl 26 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 112.

27 Marcia Chatelain, “International Sisterhood: Cold War Girl Scouts Encounter the World,” Diplomatic History 38, no. 2 (2014): 261, accessed November 7, 2016, doi: 10.1093/dh/dhu0003.

28 Chatelain, “International Sisterhood,” 268.

29 Chatelain, “International Sisterhood,” 264.

30 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 108.

31 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook: Intermediate Program, 56-57.

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Guides were afforded camping excursions at “Jubilees” held in the United States. For example, in 1937 the Girl Scouts hosted a Silver Jubilee in honor of the 25th anniversary of Girl Scouts in the United States. At this celebration, twenty-six girls from around the world joined seventy-four American girls in camping. 32 The International Post Box matched Girl Scouts and Girl Guides internationally with pen pals. Girl Scouts were encouraged to think that by becoming a pen pal, they were becoming an ambassador for their country. 33 Through this experience, they were forced to think about how they would best represent their culture and community to an international friend.

Throughout the 1950s, the Girl Scouts were awarded for their work as a patriotic and formative institution in the lives of American girls. In 1950, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America were incorporated under a Congressional Charter, signed by Harry Truman. This charter stated the organizations purpose as to promote the qualities of truth, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courtesy, purity, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, thriftiness and kindred virtues among girls, as a preparation for their responsibilities in the home and for service to the community … with the highest ideals of character, patriotism, conduct and attainment. 34 In 1951, the organization was given a Freedoms Foundation award for “outstanding contributions to freedom” and for “Significant work in building a better understanding on the American way of life.” 35 In 1953, the Girl Scouts made a renewed commitment to diversity by adopting a policy that emphasized that “’race, religion, national heritage or economic status’” should not prohibit participation in the organization. 36 The Girl Scouts were a recognized institution for their work towards the betterment of the nations’ youth.

Girl Scouts Perceived as Subversive The Girl Scouts were recognized as a formative organizational pillar in the lives of American girls, however, had they become too progressive? The mid-1950s was a moment of crisis, a point where nervous Cold War paranoia might have destroyed the movement. 37 To be accused of fomenting a Communist agenda was serious business, and the subsequent legal ramifications would have crippled the Girl Scouts. In addition to the potential loss of reputation and membership, the Girl Scouts also faced devastating tax consequences if it lost its nonprofit status through partisan commentary about the United Nations. 38 Had national leaders not deftly and quickly navigated urgent, delicate compromises, the Girl Scout organization would not have emerged through their “red scare” with limited consequences.

The crisis began in California in 1953 when a member of the right-wing group America Plus noted that the Girl Scouts celebrated International Thinking Day, a longstanding celebration in the organization, rather than highlighting George Washington’s birthday. The watchdog interpreted that this demonstrated the “creeping influence of subversive internationalism in youth 32 Emily Swafford, “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From Progressive-Era Roots to Cold War Fruit,” 109.

33 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 196.

34 The Girl Scouts of the United States of America, and Betty Christiansen, Girl Scouts: A Celebration of 100 Trailblazing Years, (New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2011), 102.

35 Girl Scouts and Christiansen, 100 Years, 105.

36 Chatelain, “International Sisterhood,” 263.

37 Susan H. Swetnam, “Look Wider Still: The Subversive Nature of Girl Scouting in the 1950s,” Frontiers 37, no. 1 (2016): 91 38 Swetnam, “Look Wider Still,” 94.

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organizations,” rather than the organization’s emphasis on a beneficial type of internationalism. 39 Along with this accusation came the allegation that the Girl Scouts were supporting communism, because the Girl Scout Leader Magazine had favorably reviewed two books by Langston Hughes and Dorothy Canfield Fisher, both identified communists. Editorial critiques of the Girl Scout organization began to appear across the country, and outraged correspondence began to flow into the national headquarters in New York City.

The controversy came to a boiling point when Robert Lefevre, a prominent author and television personality from Florida, entered the scene. The Broward County Girl Scout Council in Florida had invited him to speak at one of their council meetings, however they rescinded the invitation after learning of his previously fiery criticism against the United Nations. 40 After this interaction, LeFevre was left with animosity and began an investigation into the Girl Scouts. He studied both the 1940 and 1953 versions of the Girl Scout Handbook, and came to the same conclusion as the watchdogs who were outraged at the Girl Scouts.

While LeFevre considered the 1940 version of the handbook patriotic, because of the prominent figuring of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, he condemned the 1953 version of the handbook as UN propaganda promoting socialized medicine, agricultural experiments, prejudice and other harmful anti-American values. He published these findings in an article titled “Even the Girl Scouts” on March 31, 1954 in his newspaper Human Events and the article was syndicated nationally, sparking outrage from groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Minute Women, the National Economic Council, and the Pro-Constitution League. 41 While it may seem that LeFevre had ample evidence to support his claims, his article in fact took small quotes from certain passages in the handbook, exerting a type of straw man argument. He chose to ignore the large sections on patriotism and citizenship, instead attacking the smaller sections and mentions of internationalism and the United Nations.

For example, LeFevre took considerable notice of the “One World” badge, which required that scouts: “List all the ways Girl Scouts and your troop can assist in furthering the ideals of the United Nations and explain why the organization should have the support of every citizen.” 42 LeFevre took issue with the United Nations requirement, which formed the basis of his argument. This required task is one of two mentions of the United Nations. The other optional task for the “One World” badge is to create a quiz game about the United Nations for a troop program. 43 This focus on such a small part of the handbook demonstrates how weak and unfounded his accusation was.

When LeFevre published his article, the Girl Scout organization was already in the middle of revising the current handbook. Based on reader responses, editors planned to better distinguish between the United Nations and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, and to reinclude the full text of citizenship documents such as the Bill of Rights. 44 They compiled these changes into a twelve-page pamphlet, detailing the corrections to be made, and also compiled them into an insert, in which Girls could “update” their old handbooks with to the current version. 45 In this pamphlet, they made a conscious and poignant change to the “One World” 39

Swetnam, “Look Wider Still,” 94 “Sheehan Remarks,” in Congressional Record – Appendix (Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1954), A4941.

41 Swetnam, “Look Wider Still,” 95 42 Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Handbook, 432 -433.

43 Ibid.

44 Robertson, “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part one.”

45 Girl Scouts of the United States of America, “Changes in the Girl Scout Handbook Intermediate Program (1953 Edition),” (New York: Girl Scouts of the United States of America, 1954).; Swetnam, “Look Wider Still,” 96.

40

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badge, renaming it the “My World” badge and removed the required tasks of learning about the United Nations. Instead, girls could optionally learn about the specific tasks the United Nations carries out in regards to the welfare of children. 46 LeFevre pounced on the pamphlet, taking full credit for triggering the revisions. To some observers, the changes to the handbook suggested that LeFevre and earlier critics were correct in that the Girl Scout organization had been trying to undermine the American government. The Girl Scout organization quickly rebutted this claim, announcing that the changes were made previous to LeFevre’s criticism. The GSUSA President Olivia Layton wrote in a memo to council presidents that the changes were made “to clear up misunderstandings and do not represent any change in the basic beliefs of the organization” insisting that they had never been un-American or subversively international. 47 These rebuttals did little to slow the controversy, and it soon spread to Congress. B.J. Grigsby, editor of the Spoon River Journal and prominent Chicago businessman contacted the Girl Scout organization to address the issue of Girl Scout subversiveness following his reading and reprinting of LeFevre’s article. Unsatisfied with the response he received from Leonard Lathrop, head of public relations at the organization, he took the issue to his congressmen. 48 On July 2, 1954 Illinois congressman Timothy P. Sheehan read LeFevre’s article into the Congressional Record, adding his own concern that a badge in the handbook required knowledge of the United Nations, but no badge required scouts to memorize passages from the Declaration of Independence or a statement from the Constitution. 49 While this was true, there was a documented focus on citizenship and American patriotism throughout the previous versions of the handbook due to the inclusion of key patriotic documents such as the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence, demonstrating again that critics of the movement were focusing on isolated comments throughout the text. In truth, there are mentions of the United Nations, but the Girl Scouts considered knowledge of the organization to be a part of scouts’ citizenship in the United States, as the United States was a member of the United Nations.

On July 12, 1954, Illinois congressman Edgar Jonas introduced correspondence between Grigsby and Leonard Lathrop. The Girl Scout controversy was surely heating up in Congress. In response, the Girl Scouts mobilized their supporters in Congress and across the nation. On July 21, 1954 representative Robert Kean of New Jersey read an article at the request of the Girl Scouts into the Congressional Record. The article was written by Dr. Lillian Gilbreth of Rutgers University and was entitled “Girl Scouting: One Answer to Communism.” 50 Indiana congressman Charles Brownson introduced another rebuttal from Indianapolis civic leader John Burkhart on July 26th in support of the Girl Scouts. Even Timothy P. Sheehan was forced to backtrack on his previous condemnation, as on July 27 he read a statement from the Girl Scout organization president Olivia Layton outlining the revisions already underway in the handbooks.

The tide had begun to turn again in favor of the Girl Scouts. By 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy had been condemned by the Senate, equivocally ending his controversial investigation into suspected communists in the U.S. society. In response, Americans began to look past the

46 46

Girl Scouts of the United States of America, “Changes in the Girl Scout Handbook Intermediate Program (1953 Edition).”

Robertson, “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part one.”

48 “Jonas Remarks,” in Congressional Record – Appendix (Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1954), A4986.

49 “Sheehan Remarks,” A4941.

50 “Kean Remarks,” in Congressional Record – Appendix (Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1954), A4986.

47

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red-baiting of McCarthy, LeFevre, and other right-wing organizations and remember the heritage of organizations such as the Girl Scouts as a patriotic and civic-minded.

Soon after the favorable congressional response, the Girl Scouts again lost ground. The Illinois State American Legion Convention issued a resolution that condemned the Girl Scouts as subversive and un-American. 51 On August 5, 1954 Edward Clamage, head of the AntiSubversive Commission for the Illinois American Legion convention introduced this resolution, without examining the handbook himself or contacting the Girl Scout organization. 52 Regardless of the fact that the local Girl Scout Council had mobilized and informed him about the revisions already gone to press, Clamage went ahead with the resolution.

On August 6, 1954, the resolution became official. In the resolution speech Clamage repeated, almost verbatim, Leferve’s accusations, and rekindled the accusation that the Girl Scouts promoted pro-Communist authors. The effects of the Convention’s resolution were shortlived, as a national outcry in support of the Girl Scouts emerged nationwide to mock the resolution. This was a significant moment in the saga of the Girl Scouts, as the public had not previously been involved in the defense of the organization.

The Chicago Daily News mocked the incident by calling it an example of “’berserk patriotism,’” and the American Veterans National Capital Post 15 told the New York Times that they had conducted their own investigation and determined that the “[Girl Scouts] favor marshmallows and Gregory Peck. They oppose homework and mosquito bites. None of these are on the Attorney General’s [subversive] list.”53 Perhaps the best example in support of the Girl Scouts came in the form of a cartoon by Herbert Block published in the Washington Post that announced “Stand Fast Men --- They’re Armed With Marshmallows,” and depicted the members of the Illinois Chapter as buffoons reading a book called “How To Detect Subversion And Witchcraft” (see page 20). This renewed support in favor of the Girl Scouts demonstrated that despite their history of internationalism and world-mindedness, most people did not consider the Girl Scouts to have a subversive agenda.

While it may seem that the national mockery had quieted the controversy, it was not yet over. The Girl Scouts again prepared for a rebuttal of the charges that they were subversive and un-American. Olivia Layton, the organization’s president, issued a response on August 9, 1954, rejecting the “’unwarranted and unfair charges she felt were laid against the Girl Scouts. 54 During the three days between the resolution and the rebuttal, Layton had also had several telephone calls with Irving Breakstone, the commander of the Illinois American Legion convention, who was reportedly embarrassed by the resolution. Breakstone told the Chicago Sun-Times that he “deplored ‘the method used to call attention to the mistakes made by the scouts’ leaders. It was unnecessary because the scouts themselves already were in the process of making corrections.’” 55 Later in the month, the national American Legion convention was held, and they expressed a different concern than the Illinois convention. The national convention commended the Girl Scouts for taking action and revising the handbook, but they called on the Girl Scouts to disclose

51 The American Legion Department of Illinois, “Resolution No. 33”, August 5-8, 1954, (Chicago: The American Legion Department of Illinois, 1954).

52 Ann Robertson, “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part three,” Girl Scout History Project (blog), Girl Scout Council Nation’s Capital, August 7, 2014, https://gshistory.com/2014/08/07/the-girl-scout-red-scare-part-three.

53 Robertson, “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part three.”

54 Robertson, “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part three.”

55 Robertson, “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part three.”

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the author(s) of the handbook and whether they were still employed by the Girl Scouts. The controversy was now coming to a close.

The last blows came from long-time liberal friends of the Girl Scouts, who were upset that the Girl Scouts had made any revisions at all. “Girl Scouts in Retreat” wrote Ben H. Bagdikian in Providence Journal and later adopted for Atlantic Monthly. He accused them of “purging” the handbook. 56Other criticism came from Edward Ely Curtis, a Wellesley professor, who asked “What’s the matter with you people? Can’t you stand on your own feet and do your own thinking? What has become of the progressive, forward-looking spirit [of] Girl Scouts in the past?” Many within the organization itself also did not agree with the changes, as one Massachusetts Council Leader wrote that she “’did not wholly approve of such immediate changes in the new handbook’” and that she “wanted the Girl Scout magazine, American Girl, made widely available so that ‘girls, particularly in rural areas, [gain] a greater feeling of belonging to an important international organization.’” 57 By early 1956, the controversy was effectively over. Despite the criticism of long-time friends of the Girl Scouts, the organization had emerged a little shaken from the controversy, but not entirely beaten. They compromised some of their world-minded focus to appease their far-right accusers.

Conclusion The Girl Scouts of the United States of America has always been an internationally minded organization. During the Cold War years of 1949-1963, the policies and emphasis of the United States government on issues such as anti-communism and containment heavily created a culture in which internationalism was subversive. Despite the Girl Scout organizations heavy emphasis on patriotism and citizenship, a selective read of the document by key far-right political persons in the Cold War led to the denunciation of the Girl Scouts as a subversive organization. The controversy outlined and reaffirmed the organization’s goals as an international organization, and emphasized the innocent nature of the internationality of the Girl Scouts.

This history of the Girl Scout Organization is an important and unhighlighted area of Cold War history. Through an examination of this phenomena, we can see that the organization was an innocent victim in the sweeping anti-communism that was taking place around the nation. The Girl Scouts survived this ordeal by compromising some of the language surrounding their internationalist ideals, and their promotion of the United Nations. While this quick compromise helped the Girl Scouts to escape the clutches of red-baiting, the changes in the institutional language led many to question the steadfastness of the organization.

Despite the Cold War controversy surrounding the Girl Scouts, they are continuing to be a pillar of girlhood for girls across the world. Over 2.7 million girls in 92 countries across the world participate in Girl Scouts, demonstrating their ability to remain a progressive institution in the lives of girls and young women around the globe.

Bibliography Block, Herbert. “Stand Fast, Men … They’re Armed With Marshmallows.” Cartoon. The Washington Post, August 11, 1954. From Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblock/images/hblock6.jpg Chatelain, Marcia. “International Sisterhood: Cold War Girl Scouts Encounter the World.”

Diplomatic History 38, no. 2 (2014): 261-270. doi: 10.1093/dh/dhu0003 56 57

Swetnam, “Look Wider Still,” 97.

Chatelain, “International Sisterhood,” 236.

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Congressional Record - Appendix. Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1954.

Gilbreth, Lillian Moller. “Girl Scouting – One Answer to Communism.” Leader, October, 1954.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America, and Betty Christiansen. Girl Scouts: A Celebration of 100 Trailblazing Years. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2011.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America. 75 Years of Girl Scouting. New York: Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., 1986.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America. Changes in the Girl Scout Handbook Intermediate Program (1953 Edition). New York: Girl Scouts of the United States of America, 1954.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America. Girl Scout Handbook. New York: Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., 1947.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America. Girl Scout Handbook: Intermediate Program. New York: Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., 1953.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America. Scouting for Girls: Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts. New York: Girl Scouts, Inc., 1920.

Hoxie, W. J. How Girls Can Help Their Country: Handbook for Girl Scouts. Savannah GA.: Juliette Low, 1913.

Robertson, Ann. “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part four.” Girl Scout History Project (blog), Girl Scout Council Nation’s Capital, November 6, 2014. https://gshistory.com/2014/11/06/thegirl-scout-red-scare-part-four/ Robertson, Ann. “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part one.” Girl Scout History Project (blog), Girl Scout Council Nation’s Capital, May 1, 2014. https://gshistory.com/2014/05/01/the-girlscout-red-scare-part-one/ Robertson, Ann. “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part three.” Girl Scout History Project (blog), Girl Scout Council Nation’s Capital, August 7, 2014. https://gshistory.com/2014/08/07/thegirl-scout-red-scare-part-three/ Robertson, Ann. “The Girl Scout Red Scare, part two.” Girl Scout History Project (blog), Girl Scout Council Nation’s Capital, May 9, 2014. https://gshistory.com/2014/05/09/the-girlscout-red-scare-part-two/ Roosevelt, Eleanor. “My Day, August 11, 1954” The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition.

Accessed November 5, 2016. https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1954&_f=md002930.

Swafford, Emily. “The Challenge and Promise of Girl Scout Internationalism: From ProgressiveEra Roots to Cold War Fruit.” Bulletin of the GHI 55 (2014): 105-124. Accessed September 15, 2016. http://www.ghidc.org/fileadmin/user_upload/GHI_Washington/Publications/Bulletin55/b u55_105.pdf Swetnam, Susan H. “Look Wider Still: The Subversive Nature of Girl Scouting in the 1950s.”

Frontiers 37, no. 1 (2016): 90-114.

The American Legion Department of Illinois. Resolution No. 33. August 5-8, 1954. Chicago: The American Legion Department of Illinois, 1954.

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Putting Myself in Their Shoes: A Study of Children’s Empathetic Reasoning Olivia Baynes Olivia Baynes, a senior psychology major with a Spanish minor, has a passion for developmental psychology and childhood development through the social world. She is intrigued by the kindness of children and the interactions they have with others. After discussing empathy in children during a developmental psychology class her sophomore year, she was ready to study further into the topic. Baynes has enjoyed working with one of her favorite professors, Dr. Li-Barber, on a research project that she is so passionate about. Through the past two years, she has learned more about the research process and has had the opportunity to be involved in High Point University’s Summer Research Institute (SuRI). This program helped her to present her research clearly and encouraged her to be a researcher in all aspects of her life. Baynes credits undergraduate research with having given her more confidence, curiosity, and character. Through working with mentor Dr. LiBarber, Baynes has learned how to be responsible, confident, and professional. She credits her mentor for being incredibly encouraging, supportive, and present for the past two years they have worked together. After graduating from High Point University, Baynes plans to attend occupational therapy school for a master's degree and eventually work with children in the public school system.

Abstract The purpose of the current study was to test Ekman’s (2007) theory of empathic development as formed out of three distinctive domains of empathic reasoning: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. In addition, the validity of a newly developed measure of empathic reasoning, which relies on child responses rather than parent responses was tested using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (Spreng 2009), an established, parent-based measure of empathic development in children. Participants included 27 children, ranging in age from 3-12 years of age and their primary caregivers drawn from local communities and schools. Results indicated no significant correlation between the newly developed measure of empathy and the established measure of empathy. Overall, there was no significant correlation between child age and empathic developed using both measures, although girls only reported significant correlations between chronological age and both cognitive and emotional empathic development, and empathic reasoning was positively correlated with total empathy scores on the Toronto Questionnaire. No significant gender differences related to empathic development were found. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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A

s children grow and develop, their cognitive capacities including the ability to engage in empathic reasoning increase (Zahn-Waxler, 1992). Empathy can be described as the ability to understand and share the feelings of others (Roy, 2010), and empathic development occurs through increasingly frequent and complex social interactions and interpersonal relationships between parents, peers and the community (Poole, 2015). Research pertaining to the study of empathic development has predominately conceptualized “empathy” as a single construct (Spreng, 2009). However, Ekman (2007) suggests that empathic reasoning is the summation of three distinct facets of empathic development: cognitive, emotional and compassionate empathy. While there exists some research to support this theory (Leiburg, 2006), little systematic research examining the presence of three distinctive aspects of empathic development exists. More specifically, to what degree do certain individual characteristics, such as age of the child or their gender, influence the development of each of these different facets of empathy.

During the first months of life, one-on-one interactions between an infant and its primary caregiver represent a crucial time for children to develop empathic behavior. Some of the first signs of empathic development is an infant’s ability to imitate the emotional expressions of others (Malatesta, 1982), crying and cooing during certain social situations (Martin & Clark, 1982), and to respond to perceived distress of other infants (Zahn-Waxler, 1979). These signs and actions are believed to be precursors of human empathic ability (Hoffman, 1975). Between eighteen months and two years of age, children are able to understand that people have experiences that differ from their own. Children during this stage will begin to express their thoughts and feelings verbally as well as through physical actions and more advanced helping behaviors (Zahn-Waxler 1992), and by the preschool years, children show more pro-social helping behavior in response to real-life situations and are willing to display affection in order to comfort others, (Zahn-Waxler, 1992).

By early childhood, children typically develop the ability to think beyond the self and into the needs, wants, and viewpoints of others. Children will consider two approaches and visions and have the ability to choose the perspective that is outside of their own mind or view (Wellman 2001). A longitudinal study completed by Eisenburg and colleagues (1999) observed children in their natural environment as well as through self-report of the students and friends. This study demonstrated that a large increase of one understanding the idea of sharing and engaging in prosocial dispositions seen in middle to later childhood could be part of an empathic personality that develops throughout childhood (Eisenburg, 1999).

The bulk of the research examining empathic development in children has been done with the assumption that “empathy” represents a single unified construct of socio-emotional ability.

However, Ekman (2007) has argued that empathy is actually a broader construct that is made up of three distinct dimensions of empathic reasoning. Ekman (2007) suggests that empathy can clearly be broken down into three sub categories including: cognitive empathy, the ability to think about others’ thoughts; emotional empathy, feeling and demonstrating the matching emotions of others; and compassionate empathy, which is the motivation to help a person in a given situation. Ekman’s approach to understanding empathy reflects an understanding of empathy as being expressed in different ways (behaviorally, cognitively and emotionally).

Especially in children, the development of empathy may occur at different rates for different types of empathic understanding. However overall empathic development within these three domains reflects overall greater compassion and caring for others although recognition of the potential multi-dimensional nature of empathy has been recognized (Preston & DeWaal, 2002).

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Research on the multi-dimensional approach to empathy is limited. For example, Coke, Batson and McDavis (1978) conducted a study analyzing empathy as a two-dimensional model including emotional and compassionate empathy. Some of the research examining the cognitive component of empathy has conceptualized it in items of taking another’s perspective, which overlap heavily with the construct of theory of mind (Lawrence, et al., 2004), which is not the same thing as empathic reasoning.

An additional layer of complexity in understanding the development of empathic reasoning in children is evidence that gender differences in both development of empathic reasoning skills and empathic behavior arise early in life (Ang, 2010). From birth, boys and girls are raised differently with different messages regarding emotionality and social skills (Ang, 2010), and as a result, empathic reasoning is expressed differently (Chaplin, 2012). During the school years, as gender identity and peer support increases, communication and empathic skills increase in number (Malatesta, 1988), and much of the gender differences observed and empathic expression may be due to identification with gendered stereotypes, such as “boys don’t cry” and girls are “sugar and spice” (Chaplin, 2012). Quickly, children learn what actions, communication skills, and sense of cognitive thinking is appropriate (Denham, 2011).

Gender differences in empathic development may also be due in part to biological differences between the sexes that have existed since early prenatal development (Zahn-Waxler, 2008). Gender differences in emotions are based on a combination of predispositions and socialization skills that are instilled by nature as well as cultural nurturing and because of natural gender differences that occur in early infancy, society will respond by positively reinforcing behaviors that are acceptable in their gender’s culture (Weinburg, 1999). Boys are also born with higher levels of testosterone which can increase the possibility for boys to demonstrate high levels of aggression in certain situations (Chaplin, 2012). On the other hand, girls are likely to express emotions of fear, worry, and the need of social support and are more likely to be more open about their problems (Chaplin, 2012).

Knowing that empathic development of children is a vital part of communication and socialization skills, there are several gaps in the current research. Previous research has not systematically or conclusively examined whether empathy is truly a uni-dimensional construct, or whether it can be broken down into smaller components as Ekman (2007) has proposed. In addition, the method of assessing empathic reasoning in young children generally relies primarily on caregiver data, which may not necessarily reflect the knowledge that a child has about empathic behavior or reasoning. For research and successful developmental studies on the child’s moral thinking and reasoning, a measure that examines directly how children understand and reason about social situations can provide additional insight into the development of empathy in children.

The purpose of the current study was to examine, using Ekman’s theory of three distinct facets of empathy, the development of cognitive, emotional and behavioral empathy in school age children and the relationship between the presence of these dimensions of empathy and the chronological age and gender of the child. To do this, we developed a new measure of empathy based on Ekman’s theory that reflects the possibility of a three-dimensional model of empathic development, but that also relies on child-generated responses rather than parent responses.

While parents have the means of providing some insight into their child’s social skills development, it is possible that by directly assessing a child’s own though processes regarding a social situation, we may get a better understanding about how children reason through, and anticipate acting upon, social situations. It was hypothesized that there would be a gender

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difference in empathic reasoning such that girls would, in general, show higher scores on the dimension of emotional empathy than boys, but that boys would show higher levels of behavioral empathy than girls. No gender-based hypothesis was made regarding the dimension of cognitive empathy because while evidence suggests children may be socialized to behave differently in empathic situations, there is no evidence that they may actively think about empathic situations in different ways. Second, we hypothesized that older children would show higher scores on all three dimension of empathic reasoning than younger children, reflecting the developmental trend that increased age would be associated with increased empathic reasoning skills. Finally, it was hypothesized that the Child Empathy Interview (CEI) subscale of empathic reasoning would correlate positively with an existing parent-based measure of empathy, thus providing initial evidence of concurrent validity for the CEI measure as a method of assessing empathic reasoning in children.

Method Participants Participants (N = 28, 17 female) in this study included children between the ages of 36-144 months. (M age=85.11 months, SD =26.96 months). The majority of the participants identified as Caucasian (92.9%) and Asian (7.1%). Parent ethnicity remained parallel with the child showing a predominantly Caucasian (92.9%) ethnic background, and Asian (7.1%) Parent participants ranged in age from 29 to 67 years (M=39.20 years, SD=7.44) and most parents had received post-baccalaureate education (42.9%) while 35.7% stated they had completed a four-year degree, 17.9% a two-year degree and 3.6% only received a high school diploma. Most parent data were collected from the biological mother (78.6%), with the remainder completed by the biological father (17.9%) and one individual identified as other or did not participate in this question (3.6%). Participants were recruited in schools and in the local community by distribution of paper packets and posting flyers in public community buildings.

Materials Parent participants completed a standard demographic questionnaire asking questions about both themselves and their child as well as a copy of the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ; Spreng, 2009), a well-validated measure of empathic development in children that is typically completed by a parent or caregiver. The TEQ is based on the main idea of empathy; this is the idea of one’s emotional feelings and perceptions in a given situation (Spreng, 2009). The questionnaire is organized along a 4-point Likert scale and the statements within the measure reflect behaviors a parent might observe in their child that reflect empathic development. Sample questions include: “It upsets me to see someone being treated disrespectfully and I enjoy making others feel happy.” Examination of the psychometric properties of the TEQ has indicated high convergent validity as it correlated positively with a similar self-reported measure of empathy, the Empathy Quotient, r = .80, p < .001, as well as discriminant validity, as it negatively correlates with the Autism Quotient, r = -.33, p < .01, a measure of autism spectrum thought processes and behaviors.

The Child Empathy Interview (CEI) is a measure of empathy that was developed specifically for this study, and relies solely on verbal responses from children. Using Ekman’s (2007) theory as a basis for the measures’ development, four short story scenarios were developed to specifically target ethical dilemmas that the authors believed would be typical of the types of experiences younger school aged children might experience. Each story was

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accompanied by a colorful card depicting cartoon characters created using a computer program.

These pictures allowed the child to follow the story line more clearly and to understand which character the researcher was asking about in the questions. Each scenario was then paired with questions that were geared towards a multi-dimensional approach to empathy. The questions were based on the author’s understanding of Ekman’s theory of empathy, and targeted three dimensions of empathic reasoning. For example, a question measuring cognitive empathy would ask “What is the character thinking? Why?” (see Appendix A for sample scenario and accompanying interview questions). These questions were geared to address Ekman’s three facets of empathy: cognitive, emotional and compassionate. After the child was read each scenario, he/she was asked a set of three questions that delved into each facet. We chose to limit the amount of questions to allow children to respond freely. In addition, the children could have become bored and confused easily causing authentic data to be lost.

Audio recordings of the participants’ responses were made using an Olympus digital recorder, which saves audio files on a removable SD card that was later inserted into the faculty mentor’s computer and audio files were copied and transferred onto a secure network drive.

Procedure Flyers and pamphlets were distributed to community centers and a local school. Permission was given by the school principal and flyers describing the research study and parent packets including both permission forms for parent and child participation were sent home in the students’ backpacks. After receiving the returned parent packets, the student researcher then worked with the teachers in the classrooms to schedule a time to come and conduct the study with the child participants. In one instance, a parent from the local community had contacted the student and faculty researcher, and a copy of the flier and parent packet was sent to her home address, and the assessment of the child participant was done in the research lab.

During the child participant sessions, the children were instructed to sit across from the student researcher and a copy of the informed consent for children was read aloud to them. The children were informed that their responses to each question would be audio recorded, and they were required to give verbal consent prior to the study starting. The verbal consent was not audio recorded. The student researcher held up each of the four pictures in turn and read out loud the corresponding story that went with each picture card. After reading each scenario, she then asked the participants three questions targeting the different aspects of empathic reasoning ability. If a child provided a response that was inaudible, or did not respond initially after a short waiting time, he was prompted once, and then the researcher moved on to the next question or story line.

Once the session was complete, the children were allowed to choose a small toy as a small reward for their participation.

Empathy scores using the TEQ were calculated by summing the scores parents gave for each item on the questionnaire to create a total empathy score. For the CEI, a coding scheme was developed around the perceived quality of the responses the children gave to each interview question. The student researcher, in collaboration with the faculty supervisor and research assistants, researched and discussed the degree of empathic understanding that a child at each major stage of development (i.e., early childhood vs. middle childhood) might be capable of, and created a qualitative coding scheme that organized template responses (see Appendix B.) along a continuum of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral sophistication that was consistent with our review of the empathic development literature. The coding scheme was derived by researchers combining the work and results of several well-known psychologists. Piaget (1932) recognized

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that initially, childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s understanding of moral development is fixed and rigid, and heavily based on extraneous rules and fear of authority figures, and oftentimes is made in absence of considering important contextual features, but with age becomes more flexible and internalized.

Kagan and colleagues (2005) found that childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s early moral development is heavily based on external reinforcement by teachers and parents, but later is guided by more internal standards of right and wrong.

After the coding scheme was created, both the primary student researcher and a research assistant who was familiar with the rational of the project but not its hypotheses were trained to code the audio recorded interviews. To establish degree of inter-rater consistency in the coding of the audio files, a random selection of 5 of the 27 files were coded by both raters and kappa was calculated based on these responses. Kappa with linear weighting was calculated at (91.98% 95%, CI: 74.8% -93.06%) indicating very good level of interrater agreement.

A total score was calculated by summing all the scores across the CEI for each participant.

In addition, scores for each domain of empathic reasoning (behavioral, cognitive and compassionate) were calculated by summing the scores relevant to those specific domains, and these scores were then used for analyses.

Results The goal of the first set of analyses was to examine the relationship between scores on the CEI with the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. A Pearson correlation was run and the results indicated a non-significant correlation between the two measures overall, r(20) = .650, p = -.108.

