Volume 4 – 2008
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Letter from the President
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ndergraduate research and scholarly activity has a dramatic impact on our students and the University as a whole. Collaborations between students and faculty enhance undergraduate education by creating opportunities to explore undiscovered regions of theory and practice. The work of our Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity (URSA) assists in those individual and collective interactions which move Murray toward goals set by our University Community, as well as the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Legislature. Ultimately, increased participation by undergraduates in facultymentored research and scholarly activity strengthens those engaged in research-based learning and society as a whole. As part of an effort to highlight and encourage greater undergraduate student development through academic research, we are pleased to announce the fourth edition of Chrysalis: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research. I am confident that you will find the selected articles and the diversity of research and scholarly topics valuable as they address complex challenges facing our society. The work of our undergraduates published in this Journal is contributing new ideas that impact our communities and that can change our lives. I am confident that the work published in this issue of Chrysalis: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research will pose questions for all of us to ponder. Randy J. Dunn President Murray State University
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Letter from the Editors
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t seems fashionable lately to contemplate a world without humans. In popular culture, at least, recent books, television events, and movies on this theme suggest a collective preoccupation with our own transience. One wonders if the impetus for such ruminations is the profusion of knowledge in recent centuries, or our interconnectedness through information age technologies, all of which give us nowhere to hide from the evidence of great catastrophes past, the present strain on our planet’s resources, or its changing climate. (We do know that the Anasazi people of the desert southwest, whispering to us now through the ruins of their civilization, once flourished, but are no more.) Scholarship confronts the illusion of permanence: here is where we are now, navigating the currents of our time and space, peering from the crest of our wave to view the rocky places we have left behind and perhaps to glimpse that distant shore we will crash upon one day, always striving, seeking, finding. This journal you are reading, published in West Kentucky in the early 21st century, documents among other things our present concern about the progression of Lyme disease in our region, and demonstrates that, yes, we still discover new ways to read Jane Eyre. We study pre-verbal communication in infants and reflect on social anxieties. We devise new ways to visualize magnetic fields and to understand the structure and function of proteins. We hear the voice of our social conscience in a late Ecuadorian poet. We dramatize social unrest. We recognize the support of many that has made this volume of our journal possible. President Randy Dunn and Provost Gary Brockway provided encouragement and financial support. MSU Publications and Printing Services staff ably handled production and printing. Jody Cofer, URSA program specialist, once again skillfully managed manuscripts, abstracts, student and faculty biographies, and editorial communications. But the breadth of fine work we present here owes mainly to the efforts of student researchers and faculty mentors, to whom we express our thanks for their contributions. With their help, we are pleased to offer this modest contemplation of our corner of the world as it is, with us, here and now.
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Kevin Binfield Department of English and Philosophy
Rob Donnelly Department of Mathematics and Statistics
John Mateja Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
CONTENTS Letter from the President................................................................................................................................................... i Randy Dunn Letter from the Editors...................................................................................................................................................... ii Kevin Binfield, Rob Donnelly, and John Mateja A GIS Map of Lyme Disease Risk in Kentucky...................................................................................................................1 Jake Elliott and Courtney Thomason Faculty Mentor: Terry Derting The Bond Between Shyness, Self-Esteem, and Appearance Anxiety..................................................................................7 Charlie Jenks Faculty Mentor: Alysia Ritter Prediction and Rationalization of Histidine pKa Values.................................................................................................11 James Locke Faculty Mentor: Pablo Molina Bird Imagery in Jane Eyre................................................................................................................................................16 Megan Locke Faculty Mentor: Staci Stone Jorge Carrera Andrade: The ‘Visionary’ Poet English ............................................................................................................................................................................21 Spanish ............................................................................................................................................................................28 Cynthia Martinez Faculty Mentor: Mike Waag Theatre as an Instrument of Social Change: The Tooth and Nail Experience................................................................33 Cara McHugh and Daniel Trump Faculty Mentor: Jonathan Awori Photonic Dipole Contours of a Ferrofluid Hele-Shaw Cell.............................................................................................37 Michael Snyder and Jonathan Frederick Faculty Mentor: Stephen Cobb The Relationship of Gestures and Communication Development in Infants and Toddlers..............................................46 Danielle Williams Faculty Mentor: Kelly Kleinhaus
Volume 4 – 2008
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Achieve Your Potential
The URSA Program Can Help
URSA
Undergraduate Research and
Scholarly Activity
What are URSA Grants?
The URSA Grants program is designed to encourage collaborative scholarly, research and creative work between undergraduate students and faculty. Student participants may become engaged in the scholarly pursuits of MSU faculty or carry out a project of their own under the supervision of a faculty mentor. This competitive program will provide undergraduates with financial support of up to $500 for supplies, equipment, operating expenses and travel. Full-time undergraduates enrolled at Murray State University are eligible to apply. Similarly, all university faculty, whatever their college, rank or nature of appointment, may serve as URSA Grant mentors. Students may work with faculty from their own colleges or from another of MSU’s five colleges or the School of Agriculture.
Opportunities provided through undergraduate research and scholarly activity: • Posters-at-the-Capitol
Participants present their work to legislators at the State Capitol Building in Frankfort, Ky.
• Scholars Week
Includes oral and poster sessions, exhibits and performance opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
• Get Published
Chrysalis: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research provides an avenue for undergraduates to publish their research.
• Research Scholar Fellowships
Undergraduates receive support in the form of stipends paid throughout the year, a supply budget, and a faculty support stipend for the purpose of conducting a scholarly project.
Call 270-809-3192 for more information about Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity.
http://campus.murraystate.edu/services/URSA iv
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Call for Articles Chrysalis: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research is published annually by the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity Office with support from the Office of the President. The purpose of Chrysalis is to celebrate the research, scholarly and creative accomplishments of our undergraduates and their faculty mentors. Undergraduates in all academic disciplines may submit articles to Chrysalis. Articles must be submitted electronically. Photographs, illustrations and diagrams should be submitted separately in high resolution jpg format. Authors should follow the guidelines of the professionally accepted style for the discipline. Articles may be posted on the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity Office website at Murray State University.
http://campus.murraystate.edu/services/URSA If you have questions regarding Chrysalis: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research please call 270-809-3192 or contact us electronically at ursa@murraystate.edu.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT Courtney Thomason Class: Senior Major: Biology
While working in the BioMaPS program for two years, I was able to explore many of the direct and indirect effects of habitat disturbance on Peromyscus leucopus. I will graduate magna cum laude and will pursue a Ph.D. in infectious disease ecology at Texas Tech University.
Jake Elliot
Class: Senior Major: Applied Mathematics My research was conducted through the BioMaPS program at Murray State, which I was a part of during the spring through fall semesters in 2007. I am currently continuing research under advisement from Dr. Terry Derting.
A GIS Map of Lyme Disease Risk in Kentucky Lyme disease affects many people annually, but data on the impact of Lyme disease in Kentucky are limited. Our objective was to create a GIS model which predicted risk of Lyme borreliosis throughout Kentucky based on presence of Peromyscus leucopus, their immunocompetence, and conditions of the surrounding landscape (i.e. disturbance, land use). Previous research suggests that disturbance, by way of habitat fragmentation, affects immunocompetence. Using GIS and Kentucky GAP data, we identified disturbed and undisturbed habitat patches found within the geographic range of the white-footed mouse, P. leucopus. Patches were ranked based on area, with small patches carrying a higher Lyme disease risk. For specific regions, patchiness, percent area disturbed, and immunity values were calculated to determine a relative risk for Lyme disease. Our results suggested that there is a low to moderate risk of Lyme disease throughout the state of Kentucky with a model accuracy of 59.2%. Our model provides a basemap whose accuracy can be continually improved.
FACULTY MENTOR Terry L. Derting, whose research training is in the area of physiological ecology, is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. Her current research interests include effects of anthropogenic disturbances, especially habitat fragmentation, on the physiology and fitness of small mammals and undergraduate curriculum development. Dr. Derting is a faculty participant in Murray State’s NSF BioMathematics in Population Studies project. She has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of research areas.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
A GIS Map of Lyme Disease Risk in Kentucky
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yme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in North America and is most often transmitted by ticks from the family Ixodidae (LoGuidice et. al. 2003). Humans encounter the Lyme spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, as an unintended host in its life cycle, most likely as a result of continued human encroachment into previously pristine habitats (Steere et al. 2004). The whitefooted mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is one of the primary host species for Ixodid tick nymphs (Ostfeld and Keesing 2000). P. leucopus is a habitat generalist and, therefore, is abundant in nearly all areas of the United States. Previous research indicated that humoral immunity of P. leucopus plays a significant role in the probability of transmission of Lyme disease from host to host (Vaz et. al. 2001). It has also been found that biodiversity has a “dilution� effect on vector-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease. With increased biodiversity and species-richness, more blood-hosts are available. However, not all blood-hosts are competent reservoirs of the Lyme spirochete and, as a result, the likelihood of a larval or nymphal tick transmitting or receiving the spirochete is diminished. This is known as the dilution effect (Ostfeld and Keesing 2000, Schmidt and Ostfeld 2001, LoGuidice et al. 2003).