In addition there were no significant correlations between the total score on the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the behavioral, r(23)=.569 p= -.13 and cognitive, r(22) =.51, p = -.15 subscales of the CEI; however there was a significant correlation between the overall score on the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the emotional sub-scale of the CEI, r(21) =.888, p =.033.

The second hypothesis was that there would be a significant correlation between the chronological age of the child and their scores of empathic reasoning based on both the TEQ and the new measure. The results indicated a non-significant correlation between age and scores on the TEQ r(23)-.151, p =.31. A significant correlation was found between child age and the cognitive subscale of the CEI, r(25) = .49, p = .01, as well as the emotional subscale, r(24) = .48, p = .02. No significant correlations were found between child chronological age, r(23) = .34, p = .1), or the subdomain of compassionate empathy, r(26) = .20, p = .34.

An examination of the relationship between chronological age and empathic reasoning by gender using the CEI revealed no significant correlations for boys (p > .05 for all correlations); however for girls, a significant correlation was found between chronological age and cognitive empathy, (r(14) =.65, p =.01) as well as emotional reasoning, r(14) =.64, p =.01 using the new measure. In addition, there was also a significant correlation between the total empathy score on the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the empathy subscale of the CEI, r(13) = .57, p = .04.

To examine whether girls and boys overall differed in any dimension of their empathic reasoning, a series of one-way ANOVAs comparing total empathy scores from the TEQ as well as total and scale scores on the CEI were conducted. Results indicated a non-significant difference comparing scores on the TEQ, F(1,21)=1.30, p =.27, total empathy score on the new measure, F(1,22)=.513, p=.48, or at the sub-component levels (cognitive F(1,24)=.199, p =.66); emotional: F(1,23) =.241, p =.63; and compassionate F(1,25)=.174, p = .68).

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Discussion The current study was conducted to examine Ekman’s (2007) theory of the three facets of empathy (cognitive, emotional and behavioral) and how development in these domains are related to chronological age and gender. In addition, we also wanted to examine the utility of a newly developed measure of empathy, the Child Empathy Interview that relied on child verbal responses to social scenarios tapping each of Ekman’s hypothesized domains of empathy. It was hypothesized that there would be a gender difference in empathic reasoning, that girls would generally show higher scores of emotional empathy than boys, but that boys would show higher levels of behavioral empathy. It was also hypothesized that with age, children would show higher scores on all three dimension of empathic reasoning. The study also hypothesized that the Child Empathy Interview measure would demonstrate a positive correlation with an existing empathic measure that was parent based, hoping to provide preliminary evidence for the validity for the new measure.

The results provided some interesting findings related to empathic development in this sample. Although there were no significant correlations between child age and empathic scores on the TEQ, chronological age was associated with higher qualitative scores in both the ability to feel what another person in an uncomfortable social situation might be feeling, and to think appropriately about what this situation might mean. This was especially true for girls, as the results examining the relationship between age and empathy by gender indicated that the female participants were driving the significant correlation between these two variables. This finding is not surprising given the emphasis that is placed on young girls from early age to be sensitized to the feelings and thoughts of others (Weinberg, 1999). With respect to the male participants, it is possible that neither measure was capable of capturing the potentially subtler, or different mechanisms by which males process empathic situations.

We did not find an overall significant correlation between the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the newly developed CEI, and this pattern continued when examining the correlations between the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the cognitive and behavioral subscales of the CEI. We did observe a significant correlation with the emotional subscale. The TEQ was used in the current study with hope to validate the CEI as a true measure of empathy in children. However, as the TEQ was only meant to assess a single facet of empathy (emotional empathy) at best we have evidence for partial convergent validity between the CEI and the TEQ. Future studies should seek to introduce other measures of empathic reasoning, such as the Affective and Cognitive Measure of Empathy (ACME) which was published shortly after data collection on this project started and was therefore not used in our initial analysis, but which may provide further evidence of the CEI’s utility as a multi-dimensional model of empathic reasoning.

There were several limitations to the current study which may have also hindered our ability to observe possible relationships and differences between the variables. We had a relatively small sample size, the majority of whom were girls and which spanned a very broad age range.

This may have made it difficult for us to fully examine age-related differences. We also had to rely on convenience sampling for our data collection, which included parents of young children from known family and friends as well as one summer school. This has most likely resulted in a biased sample, and potentially affected the generalizability of our results. Finally, it is important to take into consideration that a child-based measure may provide additional perspective on empathic reasoning, but may be influenced by a child’s willingness to answer as much as their knowledge of how to answer. Further research and investigation is necessary to gain more

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knowledge on the idea of multi-faceted construct of empathy along with the use of a child-based measure of empathic reasoning.

References Ang, P. R., Dion, Goh, H. (2010) The Role of Affective and Cognitive Empathy and Gender. Child Psychiatry and Human Development Source: PubMed Coke, J., Batson, D., & McDavis, K.(1978). Empathic mediation of helping: A two-stage model.

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Cronbach, L. J. (1955). Processes affecting scores of "understanding of others" and "assumed similarity." Psychological Bulletin, 52, 177-193.

Chaplin, M. T., Aldao, A. (2012) Gender Differences in Emotion Expression in Children: A MetaAnalyic Review. Psychological Bulletin, 4, 735-765.

Decety, J. (2010). The Neurodevelopment of Empathy in Humans. Developmental Neuroscience, 32, 257–267. http://doi.org/10.1159/000317771 Ekman, P. (2007). Emotions Revealed: Exploration of Science and Health.

Ekamn, P., Davidson, R.J. & Friesen, W.V. (1990) “Emotional expression and brain psychology II: The Duchenne Smile.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 342-52 Hoffman, M. L. (1975) “Developmental synthesis of affect and cognition and its implications for altruistic motivation.” Developmental Psychology, 11, 607-622.

Ioannodou, F. (2008). Emapthy and Emotional Intelligence: What is it Really About?

International Journal of Caring Science,1, 118-123.

Liu, D., H. M. Wellman, T. Tardif, and M. A. Sabbagh. (2008) “Theory of mind development in Chinese children: A meta-analysis of false-belief understanding across cultures and languages.”

Developmental Psychology,44, 523-531.

Kegan, R. (1982). The evolving self: Problem and process in human development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Malatesta, Carol Zander, and Jeannette Haviland. (1988) "Learning Display Rules: The Socialization of Emotion Expression in Infancy." Child Development, 53, 991-1003.

Martin, Grace B.; Clark, Russell D. (1982) Distress crying in neonates: Species and peer specificity.

Developmental Psychology, 18, 3-9.

Piaget, J. (1932) The moral judgment of the child. (trans.) London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.

Spreng, R. N., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91, 62–71. http://doi.org/10.1080/00223890802484381 Weinburg, K.M. Tronick, E.Z. (1999) Gender Differences in Emotional Expressivity and SelfRegulation During Early Infancy. Developmental Psychology Bulletin, 35, 175-188.

Wellman, H. M., D. Cross, and J. Watson. (2001) “Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: The truth about false belief.” Child Development, 72, 655-684.

Williams C.A. BioPsychosocial Elements of Empathy: a multidimensional model Issues Ment Health Nurs,11, 155-74.

Zahn-Waxler, C. Van Hulle, J. L. Robinson, and S. H. Rhee. (2008) “The developmental origins of a disposition toward empathy: Genetic and environmental contributions.” Emotion, 8, 737752.

Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn, and Marian Radke-Yarrow, et al. (1992) "Development of Concern for Others," Developmental Psychology, 28, 126-36.

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Appendix A Sample Empathy Scenario, Scenario Questions and Picture Card Ben is at the school cafeteria eating lunch and sees two of his best friends teasing a girl who is having difficulties feeding herself. She is having trouble holding her fork and is making a mess.

Sample questions asked of the participants following each scenario: What is Ben thinking? Why? How do you think Ben feels? Why? What should Ben do? Why? Appendix B Coding Scheme Participant #__________ Scenario #1 Cognitive: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- Response that follows storyline but does not address the correct character or situation 2- Response is incongruent with social norms 3- Response is articulated well and is appropriately related to the question and scenario 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Emotional: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- An emotion is expressed but is unrelated to the content of the story 2- An emotion is stated however, the child cannot justify why 3- Response contains the appropriate emotion for the situation and the child can justify 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

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Compassionate: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- A response that includes partaking in a behavior that is inappropriate to the situation 2- A behavior is stated but cannot be justified 3- An appropriate behavior is stated and the child can justify the reason for this behavior 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Scenario #2 Cognitive: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- Response that follows storyline but does not address the correct character or situation 2- Response is incongruent with social norms 3- Response is articulated well and is appropriately related to the question and scenario 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Emotional: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- An emotion is expressed but is unrelated to the content of the story 2- An emotion is stated however, the child cannot justify why 3- Response contains the appropriate emotion for the situation and the child can justify 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Compassionate: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- A response that includes partaking in a behavior that is inappropriate to the situation 2- A behavior is stated but cannot be justified 3- An appropriate behavior is stated and the child can justify the reason for this behavior 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Scenario #3 Cognitive: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- Response that follows storyline but does not address the correct character or situation 2- Response is incongruent with social norms 3- Response is articulated well and is appropriately related to the question and scenario 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Emotional: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- An emotion is expressed but is unrelated to the content of the story 2- An emotion is stated however, the child cannot justify why 3- Response contains the appropriate emotion for the situation and the child can justify 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

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Compassionate: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- A response that includes partaking in a behavior that is inappropriate to the situation 2- A behavior is stated but cannot be justified 3- An appropriate behavior is stated and the child can justify the reason for this behavior 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Scenario #4 Cognitive: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- Response that follows storyline but does not address the correct character or situation 2- Response is incongruent with social norms 3- Response is articulated well and is appropriately related to the question and scenario 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Emotional: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- An emotion is expressed but is unrelated to the content of the story 2- An emotion is stated however, the child cannot justify why 3- Response contains the appropriate emotion for the situation and the child can justify 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

Compassionate: 0- No response, unrelated answer 1- A response that includes partaking in a behavior that is inappropriate to the situation 2- A behavior is stated but cannot be justified 3- An appropriate behavior is stated and the child can justify the reason for this behavior 4- Appropriate answer that is related to the question but there is recognition of a broader application from the self.

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No Time for Vigilante Violence Cameron Cleveland Cameron T. Cleveland, a freshman strategic communications major, developed the idea for her manuscript during a Law, Rhetoric, and Culture First Year Seminar class. While watching Joel Schumacher’s film adaption of the John Grisham novel, A Time to Kill, for a class assignment, she felt drawn to the ethics of the case and her interest in the topic sparked. For Cleveland, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research was seeing the process from her first draft to her final manuscript. If it were not for her professor and mentor, Dr. Scheidt, Cleveland feels she would not have pushed herself further to submit her manuscript for publication. Cleveland expresses her gratitude and respect for the accomplished and skilled Dr. Scheidt who saw something in her manuscript that she could not originally see herself. After graduating from High Point University, she plans to work within a public relations firm as a communications specialist.

Abstract Joel Schumacher’s 1996 film adaptation of John Grisham’s debut novel, A Time to Kill (1988), follows the criminal trial of a revengeful African American father, Carl Lee Hailey, who kills his daughter’s white rapists. Rather than focusing primarily upon the horrific details of Tonya Hailey’s rape, Schumacher, instead, highlights Carl Lee Hailey’s decision to engage in vigilante violence. Using scholarly assessments of capital punishment narratives, this argument examines the representation of justice through the film’s characterization of Carl Lee Hailey. In doing so, it considers what makes the grieving father a sympathetic murderer, why the audience wants desperately to see him acquitted, and whether contemporary narratives should support such acts of vengeance. More specifically, by examining Schumacher’s narrative techniques, this argument denounces the film’s promotion of vigilante violence as it robs the legitimacy of the United States judicial system. Accordingly, it not only evaluates multiple scenes in A Time to Kill, but also thoughtfully considers the impact such representations have upon American ideals of justice and upon society as a whole.

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oel Schumacher’s 1996 film adaptation of John Grisham’s novel, A Time to Kill (1988), follows the criminal trial of a grieving African-American father, Carl Lee Hailey, who avenges his ten-year old daughter’s brutal rape by killing her two white rapists, James Louis Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. Unfortunately, in the process of killing his daughter’s assailants, Hailey accidentally shoots a white police officer, causing the amputation of the deputy’s leg.

Clearly, Carl Lee Hailey commits a vigilante crime, one where a person “undertake[s] law enforcement in [his or her] community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate” (The Oxford American College Dictionary).

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Understandably, Hailey believes his daughter will never receive proper justice because her attackers are white, so he murders the two men in the small Mississippi town’s courthouse. Jack Brigance, a white, privileged man, serves as Hailey’s lawyer. Given his client’s clear intention to kill his daughter’s assailants and the trial’s setting in rural Mississippi, Brigance struggles to acquit his client. In the film’s pivotal first court scene, Hailey pleads not guilty by reason of insanity. Although he undoubtedly shoots and kills two men and wounds another, the defendant strikes a sympathetic figure, a fact the film reinforces with Brigance’s legal maneuverings. Such sympathy is, of course, problematic. According to the laws of the United States, he has, without question, committed murder. From this perspective, he is hardly better than the racists who raped his daughter. Nevertheless, viewers watching the events unfold desperately want to look past Carl Lee Hailey’s crimes and acquit him. In this fashion, some critics would argue, they, like the film, are complicit in their support of vigilante violence. In truth, however, the reality is a bit more nuanced.

Christopher Meade’s “Reading Death Sentences: The Narrative Construction of Capital Punishment” analyzes the narrative structure of death penalty films like A Time to Kill. Meade argues, “the defendant must be seen not only as a victim of chance but as someone different than the typical murderer. Even though this is more difficult than telling a story about innocence, there are a number of narrative techniques which make this task less daunting” (Meade 8).

Accordingly, he identifies three narrative techniques that help create sympathy for a guilty defendant, two of which appear in A Time to Kill. For his part, Schumacher knows “when to start the story” and how to “humaniz[e] the defendant” as an atypical murderer (8). These techniques persuade, or manipulate, audiences to support Jack Brigance and his client, Carl Lee Hailey, essentially creating a sympathetic murderer.

The first technique, knowing “when to start the story,” notes the importance of time framing within narratives. Meade insists the “choice of starting point can cause the audience to see the defendant primarily as a murderer, depriving the defendant of identities or attributes that might engender sympathy. To combat this deprivation of identity, the anti-death penalty narratives must expand the time frame” (8). Moreover, according to Meade, the narrative’s starting point is critically important. In A Time to Kill, Carl Lee Hailey commits murder only after the brutal rape of his ten-year-old daughter. For this reason, Schumacher makes the conscious dramatic choice to highlight the rape in the film’s first scene. The horror of Tonya Hailey’s screams and the sight of her fragile body marked with bruises and cuts resonate in viewers’ minds until the end of the film. Indeed, Schumacher’s purposeful placement of the brutal rape scene at the beginning of the film evokes lingering hatred for the rapists, while simultaneously stirring sympathy for both the victim and her father. As Meade notes, “by starting before the murder and giving context to the crime, the filmmaker portrays a defendant who is less culpable. The viewer sees the world from the perspective of the protagonist and therefore better understands the act” (9). Although difficult to watch, this foundational scene sparks empathy and anger within the audience, emotions that will later nullify a guilty verdict. Without actually witnessing the brutality of the original crime, the audience could never generate the same level of sympathy for Carl Lee Hailey. By opening with the rape scene, however, Schumacher ensures the audience understands Hailey’s actions not as a criminal but as a father. The audience feels his anger and hatred; thus, though they might otherwise condemn his subsequent crimes, they understand and empathize with his actions. In other words, the awful scene allows the audience to view the defendant more as a revengeful father and less as a murderer. Therefore, the starting point of the film is imperative not only to

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the characterization of Carl Lee Hailey, but also the manipulation of the viewer’s sympathy, as well.

In fact, characterization plays a very significant role in shaping the viewer’s perspective. In A Time to Kill, Schumacher has the difficult task of creating a “likeable” murderer.

Consequently, to make Carl Lee Hailey more sympathetic, Schumacher “humanized the defendant” (Meade 9). According to Meade, a guilty defendant is more likely to be spared if the narrative portrays him or her “as a full human being, with a personality that does not fit within the ‘murderer’ stereotype” (10). A viewer “can identify with the guilty defendant…. [E]ven if the viewer believes that murderers in general should be executed, she may very well feel that this particular defendant should be spared” (10). In a crucial court scene, the prosecution calls Deputy Looney, the police officer caught in Carl Lee Hailey’s crossfire, to the stand. Hailey demands Jack Brigance ask Looney if he deserves to be punished for his actions. Brigance reluctantly asks the question and seems surprised when the officer responds, “[n]o sir, I have no ill will towards the man. He did what I would have done” (1:42:50). Continuing with the cross examination, Brigance asks “[w]hat do you mean by that Deputy Looney?” Looney calmly replies, “I mean, I do not blame him for what he did. Those boys raped his little girl…I got a little girl, if someone rapes her; he’s a dead dog. I would blow him away, just like Carl Lee” (1:43:27-1:43:37). The audience in the courtroom begins to mumble as the prosecution objects.

Brigance continues, “[d]o you think the jury should convict Carl Lee Hailey?” (1:43:39).

Immediately, the judge orders Looney not to answer the question. He is, however, too late. The police officer answers, Hailey’s “a hero. You turn him loose.” Growing more passionate, he demands the jury “turn him loose. Turn him loose!” (1:43:46-1:43:55).

Although the defendant’s actions resulted in the amputation of his leg, Deputy Looney nevertheless believes Hailey had done what any other father would do. Therefore, the jury should refuse to convict him. Although originally the prosecution’s witness, the deputy’s testimony plays an influential part in the defense’s case, which essentially hinges upon jury nullification.

Like Brigance, Schumacher humanizes the defendant. Deputy Looney confirms what the audience already believes: that Carl Lee Hailey had no intention of harming anyone other than the two rapists. He behaved like a revengeful father, not a murderer. He committed his crime only after the vicious rape of his innocent little girl. Therefore, if Willard and Cobb had never raped Tonya, Hailey never would have committed murder.

Beyond this overt manipulation, multiple scenes within A Time to Kill show more muted support for vigilante justice. Perhaps the film’s most prominent example of this occurs in the diner scene with Jack Brigance and Ellen Roark, a young and intelligent law student, in which Brigance reveals his support for the death penalty. Roark, baffled by this revelation, asks if he has told his client about this (1:13:01). Jack responds by insisting that, while Carl Lee Hailey does not deserve the death penalty, the two men whom he killed certainly did (1:13:04). Angered by this response, Roark asks a question that should, but largely does not, resonate in the viewers’ collective consciousness: “how do you decide who dies and who doesn’t?” (1:13:08). Brigance responds by insisting, it is “[s]imple, okay? You take the crime and you take the criminal” (1:13:11-1:13:22). According to this line of thinking, Carl Lee Hailey does not deserve to die because he is a decent man, a father, who has killed his daughter’s vicious and racist rapists.

Conversely, the rapists, themselves, deserved to die because they had raped a little girl and subsequently bragged about it. Clearly, Brigance supports Carl Lee Hailey’s actions and, thus, by extension, vigilante justice. In the eyes of the audience, Brigance’s qualified support for the death penalty only adds to Carl Lee Hailey’s likability.

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In the end, the jury finds Hailey not guilty of murder. He not only escapes the death penalty, but prison, as well. In one of the film’s final scenes, Hailey walks victoriously out of the courthouse. Seeing him, little Tonya emerges from the riotous crowd and runs towards her father. The two hug and cry in joy and relief (2:23:02-2:23:34). Perhaps most significantly, having been manipulated by Schumacher, the audience, too, celebrates the ending, rejoicing in the “justice” of it all. Indeed, though the ending pleases the audience, there seems to be something morally ambiguous – if not wrong – about how neatly and easily the narrative concludes. Like Brigance, most in the audience are convinced that Carl Lee Hailey does not deserve the death penalty; yet, by letting him walk away from his crimes, including maiming Deputy Looney, the film, whether intentionally or unintentionally, offers unabashed support for vigilante justice. Stripped of all emotion, Schumacher’s film tells the story of a man who murders two men, injures a police officer, attacks a crowded courthouse, and walks away a free man.

Indeed, Schumacher’s narrative manipulation distorts the facts of the case. Hailey, regardless of the circumstances, has still committed a capital crime. There is a reason the United States judicial system does not allow for vigilante justice. First, such violence violates due process. Many viewers of A Time to Kill likely overlook this critical fact, one that clearly benefits Carl Lee Hailey. He has his day in court and, though hundreds of people just outside the courthouse demand punishment for his actions, he benefits mightily, if also unfairly, from due process. Willard and Cobb get no such opportunity. Second, the system reserves capital punishment for only the worst crimes and executes it only after all legal and clemency appeals have been denied. Undoubtedly, Tonya Hailey’s rapists deserved severe punishment; however, as American citizens, regardless of the heinous nature of their crimes, they have the constitutional right to a fair trial before a jury of their peers. When Hailey kills Willard and Cobb, he takes away this inalienable right. Furthermore, the Eighth Amendment protects prisoners from cruel and unusual punishment. Under current federal law, rape is not a capital crime; murder is. Ironically, only Hailey has committed a capital offense. Undoubtedly, Schumacher, and Grisham before him, knows this. By manipulating its audience through narrative techniques, however, A Time to Kill essentially undermines both federal law and the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, the audience leaves the theater satisfied with the outcome. And this is dangerous.

There are no winners here: not Carl Lee Hailey, not Jack Brigance, and certainly not little Tonya. Justice, in the truest form, has not been served. In this sense, those in the audience have lost, as well. The United States has its legal system for a reason: to prevent such violence.

Supporting vigilantism robs the judicial system of its legitimacy, allowing citizens to believe it is okay to take the law into their own hands without suffering severe consequences. Thus, Schumacher puts his audience in a difficult position. Perhaps the rapists deserved to die; so, too, perhaps, Carl Lee Hailey. The more appropriate question, however, is whether Hailey should pay for his actions. From a strictly legal perspective, of course, he should, but this ignores the impact of individual perspective and context. Ultimately, Schumacher’s film suggests that, sometimes, true justice occurs only when one takes the law into one’s own hands. Unfortunately, despite its strengths, the United States judicial system, at times, fails to deliver such justice. However, this ought not mean citizens can commit murder when they think the justice system might fail them.

Understandably, Carl Lee Hailey wants justice. Undoubtedly, he was unlikely to get that justice given the racial and judicial climate in his community. Nevertheless, he never gave the system a chance; he chose his own time to kill.

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For this reason, some viewers might, in fact, view him as unsympathetic. Absent the relevant context or, at least, Schumacher’s manipulative narrative, one might argue that Hailey deserves condemnation for his actions. Indeed, absent a Brigance or a Schumacher, he would very likely face life in prison or even death. Hailey, however, is lucky. He has Joel Schumacher to manipulate the narrative structure of the film, leading a significant majority of viewers and characters, like Deputy Looney, to support Carl Lee Hailey’s actions. From a strictly legal perspective, he is guilty. He deserves to be punished. But such an outcome was never going to occur in Schumacher’s film; it could not. The issue is not the possibility of condemning Carl Lee Hailey or the African-American community’s desire for vigilante justice. Rather, the narrative techniques Joel Schumacher uses to create a “likeable” murderer, and the lasting impact promoting such violence might have on society as a whole. For example, one need only think about the turmoil surrounding the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012, the firestorm of Ferguson, Missouri, and 2015’s riots in Baltimore.

Throughout A Time to Kill, Joel Schumacher manipulates viewer support for Carl Lee Hailey by expertly controlling his narrative, especially with respect to the film’s starting point and its humanizing of Carl Lee Hailey. Although these early scenes are difficult to watch, they are unavoidable, as they show the gruesome and violent nature of Tonya’s rape. Without the rape scene, the audience would neither sympathize with nor understand Hailey’s violent response.

Schumacher humanizes Carl Lee as a heartbroken, enraged, and vengeful father, not a coldblooded murderer. The audience, like Jack Brigance and Deputy Looney, understand Carl Lee’s motivations and, unfortunately, his actions. Ultimately, however, the film undermines the very efficacy of the United States judicial system and the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. Carl Lee Hailey murders two men, injures another, and walks away an innocent man. Indeed, the audience revels in the film’s climactic scene of victory even as it dismisses the undeniable fact that its protagonist is a killer. Although James Willard and Billy Ray Cobb deserved punishment, it was not Carl Lee Hailey’s place to serve as judge, jury, and executioner. A proper judicial system separates civilization from barbarism. By supporting such vigilante justice, A Time to Kill negates the spirit of the American judicial system, while simultaneously promoting violence and revenge as legitimate forms of justice.

Works Cited Meade, Christopher J. "Reading Death Sentences: The Narrative Construction of Capital Punishment." New York University Law Review 71.3 (1996): 1-11. Print.

A Time to Kill. Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman. Dir. Joel Schumacher. Perf. Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson. Warner Bros., 1996. DVD. "Vigilante.” The Oxford American College Dictionary. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 2002.

Print.

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Framing of Domestic Violence in the Media: An Exploration of India and the United States Shannon Driskell Shannon Driskell, a junior majoring in nonprofit leadership and management with a minor in women’s and gender studies, has an interest in women’s work which led her to research on domestic abuse. Her course with her mentor, Nahed Eltantawy, opened her eyes to the issues revolving around the representation of women in the media. Undergraduate research has allowed her to narrow her interest and determine what she hopes to move forward with in a career. After graduating, she plans to attend graduate school to obtain her master’s degree in counseling so she can go on to counsel individuals who have been victims of domestic abuse.

Abstract Domestic violence is a prominent issue that is faced by both men and women of all ages living in different places all over the globe. As media begins to rise as a common platform for communication connecting various regions, this issue is being shaped and represented differently depending on which area the events occurred. Typically, the media uses seven different frames to represent acts of domestic violence in the media. This research looks at various cases of domestic violence from the United States of America and India to see how the media uses these different frames to represent the acts of violence in these counties.

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omestic violence impacts both women and men around the world and as this issue continues to grow, the media portrays it differently from various areas across the globe.

One in five women is affected by domestic violence in the United States. While these statistics only reflect cases in the United States, domestic violence does not impact only women; one in fourteen men face the same abuse from their partners as well (Daniels, 2005). Across the globe many individuals are battling the same acts of violence from their partners. Domestic violence, in some cases termed domestic abuse, intimate partner abuse, and so on, is defined as the threat or actual act committed by a partner that result in death, injury, or emotional harm (Daniels, 2005). These acts are either physical or psychological and can be committed by past or current partners (Bullock, 2008). Domestic violence did not gain recognition as a social issue until after 1970; in fact, the term previously “referred to riots and terrorism,” (Gillespie et al., 2013, p.223). This view changed and the term gained its new meaning when individuals stepped up and recognized abuse as a rising issue and made changes to work towards changing this “norm” (Gillespie, 2013). Originally viewed as a normal way of punishment in a relationship, domestic abuse started gaining public attention leading to the opening of battered women shelters, hot lines, legislation and drastic media coverage (Gillespie et al., 2013). This media coverage is where the issues arise as the media takes on its own voice when coming forward

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about these acts of domestic violence, leading to a skewed perception. They often tend to overlook other variables and place blame where it should not be. I analyze the various frames the media uses for portraying acts of domestic violence, which differ in India and the United States.

This skews the perception of domestic abuse towards victim blaming and a diminished view of the violence done by the perpetrator which leads to a skewed perception of domestic abuse as a societal issue.

The media is an expanding method for the world to get information. Unfortunately, this information does not get interpreted properly which then results in skewed perceptions of an event. This can be seen in the media not only in the United States, but all over the world. As Gillespie et al. explain, “Media frames are often shaped by three components: sources, word choice or language, and context” (2013, p.225). When the media manipulates any one of these three aspects of the message, they create an entirely new message that the audience takes on to accept as the truth. Bullock states that coverage can “improve awareness and potentially shape public opinion and policy” (2007, p.34); however, if the frames are not representing the story accurately, these policies and public opinions will be flawed. This is an ongoing occurrence when it comes to the coverage of domestic violence.

Print news articles covering incidents of domestic abuse use specific frames to change the perception of the actual events of the act. This can be a manipulation of the source, word choice, or context of the event; either way, it results in the manipulation of the audience’s opinion of the abuser and the event. While reading various news reports concerning domestic violence, seven frames stand out that are seen as the most prominent frames used to portray domestic violence in the media: faulty justice system, us vs. them, an isolated event, normalness of the perpetrator, fault of the victim, a disorder suffered by the perpetrator, and the view of the event as a normal act (Cathy, 2007). The media tends to focus on the acts of domestic violence in one or more of these frames when publishing the event. This then goes on to portray the event in a different way to the viewer with a focus on something other than the victim, which results in differing perception of domestic violence.

When examining various articles written to bring public attention to domestic abuse in the United States of America, many of these dominant seven frames can be seen. In many cases, the media uses these frames to focus the event and fails to connect the event to the social problem of domestic abuse. In 2016, a man living in Pennsylvania was arrested and tried for assaulting his wife (Snyder, 2016). While it was reported that the man punched and choked his wife, the article chose to focus on different things when reporting about the event. In the article, the author focused on the success of the man who assaulted his wife; it made note of positions he held and diminished the seriousness of the event. It made note of the husband’s job as a top advisor and his various positions that he held on boards. Furthermore, while it made note of his good deeds, the author added that “five years ago, his wife was arrested twice for drunk driving and shoplifting,” as if it were relevant to the domestic abuse case (Snyder, 2016). The author also used words that diminished the seriousness of the event such as “allegedly” and “simple”. By using these words, the author plants doubt in the reader’s mind towards the victim. A similar use of diminishing words can be seen in an article which was published in 2016 about a man in Maryland who assaulted his wife on the highway. The author states the man “allegedly assaulted his wife in the cab of his tractor trailer” (Lakana, 2016). The frame of normalizing the event can also be seen as the author claims the event was due to relationship problems.

Other articles place blame on the victim in more obvious ways, as seen in a case that occurred in Texas. A family was murdered in 2014 by the stepfather, but instead of putting the

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fault on him, the article blamed the mother by stating she should have focused on the red flags her husband was displaying. The author, Stacy Khadaroo, states in the article the wife should have left when threats and violent acts were made for the first time (Khadaroo, 2014). She also claims that the firearms owned by her husband should have been a red flag. Instead of teaching people not to harm others, the public posts lists created by these professionals of factors that should be watched for as red flags for domestic violence (Daniels, 2005). This now makes it seem as if it is the fault of the victim for not taking action and leaving her husband after he showed these signs of domestic abusive behaviors.

Khadaroo, along with Kelsi Loos who reported on a murder in Maryland, also focused on the mental status of the perpetrator in their articles. Khadaroo mentions in her article about “a history of mental illness that will show he was not responsible for his actions,” which assumes that he was only acting the way he was due to his mental state (Khadaroo, 2014). Loos reports on a man in Mount Airy, Maryland who murdered his wife in 2016. The article not only focuses on the behaviors that his wife should have noticed, but on his mental status by noting that “Lauduck will undergo a full psychological exam,” which might reduce his sentence by showing he was not in the right state (Loos, 2016). Although many, if not most, of these frames can be seen in the U.S. media, the frames which blame the victim, point out the normalcy of the perpetrator, and focus on the mental status of those accused, seem to be the most prominent in media coverage of domestic abuse.

Domestic violence is not endemic to the United States; nor it is bound by age, race, economic status, or ethnicity, as it can be seen all around the world (Bullock, 2008).These frames used by the media to portray domestic abuse can also be seen when viewing articles written about events that occurred throughout India. Even though the cultural lens results in a different interpretation of the event, the frames still result in a skewed perception from the truth.

In 2015, a man living in Meerut, India poured acid on his wife and several other family members, including his in-laws (Sahu, 2015). The article normalizes the event by focusing on specific actions that had occurred previously in their marriage such as fights and various acts of harassment. By establishing a pattern that normalizes these reoccurring acts of domestic abuse, the author makes the event with the acid just another occurrence in their relationship.

Another article reports about a man in India who strangled his wife after suspecting her of an affair. Similarly to cases in the US the article focused on the husband’s success and the relationship. The article states that the man was “a small clothes businessman” and continues to refer to him throughout the article in terms of his success (Service, 2015). As for the victim, she is only spoken of in terms of their marital status. The article mentions how they have been married for 10 years and had been fighting recently. By doing this, they portrayed the event as if it was just another normal act of their relationship.

However, a new frame occurs in the reports about domestic violence in India. These articles also justify the events by claiming they are the wife’s fault by failing to fulfill her “wifely duties”. For example, in 2015 a man and his mother attacked his wife by gouging her eyes out (Mascarenhas, 2015). Mascarenhas focused on how the husband would “come home drunk and vent his anger” on his wife and this would often lead to him hitting her (Mascarenhas, 2015).

First, by saying this, it appears these acts of violence are normal in their lives together. But the writer also implies the women in the relationship failed to do something that the men desired, in this case listen to them vent, and it resulted in them lashing out and abusing the wives.

In India, marriage is viewed as very important; “a woman is derided if she gets divorced or remarries” (Pandey, 2014). To avoid this social stigma, many men and women fail to come

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forward about cases of domestic abuse. The wife would rather be in a toxic situation than be shunned by her community. When an individual makes the decision to stand up and speak out about the acts being done against her, she is often reminded about the meaning behind her marriage. In India, a woman went to her childhood friend seeking help and received the advice “Once you’re married, there’s no other place for you. Your life away from your husband is meaningless” (Pandey, 2014). Once a woman marries in India, she is mainly referred to in terms of her marriage or husband. This could be an explanation as to why these frames differ when reading the reports of abuse and domestic violence in India. The society holds such a high standard for marriage, that anything wrong can be justified. In the United States, marriage is important, but it is not held to the same standard. If a man and woman choose to get a divorce, it does not have the same impact as it would in India.

While reading the various reports about domestic violence in both India and the United States, many of the cases based in India involved others in the attack. Unlike the United States, where the crime is committed primarily by one person, in India, many times, the perpetrator was assisted by different people. For example, in the article reporting about the women who had her eyes gouged out by her husband in India, the mother of the perpetrator assisted in the attack (Mascarenhas, 2015). In India, there is a hierarchy between the women in a family unit; the mothers of the husbands have more power than the wives (Deshmukh-Ranadive, 2006). Because of this, a woman who is married will have no authority when dealing with her husband and his parents. For this reason, acts of abuse between a woman, her husband and his parents are justified in the eyes of society. It is common in India for a woman to be punished by her husband or his family (Deshmukh-Ranadive, 2006). Punishment is commonly used against undesired behavior and to make sure the women are obeying their husbands. It is used to ensure there is respect not only for him, but also his family. Another difference between cases of domestic violence in the United States and those cases in India is the justification of honor killings.

Honor killings are committed by male family members for ‘dishonoring their families’ (Deshmukh-Ranadive, 2006, p. 65). Honor killings show the importance of family in India. A woman is killed before there is a divorce or separation, since divorce is highly frowned upon. An honor killing is more acceptable than a divorce in their society. The same cannot be said about the United States as divorce is an acceptable behavior when dealing with a marriage with issues.

In both the United States and India, cases of domestic abuse are commonly reported through the frame which places the blame of the event on the victim. After reviewing many news reports, I found the U.S. tends to blame the women saying she should have noticed the behaviors of the man and removed herself before things went in the direction that they did. The US teaches women to be aware and prepare for acts of violence instead of teaching the men not to harm their partners. In India, they blame the women by justifying the acts as a failure to complete their duties as a wife. This will only continue as patriarchy continues to dominate the societal view of men and women.

Education about the frames that the media uses can also play a huge part in raising awareness about domestic abuse. Many individuals are not aware of the ways in which the media portrays acts of domestic violence. If they are educated about these frames, the public can have them in mind while reading reports on domestic violence and be less judgmental about the event.

Several other steps can be taken to raise awareness about acts of domestic violence including furthering police investigation, providing victim protection and advocacy, and victim empowerment (Hart, 1993). In many cases, the charges against the perpetrator are dropped due to lack of evidence. By improving police investigations fewer perpetrators would get away with

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the crimes they commit. Many women are hesitant to come forward about acts of violence against them due to blaming themselves or feeling as if they could have prevented the event (Hart, 1993). In some cases they fear about the consequences that might follow after they come forward. This is where victim protection could help. If the victims do not feel alone they might not fear speaking up about the crimes being done against them. By empowering the women and making them feel as if they are worth more than how they are being treated, they might be moved to get out of their situation and seek a better, healthier life.

In this paper, I analyzed the way acts of domestic violence in India and the United States are skewed because of the frames in which the media chooses to portray the events. From this research and analysis, I focused on cases which occurred in India and the United States and how the media portrays the events and the people involved. After viewing articles of reports on acts of domestic abuse in these countries, several of the seven frames commonly used in the media can be seen, including blaming the victim, focusing on the normalness and success of the perpetrator, and normalizing the event. The main difference between the two countries is a cultural difference, which is based on the way in which women are viewed in terms of men. In the United States, women are expected to be aware of the events going on and act to prevent any abusive behavior; on the other hand, in India, women are referred to in terms of their husband.

These different expectations result in different forms of blaming the victim. This is a difference in cultural values and beliefs. Moving forwards, it might be useful to look into these differences further to see how they go on to influence media framing on a deeper level.

References Bullock, C. F. (2007). Framing domestic violence fatalities: Coverage by Utah newspapers. Women's Studies in Communication, 30(1), 34-63.

Bullock, C. F. (2008). Official sources dominate domestic violence reporting. Newspaper Research Journal, 29(2), 6-22.

Daniels, Katherine, MSN,R.N., C.S. (2005). Intimate partner violence & depression: A deadly comorbidity. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 43(1), 44-51.

Deshmukh-Ranadive, J. (2006). Spaces, power and empowerment in India: The inter-linkage with domestic Violence1. Asian Journal of Women's Studies, 12(1), 63-100,114.

Gillespie, L. K., Richards, T. N., Givens, E. M., & Smith, M. D. (2013). Framing deadly domestic violence: Why the media's spin matters in newspaper coverage of femicide. Violence Against Women, 19(2), 222.

Hart, B. (1993). Battered women and the criminal justice system. The American Behavioral Scientist (1986-1994), 36(5), 624.

Khadaroo, S. T. (2014). Texas family killed: In domestic violence cases, more focus on red flags (video). Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2014/0711/Texas-family-killed-In-domesticviolence-cases-more-focus-on-red-flags-video Koenig, M. A., Stephenson, R., Saifuddin, A., Jejeebhoy, S. J., & Campbell, J. (2006). Individual and contextual determinants of domestic violence in north India. American Journal of Public Health, 96(1), 132-8.

Lakana. (2016). Police arrest Maryland man in highway assault of wife. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.wfmz.com/news/lehigh-valley/police-arrest-maryland-man-inhighway-assault-of-wife/99865741

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Loos, K. (2016). Mount Airy man pleads guilty to murder of wife, sex abuse and child pornography possession. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/courts/mount-airy-manadmits-killing-wife-in-failed-murder-suicide/article_1b0dcc1f-2c97-5d43-b330838b438aba99.html Mascarenhas, A. (2015). Her eyes gouged out, 32-year-old has a new vision. Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/her-eyesgouged-out-32-year-old-has-a-new-vision/ Pandey, G. (2014). India 'fails' victims of abuse. Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29708612 Sahu, M. (2015). Meerut man pours acid on wife, in-laws. Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://indianexpress.com/article/india/crime/meerut-man-pours-acid-on-wife-in-laws/ Service, E. N. (2015). Man suspects wife of affair, strangles her. Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/man-suspects-wife-of-affair-stranglesher/ Snyder, M. (2016). Former adviser to 3 governors headed to trial for assault of wife. Abc27 News. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://abc27.com/2016/08/29/former-adviserto-3-governors-headed-to-trial-for-assault-of-wife/

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The Washington Redskins and Disparaging Trademarks: Where the Courts are Headed Shayne Fitol Shayne Fitol, a senior sports communication major, has always had an interest in sports. When he realized that the controversy over the name of his favorite football team, the Washington Redskins, was not only a political issue but a legal issue, Fitol's topic of choice made perfect sense to him. While he never expected to do any undergraduate research in college with his major, the opportunity intrigued him. Research allowed Fitol to go more in depth on a topic that he truly cared about and was an eye-opening experience to him. Working with Dr. Smith was a great experience as he helped Fitol to explore research and think creatively. Fitol credits Dr. Smith with helping tremendously in researching this topic as well as research in other areas of study. After graduation, Fitol's goal is to pursue a behind the scenes career in sports broadcasting.

Abstract Outcry over the team name of the Washington Redskins football team has raged for more than 20 years, since the first legal attempt was made to force the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to cancel the name's legal protections. In 2014, the PTO did just that, and the team lost its legal challenge to have trademark protection reinstated. Now, however, the Supreme Court is set to rule on a similar case in which a rock band called the Slants was denied trademark protection because, the PTO said, the name was "disparaging." The band is challenging the PTO's disparagement rule on First Amendment free speech grounds and has already won that argument in two lower courts. The Supreme Court's decision in this case could have long-lasting implications for trademark law in general and the Washington Redskins in particular. This article examines what is at stake.

A

s our nation has become more accepting of minority cultures and sensitive to their feelings to the point of what some would call â&#x20AC;&#x153;political correctness,â&#x20AC;? public outcry against names, symbols and expressions that have been deemed offensive have become increasingly common. In the age of social media, a strongly worded outcry directed at something an individual finds offensive can quickly snowball into widespread condemnation and even calls for boycotts (Hess, 2016). On the Internet and in the mass media, a small yet vocal minority often can elevate their viewpoint to majority status, and appears to be the case with ongoing protests and against the Washington Redskins football team.

The NFL organization and its supporters have long said that the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name should be seen as a source of pride, not a racial slur, and that most Native Americans are not offended by it.

Meanwhile, opponents of the name have been clamoring for change, saying the name is

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offensive and disparaging to Native Americans and their culture. Prominent figures — from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to famed NFL referee Mike Carey — have been outspoken in their criticism of the team, some even refusing to call the team by its official name (Beaujon, 2014).

The question of whether Native Americans actually perceive the name to be offensive or not has been widely debated. A major poll conducted by the Washington Post found that an overwhelming majority of more than 500 Native Americans polled in 2016 were not offended by the Washington Redskins’ name — with 90 percent saying so (Washington Post, 2016). That finding suggests a curious situation in which Native Americans are not the people who feel disparaged; rather, people of other ethnicities feel disparaged on behalf of Native Americans.

This concept could prove significant for the Redskins since it has been fighting to regain six trademarks that were revoked in 2014 by the Patent and Trademark Office on the basis of disparagement. One of the main complaints from the team is that the law itself is unclear in its standards for determining what is and is not disparaging (Wolf, 2016).

While the legal standards may or may not be unclear, the right of the government to silence and prevent the usage of a specific term could prove to be a direct violation of the First Amendment. Given that freedom of speech is a fundamental personal right, the U.S. Supreme Court has always applied so-called “strict scrutiny” whenever the government attempts to abridge it (Volokh, 2015). The Court itself has said that protecting freedom of speech, even potentially offensive speech, is important because ultimately it promotes tolerance: It allows us to hear all types of speech, even what we find to be personally upsetting, and allows a wide variety of viewpoints to be weighed and vetted in the so-called “marketplace of ideas” (Volokh, 2015).

After the Redskins’ trademark was revoked three years ago and the revocation upheld by a federal court a year later, the team appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, but the Court didn’t take the case. However, the Court did grant certiorari to a remarkably similar case involving an Asian-American rock band called The Slants, which is challenging the PTO’s rejection of its trademark application based on disparagement (Reuters, 2016). The Court heard oral arguments in the case in January of this year, and its decision in the spring is likely to have a major impact on the Redskins’ ongoing legal battle, since both challenge the current trademark law and its relationship to freedom of speech. If the Court sides with the band, the decision will shape similar disputes with the PTO for years to come.

The goal of this article will be to evaluate how lower courts have decided cases that have involved disputes over trademark and disparagement, then apply that analysis to the case of the Washington Redskins. The article first will consider what other legal scholars have said about trademark and disparagement, especially as it relates to the First Amendment. The article then will analyze the few, yet important, cases that have directly addressed the PTO’s rules governing potentially disparaging trademarks. The article will conclude with observations of the current state of the PTO’s disparagement rule and offer predictions of how the disputes involving the Slants and the Redskins might play out in the future.

Literature Review The debate over the Redskins team name stretches back 24 years, when the original case to cancel the trademark was brought against the team in 1992 (Brady, 2014). Since then, legal scholars have examined the topic through various lenses to shed some light on the issue of trademark disparagement, and offer insight on whether or not a potentially offensive trademark should be permitted by the PTO. Much of the scholarly rhetoric has centered around how such a

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name or trademark can harm a group of people and should not be allowed. Others have taken the opposite approach and argued that the First Amendment demands that society accept that there is more than one side to an argument and that everyone’s opinions are worthy of protection.

One of the prevailing popular opinions in the legal community with regard to this topic has been that disparaging trademarks should be removed, cancelled, and eliminated. Furthermore, the thought has been that both professional and amateur/collegiate sport organizations with such trademarks or names should change them immediately. After all, something that offensive and disparaging must be causing harm to the ethnic group to which it refers. This is the approach that Justin G. Blankenship (2001) took when examining the topic. He compares the current use of American Indian mascots and team names to a “‘Chicago Blacks’ game [with] a halftime show where Caucasians paint their faces black and dance to rap or hip-hop music,” or “a ‘San Francisco Orientals’ team that calls its cheerleaders the ‘Geisha Girls’ ” (2001). He further discusses the religious significance of the issue and concludes that “many American Indians are outraged to see symbols of their culture and religion appropriated as mascots and relegated to sideshow entertainment for sports fans” (2001).

Not all scholars agree. While the notion of whether or not a given term is actually disparaging or offensive has not been a particularly common subject for analysis, the question of the impact of the law itself on the First Amendment and freedom of speech has been a fairly popular theme. Cameron Smith (2002) touches on both of these ideas while discussing the Redskins issue. When talking about the original Redskins trademark case, Harjo v. Pro-Football Inc, Smith notes that the standard used for evaluating whether or not the term is disparaging “potentially ignores the majority of the implicated group members’ viewpoints” (p. 1295). By saying this, he is pointing out that they may be wrong in concluding that most Native Americans feel disparaged by the term. He also goes on to discuss the “imbalance” in the protections provided for intellectual property in the law, and concludes that the “standing requirements for opposition and cancellation proceedings … impermissibly conflict with the protections afforded commercial speech and the policies underlying federal trademark regulation” (p. 1295).

Michelle B. Lee (1997) echoed this sentiment as she debated the constitutionality of the Lanham Act, which is the law that governs trademark protections. After analyzing whether or not it is acceptable to regulate the content of sports team names, specifically through the Lanham Act disparagement provision, she concludes “that the portions… that prohibit the registration [of trademarks] do in fact violate the Constitution” (p. 65). Much of her basis behind this conclusion comes from the First Amendment, as she concludes that the law abridges speech solely on the basis of its content. Moreover, Lee declares that the law is vague and not clearly defined, which “could result in a ‘chilling’ of speech” (p. 65).

Research Questions and Methods This article aims to answer two primary questions: 1) Does the Redskins trademark violate the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act as it has been interpreted in lower federal courts? 2) Does the Lanham Act’s disparagement rule, as interpreted by the courts, potentially violate the First Amendment. The study will answer these questions by analyzing federal court cases that have directly addressed these questions, including earlier cases involving both the Redskins and the Slants. The LexisNexis legal database was used to compile the cases.

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Case Analysis While trademark infringement disputes are litigated seemingly endlessly in federal courts, few cases have even mentioned trademark disparagement, and fewer still have been focused exclusively on the question of potentially disparaging or offensive trademarks. While for years courts tended to rule on the side of the PTO and uphold findings of trademark disparagement, the tone seemed to shift in the last year as the case of the Slants worked its way through federal district and then federal appeals courts.

The Lanham Act and the Road to In Re Tam The Lanham Act, enacted by Congress in 1946, is the national law used to enact trademark registration and protection (Cornell Law). One of the provisions of the act specifies that “no trademark… shall be refused registration on account of its nature unless it… comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute” (Cornell Law). The disparagement aspect of this law is a key focus in the courts, especially as it relates to the topic of Native American symbols.

The first significant case that is on point for this study was that of Ritchie v. Simpson. There, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had to rule on whether Ritchie was entitled to oppose the registration of trademarks that would benefit O.J. Simpson, the football star accused of murder. The court ruled that “Mr. Ritchie has a real interest” in opposing the trademark, that he demonstrated a “real interest” in the outcome, and that he had a “reasonable basis” in his “belief of damage” (Ritchie v. Simpson, 1999). Ritchie’s argument was that the O.J. Simpson trademark disparaged his family values, the sanctity of marriage, and his Christian values (Ritchie v. Simpson, 1999). While this court did not specifically determine that the trademark should be cancelled, it did conclude that Mr. Ritchie’s claim was not unreasonable and had the right to be argued. The court also made it clear that “the PTO may not readily assume, without more, that they know the views of a substantial composite of the public” (Ritchie v. Simpson, 1999).

For the 2014 case of In Re Geller and Spencer, the same federal appeals court had to consider a challenge to the PTO’s decision to refuse to register the mark “STOP THE ISLAMISATION OF AMERICA.” Those seeking the mark said they intended to use this in connection with information designed to prevent terrorism (In Re Pamela Geller and Robert B. Spencer, 2014). However, the court found that the mark was disparaging because “STOP sets a negative tone and signals that Islamization is undesirable and is something that must be brought to an end in America,” and that the connection to preventing terrorism caused “a direct association of Islam and its followers with terrorism” (In Re Pamela Geller and Robert B. Spencer, 2014). Thus, the court concluded that this use of the term created a feeling of disparagement for “a substantial composite of the referenced group,” and as such, affirmed the refusal of the trademark (In Re Pamela Geller and Robert B. Spencer, 2014).

While these cases carry weight in trademark disparagement law, there have been two court cases that specifically shed light on the Washington Redskins trademark issue. The first of these was the case of Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, where a group of seven Native-Americans petitioned for the cancellation of six trademarks owned by Pro-Football, Inc., the corporate owner of the Redskins (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003). In this case, the federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the Native-Americans did not meet the burden of proof to warrant a cancellation of the trademarks. They concluded that the claim of “disparagement is not supported

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by substantial evidence” and “laches would also preclude the cancellation of the six trademarks” (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003). The issue with the evidence stemmed from the fact that they needed to prove that the trademark, as it relates to football, was disparaging to a “substantial composite” of the Native-American community at the time of registration, which was in 1967 (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003). The other major issue with this case turned on a legal concept known as “laches,” in which the court determined that there was a “substantial delay” in bringing the challenge to the trademark (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003). While the court sided with the Redskins, it made clear that “this opinion should not be read as making any statement on the appropriateness of Native American imagery for team names” and that the problem with this case was the evidence, not the “social goals” (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003).

In the Harjo case, there were constitutional claims made by Pro-Football, Inc. regarding the Lanham Act as it relates to the First Amendment. The court, however, deemed it was not necessary to pass judgment on those claims at the time, due to the other factors of the case (ProFootball, Inc. v. Harjo, 2003). These claims were made by the team once again, however, in Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse. Before touching on the constitutional matters, the court determined that the law was “not void for vagueness” and that the “record showed that Redskins marks consisted of matter that ‘may disparage’ a substantial composite of Native Americans during relevant time period” (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, 2015). This ruling held true to the trend of allowing the PTO to use its permitting process to protect citizens from potentially disparaging or offensive trademarks.

On Pro-Football’s First Amendment claims, the court also ruled against the team by reasoning that “Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act does not implicate the First Amendment,” and that “the federal trademark registration program is government speech and is therefore exempt from First Amendment scrutiny” (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, 2015). In addition, the court declared, “Nothing about Section 2(a) impedes the ability of members of society to discuss a trademark that was not registered by the PTO,” and that “the Lanham Act does not implicate the First Amendment as the cancellations do not burden, restrict, or prohibit PFI's ability to use the marks” (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, 2015). Essentially, what the court is saying is that the issue at hand is trademark registration, not trademark usage. Therefore, even though the trademark registration has been cancelled, the team can still use the mark. Thus, freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment is not being infringed.

In Re Tam and the Question of Freedom of Speech Less than six months after a federal district court brushed aside the First Amendment claim in the Blackhorse case above, exactly the opposite happened in the all-important Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In Re Tam marked the first time a court significantly questioned the constitutionality of the Lanham Act’s disparagement rule. While saying nothing about whether term “The Slants” itself is disparaging, the court ruled that the disparagement provision of the Lanham Act violates the First Amendment on its face, and, therefore, the trademark should be registered (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015). “Even when speech ‘inflicts great pain,’ our Constitution protects it ‘to ensure that we do not stifle public debate’” (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015). It was this court’s belief that the First Amendment “protects Mr. Tam’s speech, and the speech of other trademark applicants” (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015) — which, presumably, would include the Washington Redskins.

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While the court acknowledged that speech might sometimes be hurtful or offensive, it said unequivocally that the First Amendment trumps such concerns: “It is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment that the government may not penalize private speech merely because it disapproves of the message it conveys” (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015). In previous cases, courts had ruled that the Lanham Act was not regulating private speech, but rather, that it was dealing with commercial or governmental speech. However, in this case, the court declared that the disparagement provision deals with a mark’s “expressive character, not its ability to serve as a source identifier,” and that “use of a mark by its owner is clearly private speech” (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015).

As for the argument that the registration of trademarks is government speech, the court pointed to the fact that material granted copyright protection is not treated that way, so other intellectual property should not be, either (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015). The court determined that the disparagement provision in the Lanham Act cannot pass the strict scrutiny test that accompanies private speech, as it “is not content or viewpoint neutral” and “significantly chills private speech on discriminatory grounds” (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015). Even if trademarks fell under commercial speech, the court in this case ruled that the disparagement clause “is unconstitutional even under the Central Hudson test” (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015).

After many years of courts defending the Lanham Act’s disparagement section, the Supreme Court might significantly change course in In Re Tam. Many of the lower court cases examined in this article did not truly consider the constitutionality of the Lanham Act’s disparagement provision; they focused on the specific facts of the case or wrote off the First Amendment claims due to the prevailing thought that the law dealt with government or commercial speech, which is less protected. It is this concept of unconstitutionality — that First Amendment free speech overrides attempts to protect people from distasteful and offensive speech — that is most important going forward.

Discussion & Conclusions With the case of the Slants due to be decided this spring, this question of whether trademark disparagement law is acceptable in the eyes of the First Amendment might soon be answered. Of course, given how divisive the issue of potentially offensive language is in society today, the ruling of the Court may not actually have the conclusive nature some might expect when it comes to the Washington Redskins.

Should the Supreme Court decide that the Lanham Act’s disparagement rule does violate the First Amendment, certainly that would help the Redskins model their arguments on the Court’s reasoning. But if the Court rules that the disparagement rule does not violate the First Amendment, that would severely undermine the Redskins’ argument that it had been wronged when the PTO canceled its trademarks. Even in that event, it is still not a given the team would choose to change the team name, since they would still be allowed to use the mark, though unprotected by the PTO. This is especially true given team owner Daniel Snyder’s unequivocal stance: “We will never change the name of the team” (Jessop, 2013), even in light of the recent media storm against it. Furthermore, as Nagel and Rascher (2007) have pointed out, the team is doing well financially in spite of the controversy, leaving Snyder without much motivation to make the expensive re-branding decision.

If the Court decides that the Lanham Act’s disparagement clause does not violate the First Amendment but says the band’s trademark should be granted because the specific facts in the case do not amount to disparagement, that would leave the Redskins with an even weaker legal

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argument. After all, the circumstances are markedly different: The Slants are a band of Asian heritage using a name that is deemed potentially disparaging to Asians, whereas the Washington Redskins are a team without much Native American tradition using a term perceived to be offensive to Native Americans. While The Slants can point to the notion of trying to “reclaim” the term (In Re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015), Pro-Football, Inc. must convince people of Daniel Snyder’s reasoning for the using the term Redskins: “It represents honor, represents respect, represents pride” (Allen, 2014). That might be true, but it also might appear merely to be a billionaire trying to rationalize maintaining the status quo for a franchise worth an estimated $2.4 billion (Reuters, 2016).

The legal landscape for trademark disparagement could certainly be undergoing a drastic change at the moment. If the Supreme Court concludes that the PTO can no longer refuse to register a trademark for being disparaging, that will open up the door to an endless stream of distasteful trademarks protected by law. This is a notion that will, in all likelihood, not be taken well by society, given the current state of tension between freedom of speech and so-called “political correctness.” However, it is essential that we, as Americans who cherish the First Amendment as part of our unique heritage, not take a potential act of free speech violation lightly. Whatever the Court decides on this issue, it will undoubtedly shape the path of trademark law for decades to come.

References 15 U.S. Code § 1052 - Trademarks registrable on principal register; concurrent registration (n.d.). In Cornell Law. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

Allen, S. (2013, September 3). Daniel Snyder on the Redskins name controversy: ‘The truth is on our side’. In Washington Post. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

Beaujon, A. (2014, June 19). Here’s a list of outlets and journalists who won’t use the name ‘Redskins’. In Poynter. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

Blankenship, J. G. (2001). The Cancellation of Redskins as a Disparaging Trademark: Is Federal Trademark Law an Appropriate Solution for Words that Offend? University of Colorado Law Review, 72.

Brady, E. (2014, June 18). Redskins trademarks canceled by U.S. Patent Office. In USA Today.

Brown, K. A. (2002). Native American Team Names and Mascots: Disparaging and Insensitive or Just a Part of the Game. Sports Law Journal, 9.

Davis, Jr., T. H. (1993). Registration of Scandalous, Immoral, and Disparaging Matter Under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act: Can One Man's Vulgarity Be Another's Registered Trademark? Ohio State Law Journal, 54, 332-401.

Hess, A. (2016, July 19). How ‘Political Correctness’ Went From Punch Line to Panic. In New York Times.

IN RE PAMELA GELLER AND ROBERT B. SPENCER (UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT May 13, 2014) (LexisNexis, Dist. file).

IN RE SIMON SHIAO TAM (UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT December 22, 2015) (LexisNexis, Dist. file).

Jessop, A. (2013, October 15). Inside The Legal Fight To Change The Washington Redskins' Name. In Forbes. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

Lee, M. B. (1997). Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act as a Restriction of Sports Team Names: Has Political Correctness Gone Too Far. Sports Law Journal, 4.

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Most Native Americans not offended by the Washington Redskins' name (2016, May 19).

In Washington Post. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

Nagel, M. S., & Rascher, D. A. (2007). Washington “Redskins” – Disparaging Term or Valuable Tradition?: Legal and Economic Issues Concerning Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc. MRPA, 119.

PRO-FOOTBALL, INC., Plaintiff, v. AMANDA BLACKHORSE, et al., Defendants. (UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA, ALEXANDRIA DIVISION July 8, 2015) (LexisNexis, Dist. file).

PRO-FOOTBALL, INC., Plaintiff, v. SUZAN SHOWN HARJO, et al., Defendants. (UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA September 30, 2003) (LexisNexis, Dist. file).

Reuters. (2016, September 29). Supreme Court to Hear The Slants' Trademark Case That Could Affect NFL Team. In NBC News. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

Smith, C. (2002). Sqeezing the Juice out of the Washington Redskins: Intellectual Property Rights in Scandalous and Disparaging Trademarks after Harjo v. Pro-Football Inc. Washington Law Review, 77.

Volokh, E. (2015, June 18). Supreme Court reaffirms broad prohibition on content-based speech restrictions, in today’s Reed v. Town of Gilbert decision. In Washington Post.

WILLIAM B. RITCHIE, Appellant, v. ORENTHAL JAMES SIMPSON, Appellee. (UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT March 15, 1999) (LexisNexis, Dist. file).

Wolf, R. (2016, September 29). Supreme Court to consider disparaging trademarks. In USA Today. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

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How Do Commonly Measured Related Reading Constructs Correlate in a Sample of Struggling Readers?

Christina Honeycutt Christina Honeycutt, a senior special education major with an adapted curriculum concentration, became interested in her chosen topic as she worked within surrounding High Point schools. When it became clear to her that students simply struggle with reading, she became curious about what she could do to help as a classroom teacher. For Honeycutt, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research has been her own growth as a student during the process. Looking back to her freshman year, she feels she never would have been able to present research eloquently in front of strangers. Now, because of her mentorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support and HPUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Summer Research Institute (SuRI), she is doing just that. Her mentor, Dr. Sarah Vess, saw something in Honeycutt and was able to pull her out of her comfort zone by having her speak up in classes, complete multiple undergraduate research projects, and focus her skills on becoming the best teacher she could be. Honeycutt credits her mentor for being a big reason for her going to graduate school and her involvement with research projects that have taught her more about students with disabilities and how to help them. After graduating, she will be attending the University of Georgia for graduate school.

Abstract The current research examines a portion of the data that was collected as part of a larger project (Field, Begeny & Stage, 2015) which investigated the efficacy of a reading fluency intervention (the HELPS One-On-One Program; Begeny, 2009; Begeny, Mann, Cunningham & Tsuen, 2009) with a group of struggling readers who had not previously responded as needed to earlier attempts at remedial instruction. According to the literature there is a relationship between three distinct reading constructs that make a reader fluent. Those constructs are phonemic awareness, phonics, and working memory. The constructs are seen to build upon each other that then help a reader to decode words while reading, therefore allowing them to read more words fluently. This research seeks to understand the relationship, if any, between these constructs in a sample of struggling readers.

A

pproximately 40 percent of the United States students are considered non-fluent readers, with reading fluency described as the ability to read with accuracy, speed and with good expression (Begeny, 2009). Cognitive abilities, specifically working memory, phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge have been identified as factors for the success of readers.

Phonemic awareness is defined as the ability to detect, distinguish and manipulate the elements of words (syllables, onsets, rimes and phonemes; Oakhill & Kyle, 2000). In a study 56

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conducted by Ashby, Dix, Bontrager, Dey, and Archer (2013) researchers tracked eye movements while participants from grades second and third completed two phonemic awareness tasks over six trials. They found that the children who chose a target more quickly in the phonemic awareness task read aloud at a faster rate than those who took longer to process the target. Torgesen and Hudson (2006) noted that children in their first semester of kindergarten are identified as the 10% most at risk for reading failure for having low scores in phonemic awareness. These reading failures come from fluency because children with phonological processing and awareness problems have slower reaction times for identifying familiar words and even slower reaction times for identifying nonfamiliar words. This causes children to read slower, directly affecting their reading fluency.

Phonemic awareness and working memory, here defined as an immediate storage system that manipulates and processes current, incoming information (Baddeley, Logie, Nimmo-Smith & Brereton, 1985; Matlin, 2013) affect each other while simultaneously affecting reading fluency. Oakhill and Kyle (2000) found that when subjects were put through a sound categorization (phonological awareness) task their working memory ability was one of the determinants to their performance. Since most of reading fluency is tested on a read-aloud scale, one could infer that if a student cannot categorize the sounds they are reading aloud they would then have trouble processing the words in their working memory, which could cause a disruption in fluency. Mann and Liberman (1984) performed a longitudinal study on children between their kindergarten and first grade years and found a moderate correlation between phonemic awareness and working memory on a syllable counting task, a word-string memory task, and the corsi block test.

Working memory, defined above, has two processing centers, auditory and visual (Matlin, 2013). McCallum, et al. (2006) conducted a study to determine the role of working memory in reading processing. They concluded that short-term memory has a strong power to contribute to the acquisition of reading skills including reading fluency. Baddeley, Logie, Nimmo-Smith & Brereton (1985) conducted a study with 51 participants who were put through tests in reading, vocabulary, letter matching, lexical decision making and a working memory test.

Researchers showed that the working memory span test correlated with the performances on the vocabulary, lexical decision, and letter matching tests. From this result, they inferred that working memory span is a predictor of reading fluency.