Anthropogenic disturbance can have a negative impact on biodiversity resulting in habitat patches consisting primarily of dense populations of P. leucopus (Anderson et al. 2003, LoGiudice et al. 2003). One of the primary ways that disturbance occurs is through fragmentation of habitats, which creates forest patches that are either completely isolated or linked to other patches only by corridors. Increased habitat fragmentation is associated with nutritional, social, and predation stress which, in turn, negatively affects immunity and increases the likelihood of contracting diseases (Lochmiller et al. 1994). Habitat fragmentation is also associated with artificially high population densities of both P. leucopus and infected tick nymphs, resulting in easier transmission of B. burgdorferi from tick to host (Allan et. al. 2003, Mathis et. al. 2004, Steere et. al. 2004). Several models of Lyme disease risk to humans exist for the Northeastern and Central United States, with most of these models 2
focusing on environmental factors such as habitat suitability and climate. For example, Glass et al. (1995) obtained land use, soils, geologic, elevation, and watershed data to create their model of Lyme disease risk in Maryland. Another model focusing on the North Central United States predicted risk of Lyme disease based on habitat suitability for I. scapularis using soil data, forest moisture indexes, climate data, and land cover data (Guerra et al. 2002). Analysis of these data showed that soil and land cover had the greatest effect on presence or absence of ticks. A risk map was constructed indicating areas of suitable habitat for I. scapularis where it was already established and where it could quickly become established if introduced. A climate-based model of Lyme disease risk to humans across the United States showed the probability of having established tick populations in Kentucky to be absent or minimal (0 to 20 percent likelihood). A distribution map of I. scapularis in this same model showed the entirety of Kentucky as unsuitable habitat (Brownstein et al. 2003). The Center for Disease Control reports 37 cases of Lyme disease in Kentucky, however, from 2003-2005. Given that Lyme disease is present in the state, it seems unlikely that all of Kentucky is completely unsuitable for presence of I. scapularis populations and/or the presence of Lyme disease. As a result, we created a predictive model of the risk of Lyme disease to humans in Kentucky based on habitat fragmentation and disturbance, presence of P. leucopus and their immunocompetence, and tick nymph density in a given area.
Methods Data Collection Data were collected from the Kentucky Gap Analysis Project (KY GAP 2003): landcover, species ranges, KY state ecoregions, state and county polygons, and land stewardship layers. Patches Data for the density of infected nymphs were limited to forest
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research fragments between 0.5 ha and 7 ha (Nupp and Swihart 1996, Allan et al. 2001). The cell size of our raster layers was 30 x 30 m, which meant that our patches ranged from ~5 cells (0.45 ha) to ~78 cells (7.02 ha). Land Stewardship Once we isolated the patches we classified them as disturbed or undisturbed based on land stewardship codes. The KY GAP narrowed land stewardship into four levels of protection. For our project, codes 1-3 were considered undisturbed land, and 4 was considered disturbed land (Wethington et al. 2003). Patchiness Values Patches were assigned a weight based on the potential for a patch to be inhabited by infected tick nymphs (Allan et al. 2003). Patches were divided into three groups by area. Patches ranging in size from
0.5 to 2.9 ha were assigned a weight of 3, as they posed the greatest risk for potential inhabitance of infected tick nymphs. Patches that measured from 3 to 5 ha were assigned a weight of 2, and patches from 5.1 to 7 ha in size were given a weight of 1.
Analysis The patch data were masked into each individual county in Kentucky. Overall values for Patchiness (weighted, normalized averages of the number of patches per area in hectares in a county), Percent Disturbed Patches (number of disturbed patches divided by overall number of patches), and Immunity (calculated based on equation 1 using known disturbed and undisturbed immunity values for Western Kentucky) were calculated for each county. These data were then entered into a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) using the statistics program ‘R’ v. 2.6.1.
Note: Risk values are relative to the controls “Toxic” and “Paradise.”
Figure 1 Predicted risk of contracting Lyme disease in Kentucky.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research (%Dist)(D) + (1 – %Dist)(UI) = I %Dist = Percent Disturbed Patches DI = Disturbed Immunity Value UI = Undisturbed Immunity Value I = County Immunity Value
(1)
Risk Map The results of the PCA were entered into an Excel spreadsheet that was joined to the attribute table of the Kentucky County polygon layer. Then, the layer was displayed using the value field for the map display. The values returned by the PCA showed whether a particular county had any relation to the “Toxic” and “Paradise” controls. The Toxic and Paradise “counties” were control polygons created in ArcGIS to represent the ideal conditions for Lyme Disease risk (Toxic) and pristine, undisturbed habitat that represents very little if any risk for Lyme Disease (Paradise). Toxic was arbitrarily assigned a great deal of disturbance and extremely low immunity values for P. leucopus. Paradise was the exact opposite, with no disturbed habitat and extremely high immunities in P. leucopus. This allowed for a range of values into which all counties in Kentucky would fall.
Results The majority (75%) of Kentucky counties had a low to moderate predicted risk of Lyme disease presence, relative to the “Toxic” and “Paradise” controls (Fig. 1). Parts of Central and North-Central Kentucky showed the highest predicted risk. The Appalachian Plateau ecoregion in Eastern Kentucky showed the lowest predicted risk. We compared our predictions for each county with known occurrences of Lyme disease in Kentucky (Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2002, 2003). The accuracy of our model was 59.2%, with 30 counties falsely predicted to have high risk of Lyme disease (73.1% commission error) and 19 counties falsely predicted to have low risk of Lyme disease (24.1% omission error) out of 120 total counties. We tested our model by using a McNemar’s test for paired data (observed values vs. predicted values). When paired with CDC data, our model returned a p-value of P = 0.7, indicating that there was no significant difference between observed case data and the predictions of the model.
Discussion Our goal was to create a model predicting the risk of Lyme disease for the state of Kentucky. For our analysis, we assumed that for reported cases of Lyme disease, contraction occurred in the county where it was reported by the CDC. It is possible, however, that the county where Lyme disease was reported may not actually be the county where Lyme disease was contracted. Nevertheless, based on statistical analysis, the predictions of our model did not differ significantly from observed incidences of Lyme disease on a county level across the state. The geographical location of errors in our model’s predictions provided insight into potential deficiencies in our model. Our risk map had a band of high risk areas across the central counties of the state. This was primarily due to the presence of highly urbanized areas that have increased disturbance due to large amounts of development in these areas (i.e., Lexington, Louisville, Elizabethtown). Because our model was based heavily on habitat disturbance, this result is not unexpected and may not accurately predict actual Lyme disease risk in these counties. In fact, the 33 counties predicted to have a high risk in this central region accounted for 80.0% (24 of 30 counties) of the commission error in the entire model. When these counties were excluded, our model’s accuracy increased to 67.8%. Similarly, there was a band of lowrisk counties in the Appalachian ecoregion of Kentucky. The 26 counties in this band accounted for 31.6% (6 of 19 counties) of the omission error in the model. However, without this band, our model’s accuracy dropped to 54.3%. We view erring on the side of commission as more desirable than having increased omission error. In the case of any disease, it would be more beneficial to the public to predict areas of high risk of disease when it does not exist than to falsely predict areas of low risk and minimize a potential health risk. The immunity constants for P. leucopus used in the model for disturbed and undisturbed areas may also have contributed to model error. The immunity constants were calculated from data obtained on P. leucopus collected in Western Kentucky. When only the results for counties actually in Western Kentucky were considered, the accuracy of our model in the 11 counties improved to 72.7%. The climate-based model of Brownstein et al. (2003) for the entire U.S. (accuracy = 95%) predicted little to no risk of Lyme disease
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research in Kentucky with the entirety of the state found to be unsuitable for I. scapularis. Nevertheless, cases of Lyme disease are reported in Kentucky by the CDC each year. The model created by Glass et al. (1995), which incorporated environmental factors such as soil composition and geologic and elevation data, had an accuracy of 85.8%. This model was only applied to Baltimore County, MD, but these environmental factors might be useful for increasing the accuracy of our model for the state of Kentucky. It should be noted that no counties in our risk map for Lyme disease are assigned a “no risk� value. This is due to the fact that the PCA value in each county is relative to the other counties in the state, in addition to the Toxic and Paradise controls, so our risk map does not predict presence or absence of Lyme disease in Kentucky. Our risk map predicts the potential risk for encountering Lyme disease in a particular county compared with another county in the state that may have a higher or lower risk based on habitat disturbance and fragmentation, tick nymph density, presence of P. leucopus and their immunocompetence. High risk counties predicted by our model for the state of Kentucky did not differ significantly from actual case data , yet the model has much room for improvement. Our risk map was based primarily on disturbance and habitat fragmentation, but it seems that there are other mitigating factors that impact risk for Lyme disease and, if included, would improve the accuracy of our model. For example, mast crop affects the feeding patterns of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus. Mast crop also affects I. scapularis dispersal in a 2-5 year cycle based on movement of O. virginianus to areas with high mast production. Adult ticks often choose O. virginianus as their final host and, because O. virginianus migrate based on food availability, larval and nymphal ticks tend to follow trends in mast production and O. virginianus dispersal. This dispersal pattern tends to create areas of high tick densities in oakdominated forests (Ostfeld et al. 1995, 2001; Schauber et al. 2005). Incorporating the effect of mast crop on tick dispersal would add a temporal element to our model. Another method of improving the accuracy of our model is to consider the effects of biodiversity in habitats where the potential to contract Lyme disease occurs. Increased biodiversity in an area creates a dilution effect where the presence of tick hosts that are incompetent reservoirs of B. burgdorferi essentially dilute the ability of competent reservoirs to harbor the Lyme spirochete
(Ostfeld and Keesing 2000, Schmidt and Ostfeld 2001, LoGuidice et. al. 2003). Because P. leucopus are diet and habitat generalists, they can be found in a wide variety of habitats with varying degrees of biodiversity (Ostfeld and Keesing 2000). As a result, areas of the state with higher biodiversity should, intuitively, have lower Lyme risk, whereas areas of decreased biodiversity and dense populations of P. leucopus (fragmented habitats) should have higher risk for Lyme disease. In addition, immunity data need to be collected for other regions of Kentucky to provide more realistic regional estimates of P. leucopus immunocompetence and the probability of transmission of Lyme disease from host to host. Lastly, more accurate and available data on the occurrence of Lyme disease cases would have greatly improved the validation of our model by making more data available for comparison. As new cases are reported, the validity of our model, or lack thereof, will become more apparent.