Phonics, referred to as the set of rules that specifies the relationship between letters as they appear in the spelling of words (Lewis-Lancaster, 2013) is another predictor of reading fluency as it relates to both phonemic awareness and working memory. McGeown and Medford (2013) conducted a study in which 88 new kindergarten students were taught to read from a synthetic phonics approach for approximately 40 minutes a day. After being tested for many different aspects of reading, including phonemic awareness tasks and a short-term memory task, researchers concluded that letter-sound knowledge and short-term memory span were the strongest correlates of early word reading. This relates to reading fluency in that unless a reader can decode individual letter sounds, know the rules for how individual sounds come together to form a word and have the ability to store and manage the incoming information, their reading performance may be affected. Thus, if reading performance is affected, students who cannot read fluently, tend to read less than fluent readers. Therefore, they see less words overall and do not read common words as often as fluent readers do, which causes students to be less fluent overall over their lifetime. The purpose of this research is to determine if a relationship exists between

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individual reading related factors and fluency and to confirm the literature that a relationship exists between each construct.

Method Participants Of the eighteen struggling readers in 2nd and 3rd grade meeting selection criteria (see criteria below in Procedure) six were females (33%) and 12 (66%) were male. Nine second graders with a mean age of 8.01 years (SD= 0.45) and nine third graders with a mean age of 9.17 years (SD= 0.30) received the Tier 3 intervention, explained below in Procedure. Ten students identified as Black or African American, four as Hispanic, and four as White or Caucasian.

Procedure After receiving Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, three elementary schools in the suburban southeast agreed to serve as potential locations for the study. In order to be eligible for initial consideration in the study, potential students were enrolled in 2nd or 3rd grade, had no on-going special education, ESL, or other remedial intervention services, and scored below the cut-point for risk based on the district-wide fall benchmark assessment for oral reading fluency.

Of approximately 600 students, 78 students met these criteria and moved into the first phase of the research project, during which they received small-group reading fluency intervention 2-3 times per week for 10 weeks using the HELPS Small Group Reading Fluency Program (HELPSSG; Begeny, 2015). The small group interventions were led by teaching assistants and reading teachers employed by the schools who were certified in HELPS-SG procedures. Complete information about HELPS-SG, including a procedural manual, can be found on the website www.helpsprogram.org. This phase of the research project is considered a Tier 2 level of intervention in a Response to Intervention (RTI) model.

After 10 weeks, participants underwent winter benchmark assessments as scheduled by the district. Students were classified as â&#x20AC;&#x153;non-respondersâ&#x20AC;? if they continued to score below the cut-point for risk. They were also given a second, standardized measure of oral reading fluency, on which they had to score at or below the 25th percentile. Students meeting these criteria (n=25) were given an additional measure to rule out phonics as a primary skill deficit. Students who also demonstrated phonics weaknesses were excluded from the study at this point and referred for intervention in that area. From here, 18 eligible participants underwent a series of tests designed to measure reading-related cognitive skills, including measures of verbal knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid naming, orthographic processing, working memory, processing speed, and executive functioning. Next, all participants received individual oral reading fluency intervention with the HELPS One-on-One program, 3-4 days a week over 10 weeks. Interventionists included trained graduate or undergraduate research assistants. The HELPS One-on-One reading fluency intervention program consists of individual,10-15-minute intervention sessions, during which repeated readings, error correction procedures, modeled reading, verbal cues for comprehension and fluency, performance feedback, goal-setting and graphing are used. Complete information about the HELPS One-on-One reading fluency intervention program can be found on the website www.helpsprogram.org. Participants in this phase of the study received a total of 40-60 minutes of individualized intervention each week for a period of 10 weeks. This phase of the research is considered a Tier 3 intervention within the RTI framework.

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The current study investigated a specific research question from the data taken as part of the larger research project (Field, Begeny & Stage, 2015) described here. Participant scores on five of the Tier 3 pre-assessment measures (listed in Table 1) were analyzed with SPSS to determine if correlations existed between the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; scores on the measures.

Results Data were analyzed in SPSS to determine if any correlations existed between participant scores on the Gray Oral Reading Test 5th Edition Fluency Composite (GORT5; Wiederholt & Bryant, 2012), Woodcock Johnson Achievement Test 3rd Edition Word Attack subtest (WJ-III ACH WA; Woodcock, McGrew & Mather, 2001, 2007), Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing Phonemic Awareness Composite (CTOPP PA Comp; Wagner, Torgesen & Rashotte, 1999), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) Digit Span subtest (Wechsler, 2003), and the DIBELS Winter Oral Reading Fluency benchmark (DORF). Mean participant scores were 84.44, 100.20, 63.50, 97.77, and 88.73, respectively, as displayed in Figure 1.Bivariate correlations were conducted with each combination of measures. The correlation coefficients for each combination of measures are presented in Table 2. None of the correlation values were statistically significant at the p < .05 value using a two-tailed test of significance, indicating two possibilities. Either a) there is no significant relationship, or b) no linear relationship exists between these commonly measured reading constructs within the highly-stratified group of struggling readers.

Table 1 Measures Gray Oral Reading Test 5th Edition Fluency Composite Woodcock Johnson Achievement Test 3rd Edition Word Attack Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing Phonemic Awareness Composite Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition DIBELS Winter Oral Reading Fluency

Construct Focus Measures oral reading fluency and comprehension Measures a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to decode unfamiliar words Assess phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid naming Measure of both verbal and nonverbal abilities of intelligence Assesses accuracy and fluency with text

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Figure 1. Mean participant scores on assessments ________________________________________________ Table 2 GORT5Fluency WJWAPhonics TOPP WISC4DS DORF PAComp

GORT5Fluency

1

-.013

.264

-.402

-.247

WJWAPhonics

-.013

1

.228

.245

.086

CTOPP PAComp

.264

.228

1

-.139

-.215

WISC4DS

-.402

.245

-.139

1

.086

DORF

-.247

.086

-.215

-.086

1

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Discussion Previously, a statistically relevant relationship has been demonstrated between three distinct skills of reading: phonological awareness, phonics and reading fluency. This relationship is based on the premise that each skill builds upon the other and that all three skills are needed to quickly decode words and build meaning while reading. Based upon this research, it is surprising that no significant relationship was found between the scores on the GORT-5, the WJWA Phonics, and the CTOPP. However, because the scores represent three very distinct reading skills; hearing the sounds in the words (phonological awareness), seeing and associating letters and sounds (phonics), and reading words fluently in connected texts, it is likely that a statistical relationship between test scores on tests that measure distinct skills may not exist. The lack of a significant relationship does not detract from the working relationship between being able to complete the three separate tasks at the same time while reading a text; as stated by McGeown and Medford (2013) who found that working memory, phonemic awareness and phonics have a relationship that aids young readers in becoming fluent. Phonics refers to matching of letters to sounds, while phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and understand the sounds a letter makes. Working memory allows the reader to put the sounds together while reading.

Further, there was also no correlation found between the two measures used to â&#x20AC;&#x153;measureâ&#x20AC;? oral reading fluency, the GORT-5 and DORF. This suggests that although they may measure the same skill, the manner in which the measures are administered and scored may influence the interpretation of fluency skills. For example, tests may be administered one way for one test while another test is administered in a completely different way. Due to this, it could be debated which measure more accurately displays the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actual oral reading fluency skill and which should be used as a way to place a student into intervention. This result may not be a likely scenario for all struggling readers, as stronger working memory is generally associated with stronger reading performance (Baddeley, Logie, Nimmo-Smith & Brereton 1985). This correlation could be further evaluated by replicating the study and increasing the sample size.

This would help to validate a relationship that is, in fact, negative between the two variables. It would also help to lessen the influences of extreme outlier scores that skew the calculation of a correlation coefficient.

Limitations and Future Directions There are a few limitations to this study: the sample size, the participants, and the measures that were taken. The sample size was relatively small to get a complete understanding of all struggling readers. This study focused on eighteen readers. Having a larger sample size would allow researchers to have a more comprehensive look at the relationship between reading related constructs. With more participants and more data, a statistically significant relationship may have been found. However, this would require more school involvement, more interventionists, and more students. Students involved in this study were in the Tier 3 stage of the Response to Intervention model, which is comprised of only about 5% of the student population.

As a result, researchers would need to work with approximately fifteen schools to establish a more appropriate sample size. The second possible limitation involves the actual participants because they were not responsive to the HELPS-SG intervention at the Tier 2 level; they may not have been a fair representation of all struggling readers. They were representative of students who were not responsive to the HELPS-SG intervention at the Tier 2 level that then needed to be moved into the Tier 3 stage of that particular intervention. Perhaps, if students were given a different intervention, or a combination of multiple interventions, then they may have been

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responsive at the Tier 2 level and thus not enrolled in the current research study. Lastly, another limitation to this study could be the tests that were used to measure the individual skills of the participants. Perhaps these tests do not give a complete picture of the student’s skill on the construct thus impacting results. If different tests were used, the students may have performed differently impacting the relationships between the reading constructs.

As a next step in my research, I would like to repeat this study using students who are in the Tier 2 stage of the Response to Intervention model. I plan to use this sample of students in two conditions, one following the HELPS-SG program only and the other receiving a combination of HELPS-SG and another reading fluency intervention. This study would compare both conditions to determine if participants’ scores showed a statistical relationship between the different constructs and reading fluency.

References Ashby, J., Dix, H., Bontrager, M., Dey, R., & Archer, A. (2013). Phonemic awareness contributes to text reading fluency: Evidence from eye movements. School Psychology Review, 42(2), 157-170.

Baddeley, A., Logie, R., Nimmo-Smith, I., & Brereton, N. (1985). Components of fluent reading.

Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 119-131.

Begeny, J.C. (2009). Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS): A one-on-one program designed to improve students’ reading fluency. Raleigh, NC: The Helps Education Fund. Retrievable from http://www.helpsprogram.org Begeny, J.C., Mann, C.M., Cunningham, M.D., & Tsuen, H.Y. (2009). The Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) curriculum: Instructional passages developed for use with the HELPS Program. Raleigh, NC: The Helps Education Fund. Retrievable from http://www.helpsprogram.org Begeny, J. C. (2015). Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies for small groups (HELPSSG): A small group program designed to improve students’ reading fluency. Manual in preparation.

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills Oral Reading Fluency Measures (DORF).

University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning: Eugene, Oregon. Materials downloaded from https://dibels.org/next/downloadsignup.php Field, S., Begeny, C., & Stage, S. (2015). Exploring the relationship between cognitive characteristics and responsiveness to a tier 3 reading fluency intervention. Manuscript in preparation.

Lewis-Lancaster, A. (2013). Examining the results of a brief experimental analysis and reading fluency intervention with a middle school student. 166-174.

Mann, V., & Liberman, I. (1984). Phonological awareness and verbal short-term memory.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, 17(10), 592-599.

Mccallum, R., Bell, S., Wood, M., Below, J., Choate, S., & McCane, S. (2006). What is the role of working memory in reading relative to the big three processing variables (orthography, phonology, and rapid naming)? Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 24(3), 243259. doi:10.1177/0734282906237938 Mcgeown, S., & Medford, E. (2013). Using method of instruction to predict the skills supporting initial reading development: Insight from a synthetic phonics approach. Read Writ Reading and Writing, 591-608. doi:10.1007/s11145-013-9460-5

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Oakhill, J., & Kyle, F. (2000). The relation between phonological awareness and working memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 75, 152-164. doi:10.1006/jecp.1999.2529 Torgesen, J. K., & Hudson, R (2006). Reading fluency: critical issues for struggling readers. In S.J. Samuels & A. Farstrup (Eds.), Reading fluency: The forgotten dimension of reading success (pp.130-158). Newark, DE: International Reading Association Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (1999). Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Examinerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manual. Austin, TX: Pro. Ed. Wechsler, D. (2003). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition. Technical and interpretive manual. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

Wiederholt, J. & Bryant, B. (2012). Gray Oral Reading Tests Fifth Edition (GORT-5); Pro-Ed. Austin, Texas Woodcock, R. W., McGrew, K. S., & Mather, N. (2001, 2007). Woodcock-Johnson III. Rolling Meadows, IL: Riverside Publishing.

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Billets-Doux Ceili Lang Ceili Lang, a junior theater major, was in a playwriting class when she decided to write a play on a relationship.

Lang's fascination with relationships and what affects them pushed her to consider why some work and why some do not.

For her, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research and creative work has been others' reactions. Lang notes that many people say they have been touched by her play, which has been rewarding to know that her writing is so relatable and real. Lang has been working with mentor, Ed Simpson, since the beginning when she was cast in her first HPU show on the third day of her freshman year. Over the years, he supported her and pushed her to be a better student, writer, and performer. Having seen potential in Lang, Simpson made sure she knew that working hard would pay off. Lang credits Simpson with teaching her what play writing is about, as well as teaching her to have confidence in what she has produced. After she graduates, she plans to earn a master's degree in acting and then move to New York.

Abstract This play is an exploration of relationships. I have always been fascinated how two completely different people can, over time, mold into new people that complement one another. So this play follows two people who meet by chance because their names are both Alex. One is a schoolteacher, and the other is a crossword puzzle constructor. Both reach for the same coffee and originally seem like they would never click, but they decide to give it a chance. The play goes through the intimate moments of a relationship. The two characters slowly open up about their lives and slip into the familiar mix of comfort and wariness as their connection progresses.

It is almost a study of human nature and how experiencing life with another person can change who we are, for better or for worse.

A small city in modern day America, much like Princeton, New Jersey.

Synopsis of Scenes The play takes place over the course of a year and a half. It starts in early fall, and ends in December of the following year.

Description of the Setting Due to the nature of this play, the set is relatively simple. It consists of a plain, blank stage.

There are multiple set pieces brought on for each scene to give context to the audience. The furniture itself should also be relatively plain. As a way to further clue what each scene is, there

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will be a sign that changes periodically to show a different crossword answer that indicates what scene it is. There should be minimal props and set.

Cast of Characters (In order of appearance) ALEX

Late 20s. A put-together, very literal crossword puzzle designer. Awkward, doesn’t always understand social situations.

Very endearing.

ALEXANDRA

Mid-Late 20s. A quirky, genuine schoolteacher. While out-going, she is guarded. Incredibly passionate.

Scene 1: Meeting Setting

A coffee shop. It is busy. There is a counter with a barista.

At Rise

The barista calls out a name.

ALEXANDRA and ALEX both reach for the drink.

ALEX I’m sorry, that’s my drink.

ALEXANDRA No it’s mine. Peppermint latte for Alex.

ALEX That’s what I ordered…

(They look at each other awkwardly.)

ALEXANDRA I guess you can h– ALEX Thanks.

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(ALEX starts to walk away.)

ALEXANDRA Hey wait! What th– (She starts to go after him but the barista calls out ALEXANDRA’s drink. She grabs it and catches up to him.)

Well that was rude.

ALEX How was that rude?

ALEXANDRA Well, I– ALEX You offered me the drink, and I took it.

ALEXANDRA I… uh… okay, fair.

ALEX So what’s the problem?

ALEXANDRA Nothing, sorry.

(She starts to walk away.)

ALEX (hesitant) Wait.

ALEXANDRA Yeah?

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ALEX Look, I’m sorry.

ALEXANDRA Oh, thanks.

ALEX Okay then.

ALEXANDRA Would you want to go get soup?

(They both share a confused look.)

Not how I wanted that to come out.

ALEX Umm ALEXANDRA Sorry, that was– ALEX Actually, yeah.

ALEXANDRA What?

ALEX Yeah, I’ll go, uh, get soup… with you.

ALEXANDRA Really?

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ALEX Yeah.

ALEXANDRA Why? ALEX Why? ALEXANDRA Yeah.

ALEX I don’t know… stop questioning it, or I’ll start to.

ALEXANDRA Okay.

ALEX Uh, what’s your number?

ALEXANDRA Oh, here!

(She writes it on a napkin and hands it to him. ALEXANDRA starts to walk away.)

ALEX Does is have to be soup?

ALEXANDRA What?

ALEX Does our date have to be soup?

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ALEXANDRA Uh no, it doesn’t have to be soup.

ALEX Okay, good.

ALEXANDRA Was that all you wanted?

ALEX Oh, no. I was– What are you doing Saturday?

ALEXANDRA Well, I have my nephew’s t-ball game at eleven, but after that I’m free!

ALEX Great. How does seven o’clock sound?

ALEXANDRA That would be perfect.

ALEX Where should I pick you up Saturday?

ALEXANDRA Uh… ALEX Oh sorry is that weird? You don’t have to tell me where you live. We could just meet up.

ALEXANDRA No, it’s fine–

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ALEX I’m not a murderer, I swear.

(She laughs.)

ALEXANDRA I’ll text you my address.

ALEX See you Saturday.

ALEXANDRA Bye.

Scene 2: First Date Setting

Restaurant. There is a table center stage with a chair on either side.

At Rise

ALEXANDRA and ALEX sit across from each other talking.

ALEX So what were you saying?

ALEXANDRA Oh right! Now I’m teaching second graders but when I was student teaching I taught fourth grade.

ALEX Which do you like better?

ALEXANDRA Well I don’t know, second graders are more fun, but fourth graders are more focused.

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ALEX I can imagine they would be a handful.

ALEXANDRA Oh, they are. What do you do?

ALEX I create the crossword puzzles for the paper.

ALEXANDRA Really? You mean, you come up with those?

ALEX Yeah.

ALEXANDRA I can never even finish them.

ALEX It’s pretty tedious but I love it.

ALEXANDRA Do you only do crosswords?

ALEX Every once in a while I’ll do a cryptogram or find a sudoku puzzle but for the most part just crosswords.

ALEXANDRA That’s really cool.

ALEX Thanks.

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ALEXANDRA I actually always bring a copy with me to the park try to do the puzzles while I people watch.

ALEX Oh really? Do you go to the park a lot?

ALEXANDRA I used to.

ALEX Why did you stop? Get too busy?

ALEXANDRA Umm not really.

ALEX What happened?

ALEXANDRA It’s embarrassing. I don’t really talk about it on dates. Or at all.

ALEX I promise I won’t judge.

ALEXANDRA Okay. I go to the park and people watch for hours. I like to write down what I observe and make little drawings.

ALEX That’s pretty cool.

ALEXANDRA Thanks! I actually have a series of them that I might turn into a book one day. Sometimes I find someone that really intrigues me and I’ll write and draw a whole story about them.

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ALEX That’s not embarrassing.

ALEXANDRA That’s not the embarrassing part. There was this one person that just fascinated me. Her name was Carol. Carol would come to the park every Tuesday. She would sit on the same bench, eat the same sandwich, and wear the same red beret no matter what the weather was. And sometimes she would feed the squirrels Cheetos.

ALEX Really? That’s weird.

ALEXANDRA Right? So I would sit nearby and record. Then I got curious what she did when she wasn’t at the park. Anyway long story short, that’s how I got a restraining order against me. I have the book in my apartment if you want to see it sometime. It’s quite good.

ALEX You have a restraining order?

ALEXANDRA See, I knew I shouldn’t have told you that. Now you probably think I’m a pyscho.

ALEX I said I wouldn’t judge.

ALEXANDRA I swear I’m not. I just get invested in things.

ALEX I believe you. I can tell this is something you care about.

ALEXANDRA What about you?

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ALEX What?

ALEXANDRA Any deep, dark, embarrassing secrets?

ALEX Not really.

ALEXANDRA Oh, come on. Make me feel a little bit better about over-sharing.

ALEX Okay, well there was this one time that I got stuck to my bike.

ALEXANDRA What do you mean you got stuck to your bike?

ALEX I ride my bike to work every day. This one day I had a big presentation where I had to present all of my puzzles for the upcoming paper. It was a special edition where the puzzles were featured so I had about twenty to present. So I had my backpack, my lunch, two of those portfolio tube things, and some pastries to hopefully win them over.

ALEXANDRA Oh goodness.

ALEX Yeah. So I hit a bump pretty close to my office and all of my bags got tangled around the bike when I fell.

(ALEXANDRA is holding back laughter.)

ALEXANDRA Oh no.

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ALEX So I had to walk the bike in between my legs with all of my bags wrapped around me.

ALEXANDRA Did anyone help you?

ALEX I struggled, but I got it into the elevator. When I made it to my floor, Susan, the secretary, saw me and helped.

ALEXANDRA I was hoping you had to do the whole presentation like that.

ALEX No, thank god.

(They eat their food for a moment.)

You know, I would like to see that book.

ALEXANDRA The one about Carol?

ALEX Yeah, it has to be pretty good if it landed you with a restraining order.

ALEXANDRA I think that can be arranged.

Scene 3: First Fight Setting

There is a picnic blanket laid out in the middle of the stage. There is bag that has food in it.

At Rise

ALEX and ALEXANDRA are sitting on the blanket.

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ALEXANDRA What's up with you?

ALEX It's nothing.

ALEXANDRA No, I know you. I can tell when something's bothering you. Just say it.

ALEX Okay, well I just– (Beat.)

Why won't you move in with me?

ALEXANDRA I never said that!

ALEX You’re the one being kicked out of your apartment because your roommate it getting married or whatever. I thought I would be helping, but apparently not.

ALEXANDRA I just said I needed to think about it. You know I like you. It’s just a lot to handle right now.

ALEX Yeah, I get it, but I just feel like you'll never be ready.

ALEXANDRA Can you blame me for that?

ALEX No, I guess not.

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ALEX Why are you so against it?

ALEXANDRA (Hesitant) It scares me.

ALEX What scares you?

ALEXANDRA Being with you.

ALEX (Offended) Um… ALEXANDRA That’s not what I meant. It’s just… I like you a lot and moving in scares me.

ALEX It scares me too, but isn’t it also exciting?

ALEXANDRA Do we have to talk about it right now? Can't we just enjoy our picnic? I don't want to think about it.

ALEX But you have to! We can't keep walking around ignoring it. Your roommate said you need to be out by next month and I just want to– ALEXANDRA I think I love you okay! I have no idea what I'm doing, but I love you.

ALEX What?

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ALEXANDRA I love you.

ALEX Um… ALEXANDRA Shit. Did I do that wrong?

ALEX No, I just wasn’t expecting it.

ALEXANDRA I picked the worst time to say it. Didn’t I? ALEX I mean it’s definitely not ideal, but– ALEXANDRA Sorry. Forget I said it.

ALEX No, it’s fine.

ALEXANDRA Please forget it.

ALEX I love you, too.

ALEXANDRA Really?

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ALEX Yeah.

ALEXANDRA So I guess we’re doing this then.

ALEX Only if you want to.

Scene 4: Moving In Setting

There are moving boxes scattered on the floor. There is a tall bookshelf filled with crossword puzzle books.

At Rise

ALEX and ALEXANDRA are sitting on the floor going through boxes.

ALEX

How do you have this much stuff?

ALEXANDRA Why are you surprised, you’ve been to my place?

ALEX It didn’t look like that much when it was actually in your apartment.

ALEXANDRA We just have to move a few things around and it’ll be fine.

ALEX I don’t even know where to begin.

ALEXANDRA Just pick a box.

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(They both open a box. ALEX is looking through his box as ALEXANDRA is unpacking her box of notebooks. While they are talking ALEXANDRA is rearranging the bookshelf to fit her things, ALEX doesn’t notice.)

ALEX What even is this?

ALEXANDRA It’s a foam finger I got at a baseball game.

ALEX And this?

ALEXANDRA Oh, that’s an ashtray I found at restaurant.

ALEX But you don’t even smoke.

ALEXANDRA No, but I like how the pattern kind of looks like a face.

ALEX Do you really need all of this?

ALEXANDRA I like to collect things. They’re like memories.

ALEX What about your actual memories? Isn’t that enough?

ALEXANDRA Hey!

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ALEX I’m just saying you already have a bunch of stuff. Do you need this too?

ALEXANDRA You have a ton of stuff too. Like I said, we just need to move things around.

(He turns to look at her and sees that she has replaced many of his books.)

ALEX What are you doing?

ALEXANDRA Do you really need all of these crossword books?

ALEX Stop!

ALEXANDRA Why do you have these anyway? Don’t you spend all day doing this?

ALEX Yes, now will you please stop re– ALEXANDRA Wait, these are filled out already.

ALEX I like to keep them okay.

ALEXANDRA That’s a little weird. I mean why would you keep old– ALEX ALEXANDRA PLEASE STOP!

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ALEXANDRA Jeez, sorry.

(He grabs all of the books and starts to put them back the way they were.)

ALEXANDRA CONT. Look, I’m sorry okay? I didn’t realize you cared about it that much.

ALEX It’s fine.

ALEXANDRA I should have asked before just moving them.

ALEX I said it’s fine.

ALEXANDRA Can I ask you something?

ALEX Sure.

ALEXANDRA Why do you like crosswords so much?

ALEX I don’t know.

ALEXANDRA You don’t know? You just yelled at me and ripped a book out of my hand, but you don’t know.

ALEX I don’t know.

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(They go back to unpacking. It is silent for a minute while they work.)

I think maybe it’s because there’s always a right answer?

ALEXANDRA The crosswords?

ALEX Yeah. I don’t always understand the world.

ALEXANDRA What do you mean?

ALEX When I was younger, people would tell me I was too serious and, honestly, kids didn’t want to be my friend because of it. I never got why they didn’t like me.

ALEXANDRA I’m sorry.

ALEX I mean, obviously I get it now, but back then I needed something that made sense.

ALEXANDRA And that was crossword puzzles?

ALEX Yeah.

ALEXANDRA Why? ALEX I guess I got the idea from my dad. Every Sunday he would sit and do the Times crossword. So I started doing it, too.

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ALEXANDRA That’s cool though!

ALEX I can’t tell you how many birthdays I asked for crossword books.

ALEXANDRA Now I know what to get you for Christmas.

(They share a smile. ALEX goes back to thinking.)

ALEXANDRA When did you start making your own?

ALEX I was probably about ten. I would always make my dad try to figure them out.

ALEXANDRA I bet he loved that.

ALEX Oh he did, he would even pretend to ask for hints. He is the best.

(Beat) ALEXANDRA So why did you decide to do it for a living?

ALEX When it came to figuring out what I wanted to do with my life I had no idea. I truthfully never realized I could do it for a living. Funny enough, it never crossed my mind.

ALEXANDRA So what changed?

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ALEX I just got lucky. I met a friend of a friend who said they could get me an interview. But when I got that job offer and my first puzzle approved, everything clicked. All of a sudden my life made sense.

(He looks at the crossword book he is holding.)

It was like… when you get all of the words to line up in a puzzle. You spend hours trying different combinations and it finally works. When you finish and it looks like a beautiful maze of seemingly unrelated words, but it all fits. It’s like that for me. And I guess I like being able to give people that feeling too.

(Beat) ALEXANDRA God, I love you so much.

(She kisses him.)

ALEX You’re just saying that so I’ll give you shelf space.

ALEXANDRA (Joking) You caught me.

ALEX Here.

(ALEX clears off an entire shelf for her.)

ALEX That way you can put your drawings on display.

ALEXANDRA What about your crosswords?

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ALEX I can find somewhere else to put them.

(They hug.)

Scene 5: Meet the Parents Setting

There is a couch center stage.

At Rise

ALEX and ALEXANDRA walk in and are getting situated. They are taking off their coats, etc.

ALEX

Well that was interesting.

ALEXANDRA What?

ALEX Did you have to freak out like that?

ALEXANDRA I did not freak out.

ALEX I don’t know, I think yelling at someone you just met is kind of freaking out.

ALEXANDRA It wasn’t my fault! Why did your dad have to treat me like that?

ALEX Like what?

ALEXANDRA Like I was the stupidest person on earth.

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ALEX He did not. He’s just opinionated, no, passionate.

ALEXANDRA No, I get it. I’m not into all of the literary stuff that you guys like. But I’m not an idiot.

ALEX I know.

ALEXANDRA I have my masters for god’s sake.

ALEX I know. You’re the most brilliant woman I know.

ALEXANDRA It’s just… why does he have to act like that?

ALEX Why do you care what my dad thinks of you?

ALEXANDRA Why don’t you?

ALEX Because it doesn’t matter.

ALEXANDRA Wouldn’t you want your dad to like the girl you’re dating?

ALEX What?

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ALEXANDRA Don’t you?

ALEX Why are you asking me that?

ALEXANDRA Answer Alex!

ALEX It doesn’t matter what he thinks.

ALEXANDRA Why are you acting like you don’t care?

ALEX Why should I care?

ALEXANDRA Your dad is like your fucking hero, don’t pretend what he thinks doesn’t matter.

ALEX I love you. That’s what matters. Now come to bed.

ALEXANDRA Why are you changing the subject?

(Silence.)

He said something, didn’t he?

ALEX Well…

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ALEXANDRA What did he say? Come on, tell me.

ALEX Okay, fine. When you went to the bathroom he said that he didn’t know how I handled your… uh, energy.

ALEXANDRA What?

ALEX I think you were just a bit much for him.

ALEXANDRA How was I a bit much? I was just being polite.

ALEX You have to admit you sometimes come on a little strong.

ALEXANDRA Well I was just trying to keep the conversation going since he was giving me nothing.

ALEX I told you it doesn’t matter.

ALEXANDRA I just wanted him to like me.

ALEX I like you.

ALEXANDRA I know but you also idolize him so his opinion matters to me.

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ALEX I don’t idolize him.

ALEXANDRA Whatever.

ALEX Trust me that could have gone way worse.

ALEXANDRA I doubt it.

ALEX One time I brought a girl home and she pretended to know the book my dad was talking about and he ended up quizzing her on it just to humiliate her.

ALEXANDRA Shit.

ALEX Yeah, he’s not the best when it comes to meeting new people.

ALEXANDRA But I’m not new really. I talk to him sometimes when you Skype him.

ALEX He’s just protective.

ALEXANDRA Well he’ll just have to get used to me because I’m not going anywhere.

ALEX Oh really?

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ALEXANDRA You know what I meant.

ALEX You planning on sticking around for a while then?

ALEXANDRA I guess.

ALEX So you see a future for us?

ALEXANDRA Don’t you?

ALEX Of course, we’ve just never talked about it before.

ALEXANDRA I don’t usually talk about these things with guys.

ALEX Well, why not?

ALEXANDRA It’s just not something I do.

ALEX Oh. ALEXANDRA If I do… stick around, you’d have to figure things out with your dad.

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ALEX What do you mean?

ALEXANDRA If this is going to work I can’t be worried about your dad’s opinion and yours.

ALEX He doesn’t control me.

ALEXANDRA I know. I’m just saying, you’re an adult. You don’t need to fight for your dad’s approval.

ALEX That’s kind of harsh, Alex.

ALEXANDRA. You should talk to him.

ALEX Fine I will.

ALEXANDRA Don’t let him push you around.

Scene 6: Hospital Visit Setting

A hospital. There are two waiting room chairs center stage.

At Rise

ALEX and ALEXANDRA are sitting next to each other. ALEXANDRA’s hand is wrapped up in a makeshift bandage. She has a clipboard and it trying to fill out the papers. She is irritated.

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ALEX So tell me again how you stabbed your hand?

ALEXANDRA I told you, I was using my lefty scissors then you barged in and scared me so my hand slipped.

ALEX Why were you using lefty scissors?

ALEXANDRA Because I’m left handed.

ALEX No I mean what were you doing?

ALEXANDRA Oh, I was cutting out my park drawings to put in my book.

ALEX How is the book going?

ALEXANDRA Well before I got my blood all over it, pretty good.

ALEX Is everything alright?

ALEXANDRA No I have a giant gash from my lefty scissors.

ALEX I get that, but you’re acting weird. Are you okay?

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ALEXANDRA I just hate hospitals okay.

ALEX Okay.

ALEXANDRA Can you do this?

(ALEXANDRA, frustrated, gives ALEX the clipboard and the pen.)

ALEX Of course.

ALEXANDRA My hand just hurts too much to write.

ALEX Don’t worry about it.

(They sit in silence while ALEX attentively fills out the medical forms.

ALEXANDRA is visibly uneasy.)

Where’s your insurance card?

(She looks through her wallet and finds it.)