References Allan, B.F., Keesing, F. and Ostfeld, R.S. 2003. Effect of forest fragmentation on Lyme disease risk. Conservation Biology. 17: 267-272. Anderson, C.S., Cady, A.B. and Meikle, D.B. 2003. Effects of vegetation structure and edge habitat on the density and distribution of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in small and large forest patches. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 81: 897-904. Brownstein, J.S., Holford, T.R. and Fish, D. 2003. A climate-based model predicts the spatial distribution of the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis in the United States. Environmental Health Perspectives. 111: 1152-1157. Glass, G.E., Schwartz, B.S., Morgan III, J.M., Johnson, D.T., Noy, P.M. and Israel, E. 1995. Environmental risk factors for Lyme disease identified with geographic information systems. American Journal of Public Health. 85: 944-948. Guerra, M., Walker, E., Jones, C., Paskewitz, S., Cortinas, M.R., Stancil, A., Beck, L., Bobo, M. and Kitron, U. 2002. Predicting the risk of Lyme disease: habitat suitability for Ixodes scapularis in the North Central United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 8: 289-297. 5
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Kentucky Gap Analysis Project. 2003. Biological Research Division of the United States Geological Survey. National GAP Office, Moscow, Idaho. Lochmiller, R.L., Vestey, M.R., McMurry, S.T. 1994. Temporal variation in humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in a Sigmodon hispidus population. Ecology. 75: 236-245. LoGiudice, K., Ostfeld, R.S., Schmidt, K.A. and Keesing, F. 2003. The ecology of infectious disease: effects of host diversity and community composition on Lyme disease risk. Ecology. 100: 567-571. Mathis, C., Blalock, R., Virk, M., Compton, S., Coe, S, Derting, T. 2004. The effect of anthropogenic disturbance on the health of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science. 65: 62-63. Nupp, T.E. and Swihart, R.K. 1996. Effect of forest patch area on population attributes of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in fragmented landscapes. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 74: 467-472. Ostfeld, R.S., Cepeda, O.M., Hazler, K.R., and Miller, M.C. 1995. Ecology of Lyme Disease: habitat associations of ticks (Ixodes scapularis) in a rural landscape. Ecological Applications. 5: 353-361. Ostfeld, R.S. and Keesing, F. 2000. Biodiversity and disease risk: the case of Lyme Disease. Conservation Biology. 14: 722728.
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Ostfeld, R.S., Schauber, E.M., Canham, C.D., Keesing, F., Jones, C.G., and Wolff, J.O. 2001. Effects of acorn production and mouse abundance on abundance and Borrelia burgdorferi infection prevalence of nymphal Ixodes scapularis ticks. Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 1: 55-63. Schauber, E.M., Ostfeld, R.S., and Evans, Jr. A.S. 2005. What is the best predictor of annual Lyme Disease incidence: weather, mice, or acorns? Ecological Applications. 15: 575-586. Schmidt, K.A. and Ostfeld, R.S. 2001. Biodiversity and the dilution effect in disease ecology. Ecology. 82: 609-619. Steere, A.C., Coburn, J. and Glickstein, L. 2004. The emergence of Lyme disease. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 113: 1093-1101. Vaz, A., Glickstein, L., Field, J.A., McHugh, G., Sikand, V.K., Damle, N. and Steere, A.C. 2001. Cellular and humoral immune responses to Borrelia burgdorferi antigens in patients with culture-positive early Lyme disease. Infection and Immunity. 69: 7437-7444. Wethington, K., Derting, T., Kind, T., Whiteman, H., Cole, M., Drew, M., Fredericks, D., Ghitter, G., Smith, A. and Soto, M. 2003. The Kentucky GAP Analysis Project Final Report.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT The Bond between Shyness, Self-Esteem and Appearance Anxiety
Charlie Jenks Class: Senior Major: Psychology
I became interested in the topic of shyness because I have dealt with it firsthand as a child. This has also led me to aspire to pursue a degree in clinical or child psychology. Through this research I have learned more about myself and the importance of research in this area.
This study investigated the relationships between shyness, self-esteem and appearance anxiety. Seventy-six students completed questionnaires that assessed each of these personality traits. These questionnaires included the Henderson / Zimbardo shyness questionnaire (Henderson & Zimbardo, 2000), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1989) and the Appearance Anxiety Scale (Dion, Dion & Keelan, 1990). Pearson correlations revealed a significant positive correlation between shyness and appearance anxiety, r (76) = .47, p < .0001, a significant negative correlation between shyness and self-esteem, r (76) = -.48, p < .0001, and a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and appearance anxiety, r (76) = -.43, p < .0001. Identifying these relationships may assist in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s abilities to design programs for children so that this phenomena may be identified and reduced instead of lingering into adolescence and adulthood.