ALEXANDRA Here you go.

ALEX Thank you.

(He looks at it and writes on the paper. He gives it back to her and continues to fill out the forms. Then he speaks and it catches ALEXANDRA off guard.)

Okay I was able to fill out everything but family history. Any history of heart disease?

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ALEXANDRA I think my dad’s dad had it.

ALEX Diabetes?

ALEXANDRA Nope.

ALEX Depression?

ALEXANDRA My aunt, my cousin, and I think another cousin.

ALEX Alright. Cancer?

(There is a pause. ALEX looks up at ALEXANDRA. She is very uncomfortable.

The following exchange is very awkward as ALEX tries to delicately ask the questions.)

ALEXANDRA Uh yeah. My mom.

ALEX What kind? Sorry the form asks.

ALEXANDRA Breast Cancer.

ALEX Any, uh, how long did…

ALEXANDRA She died 8 months after her diagnosis.

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ALEX I’m so sorry Alex. I knew your mom died but you never told me how.

ALEXANDRA It’s fine. I don’t talk about it.

ALEX Yeah, but you can talk to me about anything. You know that right?

ALEXANDRA I know. Thanks.

(She smiles at him, not very genuinely. They sit in silence.)

This is the first time I’ve been in a hospital since.

ALEX I didn’t know that.

ALEXANDRA That was probably, what, seven years ago?

ALEX How old were you?

ALEXANDRA It was right after my sophomore year of college, so I was twenty. She died that summer.

ALEX Did you go back to school after?

ALEXANDRA She would have killed me if I skipped school. You know, she’s the reason I’m a teacher.

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ALEX Really? Was she a teacher too?

ALEXANDRA She was a stay at home mom, but she taught me to love learning, if that makes sense.

ALEX In what way?

ALEXANDRA When I was younger, we would play school. I insisted on being the teacher and I would decorate my bedroom to look like a classroom. I even saved up money to get a name plaque for my desk.

ALEX You must have been a funny kid.

ALEXANDRA She would sit there patiently while I “read” to her and taught her math. Keep in mind this is before I ever went to school so I’m sure it was just gibberish, but she acted like it was the most important thing in the world. So I felt important when I was teaching her.

ALEX She sounds amazing.

ALEXANDRA She was. And the best was when she would bring me to the park for our field trips. Sometimes we would play tag, other days we would feed the birds, but it was always my favorite time with her.

ALEX Is that why you go to the park now?

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ALEXANDRA It was really hard for me because I was away at college while she was sick. So after she died, I would just sit in the park. I guess I felt closer to her when I was there. That’s when I started my drawings. At first, it was a way to pass the time but then it sort of became a way for me to share with my mom what she missed at the park that day.

(She sits and thinks for a moment. She is hesitant to share any more of her secrets.)

You remember the woman, Carol, I told you about? She looked just like her. The hair, the way she walked, even how she would feed animals, reminded me so much of my mom. That’s why I kept following her. Here was a woman in the same park, doing the same thing my mom did and it just felt like something I needed to do. I had to document her park adventures. Eventually, it hit me that it wasn’t really her and that I had to move on. The restraining order helped with that.

ALEX I always thought your drawings were amazing, but this just makes them that more special. I think it’s beautiful.

(He kisses her forehead.)

How many other people have you told about this?

ALEXANDRA Just you and my court appointment therapist.

ALEX Why? ALEXANDRA Why did I have a court appointed therapist? Because of the restraining order.

ALEX No. Why haven’t you told anyone about this?

ALEXANDRA Because I’m still angry.

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ALEX Angry?

ALEXANDRA I’m mad at my mom for leaving me, okay? I feel like the shittiest person in the world for thinking that and that’s why I don’t tell people. I’m pissed that my mom died.

ALEX Oh. ALEXANDRA I don’t expect people to understand, so I don’t tell them.

ALEX Well, thank you.

ALEXANDRA For what?

ALEX For choosing me to share this with.

ALEXANDRA I love you.

ALEX I love you, too.

(They sit in their chairs. ALEX with his arm around ALEXANDRA and her head on his shoulders. Someone signals them that it’s their turn finally. ALEX stands up and gathers all of their things.)

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ALEX That’s us.

(He signals for her to go ahead. As she passes he looks at her with complete adoration. After a moment he follows.)

Scene 7: Christmas Card Setting

There is a couch center stage.

At Rise

ALEX and ALEXANDRA are sitting on a couch looking at a computer.

They are wearing Christmas sweaters and picking photos for a Christmas Card.

ALEX

Oh, I like that one.

ALEXANDRA No Chunk isn’t looking at the camera in that one.

ALEX Chunk never sits still, I think that’s as good as it’s gonna get.

ALEX He’s so fat we need to put him on a diet.

ALEXANDRA We named him Chunk for a reason.

ALEX Are you keeping the “Merry Christmas from our family to yours”?

ALEXANDRA I was planning on it…

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ALEX Do you see us as a family?

ALEXANDRA What? It’s just a thing people say.

ALEX Isn’t it a little cheesy?

ALEXANDRA What’s cheesy?

ALEX It’s just a little cliché.

ALEXANDRA I thought we liked it.

ALEX I do. I just feel like my dad’s gonna give me a hard time.

ALEXANDRA Why? Because it’s “cheesy”? It’s not up to his standards?

ALEX No, it’s not… forget it.

ALEXANDRA Didn’t we talk about this?

ALEX What?

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ALEXANDRA I thought you were working out things with your dad.

ALEX I am…

ALEXANDRA So you don’t care what he thinks about the Christmas card, then?

ALEX It’s not that easy.

ALEXANDRA I know.

ALEX I’m trying.

ALEXANDRA I know.

ALEX Just send it.

ALEXANDRA Are you sure?

ALEX Yeah, it looks nice.

ALEXANDRA Done! Do you have the list of who we’re inviting?

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ALEX Here.

(She looks at the paper and starts to type in emails.)

ALEXANDRA Are we sure we want this to be friends and family?

ALEX Yeah, why not?

ALEXANDRA I’m just a little nervous of everyone meeting.

ALEX I’m more nervous of our families meeting for the first time.

ALEXANDRA Honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t yet.

ALEX Aren’t you nervous too?

ALEXANDRA A little. But it’ll fine.

ALEX But my dad…

ALEXANDRA Look, he’ll be surrounded by people so he’ll have to be nice.

ALEX True, I guess it’s a good idea all of our friends are coming too.

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ALEXANDRA Good point. What’s the worst that could happen?

ALEX We’ll just make sure to have a ton of wine.

ALEXANDRA Maybe we should just give the list one more look.

ALEX Good call.

(They both look at the piece of paper.)

Scene 8: Christmas Party Setting

There is a kitchen table with two chairs. There are wine bottles on the table.

At Rise

ALEXANDRA is standing behind the table and pours herself a drink. She quickly downs that drink and pours another one. ALEX enters.

ALEX

It’s a bit brutal out there.

ALEXANDRA It wouldn’t be as bad if they would actually talk to each other.

ALEX Instead of deafening silence.

ALEXANDRA Yeah.

(A moment passes. Then ALEXANDRA offers him the bottle. He takes a swig.)

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ALEX Thanks. Actually, give me that. Maybe if they get drunk it’ll ease the tension.

ALEXANDRA It couldn’t hurt.

ALEX I’ll grab two just to be sure.

(He takes off his jacket, puts it on the back of the chair, and rolls up his sleeves.

He grabs two bottles and walks out. ALEXANDRA is on her phone and then goes to put it in his jacket pocket but feels something. She stops. She pulls a small ring box.)

ALEXANDRA Holy shit.

(She looks around. She opens the box.)

Oh my god.

(She closes the box and drops it onto her lap. She is trying to play it cool but is definitely freaking out. She fumbles with it before dropping it. She sets it on the table. She sits there for a moment staring at it. She downs her drink, grabs her coat, and walks out.

ALEX returns a moment later.)

ALEX It’s actually going pretty well, they seem to be– (He stops and notices she is nowhere to be found. He turns and sees the ring box on the table and that her jacket is gone. He grabs his coat and runs after her.)

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Scene 9: Engagement Setting

A park. It is night and clearly cold outside. There is a bench center stage.

At Rise

ALEXANDRA is sitting by herself deep in thought. ALEX walks on stage, but doesn’t approach right away. He walks toward her slowly and sits down next to her.

ALEX So you saw the ring.

ALEXANDRA Yeah.

ALEX And so you just left?

ALEXANDRA Yeah.

ALEX I thought this was a good thing, are you really that against it?

ALEXANDRA That’s not it.

ALEX Did you not like the ring?

ALEXANDRA No, it’s absolutely perfect.

ALEX Do you not want to marry me?

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(Silence.)

Is that it?

ALEXANDRA No of course not! Don’t think that! I love you more than anything.

ALEX Then what is it?

ALEXANDRA (Struggling) I can’t imagine getting married without my mom there. That was always my dream. To go dress shopping with her, to get ready with her the day of. Some girls dream of crazy bachelorette parties, my ideal would have been getting wine drunk with my mom at karaoke.

ALEX She’ll still be with you.

ALEXANDRA It’s not the same.

ALEX I know.

ALEXANDRA Losing her was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.

ALEX I can’t even imagine.

ALEXANDRA It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt. It never really leaves me. I guess that’s why I push people away. I never let things get too serious. Because it would hurt too much to go through that again.

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ALEX But isn’t it worth it with us?

ALEXANDRA Yes, but it’s terrifying.

ALEX Trust me, I get that. The idea of losing you makes me sick to my stomach, but do you know what gets me past it?

ALEXANDRA What?

ALEX My whole life, when I didn’t understand what was going on I would figure out a crossword. But for the first time, everything makes perfect sense. You want to know the hardest part of making a puzzle, fitting the vertical words with the horizontal words. Two completely different things need to come together and fit perfectly. They become one. That’s like us. On the surface, you wouldn’t necessarily understand why we work, but we do. Even think about our names. How crazy is it that we met because we were both named Alex. Those things don’t happen often. Yet somehow it works. For whatever reason, even though it scares me shitless, this is the steadiest I’ve ever been. You make me the happiest man ever and every moment I’m with you feel like I’m experiencing life for the first time. It’s not always going to be easy, but that is a challenge I’m excited to face.

(During this, he makes his way to his knee and gets out the ring.)

So, Alexandra, will you marry me?

(She grabs his hand. A moment then Black out.)

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Religion, Postmodernism and Don DeLillo’s Underworld Kaitlyn McCracken Kaitlyn McCracken, a senior English literature major with minors in history and philosophy, is appreciative of the rare and unique opportunity to publish her own work during her undergraduate years at HPU. McCracken appreciates that literature can be viewed through many different lenses and loves to explore these, particularly through that of a philosophical or religious one. She feels incredibly fortunate to share her writing in this publication as it has been the culmination of quite a few semester's worth of work. Being a published author has always been a dream of hers and she is pleased to be sharing her work with others in the hopes that it might encourage them to join in the dialogue as well as provide new insight and knowledge into various types of literature and its interpretation. Dr. Brandt has been a tremendous help throughout this process and a great source of encouragement along with other members of the English department. McCracken has gotten to know Dr. Brandt well in her years at High Point University, as she is her academic adviser as well as the mentor who oversaw the writing and publishing of her manuscript. She is greatly indebted to Dr. Brandt and other professors for believing in her work and for encouraging her to challenge herself and pursue excellence. After she graduates, McCracken plans to use her year off to gain more work experience and search for applicable scholarships before making the worthwhile commitment and investment in furthering her education with a Masters of Library Science and/or Masters and Doctoral programs in English or history. She hopes to continue to pursue her goals in academic writing and to ultimately become a scholar and professor herself.

Abstract Postmodernism developed during the 20th century as a departure from modernism as well as a criticism at how the world was viewed before. For example, postmodernists are distrustful of the world and the affirmation or notion of one subjective truth. Therefore, often times, postmodern literature appears to reject the traditional ideas of religion, instead preferring to look at humanity and other aspects of existence that stand in its place. This paper discusses Don DeLillo’s novel “Underworld” as a postmodern piece of literature with respect to its treatment of religion. The paper argues that ultimately religion cannot be completely removed or ignored as it pervades many of the themes and motifs present in literature. Within this essay I argue that rather than neglect or flatly deny religious motifs and the existence of a deity, DeLillo instead gears his readers into thinking about the role of God in society in different ways, replacing more traditional roles and examples into those more familiar to the postmodern genre.

I

n the world of postmodern literature there is often the notion of a post-God or post-religious society. Humanity and its values have taken over the role of a deity. Religion becomes something that is viewed as regressive rather than progressive in this changing and forward

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moving world. Don DeLillo, in his work Underworld, explores many topics associated with this genre of postmodernism such as media, popular culture, consumerism, waste, and technology.

These have become the new concerns and priorities of the twentieth century person. Our own ideas and the material world are worshipped in the place of God and organized religion. Within this world, God seems absent, unacknowledged and perhaps not even present. Other characters and objects take His place and are relied upon to fulfill spiritual and intellectual needs rather than the traditional churches. Truth is sought outside of the divine realm, and characters attain their redemption through other means. Yet, the novel is not devoid of religious or biblical allusions as the title itself suggests, only that God is redefined and serves a different purpose. The Abrahamic God is replaced with the “gods” and idols of the postmodern world: waste, technology, memory, etc. The characters then provide their own source of salvation and redemption rather than being dependent upon a higher power or supernatural being. Through emphasis upon postmodern themes, as well as through biblical motifs and themes, DeLillo presents a story in which the characters receive their own notions of truth and justice through individualized means, in confronting their demons and their past by delving into the subconscious “underworld.”

Underworld opens on October 3, 1951 with the famous baseball game between the New York Giants and The Brooklyn Dodgers, or the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” as it is known by many fans of the sport. Cotter Martin is the kid introduced to the reader who sneaks in in order to see the game. The whereabouts of the infamous ball hit into the stand during the threerun-homer is unknown. In DeLillo’s novel, however, this baseball is caught by Cotter and becomes a symbol as well as a central plot point, which intertwines the characters and storylines in crucial and surprising ways. DeLillo’s 800-plus-page novel features many characters in its story arc which connect to specific people in different levels of society. Other characters introduced into the work include those of Sister Edgar, a nun, who assists the oppressed and downtrodden, and mentor to Nick’s younger brother, Matty. Ismael “Moonman 157” Muñoz is a graffiti artist who uses his self-expression and creativity to commemorate children who have been murdered in the cities – representing them as angels. One of the primary characters, however, is Nick Shay, aptly employed in the disposal of waste, along with Brian, a coworker, who is having an affair with Nick’s wife, Marian. The novel explores the typical concerns of those living during the latter years of the twentieth century. For example, many familiar historical events of the twentieth century appear in the novel including the threat of nuclear weapons and the Cold War. There are even familiar characters of celebrity present such as J. Edgar Hoover and Frank Sinatra, briefly appearing in cameos. This enables the audience to identify and associate with the characters, as well as to further lend itself to the genre and themes of postmodernism.

Postmodern literature is literature from the latter half of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This genre is meant to counter ideas of objective truth found in previous works, or to dismiss and argue against more traditional themes of religion. It follows from its predecessor, modernism, borrowing similar themes and rhetorical devices such as the ‘framed story’.

Postmodern literature comes out of a period of history in a post-war society. The effects of the First and Second World Wars convinced many people that they could no longer write as they had previously done so, with romanticized, flowery, language rather than realistic depictions of the world. New concerns emerged and different methods of thought and writing styles began to appear. This movement can be seen as a direct response to previous literary and historical movements before it such as the Modernists. Postmodern literature is often characterized by narrative techniques such as unreliable narrators, fragmentation and paradoxes, that emerge from 110

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the Modernist tradition. Similarly, the idea of truth and what constitutes it is a central theme of modernist and postmodernist literature, with texts often rejecting notions of universality and objective truth, favoring that which is more subjective, or unknown, and arbitrary.

In keeping with postmodern tradition, DeLillo writes Underworld with a different take on religion in mind. At times, postmodernism presents a negative spin on religion and attempts to take a position on religion and its place within society. According to scholar Kathryn Ludwig, in her article, “Don DeLillo’s Underworld and the Postsecular in Contemporary Fiction,” however, DeLillo’s work is not one that expresses anti-religious sentiment. Rather, "these works enlarge our understanding of the religious in our age [...] by maneuvering between traditional notions of secular and sacred" (84). Within the article Ludwig suggests that postmodern literature is considered post-secular in that religion seems to play no real part and is not actively engaged in the text. Ludwig disagrees with this assessment and believes that DeLillo engages and utilizes religion within Underworld, albeit not from an obvious angle. Religion is not reaffirmed but rather considered, thereby, the author sees “post-secular as emerging from postmodernism, rather than announcing its end” (83). In fact, Underworld could be considered a didactic piece in its presentation of religion. The characters are removed from religion and from a concrete belief system, instead relying on what they perceive to be real and true. Ultimately the rejection of “the real” proves insufficient and must be sought out if the characters are to have any chance of peace and happiness.

Certainly one of the largest stand-ins for religion in DeLillo’s work is waste. In fact the novel’s protagonist, Nick Shay, is employed in waste management. Although largely used as a commentary on American consumerism and our obsessions with all things material, waste also serves as a religious experience for many of the characters within Underworld. When the reader is first introduced to Shay one observes him as an organized individual, one seemingly bent on routine. His daily actions are repetitive, even ritualistic. Nick finds comfort in this normalcy and the mundane. We find the characterization of Nick to be particular, singular. He describes himself thus: I drink soy milk and ran the metric mile. I had a thing clipped to the waistband of my running trunks, a device that weighed only three and a half ounces and had a readout showing distance traveled and calories burned and length of stride. I carried my house keys in an ankle wallet that fastened with a Velcro closure. I didn’t like to run with house keys jiggling in my pocket. (DeLillo 86) This description or catalog of items features something methodical, as well as representing concepts of waste and materialism – seemingly mundane objects which signify apparent, extraneous meaning. These actions and particular methods as presented to the reader represent habituation and are carried out almost religiously by Nick and his wife Marian. These actions are repetitive and bring meaning, in essence, to Nick. There is a false sense of security in this monotony, as well as in the collecting and organization of trash.

Nick’s background is important to consider here. The novel gives an explanation to where he learned to place emphasis on these seemingly unimportant details, on truth. His time spent as a teenager with Jesuit priests in a corrective facility enabled him, by his own admission, to think about deeper meanings. He says,

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The Jesuits taught me to examine things for second meanings and deeper connections.

Were they thinking about waste? We were waste managers, waste giants, we processed universal waste. Waste has a solemn aura now, an aspect of untouchability…people look at their garbage differently now, seeing every bottle and crushed carton in a planetary context (DeLillo 88).

Waste becomes a holy thing then, a relic, and something to replace a deity. Nick and Marian are obsessed with their waste and the story it tells. Even discarding the waste is something sacred and that must be done with a certain reverence and care. Sorting and preserving various materials, Nick describes as, “a religious conviction in our business that these deposits of rock salt would not leak radiation. Waste is a religious thing. We entomb contaminated waste with a sense of reverence and dread. It is necessary to respect what we discard” (88). This becomes an experience for Nick and speaks to a unique relationship people have with their trash. This need for secrecy concerning waste, concealing the truth is a pertinent theme as well. Yet, there is comfort to be found in waste, a sense of identity and the concrete, as well as something tangible and able to be understood. It is this identity and what it reveals about oneself that is preserved and protected. This need for deeper understanding, significance, and the unknown serve a religious purpose. Rather than simply believing by blind faith, however, there is the desire to know, to come to terms with oneself, even if the truth is unpleasant.

DeLillo’s characters find themselves fully immersed in their world of consumerism, death, art, and waste. They are products of their generation, typical of post-Cold War, twentieth century America where the threat of nuclear annihilation is always present. There is an obsession with preventing harm by taking various measures to prevent such occurrences which include sunscreen and condoms – yet more examples of waste. The emphasis on “things” in general is a significant aspect of postmodernism. This creates a meaningful contrast with religion. While religion focuses on “higher” things, rather than the superficial and the menial, “these eternal things, the things in the universe that throw the last stone, so to speak, and say the final word” (Smith 654), objects are less significant, have no ethereal or eternal meanings; they are earthly, temporal. The shift in priorities for the characters is an interesting and relevant point of contention when one considers this and its relationship to the higher themes of truth and significance.

It is through these protective measures that the characters fulfill a sense of security and control over their lives amid the uncertainties and chaos that surrounds them; thereby rejecting a divine power of protection and redemption for society, preferring to rely on their own means.

This theory of containment and boundaries, the limiting of outside influences, is prevalent throughout the novel. For example, consider Nick and his detachment and inability to form close, meaningful bonds with anyone in the text. This is present even in his relationship with his wife.

These walls and barriers are put up for what each person considers to be their own good, in place of truth and reality. Kathryn Ludwig states that Nick is the ultimate “buffered self”: He works in waste management, creating landfills at work and obsessively separating trash at home. His efforts to contain the ever-increasing threat of waste, along with attempts to contain the threat of his past by housing his mother in an air-conditioned room, are practices reminiscent of America’s Cold War policy of containment (85).

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This attitude and the closed-off nature of Nick in relation to others is an important consideration in trying to understand his character. This idea of being buffered is relevant to the discussion of religion within DeLillo’s work. If one is a buffered individual then one attempts to close themselves off from outside influences. The self becomes solitary, guarded. One might refuse to seek solace or redemption through religion. Yet, Nick spent time in a corrective center with the Jesuits, thus bringing religion back into the equation and re-shaping his life. Nick’s past, which includes an absent father and the murder of a mentor, George Manza, gives insight into his characterization. He seeks to hide this part of himself, including from his wife: “A voice my wife had never heard and a story I’d never told her and how strange this was and how guilty it made me feel” (DeLillo 300). It is not until Nick is able to come to terms with what he has done and make peace with this part of his past that he is “freed.”

By the end, chaos receives order and the loose ends are tied up and we are left with a feeling of completion, as if the past is finally buried and the characters in the book have made peace with themselves and their actions. Nick also comes clean about his own affair, as does his wife about hers. There is a sense of relief of a burden and of reconciliation with these parts of his life once they are revealed and once more answers are discovered. These memories and experiences that were once filled with gaps and uncertainties now begin to possess meaning. With his darkest secrets now revealed, there is a chance to move on past these events. He can now seek “forgiveness” and redemption through these admissions. From a religious standpoint, the chains are broken and the truth has set him free. Nick is no longer tainted and held captive by his sins.

It is in this way that memory also serves as a technique DeLillo uses to supplant and redefine religion. These memories serve as a religious experience to the characters, something on which to ruminate. This becomes particularly apparent in the epilogue when one considers the tragic death of Esmeralda. The passage reads: “Or does the power of transcendence linger, the sense of an event that violates natural forces, something holy that throbs on the hot horizon, the vision you crave because you need a sign to stand against your doubt?” (824). This recollection after an experience could be just a reassurance that something did indeed happen, confirmation of something already experienced. While we try to forget the unpleasant experiences and memories, they also serve as a reminder that we are alive, allowing us “to stand against the doubt.” The fact that Nick struggles so much throughout the novel with his own past is evidence of this. However, it begs the question of whether the religious or “holy” experience is contained in an experience itself, or the exalted memory of the event. Is the chance to rebuild and redeem oneself more powerful? This is the religious awakening experienced by the characters at the end of the novel. The “salvation” is found when order is restored and chaos seemingly at bay. It is through the shifting of memories that the characters also seek to find meaning and truth outside of the religious sphere. The need to bury the truth is an interesting motif that becomes contrary to the end of the novel in which the truth becomes a sort of “saving grace” and redemptive means.

The very thing which is avoided throughout much of Underworld is what saves the likes of Nick and Sister Edgar: this idea of coming to terms with what is “real” rather than being enslaved by a false sense of the self and the world around them. Ironically, trying to ignore the horrors around them has contributed more to their misery. It is not until they come to terms with what the world is that these fears and difficulties subside. The “peace” spoken of at the end of the novel turns out, arguably, to be a peace of mind rather than a truly peaceful state. It is one gearing oneself toward the truth, embracing something in the soul, the eternal, rather than treating these as a burden as before. Leonard Wilcox’s article, featuring DeLillo and Underworld, entitled “Return

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to the Real,” emphasizes this point. No matter how we try to avoid the catastrophes around us they will invariably occur. He says, speaking of these traumatic moments, [It is] an encounter (or missed encounter) with the real, “that which resists symbolization: the traumatic point which is always missed but none the less always returns, although we try – through a set of different strategies – to neutralize it, to integrate it into the symbolic order. (Wilcox 121) Such scenes serve as a source of fascination to us. We are intrigued by that which is disturbing, dangerous, and cruel. The fear and aversion to such tragedies in no way hinders our interest in it. This curiosity with the nuclear destruction holds power over the psyche of the characters within the book as well as the twentieth century person. It connects to them socially, on a conscious level. Wilcox continues with, “Underworld’s belated and retrospective exploration of traumatic ‘primal scenes’ of the postwar period suggests that nuclear disaster is the “Other” of the contemporary world, the real specter that returns to haunt the ‘floating zones of desire’ of postmodern culture” (124). It becomes a cult, something spiritual, but worldly, inexplicable, yet within one’s grasp. This bomb, this weapon, serves as the judgment of God: this “sheathed but omnipresent” thing Lenny Bruce refers to as “Old Testament,” resembling punishment from a higher power (DeLillo 592). It is a paternal figure, ready to strike at America for her failures and her sinful acts.

Often when we think of religion we think of something mystical, ethereal. This seems the opposite of “the real” and the concrete. Yet, for the characters this “conversion” they experience is a point of reinvention, a refocusing on what is important and legitimate in their lives. This is the awareness that returns to the characters, the ability to find comfort in their identity and the realities of the world despite the horrors. This relates back to one of the final scenes in the novel in which a crowd has gather round after the murder of the young girl, Esmeralda. This horrific event has brought back a sense of reality for this crowd, a crowd that before this had no connection to the girl. She was of no importance to them as one of the outcast members of society. Instead, “Sister Edgar, seeing a radiant grace in the girl, a reprieve from the Wall’s endless distress, even a source of personal hope, a goad to the old rugged faith. All heaven trembles when a soul swings in the wind – save her from danger, bring her to candles and ashes and palms, to believe in the mystical body” (DeLillo 811). Now, her life has meaning. She has become one with the wind, an integral part of the world around each and every person to whom she meant nothing.

Sister Edgar during her time with these marginalized members of society has witnessed yet another tragedy. Nevertheless, she remains optimistic in spite of what she has seen. This event becomes a beacon of hope, a way forward. The suffering of this girl is over and she is at peace.

This idea resonates with those ascribing to the Christian faith, or any other religion with a belief in a perfect and just afterlife. Though for some people, such horrific events might draw them away to God. How could a loving and merciful God allow such things to happen? One might lose one’s faith through dissatisfaction with the world. In other cases, people may seek God out, for answers and for comfort. They may find validation in a belief that God loves and favors the poor and downcast over those with privilege and wealth. These smaller “Manx Martin” sections of the book give an insight to these poorer communities. From a biblical standpoint the Gospel of Luke contains examples of those outcast members of society: the sick, the poor, etc. This gospel is often referred to as the “Gospel of the Outcast” for its positive portrayal of those rejected by society. Christ is shown to be merciful to these people and they, unlike the well off, are often portrayed in the best light and reciprocate the kindness of Jesus by believing in Him. 114

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Another important consideration of the world DeLillo has constructed is how the story comes together – full circle – at the end of the novel. The characters and their individual stories weave together in order to create two or three narratives within one piece, to make one cohesive work. DeLillo is able to string together these seemingly disparate pieces through the motif of the baseball which in itself becomes an idol: something coveted and worshipped, an object much desired and which the possessor is beholden to. There is a religious notion to be found here in this idea of a “full circle,” the world “without end” which is described in the epilogue of the novel. The apparent disjointedness becomes something intertwined and interconnected: “Everything is connected in the end” (DeLillo 827). The chapter “Das Kapital” signifies that some sort of conclusion or finality has been reached. For just as “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1) as presented in the Bible, in the Gospel of John, here we have a baseball. These complex narratives – underworlds – create these hidden systems. James Annesley in his article, “Thigh Bone Connected to the Hip Bone’: Don DeLillo's Underworld and the Fictions of Globalization” describes it thus, There are the lives of poverty and misery seen by Sister Edgar in her South Bronx ministry. There are the underworlds of cold war connections investigated by J. Edgar Hoover and the subterranean realm inhabited by Moonman 157, the Basquiat-like graffiti artist whose artwork adorns the sides of New York subway trains. These are landfill pits, underground bunkers, mafias and secret histories. There are the constant references to cultural images of the underworld, and there is the web of connections that brings the baseball hit by Thompson off Branca in the 1951 pennant match into Nick Shay’s hands (85).

The entire novel and its intricacies lead into the narrative of how this ball came into Nick’s possession. It is about connections and the relationships of the characters to one another. Even with the idea of the “buffered” self, these stories are still woven together and the characters are bound together through common experience and a need to fulfill a void in their lives – a search for absolution.

The character of Manx Martin himself represents biblical theme as well as serves as an archetype. Even the theme of fathers and sons which runs through the novel has religious undertones in the absence of God the Father as well as the absence of Nick’s father and Manx in his own son’s life. The frayed relationship Martin has with his son Cotter reaches its lowest point perhaps when he steals the oh-so-significant baseball from him in exchange for, what he hopes, will be a high sum. This is reminiscent of the betrayal of Christ himself from one of his disciples, the infamous Judas Iscariot. An account of Judas’s treachery is recorded by Matthew: Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.” (Matthew 27: 14-16) Martin receives a similar payment as Judas for the baseball: “the sum arrived at looks like this. A ten, two fives, another ten, two singles, a quarter, two nickels and a tiddlywink dime” (DeLillo 652). Thirty-two dollars and forty-five cents is Manx’s reward for abusing his son’s trust. This is the price of his loyalty. Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver, a comparable amount.

This deed does not go unpunished, though. Manx is wracked with guilt and suffers a burnt hand from carrying around a fire drum (DeLillo 653). However, the implication is that he has received some sort of divine retribution for his sins. It is at this low point where Manx appears aware of his broken relationship with his family. In this final part, he has descended into further 115

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depravation, distancing himself even more from this family unit. It begs the question if the poaching and selling of the ball is the last straw for Cotter. Can he forgive his father after this?

Or is the relationship now damaged beyond all hope? Once the truth is out, what happens? We are not given the aftermath of this scene. We are not told what happens when Manx comes home.

There is no closure, no finality that the reader is presented with. The rest of this story remains untold – incomplete. DeLillo provides some insight into Martin’s thoughts, “He walks, he wants to walk but he doesn’t want to reach home, ever, necessarily. He has to think this out, how he has the right to enter into money matters concerning any object that belongs to his family, which he is still the head of, regardless” (DeLillo 654). All that is left to Manx when he finally does make it home is to “wait for his son to wake up.” The truth, unknown, and yet to come, hangs in the balance. The redeeming feature in this is that Martin realizes his wrongdoing.

Whether or not this ends well is uncertain and is not disclosed. One can only hope that from this deed a new man emerges, one changed and with renewed purpose and salvation. The openendedness of this story arc might also contain a message of religious significance. It presents human life as unpredictable, something unknown. People are incapable of having all of the answers at their disposal; instead we are limited in our view of the world. At this point in the novel we are no longer viewing the world through an omniscient and omnipresent lens, as a god, but as humans with a limited scope and knowledge of the world. DeLillo’s intention then becomes clearer, ironically, by keeping us in the dark. This becomes true of our own lives and certain aspects of the world as a whole. This notion of the full-circle comes back into play as well as if to signify that at the end of the world all such gaps in our knowledge will be filled in – all shall be revealed at the proper time. Yet, this day has not yet come. So, we remain ignorant.

In the final pages of the epilogue, Ismael “Moonman 157” Muñoz makes a poignant statement that captures the essence of the novel and its relationship with religion, truth, and the “idols” which have been presented, well. He says, “Some people have a personal god, okay. I’m looking to get a personal computer. What’s the difference, right?” (DeLillo 813). In this new age of advantaged technology God is considered outdated and irrelevant. One does not need to look to God for answers. They can be found at one’s own fingertips. This truth, the knowledge, one seeks need not come from the spiritual world. This is one of the most quintessential quotations of the novel and describes much of the attitudes presented by DeLillo’s characters in regards to religion and God as a whole. This new invention of the inter-wide web further draws connections and is a brilliant way in which to end the work. DeLillo illustrates this point with this passage: “There is no space or time out here, or in here, or wherever she is. There are only connections.

Everything is connected. All human knowledge gathered and linked, hyperlinked, this site leading to that, this fact referenced to that, a keystroke, a mouse-click, a password – world without end, amen” (825). The Internet ushers in a new age of knowledge and connection – new means to finding truths and alleviating those things which are uncertain. The world has not become a safer place necessarily, neither in terms of the end of the novel, nor in the real world, yet, there remains a sense of hope and reverence for the future.

Thus, DeLillo’s characters are, mostly, vindicated at the end. The problems faced are resolved. They are presented as procurers of their own salvation to an extent. The conclusions they reach and the antidotes they find are not the result of religion or divine intervention from God, per say. Rather they are the result of the acknowledgement and acceptance of themselves, each other, and the world around them – amid all of the fears and struggles. Finally DeLillo presents his reader, as well as his characters, with a sense of fulfillment and optimism at the end of the journey. The lesson perhaps is less satirical and more sincere – the power of suggestion 116

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being that we all have a sort of godly or divine power within us. We may, at times, be our own saviors. To change the world, we must first change ourselves and our outlooks. Neither the chaos we experience nor can the past be escaped. They must not be allowed to hold sway over our natures or actions. This underworld need not have reign over us. We need not fear it or bury it, but rather allow it to see the light. For it is through this search for truth that the world may see the light as well.

Works Cited Annesley, James. “‘Thigh Bone Connected to the Hip Bone’: Don DeLillo's Underworld and the Fictions of Globalization.” Amerikastudien / American Studies, vol. 47, no. , 2002, pp.

85–95.

DeLillo, Don. Underworld. New York, NY: Scribner, 1997. Print.

Ludwig, Kathryn. “Don DeLillo’s Underworld and the Postsecular in Contemporary Fiction.”

Religion & Literature, vol. 41, no. 3, 2009, pp. 82–91.

Smith, Huston. “Postmodernism's Impact on the Study of Religion.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 58, no. 4. 1990, pp. 653–670.

Wilcox, Leonard. “Don DeLillo's Underworld and the Return of the Real.” Contemporary Literature, vol. 43, no. 1, 2002, pp. 120–137.

The Bible. New International Version. B&H Publishing. 2013.

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Project Scientist Intern Training Manual Ashley Rifenburg Ashley Rifenburg, a senior nonprofit leadership and management major, has been working as both an intern and employee in the nonprofit sector and has seen where certain aspects of organizational development go unnoticed or untouched due to lack of time and resources to give them proper attention. Her interest in the topic sparked upon considering how being a student intern can be frustrating when you don’t feel like you are gaining beneficial insight from your internship. With proper training, this issue could be alleviated and bring back the value of an unpaid internship. Rifenburg has really enjoyed creating something that is useful to her industry. Although her research is specific to an organization she worked with, it can easily be generalized to training interns in many different organizations. Rifenburg expresses that her mentor, Dr. Jeter, is a fantastic mentor with whom working with was rewarding and valuable. Dr. Jeter is very knowledgeable of the research process and pushed Rifenburg to dig deeper into her work to create the best piece possible. She notes that Dr. Jeter encouraged the submission of this piece and gave Rifenburg confidence that her work deserved to be seen by others. After graduating from High Point University, she hopes to stay in North Carolina and begin working in the nonprofit field with a concentration in fundraising and development.

Abstract The following training portfolio was designed as a training development program for Project Scientist – a non-profit organization in Charlotte, NC focused on developing science skills in young women. The portfolio includes a three-unit manual that will be used by Site Directors to facilitate the hiring, training, and managing of interns throughout their Summer Academy. Unit one focuses on the hiring process and includes lesson plans to teach administration to identify preferred traits and manage intern training to help socialize new hires into the organization.

Unit two teaches interns the history and core principals of Project Scientist – including an introduction to the Project Scientist partnership with the PBS program SciGirls. Finally, unit three teaches interns the daily functions of Project Scientist and their organizational role and responsibilities – including specific information on daily schedules, facilitating art and PE, and FAQs. By the end of this training both site directors and interns will have the knowledge needed to provide a positive, engaging, and rewarding Project Scientist experience for young women in science.

This training portfolio will be an intern training manual for the organization Project Scientist. Project Scientist (PS) is a nonprofit organization based out of Charlotte, NC. The mission of Project Scientist is to educate, coach, and advocate for girls and women with and aptitude, talent, and passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The PS team uses relationships with major STEM companies, female mentors, and University 118

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campuses to achieve this goal (Scientist, 2016). None of this would be possible without a knowledgeable and skilled staff to deliver information and inspiration to these young ladies during Summer Academy. Summer Academy is a 6-week long STEM camp that provides girls age 4-14 years with hands on STEM learning. Each site hosts around 80 students with approximately 5 lead teachers, 10 interns, a site director, and an assistant director. There will be 4 sites in the summer of 2017: three in California and one in Charlotte, NC. Therefore, this training will be administered by 4 different site directors to approximately 40 different interns.

This manual is specifically designed to assist the site directors at the many branches of Project Scientist with the intern hiring and training process. The goal is to provide a uniform guide to each director that ensures all staff members are living up to the high expectations of Project Scientistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s management.

In the past, founder Sandy Marshal and other key players in the organization have experienced difficulties finding interns who are both qualified and passionate about the cause.

When the interns fall behind in skill and behavior the whole organization suffers and it can ruin the experience for those attending. The need for this training guide is dire. The training will improve the intern program and help to fix these challenges PS faces as it looks to expand into other major cities. I will be working directly with founder Sandy Marshal, Program Director Alyssa Sharpe, and Site Manager Kari Stranberg to ensure that this guide covers everything they have needed or experienced in the past.

The Project Scientist Intern Manual will intentionally have a simplistic design. The goal of this is to make this as user friendly and straightforward for the site directors who will need to familiarize themselves with the material and then teach it to the interns. Conveniently, site directors are veterans to the Project Scientist program so they can provide their own insight on each lesson and do not need to be spoon fed information in the same way someone who is unfamiliar with the program would need to be. Each lesson will include a Project Scientist lesson plan with notes on how the intern should be interacting with the girls and teachers during the lesson. The first step to building an effective intern program is to lay out a plan for hiring interns; this will be unit one. In this unit, site managers will be given a list of qualities that the ideal intern would possess, which are qualities determined by the PS management based on the organizational mission. They will also be given interview questions to ask both the applicant and applicant references. Finally, they will be given the tools they need to create a training timeline for the newly hired interns. Unit 2 will cover the history of Project Scientist and the core principles that PS works from. This will include introduction to the SciGirls 7 model and training on growth mindset along with an introduction to the PS story. Unit three will cover the actual PS lesson plans that interns will be working with teachers on. This unit will also cover daily schedules and procedures, behavioral expectations, and the Physical Education (PE) and Art component which interns will be teaching on their own.

This training will be delivered in a series of pre-Summer Academy trainings that will be held in a small group setting. The goal will be to have all interns attend at least 3, one per unit, training sessions. Ideally these sessions will be 1- to 2-hours and will include fun interactive activities along with snacks and refreshments. If interns are interning for school credit this will count towards logged hours. If the intern is receiving monetary compensation this will be paid training. The site directors will oversee organizing the times, dates, and location of the training. The directors will also be responsible for making sure all supplies and other necessary items are at training. Finally, to assess the training 119

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quality, site managers should do a short bi-weekly review with interns covering any issues that have come up and also give them feedback on their performance. Because interns are college age (18-24 years) it will be helpful to keep them updated on how their work ethic is perceived by employers and any changes that can be made to improve the PS experience.

Unit One: Hiring Interns This unit will mainly discus the hiring process that should be followed at each Project Scientist site. In this unit we will cover recruiting interns, ideal characteristics of PS interns, and the overall hiring process. This section is designed to be a guide for you (site director) to walk you through the process from start to finish.

Lesson plan one: This lesson is designed to give insight on where to look for interns and how to get them to apply to join the PS team. This includes information on targeting college-age females, what they look for in job opportunities, and partnerships with universities in the area. Site directors should use this lesson to kick-start the hiring season. In this lesson site, directors will leave knowing about attending job fairs as a PS ambassador, posting a captivating job listing, and forming relationships with university career centers.

Lesson plan two: In this lesson, we will lay out the ideal characteristics a PS intern should have and questions you should be asking when looking for these characteristics in interns. This lesson will include descriptions of why the characteristics we have selected are important to PS staff. This lesson will get Project Scientist staff members working together to come up with a BIG FOUR personality traits that should be universal in all staff members. After this lesson participants will not only have four traits picked out but they will also have a variety of potential questions to ask applicants drafted.

Lesson plan three: This lesson will lay out the process of selecting, contracting, and moving forward with staff.

This lesson will also give insight on the timeline that should be followed when hiring PS staff and beginning the training process for Summer Academy. Once completing this lesson, the Site Director should have approximately 10 selected and contracted interns along with a solidified timeline of trainings and pre-academy meetings.

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Unit One

Finding Interns

Lesson One

Overview

Materials

In this lesson, Project Scientist staff will learn and understand how to best recruit and find college age interns. This includes attending job fairs, online listings, and forming relationships with universities in the area.

Each Participant will need: Laptop Cell phone

Objectives

Pen & Paper

When this lesson is completed Project Scientist staff should understand: ▪ ▪

How to find and attend Career Fairs as a PS ambassador How to post a captivating job listing?

▪

How to form relationships with local universities and recruit students?

Activities

Adaptations

The following activities are to be done in a one on one meeting with each site director so that they can be adapted to specific needs of each location.

1.

2.

3.

Job Science articlehttp://www.jobscience.com/blog/5tips-for-crafting-more-effective-jobpostings/

The first thing site directors should do is research open houses, career fairs, and Job expos in the area. A good place to start looking for these is in local papers or on local papers websites. Once the site director has identified 1-2 events that interns could be found at, encourage the site director to contact the event staff to get a spot at the event.

Using the Job Science article “5 Tips for Crafting More Effective Job Postings” Teach the site director how to make intern postings on mainstream sites such as Indeed, Monster, and glass door With the site director make a list of all Universities and colleges within driving range of the Academy Site. From there begin researching if each school has a career services branch. If so contact them and see how you can get the word out about PS internships available

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If needed this can be done with more than one site director at a time their responses will just need to be specific to their site.

This can also be completed virtually via email if needed.

Evaluation The evaluation of this lesson will be in two ways. First and foremost, at the end of this training the Staff should have a solid list of potential leads for recruiting interns. The trainer can also check in later to see how many events were attended, how many listings have been posted, and how many universities the Staff has been in contact with.

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Unit One Lesson Two

Materials

Overview In this lesson, Project Scientist staff will develop and identify important characteristics that a PS intern should have. The lesson will also cover sample questions that can be asked when interviewing candidates that could identify certain characteristics in applicants.

Each Participant will need: Laptop Pen & Paper

Objectives

Adaptations

When this lesson is completed Project Scientist staff will have: ▪ ▪

As a group come to an agreement on what universal characteristics PS is looking for Discussed good interview/reference questions

If a staff member is unable to attend this training, try to have them email a list of characteristics to be considered by the group when choosing the BIG FOUR

Activities The following activities should be done in a group setting in a stream of consciousness type setting.

1.

2.

Staff members should start off by individually coming up with a list of 12 qualities that would appreciate in a coworker. Then in pairs staff members should combine and shave their list down to a list of 6 qualities. As a group, each pair should present their list and then working as one big group the staff should decide on 4 overarching qualities that PS is looking for in an intern. This will be the BIG FOUR used in the hiring process.

Ex. Independent, Responsible, Timely, Caring Once the big four have been identified the group should begin thinking of some questions that could be asked to identify these characteristics in an applicant. Questions should be open ended and allow the applicant or professional reference to answer freely and completely.

EXAMPLES: Tell me about a time you could manage you time well? Tell me about an accomplishment you are particularly proud of…

For references: Can you recall an instance when you were particularly impressed with …performance?

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Evaluation This lesson is relatively self-evaluating because trainees will walk away with an established BIG FOUR and a list of questions to ask during the interview process. One could also evaluate this lesson by checking back with staff throughout the summer to see if they feel interns in fact have the qualities PS was looking for.

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Unit One Lesson Three

Selecting and Planning

Overview

Materials

This lesson will cover the final steps of contracting an intern. This training session will include next steps after selecting an intern and timeline planning for intern training

Resumes and notes on each intern Contracts- From Sandy

Adaptations Objectives At the end of this training staff will have interns selected and a planned timeline for training leading up to Summer Academy â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

Select interns for site Receive signed contract Solidify timeline of trainings and events prior to Academy

Activities 1.

2.

3.

If site director has not selected interns for Summer Academy go through a pro con list for each candidate until a decision has been made Send selected candidates the PS intern contract (this will be sent to you

by Sandy Marshal when she has completed it, as of right now the contracts are still being drafted) Site directors and assistant directors should work together to create a training schedule for new interns. Be sure to consider that interns are usually in school and will not be able to attend weekday meetings and all trainings will need to take place either on nights or weekends. Directors should also consider where their interns are coming from for example if the intern is away at school but will be back for the summer this should be considered both when hiring and planning

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Timelines can be different for every site depending on where their interns are from and the personal preference of the Director.

Evaluation This lesson will be evaluated based on the effectiveness of the timeline and how well the director can stick to it to get the interns up to speed prior to Summer Academy.

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Unit Two: Unit two will cover the history of Project Scientist and the core principles utilized by Project Scientist in the classroom. This unit will help interns to understand the backbone of the organization and how they can use it when working with the girls. This unit will provide the information tools necessary for interns to be successful in Summer Academy.

Lesson Plan One: This lesson will be presented in PowerPoint and is meant to introduce interns to Project Scientist. This lesson will begin with an ice breaker activity to get everyone acclimated with each other and the personality of Project Scientist. This lesson will be brief and only touch on the main points in Project Scientist history and a briefing on future objectives. After this lesson, interns should have a better understanding of the PS past, present, and future.

Lesson Plan Two: This lesson will teach interns the PBS method of the SciGirls 7. Project Scientist partners with SciGirls and utilizes this learning style in the classroom. The SciGirls 7 is an integral part of the Project Scientist curriculum and how it is developed. Interns should understand this and can apply it to Project Scientist curriculum by the end of this training.

Lesson Plan Three: Growth mindset is an education theory gaining a lot of support and attention in recent years. Carol Dweck developed the mindset theory based on a vast amount of research on achievement and success. By teaching interns this concept, they will be better able to encourage girls in the classroom and bring them to their highest potential. We will be bringing in Project Scientist part time staff member Dr. Hannah Harrison to teach this lesson as she is an expert in the field and has been working on growth mindset with Project Scientist for the past several years.

Lesson Plan Four: This lesson will be presented in the form of staff binders which will include all important information staff members need. First and foremost, the staff handbook serves to keep all campers safe and comfortable in their experience with Project Scientist. This will also serve as a code of conduct for all Project Scientist staff members. There is not a lesson plan for this section because it is not something that I personally have access to currently. The organization is working to develop a new staff handbook which will be incorporated into the intern manual when it is completed later.

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Unit Two

Who is Project Scientist

Lesson One

Overview

Materials

This is the first lesson where all the interns will be present. Therefore, this will be a time of introductions and getting comfortable with each other, the organization, and the program.

Project Scientist History Slideshow

Adaptations If an intern cannot be present send them a copy of the slideshow so that they can be informed about the Project Scientist history

Objectives When this lesson is completed interns should: 1.

2.

Know each other and staff at their site Know more about the history of the organization and their role for the summer

Activities These activities will be done in a group setting ideally in a circular table or conference room type setting 1.

2.

3.

All staff members should start by introducing themselves and their role or future role at Project Scientist All members should play the ice breaker game, 2 truths and a lie. This game is played by each person presenting to the group 2 true facts about themselves and 1 lie. The group must then guess which fact is untrue.

The point of doing this is to get to know each individual and a few things about them.

Present Project Scientist History Slideshow

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Evaluation Because this is more of an informational session there is not a lot of review/evaluation to be done. The main thing is that interns have a general knowledge of the history going forward

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Unit Two Lesson Two

SciGirls

Overview

Materials

In this lesson, interns will learn about the Project Scientist partnership with the PBS program SciGirls. The will learn about the SciGirls 7 which is a research based method of teaching STEM subjects to girls. They will learn how to apply these concepts and get a preview of the SciGirls videos that can be used in the classroom.

After this training interns will know: What the SciGirls 7 is How to apply the SciGirls 7 When SciGirls 7 videos can/should be used

3.

SciGirls Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S84H3cG7F1Q

Evaluation

This training will be done in a group setting:

2.

partnership Training materials

If booklets are not available SciGirls information can be projected on a screen. If a projector is not available this lesson could be given in a more conversational setting

Activities

1.

SciGirls 7 Booklet- Part of the PBS

Adaptations

Objectives

• • •

For this training interns will need:

Using the SciGirls booklet go through the SciGirls 7 having a small discussion about each point and its relevance to the Project Scientist Program.

Go over the sample Experiment also in the SciGirls booklet that shows some instances where a specific step is being used Show SciGirls intro video explain instances where you as the site director believe that using a video would be valid. For example, in place of PE on a bad weather day if it is directly related to the lesson that day, etc.

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To confirm that participants have gained an understanding of the SciGirls method ask some applied questions related to the curriculum For Example: Which SciGirls idea does this step promote?

How could you use the SciGirls 7 when working on blank project?

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Unit Two

Growth Mindset in the Classroom

Lesson Three

Overview

Materials

In this lesson, Project Scientist interns will learn more about Growth Mindset and how it is used in Project Scientist classrooms. This lesson will be taught by Dr. Hannah Harrison a Licensed Psychologist based out of Charlotte, NC who has been working with PS and growth mindset for years.

Growth Mindset Handout Paper& Pen

Adaptations Objectives In this Training Session, PS interns will learn growth mindset (from Hannah) â&#x2013;Ş â&#x2013;Ş

What is growth mindset How does PS use it

â&#x2013;Ş

How can interns integrate Growth Mindset into their work

Activities 1.

2.

3.

Using the provided handout go over the difference between fixed and growth mindset to gain a better understanding of the concept of growth mindset Listen to Hannah speak and give information regarding her clinical studies and work with growth mindset along with her plan for Project Scientist Do some role-playing practicing using growth mindset in the classroom.

Example- One person is the student one acts as an intern, practice working through a difficult experiment that may cause the student some distress or feelings of failure.

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If there is not enough people to have several groups role playing at the same time, have one group present in front of the group the other interns observe.

Evaluation Observe interns in the classroom to make sure they are using growth mindset principles while working during summer Academy. Hire Hannah to do a refresher course midsummer.

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Unit Three: This unit will cover the daily schedule, expectations in the classroom, PE and art, and FAQâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about the academy.

This unit is meant to alleviate any doubt and stress the intern might have prior to beginning Summer Academy.

Lesson Plan One: The first lesson of this unit will cover expectations in the classroom. This lesson is meant to help interns understand where their place is in the classroom and how they can assist the lead teacher. This lesson will be given in the form of an annotated lesson plan so that interns can see visually and conceptually what their part is in the classroom. By the end of this lesson interns should feel confident in the work that they will be doing in the classroom.

Lesson Plan Two: The second lesson is centered on facilitating PE and Art. In the second half of the day lead teachers go home and interns are essentially in charge for the rest of the day. There is a hired lead art teacher in the art portion of the day so in that time the intern will act very similarly as they do during the STEM portion of the day. For PE, it is up to the intern to plan an appropriate activity each day for their class. This lesson provides a list of examples of these activities that the intern can choose from or the intern may choose to come up with his or her own activities to be approved by the site director. This lesson will also give some basic rules for the intern when working alone in the classroom without the lead teacher. At the end of this interns should feel confident that they can handle the alone time in the second part of the day.

Lesson Plan Three: The third and final lesson plan of the manual will be a FAQ lesson covering some common situations that occur and how to handle them. This is meant to be a helpful tool for interns and prepare them for a variety of situations that can and do occur regularly during summer academy. After this lesson the hope is that interns feel prepared for unique and challenging situations.

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Unit Three

Expectations in the Classroom

Overview

Materials

In this lesson the interns will learn more about what is expected of them in the classroom. This will be taught using an annotated lesson plan pointing out what the flow of the classroom should look like.

By giving the interns a sample lesson:

• •

They will understand when and where there input and assistance is needed and expected They will feel more comfortable in the classroom because they know what they should be doing Interns will better understand the dynamic between lead teacher and intern

Activities 1.

2.

Annotated Lesson plan handout

Adaptations

Objectives

•

Lesson One

Go through annotated lesson plan handout as a group Have a discussion based on what the interns observe about the lesson plan and how it is structured, answer any questions that may come up regarding the handout.

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This should work in pretty much any situation. Adaptations can be made at the site director’s discretion.

Evaluation To make sure that interns have understood the lesson ask them some applied situational questions that could come up in the classroom.

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Unit Three

Facilitating PE and Art

Lesson Two

Materials

Overview This section will cover what the interns should be doing during the PE and Art portion of the day when the lead teachers have already left. This will cover managing the classroom, some ideas for gym class, and information about the art period

activities handout

Adaptations

Objectives

No foreseeable adaptations needed. Site director may use their discretion

After this lesson, interns will learn • • •

Rules of classroom PE

How to manage a classroom without a lead teacher Games and activities appropriate for PE How to assist the lead art teacher

Evaluation At the end of this training have interns create their own PE lesson plan to apply what they have learned.

Activities 1.

2.

3.

Go over classroom rules handout to help interns understand what is appropriate when they are in the classroom or outside alone with the girls Go over the approved PE games and activities list Help interns understand the structure of art along with how they should be assisting the art teacher.

Facilitating PE and Art

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Rules for when interns are alone in the classroom:

1. Never for any reason leave the classroom unattended. If you are the only adult in the classroom and need to leave for any reason, you need to contact the site director to come supervise in your absence.

2. Do not allow students to use the restroom alone. The Buddy System and group bathroom breaks should be utilized.

3. Do not use your cellphone for any reason other than emergencies.

4. Always have the first aid kit in a visible and accessible location.

5. Always let the site director know if your class will be anywhere other than the classroom, i.e. going outside for PE.

6. Make sure the classroom is left in a clean working manner for the lead teacher to return to in the morning.

7. Give the girls 5-10 minutes at the end of the day to pack up their belongings and clean up their space.

8. Do not allow eating in the classroom outside of designated snack times- be aware of student with allergies as well.

Possible PE games 1. Tag 2. Capture the flag 3. Ultimate Frisbee 4. Red rover 5. Cross the ocean 6. Sharks and minnows 7. Red light, Green Light 8. Duck duck goose 9. Mother may I 10. Hop scotch 11. Double Dutch 12. Four corners 13. Tug of war 14. Simon says 15. Human knot 16. Monkey in the middle 17. Yoga 18. Freeze dance 19. Heads up seven up (rainy day) 20. Minute to win it games

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Unit 3

Project Scientist FAQ

Lesson 3

Overview

Materials

This final lesson plan is meant to provide the interns with several common scenarios that may arise throughout the summer and what to do about them

Objectives Provide interns with an array of scenarios and how to react â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

Interns will leave feeling more confident in their ability to handle tricky situations Interns will have insight on situations and not feel blindsided when they occur

Activities 1.

2.

Go over the FAQ sheet with interns Site director and staff can add any stories or insight they might have

Adaptations Because every site has different struggles and situations occur feel free to adapt the FAQ sheet to better fit with what you have seen as the director of your site.

Evaluation This is meant to be a helpful lesson for interns its not something that they will necessarily need to apply. It is possible that during academy the insight they get from this lesson can come in handy in which case the site director should be able to observe them acting appropriately in situations.

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FAQ handout

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In conclusion, this project is working to develop a clear and organized intern program for Project Scientist Academy. The manual aims to concisely and effectively present information to new interns in preparation for Summer Academy. By providing adequate and informational training before summer even begins, Project Scientist can improve the credibility of their intern program along with avoid any issues with interns that have been seen in the past.

On a personal level, I enjoyed working on this project because it gave me a chance to test my hand at developing training for an organization I care about. I have worked with and for Project Scientist for three years now and I have seen them both grow and struggle. I have enjoyed the process of making this manual for them because I know itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something that they need and something that I could have benefitted from when I was an intern with the company.

Being a nonprofit major and often working with grassroots and start up organizations I have seen time and time again how spread thin the staff can become when working towards a difficult goal. Often things like proper training and development get pushed to the back burner out of necessity. I am happy that I could help Project Scientist to bring development back to the forefront of the organization.

Sources About SciGirls. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/parents/scigirls/about/ Countryman, J., Kekelis, L., & Wei, J. (2009, January). Get Involved...Make a Difference:A Guide for Classroom Visits and Field Trips for K-12 Students. Retrieved October 4, 2016, from http://www.techbridgegirls.org/assets/files/role-model/Role Model Guide 2010.pdf Lipman, V. (2014, March 10). How To Manage Volunteers And Interns. Retrieved October 04, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2014/03/10/how-to-managevolunteers-and-interns/#36ca1dd478ef Scientist, P. (2016). Project scientist. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from Project Scientist, http://www.projectscientist.org

Stearns, E., & Marshall, S. (2016, February). Key Findings from Project Scientist, Summer 2015.

Retrieved October 4, 2016, from http://www.projectscientist.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/Findings_from_summer_ 2015.pdf

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Parents and Leadership: Relationships between Parental Styles, Leadership Preferences, and Personal Leadership Styles Sarah Schaible Sarah Schaible, a senior psychology major, has been interested in leadership for a long time. She knew that she wanted to pursue something leadership-related in the future, so she felt there was no better time to start researching. For Schaible, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research has been learning more about what interests her. Her experience has also made her feel more prepared for graduate school given that she has already conducted her own research. While Schaible notes that she has been lucky to have multiple fantastic mentors in the psychology department, Dr. Spain, specifically, has always been encouraging, helpful, and supportive. Without Dr. Spain, she may not have ever thought about taking part in a graduate program. One of the most important things Schaible learned in working with Dr. Spain was that if you are interested in something, research it; it does not matter if it is the “hot” topic of the field, it just matters that you are passionate about it. After graduating, she will be attending NC State University as a student in their Industrial Organizational Psychology Doctoral Program.

Abstract Parental styles are closely linked to numerous outcomes in children, which sparked the idea to examine what relationships exist between how parents’ raise their children and how their children express personal leadership styles and prefer leadership styles in others. This study examined what type of leadership is associated to each parenting style, what relationships exists between personal leadership style and preferred leadership style, and the associations between parental styles and children’s preferred and personal leadership styles. This study looked at these relationships specifically between Baumrind’s parental authority styles and the Full Range Leadership Theory.

Participants (n=95), ranging in age from 19-25 years old, completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri, 1991) for their mother and father, as well as the leader and rater version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass, 2004). Results showed that personal leadership style and preferred leadership styles are positively correlated across all styles.

Personal leadership styles were reported as positively correlating with mother’s parental styles for all parental styles when parental agreement was present. The implications for the results are discussed, while considering factors and limitations that may have prevented the complete set of hypotheses from being fully confirmed. Keywords: leadership, parenting, transactional, transformational, laissez faire, authoritative, authoritarian, permissive

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he relationship between parenting and leadership is often studied or acknowledged in leadership research (Ferguson, Hagaman, Grice, & Peng, 2006; Popper & Mayseless, 2003; Tarnopal, 1985); this comparison seems logical considering parents and leaders alike set boundaries, reinforce behaviors, and encourage action. Both leaders and parents share a vision, values, and goals with their followers and children (Spera, 2005; Popper & Mayseless, 2003). In the late 1930’s. Freud pinpointed this association when he referred to a leader being analogous to a father (as cited in Popper & Mayseless, 2003). Several connections between parenting and leadership have been found in previous research (Popper & Mayseless, 2003; Tarnopa, 1958; Bass, 1999) which sparks the question, “do parenting styles relate to children’s preferred leadership styles and their own personal leadership styles?”

T

Parenting Styles Parenting styles influence a number of outcomes for children including academic achievement, drug use, and social skills (Baumrind, 1991; Murphy and Johnson, 2003). They have also been shown to influence leadership styles and abilities (Tarnopal, 1958; Popper & Mayseless, 2011; Bass, 1999). Research has shown that children’s attachment style to their parents influences whether they are viewed as a natural leader or not (Tarnopal,1958). In addition, researchers discovered that attachment styles have been linked to differing leadership styles (Popper & Mayseless, 2011; Harms, 2011). The most important finding for this current study is that parent’s moral standards influence their tendency to exhibit transformational leadership (Bass, 1999).

This is crucial because setting moral standards is a large part of parenting styles, whether it is instilling strict moral standards or having a lack of standards; thus it indicates that there is a relationship between parent’s parental styles and their children’s leaderships’ styles. Considering moral standards and attachment style can influence leadership styles, it is logical to examine whether parental styles have a relationship with their children’s leadership preferences and own styles. In this study, the relationship between parental styles, children’s leadership styles, and their preferences was studied in an in-depth manner. In order to fully understand this project and the relationships that were examined, it is essential to have a grasp on the parental authority model proposed by Baumrind, (1996) as well as the leadership model proposed originally by Burns (1978), which has been expanded by Bass (1999).

Parental Authority Styles In 1966, Baumrind proposed a parental authority/discipline model that has been continuously referred to since (Baumrind, 1996). This model is composed of four parenting styles that are condensed into three for the purpose of this study. The styles differ in two essential components, responsiveness, which is often referred to as warmth, and demandingness, which can be characterized by control.

Authoritarian Parents The most demanding or strict of the styles is the authoritarian style. Parents who exercise an authoritarian style are high in demandingness, but low in responsiveness (Baumrind, 1996). The control is issued to ensure obedience and keep power with the parent; guidelines, rules, and standards are set in place, usually with a lack of explanation. Questions or resistance are typically met with the “because I said so” mentality and response (Kopko, 2007). Authoritarian 135

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parents exercise punishment to keep their children on the right path. The autonomy of the children is typically restricted with their behaviors and ambitions expected to align with tradition standards set by the higher authority (the parents) (Baumrind, 1966).

Authoritative Parents Authoritative parents are still high in demandingness, but also rank high in responsiveness (Baumrind, 1996). Children are still expected to comply with behavioral standards, but justifications for those rules are provided, as reasoning is emphasized as important concept to the children. If questions arise authoritative parents are more likely to allow, and even encourage, rational discussion and the opportunity to express individual opinions and beliefs (Kopko, 2007).

Discipline is still used, but with a friendlier and warmer approach than authoritarian parents; it is typically coupled with a fair and consistent application of reasonable standards (Baumrind, 1996). Although discussion and debate are permitted, the parent is still the one who possesses the power to make decisions and set standards.

Permissive Parents Permissive parents lack in demandingness, but exceed in warmth and responsiveness (Baumrind, 1996). Permissive parents do not implement control or use their parental power to ensure children are behaving in a certain way. According to Baumrind (1966), they do not expect or demand much in the way of orderly behavior and adherence to rules or standards. In contrast to authoritarian parents, permissive styles allow for extensive independence. They often believe the way to show love is by refusing to say no and allowing children to make their own decisions (Kopko, 2007). In their eyes, they are not responsible for shaping or guiding their childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beliefs, behaviors, or decisions; they are the sideline supporters there to offer help, but only if it is solicited.

Neglectful Parents Neglectful parents are also referred to as uninvolved parents. These parents are not warm or responsive, nor do they enact control or place demands on their children (Kopko, 2007). This style is characterized by a general lack of involvement in decisions, experiences, needs, or desires. They do not typically discipline their children or place behavior standards on them.

Whether it is emotionally or physically, neglectful parents are absent more than they are present (Baumrind, 1996).