FACULTY MENTOR Alysia D. Ritter is a professor of psychology. She earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Houston in 1989. She teaches general psychology and the research methods and design course. Her research interests are sensations, perceptions, attitudes and beliefs. The undergraduates that she has mentored have been authors of 16 publications and 52 presentations at national, regional and local conferences.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
The Bond between Shyness, Self-Esteem and Appearance Anxiety
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he United States and other individualistic cultures praise individual success and an outgoing and assertive temperament. These traits are viewed as being very important in order to excel in the competitive world that our social structure facilitates. However, many people find it difficult to interact with others in this bold style of interaction and are often debilitated by many kinds of social situations. Shyness can be defined as a “fear of performance or social interaction” and as a mild form of social phobia (Walsh, 2002, p. 137). This problem is important to understand because Carducci (2000) found that forty-eight percent of people meet the criterion for being shy. This fear or apprehension of social interaction plays a large role in many people’s lives. However, shyness does not always have to be characterized by its negative aspects and problems. According to Walsh (2002), being shy has positive characteristics including the ability to listen to others, not to overpower others and being able to stay away from conflicts with others. Although this may be true, the negative aspects and associated problems with shyness usually outweigh the positives that come from it. The trait of shyness can also be associated with other negative states of arousal. One trait that has been identified as having an association with shyness is a social-evaluative anxiety called appearance anxiety. According to Dion et al. (1990), shyness, self-esteem and other measures of social anxiety are intercorrelated with appearance anxiety. Dion et al. (1990) gave 300 male and female introductory psychology students at the University of Toronto an appearance anxiety scale and other scales to measure various aspects of anxiety. They used Cheek and Buss’s measure of sociability to measure shyness. Dion et al. found a significant positive correlation between women’s appearance anxiety and their shyness. Therefore, it was concluded that women with high appearance anxiety are more likely to have high levels of shyness as well. This is a logical conclusion considering that if a woman feels uncomfortable in her own body
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she is likely to be apprehensive in social situations and think that other people are evaluating her in the same way she does herself. Shyness is also viewed as being very closely related to self-esteem. Miller (1995) conducted a study that examined the factors relating to embarrasibility, shyness, social evaluation, and social skill. Three hundred and ten undergraduate students filled out self reports of social skill, fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, self consciousness, and negative affectivity. Following the self reports, Cheek and Buss’s shyness scale was given to the participants. Miller (1995) found that low social skill and low self-esteem predicted high levels of shyness. Therefore, the students who had a low sense of self worth were much more likely than those who reported high levels of self esteem to have high levels of shyness. In relation to this, those who reported that they felt as if they had low levels of social skills were also much more likely to be shy than others who felt they had high levels of social skill. The relationship between low self-esteem and low social skill can be viewed as reciprocal. If a person believes his/her self to have low social skills then it is likely that he or she will have a lack of confidence in social situations which is related to low self esteem as well as shyness. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that shyness is significantly correlated with self-esteem and appearance anxiety. Seven years have passed since the last cited research finding (Carducci, 2000). Therefore, it is important to see if societal changes have made any difference over the past few years. Based on previous research (i.e., Dion et al., 1990; Carducci, 2000; Miller, 1995) shyness has played an important role in many lives. This study reevaluated the negative aspects of shyness and it was hypothesized, even with possible societal changes and perhaps more acceptance towards others that shyness is still significantly correlated with self-esteem and appearance anxiety.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Method Participants This study included seventy-six participants, all being students at Murray State University that were currently enrolled in a general psychology course. In this sample, thirty percent of the participants were shown to have low levels of shyness, forty-three percent displayed medium levels of shyness, and twenty-six percent were shown to have high levels of shyness. Each student participated in the study on a voluntary basis through sign-up sheets made available to them. The participants were treated in agreement with the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conductâ&#x20AC;? (American Psychological Association, 2002). Materials Three questionnaires were used in this investigation in order to assess shyness, self-esteem, and appearance anxiety. Shyness was assessed through the Henderson / Zimbardo shyness questionnaire (Henderson & Zimbardo, 2000). This questionnaire included 35 items which were based on a 5 point Likert Scale ranging from extremely characteristic (5) to not at all characteristic (1). The range of scores for this scale was 35-175 with the higher the score representing higher levels of shyness. Items 10, 15, 29, 30, 32, and 35 were reverse scored. Self-esteem was measured through the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1989). This measure contained 10 items which were on a 4 point Likert Scale ranging from strongly agree (3) to strongly disagree (0). The scores ranged from 0-30 with the higher score displaying higher levels of selfesteem. Items 2, 5, 8, and 10 were reverse scored. Appearance anxiety was assessed with the use of the Appearance Anxiety Scale (Dion et al., 1990) which included 30 items and was also based on a 4 point Likert Scale ranging from almost always (4) to never (0). The scores on this scale ranged from 0-120 with higher scores conveying higher levels of appearance anxiety. Items 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 19, 20, 22, 29, and 30 were reverse scored. These questionnaires were counterbalanced for presentation to the participants. Procedure Prior to participating in the investigation, the volunteers were given a letter of informed consent which gave them the opportunity to stop participating at any moment and thereby giving their permission
Table 1 Pearson Correlations of Shyness to Self-Esteem and Appearance Anxiety Trait
Shyness
Self-Esteem
-.48*
Appearance Anxiety
.47*
Note. * p < .0001 if they did not. The participants were then given one packet of the questionnaires which had been previously counterbalanced in alternating order. Next, the participants were reminded to pay attention to the directions in each section since each questionnaire was based on a different number of Likert responses. The volunteers were then asked to fill out the questionnaires to the best of their abilities. After completion of the questionnaire packet, each participant was given a debriefing statement to inform them of the nature of the investigation.
Results In order to uncover the relationships found in this study between shyness, self-esteem, and appearance anxiety, several Pearson product-moment correlation analyses were used to assess the data. The correlation analysis used to assess shyness and self-esteem revealed a significant negative correlation. Also, the analysis of shyness and appearance anxiety displayed a significant positive correlation. These correlations are shown in Table 1 (above). In addition to the correlations to shyness, a significant negative correlation was also found between self-esteem and appearance anxiety, r (76) = -.43, p < .0001.
Discussion As displayed in the results, there were significant correlations of shyness with self-esteem and appearance anxiety. These results support the hypothesis that people who report high levels of shyness are more likely to have low self-esteem and high appearance anxiety than those who have low levels of shyness. These findings support the results of previous research concerning relationships between self-esteem, appearance anxiety, and shyness by Dion et al. (1990) and Miller (1995). These results can be interpreted as showing the strong psychological bonds that the traits of self-esteem and 9
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research appearance anxiety have with shyness. These correlations also convey the idea that shyness does not exist alone. For instance, a person who is very worried about his or her appearance and has the feeling that he or she is “ugly” is likely to feel apprehensive and cautious when entering social situations for fear of being viewed the same way he or she looks at him or her self. This also applies to self-esteem. A person who has a low feeling of self worth or thinks that he or she has no positive qualities to offer are likely to also possess qualities of shyness since they most likely would not feel adequate in the social arena.
For future research, it would be beneficial to document the differences between genders in each category, especially pertaining to appearance anxiety, evaluate parenting styles and the relationship with shyness and second investigate the positive characteristics to see how those might be able to minimize the negatives. These other factors may reveal a better picture of shyness that could help one to design programs for children to better identify the phenomena so it may be reduced instead of continuing into adolescence and adulthood.
References Following this train of thought, the results further reinforced the ties of these traits with one another by revealing that there was a significant reciprocal relationship between appearance anxiety and self-esteem. In accordance with the data, it is logical to conclude that someone with high appearance anxiety would no doubt have lower self-esteem than someone who had low appearance anxiety. It seems implausible that someone who feels negatively about his or her own appearance would be able to have an overall positive sense of self-esteem. While self-esteem showed the strongest correlation to shyness, the difference in strength was very small in relation to shyness’ correlation to appearance anxiety. Since the difference is so trivial, it seems irrational to declare that one trait plays a more important part in the makeup of shyness than the other. A more effective and productive approach would be to view each relationship as equally relevant and crucial in the path to understanding the full spectrum of trait of shyness. As mentioned previously, this further understanding of shyness is important since forty-eight percent of the population have been found to meet the criterion for shyness (Carducci, 2000).
American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 57, 1060-1073. Carducci, B. (2000, Jan/Feb). Shyness: The new solution. Psychology Today, 33 (I), 38-43. Dion, K., Dion, K., & Keelan, P. (1990). Appearance anxiety as a dimension of social-evaluative anxiety: Exploring the ugly duckling syndrome. Contemporary Social Psychology, 14, 220-224. Henderson, L. & Zimbardo, P. (2000). Henderson/Zimbardo shyness questionnaire. The Shyness Institute. Miller, R. S. (1995). On the nature of embarrasibility: Shyness, social evaluation and social skill. Journal of Personality, 63, 315-339. Rosenberg, M. (1989). Society and the adolescent self-image (Rev. ed.). Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Walsh, J. (2002, May). Shyness and social phobia. Health & Social Work, 27 (II), 137-142.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT
James C. Locke Class: Senior Major: Chemistry
I am an undergraduate student and researcher and have aspirations of entering the medical field. I began my career in undergraduate research in the spring semester of 2005 and have collaborated on two research projects since that time.
Prediction and Rationalization of Histidine pKa Values Histidine residues appear in all protein regions, can interact with several chemical groups, are commonly found in active sites and exhibit versatile acid-base properties. Thus, the prediction and rationalization of Histidine pKa values is of great importance to the understanding of the structure and function of proteins. Accurate predictions of Histidine pKa values close to neutral or in mutated sites have been proposed as a test of the effectiveness of computational pKaprediction models. In this study we examine the protein surrounding three histidines in staphylococcal nuclease: His8 (pKa = 6.08), His 124 (pKa = 5.31) and His 121 (pKa = 4.80). We reproduce the order of acidity, rationalize their pKa values based on the effect of neighboring groups and explain the slight increase in the acidity of mutant His8 (E10A).
FACULTY MENTOR Pablo A. Molina is a theoretical chemist interested in the computation of protein properties and the study of hydrogen bonds. He joined the Department of Chemistry at Murray State in August 2003 as an Assistant Professor. Since then, he has mentored two graduate and five undergraduate students and published four research papers in peer-reviewed journals.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Prediction and Rationalization of Histidine pKa Values
T
he study of pKa values of ionizable residues is crucial to our understanding of protein structural properties and enzyme catalysis. Histidine is of particular interest since it is the most commonly found amino acid in protein active or binding sites. As a result of its chemical uniqueness, it does not substitute well with other residues (Nelson & Cox, 2000). Histidine is a polar and basic residue; its side chain is organized into a closed ring structure and can accept a proton at either of its two nitrogen atoms thus adopting two basic forms and a positively charged acid form (Nelson & Cox, 2000). These rich acid-base capabilities make Histidine an ideal residue for protein functional centers. Thus, it is commonly featured in charge relay systems such as those found within catalytic triads, of which serine proteases are the archetypal example. It has also been postulated that its side chain can rotate via a ring flip mechanism and thus move off and on protons more easily (Day et al, 2003).
Histidineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pKa value is near to that of physiological pH (about 6) which also facilitates the addition and removal of protons from the side chain in several protein functions. In terms of positional preferences within proteins, histidines are found either buried in the protein core or exposed to solvent. Interestingly, while generally acidic, buried histidines exhibit a large range pKa values (from 2.9 up to 9.3). This remarkable pKa variability arises from a supple fine-tuning of acid-base properties that is caused by the various types of chemical interactions to which histidine side chains are exposed: (a) hydrogen bonding with OH containing side chains, (b) coulomb interactions with negatively charged groups, (c) the pKa-raising effect of polar groups, (d) the pKa-lowering effect of hydrophobic groups, (e) Ď&#x20AC;- Ď&#x20AC; interactions with aromatic side chains and (f) helix dipole interactions at C-terminus (the negative end) of a-helices. Obviously, the modeling of the complex chemical environments in which histidines are found represents a theoretical challenge. In recent years, Jensen and coworkers have developed a protein pKa predictor methodology for ionizable residues that has been successfully employed to study carboxylic acids and cysteines (Jensen et al, 2005; Porter et al, 2006). In this paper, we apply this computational procedure to histidine residues and use it to study 12
systems chosen based on the difficulty involved in effectively reproducing their experimental pKa values. Accurate predictions of Histidine pKa values close to neutral or in mutated sites have been proposed as a test of the effectiveness of computational pKa-prediction models (Edgcomb & Murphy, 2002). In light of this recommendation, we select two stringent approaches to evaluate the accuracy of our theoretical model; first, the prediction of the ordering in pKavalues of three histidine residues found in wild type staphylococcal nuclease: His 8 (pKa = 6.08), His 124 (pKa = 5.31) and His 121 (pKa= 4.80) (b) second, the rationalization of the pKa value of mutant His 8 (pKa = 5.72) when the charged Glu 10 residue in its proximity is replaced by a nonopolar Alanine residue. The pKa values of these residues are cited in the chemical literature and were obtained via 1H NMR spectroscopy (Lee et al, 2002). Note that experimentally obtained pKa values of histidines are influenced by structural and experimental conditions such as conformational changes, quality of titration and data fitting, and changes in ionic strength and temperature. Given this built-in uncertainty in histidine pKa measurements, we aim at developing a computational methodology that reproduces experimental values within about one pKa unit and is able to rationalize the effect of environmental determinants (hydrogen bonding, coulomb interactions, substituted residues, etc) on the acid-base properties.
Computational Methodology The pKa Prediction Model We designate the basic form of Histidine as His and the acidic form HisH+. In our approach, the pKa of His, the aminoacid of interest, is related to the standard free energy change, DG, of the following reaction, His(aq) + Met Im H+ (aq) HisH+(aq) + Met Im (aq)
(1)
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research by the equation (2)
where,
DG = {[G - G
]-[G
rxn His HisH+ Met ImH+
- GMet Im]}
In equation (2), 7.4 is the experimentally determined pKa of the methylimidazolium ion at 298 K and 1.36 is RTln10 for T = 298 K in kcal/mol. In equation (2), G(X) is the total free energy (in kcal/mol) of model X, i.e., the sum of the ground state electronic energy (Eele) and solvation energy (Gsol). Eele is computed at the MP2/6-31-G(2d,p) level of theory and it comprises the potential energy of the electrons and nuclei as well as the kinetic energy of the electrons. Calculations are performed by standard quantum chemical techniques using the GAMESS and PQS programs. Gsol is calculated by the polarizable continuum model (PCM) as implemented in GAMESS, which represents the solvent as a dielectric continuum surrounding the solute. Protein Model Construction The coordinates of the atoms for His8, His121 and His124 in staphylococcal nuclease are taken from the protein data bank (PDB code: 1STN). The coordinates of His8 (E10A mutant of staphylococcal nuclease) are taken from a computational model created by Garcia-Moreno and coworkers (Lee et al, 2002). For each histidine that we study, we construct model compounds that include the imidazole rings and their immediate protein surroundings. Our model includes chemical interactions that appear within roughly a 5 Ă&#x2026; sphere of the histidine residue of interest. In particular, we include: (1) the side chain of the His residue, (2) the two amide groups next to the CÎą of the His side chain, (3) all groups that form hydrogen bonds with the His of interest, (4) charged residues in the immediate vicinity, and (5) residues making direct hydrophobic contacts with our histidines. Because we seek the simplest possible computational model that consistently reproduces the experimental pKavalues, we optimize only a few structural parameters. The positions of the atoms in the imidazole ring (except the Cg) are optimized by energy minimizations at the RHF/6-31G(d) level of theory. This allows for the bond lengths and angles of the ring atoms to adjust to the change in protonation state without greatly altering the overall structure. Note that the existence of more than one accessible protonation state increases
Results and Discussion
(3)
Before considering the effects of the neighboring groups on the histidines of staphylococcal nuclease, it is necessary to have a qualitative understanding of pKavalues and acid/base stabilization. In the study of proteins, pKavalues are used to quantify the acidic strength of ionizable residues. The smaller the pKa value, the larger the acidic strength. Each ionizable residue has an intrinsic pKa based upon its chemical structure (these are the values normally listed in textbooks). However, the pKa may be, and often is, perturbed by the surrounding environment. The effect of environmental determinants on the pKa value of Histidine is shown pictorially on Figure 1. As a rule, we expect chemical interactions that stabilize the acid form to increase the pKa value whereas those that stabilize the basic form should increase it. Next we analyze the effects of these determinants for each of the cases studied. The computational models are shown in Figures 2-4 (see pp.14-15). The experimental and calculated pKa values of each model are presented in Table I (see p. 15) along with a list of relevant neighboring groups. Analysis of His 121 His 121 of staphylococcal nuclease has an experimentally determined pKa of 4.8. In this case, the surrounding environment .......................................................... Stabilization
Imid
STANDARD FREE ENERGY
DGrxn pKa= 7.4 + 1.36
the protonation probability of the basic forms, lowering their energies and entropically decreasing the pKavalues. Yet the effect is negligible in our models due to the steric constraints present in the sites where the histidines are found.
Imid
of basic form
............................... Imid
...................
ImidH ImidH
Stabilization
ImidH+
of the acid form
..............................................
Stronger Acid Smaller p K a
Weaker Acid Larger
pK
Figure 1 Schematic representation of environmental pK a determinants on Histidine. 13
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
HN
O CH3 C
C
CH
N H
(5.38 Å) is located almost parallel to the histidine ring creating a hydrophobic contact that favors the neutral basic form of His124. This small hydrophobic effect accounts for His 124’s pKaa value
CH3
being slightly less than 6.0.
O
CH2
H
C
C N
Analysis of His 8 4.49 Å
N
H3C
C
H
H3C
Leu7
CH
C H2C
CH3
H
O
CH3
O
2.59 Å O
CH2 CH3
CH3
Met98
H
His121 3.06 Å 4.24 Å
S
CH3
Tyr93
Glu75
Figure 2 His 121 [pKa (exp.) = 4.80, pKa (calc.) = 4.8] and its protein surroundings within roughly 5 Å. Dash-lines are used to indicate distances to relevant nonpolar groups. Hashed-bonds are used for hydrogen-bond and charge-charge distances.
causes a pKa shift of more than one unit compared to an isolated histidine. Glu residues tend to raise the pKa of His residues because the negative charge stabilizes the positively charged acid form. Our model reveals not only the presence of Glu75 facing His 121 at 3.06 Å, but also that the carboxyl group of Glu 75 is 0.47 Å closer to the hydroxyl group of Tyr 93 than to the imidazole ring of His 121. The hydrogen bond between Glu 75 and Tyr 93 attenuates the pKa-raising effect that a glutamate residue would otherwise have on a His 121. Last, the two hydrophobic residues, Leu 7 and Met 98, have a destabilizing effect on the charged (acid form), thus favoring the release of a hydrogen and the observed pKa-lowering effect. Analysis of His 124 His 124 of staphylococcal nuclease has an experimentally determined pKa of 5.34. A look at a diagram of the model reveals that there are only two groups of importance in the vicinity of His124. A Ser residue might potentially hydrogen bond to a His residue but in this case Ser128 and His 124 are too distant to exhibit this type of interaction. On the other hand, the nonpolar Leu 125 14
Wild type His 8 of staphylococcal nuclease has an experimentally determined pKa of 6.08 whereas its mutant form in which Glu10 is replaced by an Alanine residue has a pKa value of 5.72. In the wild type, the negative charge of Glu 10 stabilizes the positively charged acidic form of His 8, hence slightly raising His 8’s pKaa. This effect is compensated by the positively charged Arg 87 and the hydrogen bond that forms between Glu10 and Tyr 27. As a result of these opposing effects, wild type His 8 has a neutral pKa of 6.08. In contrast to wild type staphylococcal nuclease, the mutant form in which Alanine replaces Glu 10 has an experimentally determined pKa of 5.72. The reason for this shift is the absence of the pKaraising effect of glutamate. Our computational model reproduces this change in acidity but yields a much smaller pKa value (4.2). This large deviation is likely due to the poorer resolution of the computer-generated model of the mutant (from which we obtained the atomic coordinates) versus that of wild type His 8 which was based on a crystal structure.