For the sake of this study, neglectful and permissive parents will both be categorized as permissive parents. Although there is a difference in terms of warmth and responsiveness, both styles fundamentally stem from the idea of hands-off parenting approaches and decisions are left to the children to be made, which is why they are combined in this study. As parents are typically seen as leaders in childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives, the idea that parental styles and leadership styles may be related seems logical. In many ways there are overlaps between parental styles and leadership styles. Before this connection is examined further, it is important to first further understand what leadership theories will be used in this study.

Leadership Theory The concept of transactional and transformational leadership has been around since Burns initially proposed it specifically for political leaders (Burns, 1978) Bass then built upon this idea of leadership by examining the psychological aspects that lie within each style, continuing to focus most of his research on this leadership ideology (Bass, 1985). Since then, numerous studies 136

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have been conducted in relation to leadership and a number of different variables including personality traits, gender, and genetics (Dubinsky, Yammarino, & Jolson, 1995; Arvey, Rutondo, Johnson, Zhang, & McGue, 2006; Bass, 1999). Research has also found that parenting styles can differ in whether they produce leaders in general (Bass, 1999). In order to understand the proposed relationships between the authority styles and leadership styles, it is important to have a general understanding of each of the three leadership styles that are instrumental in the FullRange Leadership Theory introduced by Avolio and Bass (1991): transactional, transformational, and laissez-faire (cited in Bass, 1991).

Transactional Leadership Transactional leaders focus more on the tasks, rules, and deadlines, versus focusing on people. They are concerned with ensuring requirements are understood and that sufficient rewards, whether they be tangible or intangible, are provided to fulfill the contractual obligations (Antonakis, Avolio, & Sivasubramaniam, 2003). They tend to simply focus on whether a task or project is completed on time and intervene to simply fix an issue or reprimand a mistake. They do not typically involve themselves in the development of the employee, just the progress of the work. There is not much in the way of individualized consideration or attention; their priority is the job, not the employee or follower (Antonakis et al 2003). Transactional leaders are often viewed more as “managers” than “true leaders” (Dubinsky et al., 1995). The three factors used to sum up the transactional leadership style are contingent reward, active management by exception, and passive management by exception. Research has shown that the contingent reward aspect positively affects the performance and satisfaction of followers (Burke, Stagl, Klein, Goodwin, Salas, & Halpin 2006).

Transformational Leadership Transformational leaders focus on their follower’s development and success. Typically, they are perceived as confident people who focus on keeping their values aligned with their work and mission, while stressing the importance of ethical decision-making (Antonakis et al., 2003).

These leaders are extremely motivating with positive outlooks, a clear vision, and a solid list of goals to reach success. They prioritize follower development by mentoring, counseling, supporting, and encouraging. They are more likely than the transactional leader to be involved at all stages of the process, not just to reprimand when a mistake is made. Transformational leaders look at the big picture and think long-term, rather than short-term. This vision and confidence is what elicits loyalty and respect from their followers (Dubinsky et al., 1995). Transformational leaders lead with integrity, enthusiasm, and self-determination that are contagious to their followers (Dubinsky et al., 1995). They are open to new suggestions and promote creativity in regards to problem solving and task-completion. They tend to appeal to logic and reasoning when asking for their followers’ support (Dubinsky et al., 1995). Transformational leadership is characterized by four factors: idealized influence, inspirational leadership, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass, 1999).

Laissez-Faire Leadership Laissez-Faire Leaders are on the opposite end of the spectrum from transactional and transformational. They typically shirk away from the responsibilities and decision-making power that is associated with leadership (Antonakis et al., 2003). They would rather let their followers make their own decisions and avoid exercising their leadership authority (Bass, 1999).

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Typically, laissez-faire leaders are described as neglectful towards their true duties and fail to give feedback to followers (Bass, 1998). If and when possible, laissez-faire leaders avoid interactions with their followers in general (Skogstad, Einarsen, Torsheim, Aasland, & Hetland, 2007).

Parental Styles and Leadership Styles There are many similarities between parental styles and leadership styles that suggest the two concepts could be closely related. In the research conducted by Popper and Mayseless (2003), the notion that “good parenting” and effective leadership are closely related was confirmed. They determined that their idea of an effective leader is transformational leadership.

This was closely compared with the ideal “good parenting,” which essentially boiled down to an authoritative parenting style. In their eyes, good parenting is defined by an emotionally open, sensitive, available and responsive parent, who sets goals that are challenging, while also establishes limits, guidelines, and discipline. This encourages autonomy and the development of self-worth, self-efficacy, social skills, and general personal growth (Popper & Mayseless, 2003).

The literature shows that this idea of a good parent is extremely similar to a transformational style of leadership, which is described as a leader that encourages autonomy and motivation, pushes followers to meet challenging goals, and develop personally, while providing support, guidance, and discipline (Popper & Mayseless, 2003).

Transformational leadership and authoritative parenting are not the only styles that seem to align; transactional and authoritarian seem to line up as well. Authoritarian parents are highly demanding, indicating that they are more concerned with behaviors and outcomes; this is comparable to the task-oriented transactional leadership style (Baumrind, 1996; Antanokis et al., 2003). Transactional leaders focus on the fulfillment of obligations and the extent to which their followers are satisfying guidelines and restrictions. They typically do not get involved unless it is to discipline or fix the problem (Antanokis et al., 2003). Authoritarian parenting is akin to this in the sense that parents are truly only involved to ensure their children are satisfying their requirements (Kopko, 2007). The main focus of both styles is ensuring that the “followers” are behaving as they should be behaving.

Laissez-faire leadership seems to be a parallel to both neglectful and permissive parenting.

In all three instances, the leader or parent seems to abdicate their responsibilities, leaving most of the responsibilities to their followers or children (Antonakis et al., 2003; Baumrind, 1996).

Independence is stressed as neither the parent or the leader has an interest in exercising the control or power that is associated with their roles. They avoid having to interact with the followers or children, a behavior that is contradictory to the involvement most would expect from the given authorities.

Theories of Similarities Although leader and follower style similarities have not been specifically researched, the influence of similarities in other workplace topics has been examined. In interviewing, a phenomenon called the “similar-to-me-effect” exists. This is when interviewers rate candidates akin to themselves in attitudes and demographics higher than those who are not similar to themselves (Sears & Rowe, 2003). This demonstrates the human tendency to favor people that are similar to themselves. The similarity bias has been found in other arenas as well. For instance, Abrami and Mizener (1985) found that students who perceived their attitudes to align with their professors’ attitudes tended to rate them higher. Other research has shown that people 138

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are generally attracted to those who share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes (Klohnen & Luo, 2003). Research has also shown that the homogenous groups are more productive and cohesive, which lends to the idea that a homogeneous style between leaders and followers would also be more productive and cohesive (Kivlihnan & Coleman, 1999). Since job performance leads to job satisfaction (Judge, Thorsen, Bono, & Patten, 2001), it seems that one would be most satisfied with a leader that provides the best opportunity for productivity.

In light of this research that highlights the influence of similarities, it is hypothesized that individual’s preferred leadership style will be positively correlated with their own leadership style; specifically, individuals that exercise transformational leadership prefer transformational leadership styles, transactional leaders prefer transactional leadership styles, and laissez-faire leaders prefer laissez- faire leadership styles.

Hypothesis 1: Personal leadership styles and preferred leadership styles will be positively correlated.

The above theories of similarity imply that people gravitate towards familiarity, which is why it is hypothesized that parental styles will be positively correlated with leadership style preferences: individuals with parents who demonstrate an authoritarian parenting style will prefer transactional style leadership, individuals with parents who demonstrate an authoritative style will prefer transformational leadership, and individuals with parents that demonstrate permissive styles will prefer laissez-faire leadership.

It has been also shown that parents shape children’s ideas of leadership through social learning and the leadership opportunities they encourage their children to partake in (Murphy & Johnson, 2011). It was been discovered that authoritarian parents raise children that tend to lack in areas of innovation, communication, and entrepreneurship (Murphy & Johnson, 2011); this makes one believe that children with authoritarian parents would be likely to exercise a transactional leadership approach. Authoritative parents on the other hand are found to raise children who are the most likely to become effective leaders (Murphy & Johnson, 2011).

Effective leadership has been closely associated with transactional leadership (Popper & Mayseless, 2003). This relationship provides sufficient evidence to believe that children with authoritative parents will likely demonstrate transformational leadership. Neglectful parents, who are lumped together with permissive parents, raise children who typically are lower on social competence; this lends itself to the possibility that those children would exercise a more laissez-faire like leadership style. These connections coupled with the findings (Arvey et al., 2006) that the probability of leadership role occupancy is heritable by 30%, it is hypothesized that parental styles and personal leadership style will be positively correlated. More specifically, it is hypothesized that authoritarian styles will relate to transactional styles, authoritative styles will correlate with transformational styles, and permissive styles will be associated with laissezfaire styles.

Hypothesis 2: parental styles and personal leadership styles will be positively correlated.

Studies have shown that parental agreement is common, but it seems to be in only certain sets of parents. Parental agreement is found between parents who tend to exhibit effective parenting skills (i.e. authoritative parenting), while disagreement tends to occur between parents who lack effective parenting (Deal, Halverson, & Wampler, 1989). Many studies ignore this component by either excluding parents who do not agree on parenting styles or by only examining a mother’s role (Simons & Conger, 2007). It is typically the mothers who are studied because they are generally the parents who spend the most face-time with their children. In the study conducted by Simons and Conger (2007) it was discovered that mother’s influences 139

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seemed to be the strongest in regards to child outcomes. In accordance to these findings, it is hypothesized that if there is parental disagreement then the children’s leadership preferences will be positively correlated with their mother’s parental style. If there is parental agreement then the children’s leadership style will be positively correlated with their parent’s shared parental style.

Hypothesis 3a: If there is parental agreement in terms of parenting styles, participant’s leadership style will be positively correlated with the parental style.

Hypothesis 3b: If there is disagreement in parenting styles, participant’s leadership styles’ will be positively correlated with their mother’s parenting style.

Method Participants Ninety-five undergraduate students from a small, private, liberal arts university in the Southeast, participated in this study on a volunteer basis. There was a majority of females in the study (70.5%) and an age range of 19-25 (mean=19.8). The ethnic breakdown was primarily Caucasian (88.4%) with 6.3% African American, 2.1% Asian and the remaining participants identified as other or preferred not to answer. Participants were either students in Introduction to Psychology (n=83) completing studies to receive research experience credits or students in a Contemporary Leadership Theories course (n=12) who completed the study voluntarily.

Participants were not monetarily compensated for their participation.

Materials In order to examine the parental authority styles the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ, Buri, 1991) was used. The PAQ has a mother and father version with the exact same questions with only pronouns and proper names being interchanged depending on the version. For instance, the paternal version read, “As I was growing up my father did not allow me to question any decision he had made”. The maternal version reads, “As I was growing up my mother did not allow me to question any decision she had made”. Each statement is rated on a Likert scale, with 1 indicating, strongly disagree and 5 indicating strongly agree. There are three subscales: permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative. The sum of each subscale is compared and the highest of the three scores indicates the parental style of that parent.

To measure personal leadership styles, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass, 2004) leader form was used. Participants evaluated 45 statements such as, “I am absent when needed,” “I spend time teaching and coaching,” “I heighten others’ desire to succeed.”

Participants used a scale 0-4, with 0 indicating not at all and 4 indicating frequently, if not always. There are 12 different subscales and the scores were determined by calculating the average for each subscale. Transformational Leadership is comprised of five scales. There are two scales for transactional leadership and two for laissez-faire leadership. The other three subscales represent leadership outcomes and were not computed for this study.

Participants’ preferred styles of leadership were assessed with an adapted version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire rater form. The only change made was that participants were asked to rate their ideal leader rather than a current leader. Besides this minor change, the questionnaire is unchanged with all the statements in their original format. Statements include, “waits for things to go wrong before taking action,” “talks about his/her most important values and beliefs,” and “heightens my desire to succeed.” The 45 statements are evaluated with a 0-4 scale, with 0 denoting “not at all” and 4 indicating “frequently, if not always.” This version was

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scored in accordance with the standard scoring method for the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire.

Procedure Participants, in the Introduction to Psychology course, were given two informed consent forms. After both were signed and one copy was collected for records, each participant was given a questionnaire packet containing a demographics sheet, the Maternal Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Paternal Parental Questionnaire, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Leader form, and then the adapted Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Rater form.

After all the questionnaires were completed and returned to the researcher, a debriefing statement was read and copies distributed to each participant, then the participants were dismissed.

The students from the “Contemporary Leadership Theories” course had the option of completing a paper packet and returning it to the professor in the next class. The students who were willing to participate were given two informed consent forms and handed a packet only when both informed consent forms were signed and one was returned. When they brought the packet back to the next class meeting, and handed it in or submitted their questionnaires to the professor, the debriefing statement was read and a copy given to them.

Results Confirming the first hypothesis, results showed that personal leadership styles and preferred leadership styles are positively correlated with significance on a .01 level (Table 1).

Participants’ preferred transformational styles and personal transformational styles are moderately correlated indicated by the correlation coefficient landing in the r=.4-.6 range (r=.56), while preferred and personal transactional (r=.39) and laissez faire (r=.30) styles are weakly correlated due to their correlation coefficients being below the r=.4 threshold. As seen in Table 1, this analysis also showed an unexpected significant correlation between preferred transactional leadership styles and personal laissez-faire styles.

The hypothesized relationship between preferred leadership styles and parental styles was not significant. The only significant relationship found with preferred leadership styles existed between a mother’s authoritative parenting style and a preference for transformational leadership styles (r=.35, p=.005).

When examining the third hypothesis that personal leadership styles would correlate with parent’s leadership styles in the face of parental agreement, results showed there was evidence to moderately support this claim. Significant results were found when the sample was categorized into parental agreement and disagreement. Parental styles were determined by seeing what style parents scored highest in: if both parent’s highest scores fell in the same parental style it was considered parental agreement. From this process it was determined that 65 of the participant’s had parental agreement and 26 did not; 4 were not used in this part because they failed to fill out forms for both parents or indicated one of their parental roles was outside the family. Even though parental styles agreed, participants only showed a significant positive correlation with their mother’s parental style. Table 2 shows that this weak significant relationship is seen on a 0.5 significance level for the three correlations, while the only significant correlation with paternal parental style is between father’s authoritarian and personal transactional style (r=.27, p =.04).

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Although a significant relationship occurs between personal leadership styles and parental authority styles in the parental agreement subgroup of the sample, the parental disagreement subgroup did not produce significant findings. Table 3 shows that not only did it not demonstrate the hypothesized idea that participants have positive relationships with their mother’s parental style, it did not demonstrate a significant relationship with either their mothers’ or fathers’ styles for preferred or personal leadership styles.

Discussion There is a significant positive correlation between personal leadership styles and preferred leadership styles, regardless of parental style agreement. This demonstrates that this “similar-to-me” bias exists in a number of contexts including leadership. This information can help increase the quality of leader-follower interactions and, at the least, improve the understanding of the relationship between leaders and followers. This is valuable knowledge to consider when putting together groups, teams, and organizational departments.

The finding that personal leadership styles positively correlated with only mother’s parental styles across the whole pattern, but only in one scenario with father’s, indicates that mother’s parental styles seem to have a stronger relationship with their children’s leadership styles. Perhaps this finding is due to the general tendency that mother’s usually spend more time with their children than father’s do (Simons & Conger, 2007). This implies that mothers should be more conscious of their parenting styles when it comes to their children’s leadership development; the more authoritative a mother is, the more likely their children will show transformational leadership, which has been referred to as great leadership, and identified as the more preferred style in this study.

When the portion of the sample whose parents did not have agreement (N=24) was reviewed, no significant pattern emerged at all for either personal leadership styles or preferred leadership styles. This implies that there must be something important about the agreement between parents’ parenting styles. This notion should be further studied in the future, perhaps this parental inconsistency leads to inconsistency in leadership styles as well, which is why a significant correlation is not present. There is a chance that lack of parental agreement could lead to children relating to the parent of the same sex more so than the parent of the opposite sex.

In examining all participants, no significant patterns were found with preferred leadership styles and parental styles. The only significant relationships existed between mothers’ authoritative and transformational (r=.21, p<.05). This finding paired with the fact that 86 participants showed that they generally prefer transformational leadership the most, regardless of parental styles, shows that a majority of people want to experience stereotypical “good leadership.” Perhaps those whom did not have an upbringing similar to transformational crave it and those who did love it, which is why the preference exists.

Limitations Conducting research at a small liberal arts university created a limited pool that lacked diversity, and running it at a larger public university would likely provide a larger range of responses and a more diverse sample. The hypothetical nature of the preferred leadership-rating questionnaire could be a limitation and explain why 86 of the participants had the same leadership preferences, if we had categorized them before we calculated correlations. Asking them to recall an example from their own experiences could be more beneficial. Operating under the assumption that participants spent more face-time with their mother’s is a limitation, as most 142

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are born in a time where that trend is not as prevalent, and parenting responsibilities have become more equal. As in most research, the pure fact that this was conducted at a higher education institution is a limitation. There is likely a difference between parents whose children attend college and those whose do not as well as the leadership styles of those who have been exposed to higher education and those who have not- potentially with people who are less educated straying towards the less effective styles.

Conclusion and Future Study Now that it is known there is a relationship between preferred leadership styles and personal leadership styles, it should be examined whether people are more efficient and successful with leaders who exhibit their preferred leadership styles or if it is simply an affective preference that does not relate to success under a leader. It would be beneficial to conduct an experiment to see whether participants are more successful on a task under their preferred leadership style or a differing style.

In the future, it should be studied as to whether this relationship between parental style and personal leadership styles is due to heredity or social learning and modeling. Along with this, the importance and influence of parental agreement with leadership styles should be further examined in the future to see why the lack of relationship occurs in the face of parental disagreement.

Further research should be conducted on this idea that most people prefer transformational leadership styles, but participants should be asked to rate a specific leader whom they felt was their favorite or the best leader, instead of asking to rate their ideal leader, to see if this influences the correlational outcomes. In hypothetical scenarios, it is easy to assume one would want a transformational leader, but perhaps asking to pinpoint a specific favorite leader could provide a larger variety of preference responses since it would be coming from a realistic scenario and not a hypothetical one.

In the future, it would also be beneficial to examine whether a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership experience is related or influences the outcome of these relationships. Perhaps leadership experience could be the variable that is interfering with the relationship between preferred leadership styles and parental leadership styles. It is possible that experience could influence people to alter their preferences to align with their leadership experiences and examples outside of their parental units. Relating to the idea that experience could be an important factor in these relationships, future studies should include a larger age range. It would be beneficial to see if these relationships stay consistent through life or if the more experience and more time passes from when a person lives with their parents and is thus strongly influenced by them, the less prevalent these relationships become.

Overall the findings from this study indicate that understanding preferred leadership styles requires the consideration of personal leadership styles, at times parental leadership styles, and likely another variable- which indicates the need for further research. Also, personal leadership styles and parental styles are closely associated, which can strengthen the argument that leadership development is a process that begins at a young age and is closely influenced by parents and childhood experiences.

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References Abrami, P. C., & Mizener, D. A. (1985). Student/instructor attitude similarity, student ratings, and course performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(6), 693-702. doi:10.1037//0022-0663.77.6.693 Antonakis, J., Avolio, B. J., & Sivasubramaniam, N. (2003). Context and leadership: An examination of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(3), 261-295. doi:10.1016/s10489843(03)00030-4 Arvey, R. D., Rotundo, M., Johnson, W., Zhang, Z., & Mcgue, M. (2006). The determinants of leadership role occupancy: Genetic and personality factors. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(1), 1-20. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.10.009 Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (2004). Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. In (3rd ed.). Mind Garden. (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Manual).

Bass, B.M. (1998). Transformational leadership. USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership.

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Kivlighan, D. M., & Coleman, M. N. (1999). Values, exchange relationships, group composition, and leader-member differences: A potpourri of reactions to Dose (1999).

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 3(1), 33-39. doi:10.1037//10892699.3.1.33 Klohnen, E. C., & Luo, S. (2003). Interpersonal attraction and personality: What is attractiveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; self-similarity, ideal similarity, complementarity or attachment security? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(4), 709-722. doi:10.1037/0022- 3514.85.4.709 Kopko, K. (2007). Parenting styles and adolescents. Retrieved from www.Parenting.cit.cornell.edu/documents/Parenting%20styles.pdf Murphy, S. E., & Johnson, S. K. (2011, June). The benefits of a long-lens approach to leader development: Understanding the seeds of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(3), 459-470. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.04.004 Popper, M., & Mayseless, O. (2003). Back to basics: Applying a parenting perspective to transformational leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(1), 41-65. doi:10.1016/s10489843(02)00183-2 Sears, G. J., & Rowe, P. M. (2003). A personality-based similar-to-me effect in the employment interview: Conscientiousness, affect-versus competence-mediated interpretations, and the role of job relevance. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 35(1), 13-24. doi:10.1037/h0087182 Simons, L. G., & Conger, R. D. (2007). Linking mother-father differences in parenting to a typology of family parenting styles and adolescent outcomes. Journal of Family Issues, 28(2), 212-241. doi:10.1177/0192513x06294593 Skogstad, A., Einarsen, S., Torsheim, T., Aasland, M. S., & Hetland, H. (2007). The destructiveness of laissez-faire leadership behavior. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(1), 80-92. doi:10.1037/1076-8998.12.1.80 Spera, C. (2005). A Review of the relationship among parenting practices, parenting styles, and adolescent school achievement. Educational Psychology Review, 17(2), 125-146. doi:10.1007/s10648-005-3950-1 Tarnopol, L. (1958, June). Personality differences between leaders and non-leaders. Personnel Journal (pre-1986), 37(2), 57-60.

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Appendix: Correlational Result Tables Table 1 Correlation of Personal and Preferred Leadership Styles Personal

Personal

Personal

Transformational

Transactional

Laissez-Faire

.563**

.429**

-.088

.157

.389**

.232*

Preferred Transformational Preferred Transactional Preferred

.101

Laissez-Faire

.186

.301**

Note: Bolded numbers indicate hypothesized relationships. * Correlation is significant at the .05 level **Correlation is significant at the .01 level __________________________________________________

Table 2 Correlation between Personal Leadership and Parent’s with Parental Style Agreement (N=65)

Personal

Mother’s

Mother’s

Mother’s

Father’s

Father’s

Father’s

Authoritative

Authoritarian

Permissive

Authoritative

Authoritarian

Permissive

.300*

.027

-.222

.108

.028

.056

-.076

.266*

-.053

-.077

.268*

.056

-.002

.175

.322*

.067

.301*

.011

Transformational Personal Transactional Personal Laissez-Faire

Bolded numbers indicate hypothesized relationships. * Correlation is significant at the .05 level **Correlation is significant at the .01 level

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Table 3 Correlation between Disagreeing Parental Styles and Preferred and Personal Leadership Styles (N=26) Mother’s

Mother’s

Mother’s

Father’s

Father’s

Father’s

Authoritative

Authoritarian

Permissive

Authoritative

Authoritarian

Permissive

-.066

.165

-.086

.293

-.081

.220

-.219

.050

-.245

-.044

.061

.119

-.061

.061

-.202

.124

.232

Laissez-Faire

-.088

Preferred

.130

.085

-.038

. 119

.046

.061

-.174

.072

-.010

-.089

-.117

.007

-.181

-.148

.206

-.151

-.109

.166

Personal Transformational Personal Transactional Personal

Transformational Preferred Transactional Preferred Laissez-Faire

Bolded numbers indicate hypothesized relationships.

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Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and its Place in the Colonial Narrative Mary Torres Mary Theresa Torres, a junior English literature major, originally began her research during her sophomore year British Literature Survey class. Her mentor, Dr. Matthew Carlson, has worked through it with Torres ever since. She notes that each semester has brought significant changes and reflected her academic growth. For Torres, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research has been the ability to see her academic growth with every page. Every class she has taken since her original draft has brought a fresh and enhanced perspective, and has served as proof of her growing literary knowledge and greater knowledge of the world. Being published as an undergraduate has been a goal of Torres’ since coming to HPU, and she is honored to present her work in this journal. Her mentor, Dr. Carlson, has been an essential part of her undergraduate experience at HPU and expresses that she owes him much of her literary knowledge. She notes that Dr. Carlson has an uncanny ability to both guide a student’s growth yet encourage their own original perspectives – even when they differ from his own. On top of his responsibilities as a faculty member, he somehow still finds time to research extensively prior to classes, meet with students for anything they may need, and encourage their success far beyond the classroom. Torres expresses that she would not have had the literary knowledge nor the courage to have published this work without him. After graduating, she plans to attend graduate school and eventually publish her own creative works and literary criticism.

Abstract The following paper will analyze Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in relation to British imperialism. While imperialism started in the 16th century, a second wave hit in the latter part of the 1800s – the Britain in which Stevenson’s book was written. This second wave focused on spreading influence over natives of unclaimed territories, specifically of Africa and India, to gain a stronger empire. The natives of these places were depicted as savage others. Westerners asserted their superiority and intruded upon the culture and livelihood of these peoples, suppressing any attempt of mutual understanding. The Britain of Stevenson’s time was divided by this tension, a tension similarly found in his character Dr. Jekyll. Like Westerners with these savage natives, Dr. Jekyll struggles both to distinguish himself from his less civilized half and to improve this half as it is still undeniably a part of him (and perhaps not as different as he wants to claim). The split character is symbolic of the relationship between the British and peoples they were conquering. By juxtaposing research on British intervention in Africa and India and postcolonial theory alongside the story, these connections become clear.

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he hauntingly imaginative story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written

by Robert Louis Stevenson during a second wave of British imperialism. At this time, the empire was divided geographically, socially, and culturally. Stevenson’s story reflects this through the character of Dr. Jekyll, a tortured man who divides his personality in two through scientific means. The division is made on moral lines – Dr. Jekyll maintaining the qualities of a proper Victorian man and leaving his more savage traits to Mr. Hyde. This division of self and identity that the story explores is symbolic of the British Empire’s divide between European colonizers and their colonized natives. In this way, the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be read as a criticism of colonial discourse.

The Victorian period was a time of immense change for Britain’s Empire, which would have greatly impacted Stevenson and his writing. Perhaps most prominent of these changes was industrialization. Before this time, Britain’s economy centered on land ownership, but the creation of factories and the ability to mass produce goods created a shift towards trade and consumerism. Desiring new goods that could be imported and traded back home, Great Britain’s empire greatly expanded, creating new colonies all around the world. Through this colonization, the British encountered natives of different cultures, most of which greatly differed from Victorian culture, which was defined by moral responsibility and domestic propriety. While the British Empire expanded to include these new lands, the Europeans worked to make clear distinctions between themselves and the natives of their colonies.

Also writing and working in London prior to Stevenson was Karl Marx. Having published his Communist Manifesto in 1848, Marxist ideas were widely spread throughout Europe by the time Stevenson published Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Marxist theory analyzed the separation of social classes. In one of his earlier essays, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” he analyzed the peasant villages outside of France that did not fit into its society or class system. Of these people he boldly states, “they cannot represent themselves, they must be represented” (188). This idea that peasants and outsiders of a Western society must be represented by people within it became a foundational idea of colonialism. Natives were represented not through their own voices or writings, but by the writings of colonizers and European travelers. In Stevenson’s story, Hyde is similarly represented through the descriptions of other characters, and not given much opportunity to represent himself.

The first time Mr. Hyde is introduced to the reader, it is through the description of an English gentleman, Mr. Enfield. Speaking to another English gentleman, Mr. Utterson, he says, [Hyde] is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point. He’s an extraordinary looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can’t describe him. And it’s not for want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment. (836) Enfield uses the words displeasing, detestable, deformed, and extraordinary looking – all of which are too vague to paint any clear picture. The only thing made clear by this description is that Hyde’s appearance differs from the rest of the characters, all of which are made out to be white, proper Englishmen of middle or higher class society. The use of the word deformity tells the reader that the impression comes from some difference in stature or frame. However, this description can only make sense with a preconceived notion of human appearance. Living in 149

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nineteenth-century London, Enfield and the other characters’ version of this expected appearance would be merely a reflection of themselves. All other important characters in the story are united by their gender, age, and social class. Both the describer and the listener have these things in common, and only through these similarities can Hyde stand out. Days go by before Utterson actually meets Hyde himself, and until then his thoughts of Hyde can only be focused on the representation provided by Enfield. This is like the British back home who were not themselves in contact with natives of the colonies, and whose ideas of these people could only be based on descriptions offered by the few Europeans who were.

One of the few who provided some of the earliest Western descriptions of these far away cultures was Edward William Lane. Lane was an English scholar who studied Arabic culture, and his written works on what he found in his travels demonstrate how the British felt they differed from such natives. He writes that in Egypt, “it is not uncommon to see females of the lower orders flirting and jesting with men in public, and men laying their hands upon them very freely” (227). He criticized their “freedom of intercourse” against British propriety (250).

Published and widespread observations such as Lane’s began to shape in the minds of the people back home a foreign image of a savage “other.” This became the unifying depiction of all nonwestern peoples, despite their diversity. For example, Edward Said states that the other, an “Oriential” in his case but also a symbol of a culture other than European, “seems to have offended sexual propriety . . . exuded dangerous sex, threatened hygiene and domestic seemliness with an excessive ‘freedom of intercourse’” (167). Meanwhile, the British back home were anything but free, under constant social pressure of morality, rationality, and abstaining from acting on desires. Lane’s work is a perfect example of the British representing another culture through their own limited perspective.

While Stevenson never explicitly writes about sexual practices, it is assumed that this is a major part of Hyde’s deviance. In Jekyll’s full statement, he explains that before Hyde’s creation, he was tormented by unfulfilled desire. He says, “my pleasures were (to say the least) undignified … It was on this side that my new power tempted me” (52), the new power being the ability to transform into Hyde. He is extremely vague in this confession, never saying what exactly these pleasures were, but like Lane’s writing demonstrates, esteemed British men like Jekyll would not converse so freely. The drawn-out ambiguity on this point seems to be exactly what leads the reader to a conclusion of the pleasures being, at least in part, of sexual nature.

Katherine Linehan’s article, “Sex, Secrecy, and Self-Alienation in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” analyzes Stevenson’s vagueness in defining Jekyll’s pleasures. She calls it “an invitation from an author gagged by Victorian rules of reticence about sexuality to read the shadowy Mr. Hyde as an expression of underground sexual appetite” (204). Like she points out, if Stevenson had wanted, the time period would not have allowed for a successful publication of a story where sexual deviance is clearly addressed. Victorian readers of this story would have been just as condemning of Hyde’s sexual impropriety as Lane was towards the practices of the Arabic people.

As Karl Marx’s quote goes on to say of social outcasts, “their representative must at the same time appear as their master” (188). Through colonization, the British asserted themselves as both the representative and the master of these other cultures. British scientists misused Darwin’s theories of evolution to state that some people were closer to the more primitive state of man than others, and this would justify social hierarchies and concepts of superior and inferior peoples. Of course, the accepted line of superiority would fall around Great Britain and its colonizers, the inferiors being the people of other lands being colonized. The British were the 150

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masters and representatives of people that were claimed to be inferior and less developed beings, or, as was more commonly used, “savage” beings. These are the exact terms in which Hyde is constantly being described. Enfield calls him “a little man who was stumping along” (9). The word little signifies that he is perhaps younger, or less developed than men like Enfield and Utterson. The use of the verb stumping rather than walking makes him seem less human. Later, in Jekyll’s statement, the reader learns that Hyde is the personification of Jekyll’s evil side, which is “less robust and less developed” (51) than Jekyll himself. However, it is not just that he is less developed in the sense of age, but rather in the sense of evolutionary development. As Mr. Utterson remarks upon finally seeing him, “the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say?” (17). In this statement Hyde is made to be less than human, more closely related to the prehistoric man or ape, and in all aspects clearly inferior to developed men.