Conclusions O
O
Gln123 CH 3
C
N H
C
CH
N H
H 2C
His124 H
C
C N
H N
CH 2
CH 3
H 2C
5.38 Å
CH
Leu125
CH 3
5.12 Å
C H
CH3 H
O
CH 2
Ser128 Figure 3 His 121 [pKa (exp.) = 5.31, pKa (calc.) = 5.4] and its protein surroundings within roughly 5 Å. Dash-lines are used to indicate distances to relevant groups.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Leu7
O CH3 C
O
H N
CH
His8 H
N
C
N H
CH2 C
C
Lys9 O
N
CH2
H
C
CH2
4.10 Å
O
N
N C
CH2
Glu10
C
O
CH3
Ala10
Mutant
2.72 Å
Day, R.M., Thalhauser, C.J., Sudmeier, J.L., Vincent, M.P., Torchilin, E.V., Sanford, D.G., Bachovchin, C.W., & Bachovchin, W.W. (2003). Tautomerism, acid-base equilibria, and H-bonding of the six histidines in subtilisin BPN by NMR. Protein Science, 12, 794-810.
H
H
H
H
CH2
H2C
H
H
C
References H N
5.22 Å
O
H CH3
N
Tyr27
CH3
Edgcomb, AuthorS.P., & Murphy, K.P. (2002). Variability in the pKa of histidine side-chains correlates with burial within proteins. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics. 49, 1-6.
Arg87
Figure 4 His 8, wild type [pKa (exp.) = 6.08, pKa (calc.) = 5.6] and His 8, mutant [pKa (exp.) = 5.72, pKaa (calc.) = 4.2]. The protein surroundings within roughly 5 Å is shown. Dash-lines are used to indicate distances to relevant groups, hashed bonds are used for hydrogen bonds.
TABLE I Relevant pKa and protein surrounding data for the Histidine residues examined in this study. Model
Neighboring Groups
pKa (calc.) pKa (exptal)
His8
Leu7, Lys9, Glu10, Tyr27 and Arg87
5.6
6.08
His8mut Leu7, Lys9, Ala10, Tyr27 and Arg87
4.2
5.72
His124
Gln123, Leu125 and Ser128
5.4
5.31
His121
Leu7, Glu75, Tyr93 and Met98
4.8
4.80
Jensen, J.H., Li, H., Robertson, A.D., & Molina, P.A. (2005). Prediction and rationalization of protein pKa values using QM and QM/MM methods. Journal of Physical Chemistry, 109, 6634-6643. Lee, K.K., Fitch, C.A., & García-Moreno, B. (2002). Distance dependence and salt sensitivity of pairwise, coulombic interactions in a protein. Protein Science. 11, 1004-1016. Nelson, D.L., & Cox, M.M (2000). Lehninger principles of biochemistry (3rd ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. Porter, M.A., Hall, J.R., Locke, J.C., Jensen, J.H., & Molina, P.A. (2006). Amide backbone interactions are the prime determinants of carboxyl pKa values at N-termini of alphahelices. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics. 63, 621-635.
Conclusions In this study we apply a theoretical prediction-pKa model to three His residues in staphylococcal nuclease whose pKa values are close to neutral. Our computed values reproduce the order in acidity of the experimentally determined pKa values. We analyze in detail the effect that environmental determinant (i.e., the neighboring groups in the protein surrounding) have on these residues. We also rationalize the change in the pKa when an Ala residue replaces a glutamate in the mutant form of histidine 8.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT Bird Imagery in Jane Eyre Megan Locke Class: Junior Major: Print Journalism
I am from Madisonville, Ky. I enjoy reading and writing. I also enjoy going to the lake, eating different foods, laughing, discussing politics, having a relationship with God, and spending time with family and friends. I am involved in many groups, including College Democrats, Alpha Delta Chi Christian sorority, and the Shield yearbook staff. After graduation, I plan to pursue a master’s degree. Then, I plan to pursue a career at a newspaper or publishing company.
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre tracks the growth of Jane from childhood to womanhood. This essay notes the use of bird imagery throughout the novel as one way Brontë shows Jane’s evolution. This essay explores Jane’s transformation from a caged, sad songbird in her childhood into a free and mature bird by the time she marries Mr. Rochester. The bird imagery illustrates Jane’s journey into womanhood, and birds are present in almost every scene in which Jane must make a major choice. For example, there is prominent bird imagery in the garden scene when Mr. Rochester proposes to Jane. With bird references in such important scenes, Brontë capitalizes on birds as a common image of freedom and strength. Brontë uses bird imagery to emphasize how Jane becomes more than just a woman controlled by authority and tradition. She takes control and provides readers with a view of women as equal and independent of 19th-century society’s limited view of gender roles.
FACULTY MENTOR Staci Stone, associate professor of literature in the Department of English and Philosophy at Murray State University, specializes in 19th-century British literature, especially women writers of the period. She is co-author of A Mary Shelley Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press, 2003). In addition to teaching Romantic and Victorian literature classes, Dr. Stone teaches humanities, composition, film studies, and women’s literature courses. She requires research in all upper-level courses and has found that MSU students rise to the challenge of such research projects, as evinced by Megan Locke’s work on Jane Eyre.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Bird Imagery in Jane Eyre
C
harlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre recounts the struggles that Jane encounters as she attempts to find herself in a society that tries to make her fit into an expected “mold.” Jane is both oppressed and freed at different points of her life. Jane’s struggle is exemplified by the bird imagery that frequently appears throughout the novel. Bird imagery serves to show how Jane evolves through the course of her life, from a caged, domesticated bird to a wild bird that is free to fly wherever she wishes. Brontë uses bird imagery to symbolize Jane’s growth and transformation from an oppressed, dependent woman to one who is independent, equal, and free.
Jane Eyre is an influential English novel that has been analyzed by many literary scholars since its first publication in 1847. Criticism of Jane Eyre over the past twenty years varies widely, and includes analyses of Brontë’s message about British colonialism, the similarities of Jane and Mr. Rochester, her love interest, to the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah, the function of the moon as an important framework throughout the novel, the implications of Brontë’s “feminist” Jane and how her actions conflict with Victorian spirituality, and the influence of female reading communities over the development of Jane’s life.1 Yet, there seems to be very little criticism focused on Brontë’s comprehensive use of bird imagery throughout Jane Eyre. Some scholars have pointed to the influential link of Bewick’s History of British Birds and Jane Eyre.2 For example, Leonard Lutwack’s Birds of Literature notes how Jane is portrayed as a caged bird throughout the majority of the novel (213). Even with the research currently available concerning Jane Eyre, it seems as though the connection between the bird imagery and the progression of Jane from oppressed girl to independent woman is severely lacking. Bird imagery appears very early in Jane Eyre. At Gateshead, Jane is restricted under the guidance of strict Mrs. Reed. The first book that Jane reads throughout the course of the novel is coincidentally Bewick’s History of British Birds. Bewick’s History of British Birds consists of two volumes concerning land birds and water birds, published in 1797 and 1804 (Taylor 6).