Most often he is made to resemble an ape, with “a dismal screech, as of mere animal terror” (38), and hands that are “lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and thickly shaded with a swart growth of hair” (54). The manipulation of evolutionary theories that colonizers used against natives is exactly the way Stevenson draws out Hyde’s underdeveloped nature, being closer to ape than man. Yet while Hyde is made to be underdeveloped, small, and ape-like, Jekyll is made to be, as his butler describes him, “a tall, fine build of a man” (36). With this contrast in development, Jekyll is the clear superior, just like Europeans saw themselves as superior to the people they deemed underdeveloped and uncivilized.

After hearing Mr. Enfield’s peculiar descriptions, Utterson is haunted with nightmares of Hyde in which “the figure had no face” (838). This idea of Hyde as a faceless being along with the vagueness of all other descriptions of him allows his character to symbolize anyone.

Relating this back to colonialism, while there were physical differences between the natives and the western Europeans, the natives of these different places of colonization were in no way homogenous. They were peoples from India, Africa, and America with distinct tribes, ethnicities, and cultural practices. However, once the power structure of civilized and uncivilized people was set in place, both groups became homogenized under those terms. People on the uncivilized side were labeled as inferior beings, younger brothers, savages, and, as stated

by Marx, people who could not represent themselves. On the other side, all Western Europeans were made to be superior in contrast, but they too were not actually a homogenous group. Dr. Jekyll is described as “the very pink of proprieties, celebrated, too, and one of your fellows who do what they call good” (10), and this description is nearly as vague as that of Hyde. The idea of “doing good” is completely subjective and dependent on cultural context. Like Stevenson’s writing of these vague character descriptions, people like Lane who wrote of natives of other countries only worked to solidify the distinction between his people back home and those he was studying by explaining his own observations and perceived differences, rather than learning from the people themselves and gaining understanding.

Despite his determination throughout the story to use third-person pronouns in describing Hyde and to always identify himself as a separate entity, during Jekyll’s confession to the other characters there is one moment where he slips and admits the interconnectedness and combined identity of himself and Hyde. He describes looking into the mirror at himself in the form of Hyde and says,

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When I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome. This, too, was myself. It seemed natural and human.

In my eyes it bore a livelier image of the spirit, it seemed more express and single, than the imperfect divided countenance I had hitherto accustomed to call mine.

(866) In this moment, Hyde is really humanized for the first time. Not only is he described as natural and human, but he is actually made to be better than Jekyll in some ways. While Jekyll had condemned Hyde throughout the entire story, this one moment makes the reader question Jekyll’s true feelings. It seems to hint that Jekyll resents the limitations of his natural form.

Because Jekyll has the benefit of high society and good reputation, he cannot do in his own form the things that he can as Hyde for fear of losing these things. It is his society and high place within it that cause Jekyll to make Hyde in the first place, because of the societal pressure to repress his desires and impulses. However, while this pressure is something the Victorian readers of this story could relate to, it was not necessarily true for the people of other cultures that the colonizers acknowledged as living more freely. Irving Saposnik speaks to this idea. He writes that “It is clearly difficult today to detail which of the responsive chords which the story struck in the Victorian mind, but its use of duality as both a structural and thematic device suggests that its application goes beyond a simple antithesis of moral opposites or physical components. Present evidence indicates that Victorian man was haunted constantly by an inescapable sense of division” (Saposnik 88). This suggests that all men of nineteenth-century Britain had their own Jekyll and Hyde within. As John Stuart Mill described it in the middle of the Victorian period, “In our times, from the highest class of society down to the lowest, every one lives as under the eye of a hostile and dreaded censorship” (5). This censorship that Mill describes seems to answer Saposnik as an explanation for this divide. If it was a product of Victorian ideals, it was something that these other cultures were free of. Set with them under the same empire, the Victorian people, like Jekyll, experienced feelings of division and confused identity. These natives who, before British intervention, did not have to repress their Hyde and accepted themselves as whole beings, would have inspired great jealousy from the tortured Brits.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde captured a British audience already fascinated with ideas of the “other,” but today its scope has grown. Analyzing the story now with the help of a twenty-first century lens and postcolonial theory, connections to colonialism are clear. Its plot line of self-division and its immediate popularity among Victorian people come from a deeply rooted societal issue – a hysteric need for the British to identify themselves against what they perceived as nonwestern savagery. In doing this, they created an ideology that attempted to justify colonial conquest and all its downfalls and cruelty with a claim of western superiority. This ideology divided their perception of humanity into categories of colonizers and colonized, the western and the non-western, of the civilized and savage. Humanity is far too diverse to fit into such homogenous groups as these. The establishment of this binary prevented the British from gaining any real understanding of the peoples they were conquering beyond the idea of savage “otherness,” which Stevenson’s Mr. Hyde personifies in the story.

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Works Cited Goh, Robbie B. H. “Textual Hyde and Seek: ‘Gentility,’ Narrative Play and Proscription in Stevenson's ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’” Journal of Narrative Theory, Vol. 29.2. Project Muse, 1999. JSTOR. 158–83. Web. 4 May 2016.

Lane, Edward William. Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1871. Print.

Linehan, Katherine. “Sex, Secrecy, and Self-Alienation in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: an Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Performance Adaptations, Criticism. New York: Norton, 2003. 204-13. Print.

Marx, Karl. “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.” Collected Works, Vol 11. 1852. Marxist Internet Archive. 142-88. Web. 4 May 2016.

Mill, John Stuart. “Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being.” On Liberty. London: Longman, Roberts, & Green Co., 1869. Library of Economics and Liberty. Web. 4 May 2016.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 2003. Print.

Saposnik, Irving S. "The Anatomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Robert Louis Stevenson. Boston: Twayne, 1974. 88-100. Print.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 9th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 83174. Print.

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Probing the structure-activity relationship of Escherichia coli extracellular death factor Rebecca Ulrich Rebecca Ulrich, a junior biochemistry major, immediately got involved in research her freshman year at HPU by completing the Research Rookies Program and joining the Blackledge lab because of the interdisciplinary focus on organic synthesis and microbiology. She then became interested in addressing medically relevant biological concerns using chemistry and organic synthesis. Her research experiences at HPU have shaped her goals towards obtaining a career in research. For Ulrich, the most fulfilling part of doing undergraduate research has been watching herself grow and learn from all the failures along the way. While she has faced many challenges with her project, she has learned how to problem solve and think critically. Through this process, Ulrich continues to find enjoyment in research as a new passion. Her mentor, Dr. Blackledge, has been pivotal in guiding her through the research process and towards pursuing a research-based career. Ulrich describes her mentor as a wealth of knowledge who has been extremely encouraging and supportive as Ulrich processes career options and prepares applications for fellowships, graduate school, and medical school. After graduating, she hopes to obtain a MD/PhD in infectious diseases or medicinal chemistry and research new methods of targeting diseases in third world countries.

Abstract “Probing the structure-activity relationship of Escherichia coli extracellular death factor” is a research essay written as part of my application to the Goldwater scholarship. Per the guidelines of the Goldwater scholarship, the essay describes my research in bacterial biofilms, a discussion of my findings, and a proposal for future work both for me and for the greater scientific community. Biofilms are complex communities of bacteria encased in an extracellular matrix and 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotics, causing approximately 80% of microbial infections in humans. Biofilms also contribute to the mutualistic gut microbiome in mammals, promoting healthy digestion and preventing invasion of harmful pathogens. Understanding biofilms is a crucial step to combatting bacterial infections. E. coli, one of 400 commensal gut species, uses chemical signals for intercellular communication to learn about and respond to their environment through quorum sensing (QS). In E. coli, QS modulates the MazEF toxinantitoxin system through the pentapeptide, E. coli extracellular death factor (EcEDF). To probe the structure-activity relationship of EcEDF, a library of rationally designed analogs was synthesized and tested in programmed cell death (PCD) assays. Results from PCD assays produced inconsistent results, leading to the disproval of the PCD hypothesis. To elucidate EcEDF’s role on MazEF, a novel method of examining the individual strata of biofilms was created and will be used to examine MazEF regulation.

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I. Introduction

E

ach year, two million health-care associated bacterial infections cost the US healthcare system over $20 billion and cause over 90,000 deaths.1 Approximately 80% of microbial infections in humans, including health-care associated infections, are caused by biofilms, complex communities of bacteria encased in an extracellular matrix and 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotics.2-3 Because they are insensitive to the host immune response, the CDC has declared biofilms as one of the seven most pressing clinical obstacles we face, making understanding biofilms a crucial step in combatting bacterial infections.3 While biofilms of pathogenic bacteria pose a serious health concern, biofilms also line the intestines of many species, including humans, contributing to the mutualistic gut microbiome.

Escherichia coli, one of more than 400 bacterial species in the human gut, exists as a biofilm, promoting digestion while protecting the gut the from invasion of harmful bacteria.4 If the health of the gut microbiome is compromised, harmful bacteria such as Clostridium difficile can invade, leading to colitis, infiltration of bacteria into the blood stream, and potential death.5 E. coli, and other commensal bacteria, promote a healthy microbiome by using chemical signals for cell-tocell communication to learn about and respond to their environment through a process called quorum sensing.6 Quorum sensing allows individual bacterial cells to modify their behavior to defend the colony during times of stress from viral invaders, nutrient deprivation, or harsh environmental conditions. Programmed cell death, biofilm formation, and persister cell formation are often mediated by quorum sensing. In E. coli, programmed cell death and biofilm formation are believed to occur through the MazEF toxin-antitoxin system and are mediated by the quorum sensing pentapeptide, E. coli extracellular death factor (EcEDF).7 EcEDF enhances the rate of substrate hydrolysis by MazF, the endoribonuclease toxin of the toxin-antitoxin system, allowing the peptide to control the response of the colony to the stressor.8 Understanding the details of EcEDF regulation of MazEF would enhance the knowledge of the nuances of cellular communication and the regulation and expression of quorum sensing phenotypes such as programmed cell death and biofilm formation. The understanding of the mechanisms of cellular communication would lead to the development of novel approaches to promoting gut health and treating bacterial infections. Through biological assays and structure-activity relationship studies, I am working to understand EcEDFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in quorum sensing responses in E. coli, and I plan to further pursue research on medicinal chemistry applications to microbial infections in graduate school.

II. Previous Work Previous research in the Engelberg-Kulka lab has determined the amino acid sequence of EcEDF and described the essential and non-essential amino acid residues for EcEDF activity.7 The Blackledge lab at High Point University, where I am one of four undergraduate researchers, seeks a more comprehensive understanding of EcEDF and the chemical functionalities at each amino acid required for MazEF activity in E. coli. During my freshman and sophomore year, I designed and synthesized a library of rationally designed EcEDF analogs to probe the structureactivity relationship (SAR) at position one (N-1) of the pentapeptide (Figure 1). These analogs were synthesized through solid-phase peptide synthesis and purified to probe acidity, basicity, and size at the N-1 position (Figure 2). I replicated the literature protocol for programmed cell 155

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death (PCD) assays using E. coli MC4100 obtained from the Engelberg-Kulka lab.9 The results from the assays showed no programmed cell death rates in dense cultures of E. coli MC4100 (Figure 3), indicating that MC4100 does not exhibit PCD. The results contradicted the literature on which my project was based, but supported recently published literature questioning the validity of the PCD hypothesis in E. coli.10 To further probe PCD in E. coli, I performed PCD assays with two other strains of E. coli, BW 25113 and K12, to examine PCD as a quorumsensing phenomenon in E. coli. Results from these two strains of E. coli indicated PCD was not occurring in E. coli and validated the recently published literature questioning the PCD hypothesis.

Figure 1. Wild-type EcEDF with each amino acid position noted.

Figure 2. Conservative amino acid substitutions for the N-terminus asparagine (N-1) in EcEDF. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) features probed by each analog is noted.

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Figure 3. Programmed cell death rates in dense cultures of E. coli MC4100. Untreated cultures were normalized to 100% cell survival and cell survival of treated cultures was expressed as percentage of untreated. Treated cell survival rate was 96.9 (+/- 24.5) %.

Although PCD did not prove to be a viable option for investigating the role of EcEDF on E. coli, the peptides may still play an important role in intercellular communication in bacteria.9 Finding a successful biological system to test the peptides is crucial to furthering the understanding of the structure-activity relationship of EcEDF and its analogs, leading to better understanding of quorum sensing in bacteria and to targeted approaches to promoting gut health and treating bacterial infections.

III. Future Work Moving forward, I propose to examine the role of MazEF and EcEDF on biofilm formation, another quorum sensing and medicinally relevant phenomenon. To accomplish this, I am performing cell-based assays with my analogs to determine EcEDFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to promote or inhibit biofilm formation in E. coli. My lab is also collaborating with an analytical chemistry lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to develop a unique method of growing bacterial biofilms in paper devices to examine individual differences in the different strata of a biofilm. This technique will allow the understanding of MazEF regulation and other cellular processes that occur at each layer of the biofilm. Using the paper devices, EcEDF or its analogs can be incubated with E. coli cultures to determine how the peptides influence MazEF activity throughout the layers of the biofilm. The new methodology could also be used to investigate the 157

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conditions surrounding MazEF transcription, regulation, and activity and the spatial concentrations of MazEF in biofilms to further understand how to target biofilm growth and inhibition. Understanding MazEF activity throughout the layers of the biofilm will demonstrate how the biofilm utilizes MazEF to protect itself from environmental stressors, allowing researchers to propose molecular adjuvants to regulate MazEF within the biofilm. The adjuvants would manipulate biofilm formation, providing solutions to the current crisis of biofilm-related microbial infections and promoting healthy gut flora.

Not only do I plan to investigate EcEDF and MazEF activity and regulation in vivo using biofilms as a biologically relevant system, I also plan to examine the effects of my analogs on the MazF protein in vitro to further probe the structure-activity relationship. Fluorescence assays with purified MazF have shown the wild-type EcEDF enhances the rate of substrate hydrolysis

by MazF.8 I propose to replicate the fluorescence assay using the library of EcEDF analogs to determine how the structural changes in the analogs affect substrate hydrolysis by MazF, providing important information about the chemical functionalities necessary for MazEF activity. Fluorescence provides the sensitivity needed to explore small changes in MazF activity which would not be seen in the biofilm assays. Since the direct effect on MazF by the peptides can be explored, fluorescence assays will direct further steps for structure-activity studies and development of second generation libraries of analogs, guiding the creation of therapeutic molecular adjuvants which can be tested in vivo using biofilm assays.

IV. Conclusions Understanding quorum sensing and the ability of bacteria to communicate both intraspecies and interspecies is crucial to addressing current clinical obstacles such as antibiotic resistance and health-care associated biofilm infections. To contribute to the knowledge base of quorum sensing, I developed a comprehensive library of analogs for E. coli extracellular death factor (EcEDF) and I am currently investigating biological systems for testing the peptides. Future work examining the specific role of EcEDF on MazEF in vitro and in vivo will provide key information about the necessary chemical functionalities needed to control MazEF regulation.

Ultimately, by understanding the toxin-antitoxin systems bacteria use to communicate and modify behavior in stressful times, molecular adjuvants to target and manipulate behavior can be developed for any quorum sensing bacteria. The protocol for growing biofilms in paper will create a novel technique for investigating gut health and the microbiome and will provide means of further examining the nuances of biofilm formation and regulation. The protocol can also be expanded to examine other significant aspects of the gut microbiome, leading to increased knowledge of gut health and new methods to promote health and prevent infection. Because of the rise of health-care associated infections, bacterial resistance, and decreased antibiotic approaches, understanding and manipulating bacterial behavior and communication at the cellular level is crucial to addressing and resolving some of the top clinical obstacles currently facing healthcare.

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V. References 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Roberts, R.R. Clin. Infect. Dis. 2009, 49 (8), 1175-1184.

Davies, D. Nat. Rev. Drug. Discov. 2003, 2 (2), 114-122.

Blackledge, M.S.; Worthington, R.J.; Melander, C. Curr. Opin. Pharmacol. 2013, 13 (5), 699-706. de Vos, W.M. Npj Biofilms And Microbiomes 2015, 1, 15005.

Roos, R. CDC puts C difficile burden at 453,000 cases, 29,000 deaths. (accessed September 21). http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2015/02/cdc-puts-c-difficile-burden453000-cases-29000-deaths Rutherford, S.T.; Bassler, B.L. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Med. 2012, 2 (11), a012427.

Kolodkin-Gal, I.; Hazan, R.; Gaathon, A.; Carmeli, S.; Engelberg-Kulka, H. science 2007, 318 (5850), 652-655.

Belitsky, M.; et al. Mol. Cell 2011, 41 (6), 625-635.

Kumar, S.; Kolodkin-Gal, I.; Engelberg-Kulka, H. MBio 2013, 4 (3), e00314-13.

Ramisetty, B. C. M.; Raj, S.; Ghosh, D. J. Basic Microbiol. 2016.

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Appearance and Reality in Ian Rankin’s Knots and Crosses Mara Wedekind Mara Wedekind, a junior graphic design and digital imaging major with an English literature minor, has previously explored the concepts of identity, appearance, and reality through visual artwork. Having the opportunity to study these complex themes through literature and Scottish history allowed her to develop a deeper understanding of how identity, appearance, and reality are conveyed by language, culture, and fiction. The most fulfilling part of being involved with undergraduate research has been the depth of knowledge Wedekind has acquired through the process of the research itself. She now has a profound understanding of Scottish literature, history, and culture that she appreciates and connects with. Working with mentor, Dr. Matthew Carlson, has been an extremely rewarding and formative opportunity for her undergraduate career. Wedekind expressed that Dr. Carlson’s constant support, encouragement, honesty, and insight has been greatly appreciated and has played a key part in building confidence in her research ability. After graduating from High Point University, she plans to pursue a career which incorporates her passion for both design and visual communication.

Abstract In Knots and Crosses, Ian Rankin uses denial of the dark truth as a means of separating the concepts of appearance and reality. I look into why this denial is so persistent throughout Rankin’s novel and how Rankin uses denial as a means to separate appearance and reality on different levels throughout the text. The contrast between appearance and reality is so essential to the novel’s core that it divides elements and characters within the story and externally leads to the novel itself having the capability of being read in multiple ways. I focus on the contrast between the outward appearance of Rebus’ character, the setting of Edinburgh, the authorial identity of Ian Rankin himself, and the dark reality of crime, struggle, and identity which hides beneath the surface.

I

an Rankin, the Scottish author of Knots and Crosses, uses his novels as a means to investigate his hometown of Edinburgh. In doing so, Rankin explores themes of appearance, reality, and denial. While it is known that Rankin was largely influenced by Robert Louis Stevenson’s use of split personality and exploration of human nature’s complexity in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Rankin’s contemporary portrayal of Edinburgh reveals to readers addition layers of complexity. Ian Rankin’s Knots and Crosses provides a contrast between appearance and reality so essential to the novel’s core that it divides elements and characters within the story. This notion of division is so persistent within the novel itself that it 160

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has the capability of being read in multiple ways. Through the main character, Detective John Rebus, the setting of Edinburgh, and the authorial persona of Ian Rankin himself, the outward appearances and the repressed realities of crime, struggle, and fractured identity which hide beneath the surface are shown to the reader.

The novel’s contrast between appearance and reality is initially seen in the character development of Detective John Rebus; the more we learn about Rebus and his background, the further his true identity separates from society’s perception of him. As a police officer and enforcer of the law, Rebus is expected to be a stand-up man and law-abiding citizen, and in his appearance to others, he is seen in a respected light. In reality and in contrast to this idealized police officer, Rebus’ complex dark side is seen in many instances within the novel. In one instance, Rebus is in an Edinburgh grocery store at night as he “looked around him, examining the many curtained windows. Then swiftly, he tore six rolls from a layer and stuffed them into his pockets, walking away a little too briskly” (44). We see this darker, more flawed side of Rebus again during one of his blackouts as he remorsefully remembers strangling a woman that he had gone home with (133). While Rebus is a “distinctly unappealing main protagonist,” being characterized as “cynical, antisocial and full of barely repressed anger, a cop who harbors animosities and makes terrible blunders out of impatience,” he is also “an attentive observer and a relentless investigator who eventually manages to restore order to the frequent disorder that rules Edinburgh's medieval-flavored streets” (Pierce). Questioning the police officer’s mental stability, the reader may even consider whether or not Rebus could potentially be the killer.

These instances in the novel show readers the darker and stranger side of a man who appears to be a respectable individual in the city of Edinburgh. A “complex, dangerous, brooding man knocking back whiskey” (Drury), Rebus’ blackouts, excessive drinking, moments of violence, and secretive past support Rankin’s idea of a haunted, conflicted character who could be a suspect in the reader’s eyes (“Interview with Ian Rankin”). These complexities in Rebus are not only necessary to create a realistic representation of a human being, but are important because the contrast between his appearance and reality are what allow Rebus to relate to his surrounding city and to understand the complexities within Edinburgh itself. Rankin shows the reader different sides of the city by making Rebus’ character a police officer. His occupation provides him with a reason and the ability to delve into the more concealed, unseen side of Edinburgh because as a detective, “he has an access all areas pass to the entire city, to its riches and deprivations. He can knock on doors that we can’t” (Drury).

As readers recognize Rebus as a more-than-meets-the-surface kind of character, Rankin provides a parallel between Rebus and his location of Edinburgh. It becomes noticeable that Rankin purposely chooses Edinburgh for the setting to show how Rebus and his complexities are a direct product of his Edinburgh environment. As a character in the novel, the city encompasses a strong sense of split personality—a concept that has been captured in Scottish literature for centuries (as seen in Jekyll and Hyde and its real-life inspiration, the Edinburgh city councillor, Deacon Brodie). This split is created by Edinburgh’s extreme division between its outward appearance and its underlying reality. Rankin is fully aware of this contrast and has said that in his writing he aimed to “show all sides of Edinburgh . . . to show that there is more than meets the eye” (Sloma). On the surface, Edinburgh is a “beautiful, old city packed with tradition and culture and statues and monuments and lovely buildings, terrific vistas, great geology. It’s spectacular” ("Interview with Ian Rankin"). In the novel, the city’s appearance is portrayed as a tourist hub, free of gruesome crime and full of beauty; worry-free townspeople and tourists indulge in this outward appearance, as they “sat on benches in the gardens, feeding crumbs to the 161

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pigeons and the Canadian squirrels or else reading heavy-printed Sunday papers” (93). Upon learning of a serial killer in town, people are in disbelief, obviously unaware of Edinburgh’s underlying darkness—“‘It’s unthinkable.’ Mass murderers belonged to the smoky back streets of the South and the Midlands, not to Scotland’s picture-postcard city” (Rankin, Knots and Crosses 117).

Meanwhile, “there’s more happening in Edinburgh than anyone knows” (Rankin, Knots and Crosses 9). Beneath the surface, Edinburgh has a long history of darkness, with many tales of witchcraft, ghosts, murder, war and death dating back to the sixteenth century ("Crime Scene Edinburgh”) as well as “cannibalism, body snatchers, and all kinds of gruesome stuff” (The Hour). Like any other populated area in the world, crimes and social issues do exist, but Edinburgh adds another layer to this idea as these problems are hidden by this picture-perfect appearance. “Things happen under cloak of darkness. It's a place of conspiracies, a city with a village mentality, where everybody knows everybody else” (Pierce). As the novel progresses, Rankin takes Rebus’ character through the contradicting realms of Edinburgh’s appearance and reality. As he goes after the murderer, the narrator provides the reader with insight into how Rebus views his own city. While he has lived there all his life, he is still making discoveries and seeing Edinburgh in a new way—showing just how many complexities lie within the city. As Rebus went to chase down the murderer, he moved “through the jungle of the city, that jungle the tourists never saw, being too busy snapping away at the ancient golden temples, temples long since gone but still evident as shadows. This jungle closed in on the tourists relentlessly but unseen, a natural force, the force of dissipation and destruction” (220). The novel ends in a murderous chase through “a whole maze of cells and passageways, leading right under the city” (248), representing just how different these two perspectives of Edinburgh are, and how “you could walk right over a reality without necessarily encroaching on it” (249).

Although Rankin chooses the specific location of Edinburgh to set his story in, he admits to using Edinburgh as a “microcosm for the larger world” (Interview with Author Ian Rankin at ThrillerFest in NYC). Rankin does this through the use of realism within the novel. He includes “place descriptions which actually exist: real bars, real police stations, and real streets” (Sloma) such as Arden Street, Calton Hill, The Sutherland Bar, The Meadows, The Grassmarket, and districts like Haymarket, Oxgangs, and Colinton (Rankin, Knots and Crosses). Making this city a realistic and recognizable atmosphere “brings the setting to life, blurring the difference between fact and fiction” (Sloma), just as the contrast between the appearance and reality of the city blurs the reader’s perception of the real Edinburgh. These realistic details also allow Rankin to portray real “contemporary social and political issues that form a constant backdrop” in the novel (Drury). Rankin acknowledges Edinburgh as “a real contemporary city with contemporary problems and issues” (“Interview with Ian Rankin”) and presents issues such as corruption, drugs, social inequality, and murder throughout the novel, making readers question just how prevalent these problems are in Edinburgh, and just how fake the city’s “perfect” appearance is.

Upon one occurrence in the novel, the narrator comments, “It was everywhere, crime. It was the life-force and the blood and the balls of life: to cheat, to edge, to take that body-swerve at authority, to kill. The higher up you climbed into crime, the more subtly you began to move back towards legitimacy, until a handful of lawyers only could crack open your system, and they were always affordable, always on hand to be bribed” (45-46). In another instance, readers learn that the police “never ventured into Pilton or Niddrie or Oxgangs to make an arrest in a piss-drenched tenement, they were not moved by Leith’s pushers and junkies, the deft-handed corruption of the city gents, the petty thefts of a society pushed so far into materialism that stealing was the only 162

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answer to what they thought of as their needs” (93-94). Knots and Crosses presents contemporary social and political issues not only to comment on the darker side of Edinburgh, but to acknowledge social and political issues throughout the world in modern-day times. This social commentary could be seen as a statement about the universal idea of human nature’s evil side, which is what Rankin alludes to as he explains in an interview the questions that drive his crime fiction writing. He questions what crime tells us about ourselves and about society, and he questions why human beings continue to do bad things to each other (The Hour). Through the complexities of Rebus and Edinburgh that derive from the contrast of appearance and reality, Rankin has the ability to explore both the contemporary problems of his divided city and the greater world.

Taking this idea of appearance versus reality even further, it is possible to see Ian Rankin as a complexity in himself. Rankin notes in multiple sources that many fans expect him to be like Rebus—“a complex, dangerous, brooding man knocking back whisky” (Drury), but Rankin acknowledges that they are not the same. He even mentions that he doesn’t think Rebus would like him if they were to meet. Rankin flatly denies being a complex man with an exciting story to tell about his life, but there is a contrast between how he presents himself in this manner and his history as a writer. Having earned a degree from Edinburgh University in English Literature and having studied toward a Ph.D. in Scottish Literature (Pierce), it is clear that Rankin has been heavily influenced by and informed about canonical literature. With this literary background, one would think he would be fully opposed to writing novels that are generally read as popular crime thrillers. Instead, Rankin has embraced this authorial image as he has continued to write over twenty novels that are considered “crime fiction thrillers.” Much like the contrasts within both Rebus and the city of Edinburgh in Knots and Crosses, Rankin has the appearance of a crime fiction writer while in reality he has extensive knowledge about—and is influenced heavily by—what is known as “classic literature.” In his own way, Rankin seems to be more complex than he even recognizes himself, as his background and influences seem to contrast the career he has built his life around.

As a means of further dividing appearance and reality within Rebus, Edinburgh, and Rankin, the element of denial is a consistent factor. Through the novel, Rankin persistently includes instances of Rebus’ personal denial. As a character with a dark past who has chosen to deeply repress memories, anger, and a dark reality, Rebus had “been sitting outside reality for way too long” (214). Although this created an interesting, mysterious protagonist, his repression did not become serious until it prevented him from seeing the obvious connection between himself and the murder case he was trying to solve. The whole time, Rebus had been “stuffing the most painful episode of my life into drawers and attics in my head, locking it all away, learning to forget” (195). In the end, it was his own denial that allowed the case to go unsolved for so long.

As for the division of Edinburgh, the tourists of the city and even the people who reside there continue to experience a sense of denial as they refuse to acknowledge or believe that anything terrible could ever happen in “Scotland’s picture-postcard city” (Rankin, Knots and Crosses 117). Because these tourists and residents so intently indulge in the city’s appearance and deny the possibility of gruesome crimes, it makes them much more vulnerable to an attack as well as much more shocked when they eventually learn the truth of the crimes in the city. Furthermore, in looking at Rankin as an author, he has outwardly denied that he is a man of a complex nature, but as we consider his past and present in writing, a contrast develops. The very denial of his own complexity develops a certain appearance to us as readers and a different reality that can be interpreted from learning of his past and experience in literature.

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This division Rankin creates between appearance and reality is extremely prominent throughout the novel, as seen in the previous analysis of Rebus’ character, Edinburgh, and Ian Rankin as an author. The division is so essential to the contents of the text that it is an intrinsic quality to the novel, creating multiple ways in which it can be read. At this external level, the book can be read superficially, simply for enjoyment or from a deeper perspective that understands and appreciates historical and cultural Scottish undertones. As for reading at a superficial level, the fact that Ian Rankin is now known as a popular crime fiction author could very well be the reason it continues attracting readers who are solely “looking for a rattling good story” (Drury). While Knots and Crosses certainly accomplishes this goal of being an enjoyable, suspenseful crime thriller for many of its readers, this crime thriller idea simply remains the outward appearance of the book. A reader reading in this manner would only be enjoying the novel from one perspective, just as tourists in Edinburgh only see its beautiful, peaceful side: “All the tourists saw were shadows from history, while the city itself was something else entirely” (256). Just as unknowledgeable tourists are so caught up in the appearance of Edinburgh that they miss the reality of the city’s history, issues, and dark nature, readers from a superficial standpoint are missing the reality of Rankin’s cultural and historical connections. As for those who are more aware of Scotland’s real culture and history, they have the ability to read the novel on an entirely different level. In this manner, the deeper the novel is read, the more obvious it becomes that Rankin is writing more complex material than many other contemporary crime fiction novels. His inclusion of contemporary social issues and Scottish cultural aspects gives thoughtful readers an insight into “the society, the culture, the problems they might have, the history of the place and something about the nature of people” (East). With this insight, readers can more thoroughly appreciate the complexities Rankin bases his writing upon.

Works Cited Drury, Colin. "Ian Rankin: 'Rebus Has Elements of a Maverick American PI.'" The Guardian.

The Guardian, 22 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/22/ian-rankin-interview-book-tour-rebusmaverick-american-pi>.

East, Ben. "Rebus Writer Ian Rankin Reflects on 30-year Literary Journey." The National. Abu Dhabi Media, 07 Mar. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.thenational.ae/artslife/books/rebus-writer-ian-rankin-reflects-on-30-year-literary-journey>.

Interview with Author Ian Rankin at ThrillerFest in NYC. Dir. MartiniProductionsNY. YouTube.

YouTube, 21 July 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVmfQjghjGM&nohtml5=False>.

"Interview: Ian Rankin - A New Inspector Calls." Lifestyle. The Scotsman, 05 Sept. 2009. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/interview-ian-rankin-a-new-inspectorcalls-1-773101>.

"Interview with Ian Rankin." Interview by Stefani Sloma. Researcher Summer 2012: 71-91.

Google Scholar. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Pierce, J. Kingston. "Ian Rankin: The Accidental Crime Writer." January Magazine. January Magazine, Jan. 2000. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/ianrankin.html>.

Rankin, Ian. "Crime Scene Edinburgh - Exploring the City's Dark Side." Ian Rankin. Orion Publishing Group, 07 June 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ianrankin.net/crimescene-edinburgh/>.

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Rankin, Ian. Knots and Crosses. Garden City, NY: Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday, 1987. Print.

Sloma, Stefani. "The City As Character: Edinburgh in the Works of Ian Rankin." The Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal 25.2 (2012): 62-100. Google Scholar. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

The Hour. "Ian Rankin on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight: INTERVIEW." YouTube.

YouTube, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpct0p5a6o&nohtml5=False>.

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