Bewick’s History is notable for its engravings, as well as a “physical description of the bird’s appearance, habitat, behavior, and diet” and “subjective observations, such as personifications of different bird species” (Taylor 6). Bewick’s work is unique because it integrates science, literature, and art. Jane reading this book is significant because it is the first example that, even if Jane is “caged” and restricted in a sense, she looks to the birds in Bewick’s History as an example of adventure and independence. In this way, birds represent to Jane an escape from her unsatisfactory existence, and Bewick’s book is one thing that makes Jane “happy at least in [her] own way” (Brontë 11). The presence of both caged and wild birds from the beginning of Jane Eyre alludes to Jane’s future freedom and evolution into an independent woman, while she is still residing at Gateshead. For example, Jane admires a plate that depicts a bird of paradise on it, but does not find the same charm in the image after she has been punished in the red-room (Brontë 22). This incident illustrates how Jane is punished for her wild, bird-like, passionate nature and continually forced into a submissive “cage” by Mrs. Reed. Notably, the birds that Jane is drawn to in Bewick’s History are framed in terms of their “darker” qualities. Jane notes “the haunts of sea-fowl; of the ‘solitary rocks and promontories’ by them only inhabited” that the History mentions (Brontë 10). This passage shows Jane’s unusually morbid nature and her disconnect from the usual norms of society. Jane is used to being alone and being rejected by her family. She is isolated, much like the sea-fowl, and is very unsure about what is expected of her. Therefore, this passage from Bewick’s History mimics how Jane is restricted and caged during her childhood years at Gateshead. Bewick’s History is also important in the context of Jane Eyre for many other reasons. Bewick’s text serves to personify and describe the birds of Europe. In this way, bird imagery illustrates the different attributes of Jane as she progresses throughout her life, and one can assume that Brontë picked certain birds to represent Jane because of their representation in Bewick’s text. For example, the rook is often referred to throughout Jane Eyre, especially to 17
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research note similarities of Jane and Bertha, Mr. Rochester’s first wife (Taylor 8). In reference to the rook, Bewick notes “the new-comers are frequently driven away by the old inhabitants, their half-built nests torn in pieces, and the unfortunate couple forced to begin their work anew in some more undisturbed situation” (76). This characterization of the rook by Bewick can be directly applied to the development of the plot throughout Jane Eyre. (See Taylor for a more in-depth look at this argument.) When Jane reads about the birds in Bewick’s History, it serves “as Jane’s fantasy retreat from the difficult Reed home” (Taylor 5). Bewick’s birds are free and wild, if a little bit unusual. This freedom is in strict contrast to Jane’s life, where she is restricted and caged by the expectations of others. In a way, Bewick’s History gives Jane a model, in avian terms, of life. It seems as though Bewick’s History first gives Jane the boost to take the reigns of her life, instead of being passive in accepting her fate. For example, Jane stands up to her cousin John Reed in an argument right after she is found reading Bewick’s History in the window. References to birds are also found throughout Jane’s school years at Lowood. As Jane’s mind is opened to new opinions and ideas, her caged nature begins to be opened. The cliché “knowledge is power” is true of Jane because she learns how to do many things, such as draw, which allow her to escape the confines of her shabby existence and become more fulfilled. After she learns to draw, Jane says she no longer feasts on the visions of food at night but instead “on the spectacle of ideal drawings” which includes “birds picking at ripe cherries” and “wrens’ nests enclosing pearl-like eggs” (Brontë 77). In Birds of Europe, Bertel Brunn notes that wrens are “small, restless, brownish birds” (220). The physical appearance of the wren certainly can be compared to Jane’s plain exterior, but the fact that the wren also symbolizes royalty shows how Jane’s Lowood education helps her break out of a conventional mold into a woman that realizes she is capable of commanding her own life (Rowland 185). The bird imagery in Jane Eyre is most prevalent during Jane’s interactions with Mr. Rochester. During much of her time at Thornfield, Jane is still depicted as a caged bird. She is not independent and free to determine her life’s course; in fact she is so in love with Mr. Rochester that she expects him to complete her entire world. Jane’s passion can be seen when she says, “that to taste but of the crumbs he scattered to stray and stranger birds like me, was to feast genially” (Brontë 247). Even though Jane is in 18
love with Mr. Rochester, the reader can tell that she is not living up to her full potential. She is dependent on Mr. Rochester to provide for her, and she has been fully domesticated into a passive role in her life. During the early 1800s, many people felt as though a bird that was “exotic, injured, or otherwise unable to survive in English countryside,” should be caged for its own protection (Perkins 137). Jane is in some ways exotic and in some ways injured; she is a hot-tempered orphan who is unsure of what life has to offer her. So in a sense, the reader can understand why Jane is portrayed as a caged, domesticated bird at this point in the novel. Bird imagery is again used in reference to Jane during the proposal scene in the garden with Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester compares Jane to a “wild, frantic bird” because she is angry and upset about the fact that she may never see him again after he marries Blanche Ingram, whom Jane mistakenly believes he will marry (Brontë 256). This comparison helps to illustrate Jane’s passionate and sometimes uncontrollable nature, which arises when she gets upset. Jane’s reply to Mr. Rochester’s comment is interesting: “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you” (Brontë 256). This interaction is the first time that Jane revolts against the bird imagery. This passage shows the evolution of Jane, from a quiet, caged bird to a bird that is striving to be independent. This particular passage of text mirrors Mr. Rochester’s and Jane’s short engagement, where Jane sticks up for herself and does not let Rochester treat her as a “pet” bird. This passage is also very interesting because it foreshadows how Jane must leave Rochester after she discovers he is married to Bertha. Jane, in fact, “flies away” much like a bird when leaving Mr. Rochester, without even telling him she is leaving. In this way, Jane is taking on the characteristics more and more of a bird freed from captivity. After the breakup of her expected nuptials, Jane has no one to depend on and must fend for herself. As Jane contemplates leaving Mr. Rochester, she muses over what her departure will cause Mr. Rochester to do. She feels guilty, ashamed, and confused, even though she knows in her heart that it is the upright and noble action to take. As she leaves Thornfield, Jane hears birds singing along the way. She then says, “birds were faithful to their mates; birds were emblems of love. What was I? In the midst of my pain of heart, and frantic effort of principle, I abhorred myself” (Brontë 323). At this point, Jane seems to be revolting against traditional images of birds. This further advances her radical move, as she transitions from one point in her life to
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research another. Yet this passage also indicates Jane’s uncertainty over her decision to leave and further indicates that it is hard for Jane to abandon parts of her bird-like nature. It is interesting to note throughout the Thornfield section of Jane Eyre that the bird imagery is so prevalent. This seems to suggest a connection between the bird imagery throughout the novel and Jane’s love for Mr. Rochester. In some ways, Jane’s love for Mr. Rochester keeps her caged and unable to reach her full potential. So, it comes as no surprise to find later that Jane can only truly become independent physically, emotionally, and financially when she chooses to leave Mr. Rochester. Much can be said about Bertha as well when analyzing the bird imagery in Jane Eyre. When Bertha struggles with Mr. Mason at Thornfield, Jane hears Bertha’s cries from above and describes them with the analogy that “not the widest-winged condor on the Andes could, twice in succession, send out such a yell from the cloud shrouding his eyrie” (Brontë 208). This comparison seems to equate Bertha’s madness to that of a wild bird. This incident further cautions Jane that she must escape from Mr. Rochester’s grip before he essentially turns her mad, like Bertha. Jane has slowly been gaining confidence and self-expression during her time at Thornfield, and she can not risk losing that by letting Mr. Rochester dominate her. In this way, the bird imagery as it relates to Bertha seems to serve as a cautionary warning for Jane. After Jane leaves Mr. Rochester, she is no longer caged but is free to make her own decisions. She is subject to nature and its fancies, much like a bird, before she discovers the kindness and care of Moor House. Jane must struggle against the forces of nature for a short period as she transitions into independence. Jane’s uncertainty about the future course of her life is noted in this section, when she compares her heart to “a bird with both wings broken,” because she is unable to see Mr. Rochester (Brontë 326). Yet she fights her human pangs of longing and love to find a more suitable place for her to start life anew. Jane must flee from Mr. Rochester in order to find herself in a place free from temptation. It is only when Jane leaves Thornfield that she really begins to understand the possibilities of life because her mind is no longer clouded with love for Mr. Rochester. At the safe haven of Moor House, Jane learns that she cannot flee from her problems but must deal with them. This is how she is finally able to go back and confront Mr. Rochester. Jane evolves from a young, innocent baby bird that simply craves love
and affection, to a wiser, more mature bird that knows what she wants. She is no longer dependent on anyone but is fully equal with whomever she chooses to associate. It is interesting to note how the bird references are less frequent during Jane’s stay at Moor House. This seems to suggest that Jane’s search for independence is mostly based on Mr. Rochester, and once she escapes from him, she is more able to make rational and clear decisions. For example, Jane weighs very carefully her options of whether to marry her cousin St. John Rivers, instead of merely submitting to his requests. It may be that the bird imagery relates much more to Jane’s indecision and repression while at Gateshead and then at Thornfield, and these factors are much less prevalent while at Moor House. Jane is somewhat restricted by St. John, but he does not have as much power over her as Mrs. Reed or Mr. Rochester. She realizes her independence now that she has found a family (at least in Diana and Mary) that will support her decisions no matter what. They do not pressure Jane to restrict herself, but encourage her to open up and accept her true feelings. However, there is also bird imagery during the Moor House section when St. John speaks to Jane about his life as a future missionary. St. John talks to Jane about the fact that he once had doubts about whether he was suited for the life of a missionary, but then said he was reassured when his “powers heard a call from heaven to rise, gather their full strength, spread their wings, and mount beyond ken” (Brontë 364). Therefore, St. John seems to equate mission work and serving God to complete freedom, power, and happiness. Later on in the novel, when St. John also asks Jane to become a missionary, this passage becomes significant for Jane’s life journey. The fact that St. John feels Jane has the dedication and talent to perform what she feels is such an important task makes Jane realize her own power. She is beginning to understand at this point in the novel that she can be independent and achieve greatness without help or reliance on others. Jane wants so much to be accepted and useful, which is why she seriously considers following St. John to India. Yet, Jane realizes that she does not always have to do what others tell her to do in order to follow the divine plans of God. She can make up her own mind; she can chart her own course. She does not need a man to do it for her. Jane realizes that St. John following his heart is what gives him power and freedom, so she must spread her own wings, as he did, and follow her destiny. This knowledge finally allows Jane to achieve true independence and self-appreciation, so that she is no longer caged by the expectations of others. 19
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research When Jane returns to a maimed and broken Mr. Rochester, he is also referred to in term of bird imagery. Jane compares him to a “caged eagle” (Brontë 434). Jane’s description seems to refer to his loss of sight, which has made Mr. Rochester quite restless, depressed, and confused. Also at this point in the novel, Mr. Rochester refers to Jane as his “skylark,” because he had just heard one recently out in the forest. Yet, Mr. Rochester says, “but its song had no music for me, any more than the rising sun had rays” (Brontë 442). This comparison seems to indicate how Mr. Rochester is seeing Jane more and more reliably as human, rather than as a subjugated bird. The mere fact that Brontë refers to both Mr. Rochester and Jane using bird imagery denotes their new found equality. Mr. Rochester trusts and loves Jane for coming back to “rescue” him and sees that he must now depend on this fully independent woman. In Birds of Europe, Bertel Bruun notes how a skylark “often remains at the same spot in the air for long periods of time” (198). This is notable in Mr. Rochester’s reference to Jane as a skylark, since this would seemingly suggest that Jane is no longer a “flighty” bird. She is more content in her own skin and decisions and is ready for a home life and family at Ferndean. In a way, this view of life is now part of Jane’s nature, instead of something into which she is being forced. She is finally able to choose freely how she will spend the rest of her life. In Romantic poetry, birds are often referred to as being something “man cannot subjugate or harm” (Perkins 130). So, instead of birds representing someone who is “caged,” birds come to represent a much more independent life in Jane Eyre. Instead of indicating weakness, birds indicate true strength. Jane Eyre is certainly a tale of romance, heartbreak, escape, and redemption. Bird imagery parallels Jane’s journey in life. Jane is once a mere caged bird, but she emerges from the cage to become a beautiful, wild, daring bird of the sky. A bird is the animal that most closely resembles Jane’s personality, so it is no surprise that Brontë would use bird imagery to refer to Jane. Birds have come to represent so many emotions and ideas throughout the evolution of literature, especially in Britain during the 1800s. The image of the wild, strong bird is what the reader is left with at the end of Jane Eyre, rather than a feeble, sad songbird locked in a cage. This bird imagery, which, according to Perkins, portrays nature as “inviolable,” also plays to the strength and power of women (141). Brontë did not make Jane, her “average woman” heroine, a pushover. She made her the prototype of a feminist for many generations to come.
End Notes Examples of these literary analyses of Jane Eyre include: Fjågesund, Peter. “Samson and Delilah: Chapter 37 of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.” English Studies: A Journal of English Language and Literature 80.5 (Oct. 1999): 449-53; LaMonaca, Maria. “Jane’s Crown of Thorns: Feminism and Christianity in Jane Eyre.” Studies in the Novel 34.3 (Fall 2002): 245-63; Meyer, Susan L. “Colonialism and the Figurative Strategy of Jane Eyre.” Victorian Studies: A Journal of the Humanities, Arts and Sciences 33.2 (Winter 1990): 247-268; Nockolds, Peter. “Midsummer Moon: The Lunar Structure of Jane Eyre.” Brontë Studies: The Journal of the Brontë Society 29.2 (July 2004): 157-63; Wilson, Cheryl A.. “Female Reading Communities in Jane Eyre.” Brontë Studies: The Journal of the Brontë Society 30.2 (June 2005): 131-39. 1
Three essays that discuss the role of Bewick’s History of British Birds in Jane Eyre include: Kelly, L. Duin. “Jane Eyre’s Paintings and Bewick’s History of British Birds.” Notes and Queries 29 (227).3 (June 1982): 230-232; Stedman, Jane W. “Charlotte Bronte and Bewick’s British Birds” Bronte Society Transactions 15 (1966) 36-40; and Taylor, Susan B. “Image and Text in Jane Eyre’s Avian Vignettes and Bewick’s History of British Birds.” Victorian Newsletter 101 (Spring 2002): 5-12.
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References Bewick, Thomas. A History of British Birds (Volume 1). London: B. Quaritch, 1885. Internet Archive. 17 Feb. 2005. U of Toronto. 16 July 2007 <http://www.archive.org/details/ britishbirds01bewiuoft>. Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 1847. New York: The New American Library, 1960. Bruun, Bertel and Arthur Singer. Birds of Europe. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970. Perkins, David. Romanticism and Animal Rights. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2003. Rowland, Beryl. Birds with Human Souls. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P, 1978. Taylor, Susan B. “Image and Text in Jane Eyre’s Avian Vignettes and Bewick’s History of British Birds.” Victorian Newsletter 101 (Spring 2002): 5-12. Lutwack, Leonard. Birds in Literature. Gainesville: UP of Florida, 1994.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT
Cynthia Martinez Class: Senior Major: Spanish
Through the study of the language, culture, and literature of Spain and Latin America, I have become particularly interested in Latin American Literature. Studying the Literature of the Spanish language has not only improved my language skills, but has helped me learn more about the culture of several different countries and think about topics specific to those countries from many perspectives. Through the several different writers studied in the Spanish Literature classes here at Murray State, I developed a special interest in Jorge Carrera Andrade, a 20th century Ecuadorian poet and political activist.
Jorge Carrera Andrade: The ‘Visionary’ Poet Jorge Carrera Andrade is perhaps the most well known Ecuadorian poet. He distinguishes his work from that of others by his unique use of metaphor. During a time when many poets were using the metaphor to disturb the reader using incongruous objects, Carrera Andrade was using the metaphor to humanize and create understanding. In his poetry, we see reoccurring images presented differently through the use of metaphors in order to raise social consciousness, denounce injustice, create solidarity among all beings, glorify nature, deplore the evils of modernization, and discuss man’s eternal loneliness and alienation. Though the themes of his poetry vary from one period to the next, we see how all of these themes and symbols come together in the poem “Planetary Man.”
FACULTY MENTOR Dr. Michael Waag, a faculty member of the Department of Modern Languages, has been teaching Spanish language and literature at Murray State University since 1986. His emphasis is in Ecuadorian literature and he recently published his translation of the Ecuadorian novel La Linares by Iván Égüez. He has also published several articles in journals and reference works within his field. He was a Fulbright Scholar to Ecuador (1989-90), and he co-founded and served as president for 10 years of a research organization, the Association of Ecuadorianists. He has spent many of his summers teaching abroad in Mexico and Spain through the Kentucky Institute for International Studies. Here at Murray State, he is the director of Cinema International.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Jorge Carrera Andrade: The ‘Visionary’ Poet
J
orge Carrera Andrade is perhaps the best known twentieth century poet from Ecuador. His poetry was influenced by various events of his personal life and the phases of his poetry correspond to the phases of his life. His concern for the indigenous people of his country and the social problems that plague their existence is seen principally in his poetry during the years of his involvement in politics. During this period of his life he participated in the founding of the Ecuadorian socialist party with the intention of improving the conditions of the indigenous people through basic changes in the sociopolitical structure of the country. Social humanism and the solidarity among all people are themes that were influenced by the Russian Revolution and Marxist doctrines, which were of interest to Carrera Andrade during this time (Ojeda 10). During the period he lived in Europe, we find existential themes in his poetry, including the theme of loneliness. Later on in his life he introduced the theme of the evils of modernization and technology. The theme relates to the social problems of the country, to the idea of solidarity among all beings, and to the loneliness of man because of his isolation from nature and his desire for the modern, the impersonal, and the material. Carrera Andrade’s use of the metaphor is what many consider the most notable aspect of his poetry. Though he was influenced by French vanguards, including surrealists and cubists, Carrera Andrade’s work is distinct from theirs. Instead of distancing himself from reality toward a world of dreams like the surrealists, creating more distance between the object and the image and in this way creating confusion, Carrera Andrade utilizes concrete objects and images of objective reality to clarify difficult and profound concepts. He is compared to the surrealists because he creates metaphors with incongruous images, but the difference is that he does it to clarify instead of to mystify (Gleaves 34-35). The difference also is seen in the fact that Carrera Andrade attempts to communicate the sensory; he is concerned with describing what he sees, hears, smells, and touches. For example, in the poem “Canción de la manzana,” he describes the fruit saying, “Cielo de tarde en miniatura:/ amarillo, verde, encarnado,/ con lucero de azúcar/ y nubecillas de raso… ” [“Miniature evening
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sky/ Yellow, green, flesh color/ With stars of sugar/ Cloudlets of satin”] (Hays, 1972, xix) . Here we see his predilection for sensorial imagery which combines what he sees, tastes, and touches. In his lecture titled “Decade of my Poetry” given at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Carrera Andrade said that his poetry “rejects all excessive remoteness from reality and takes pleasure in bringing things and men closer in an effort to achieve universal coherence and harmony” (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 8). In this way, Carrera Andrade can be seen as a grand “visionary.” He sees in the mundane what escapes all others. Pedro Salinas has said that “la metáfora empieza donde ‘el ojo’ termina de ver y la imaginación comienza a visionar” [“the metaphor begins where ‘the eye’ ceases to see and the imagination begins to envision”] (Salinas 289). Of his own poetry, Carrera Andrade says that, from his point of view, “the poetic evolution of the world has undergone three stages: the musical stage (up to romanticism), the sculptural or formal stage (parnassian) and the visual stage (initiated by symbolism and continued up to the present). My poetry belongs to this last stage” (Hoffman 105). Jorge Carrera Andrade has used metaphors with symbolic significance through the images of the window and the dawn (Salinas 290; Heald, 1950, 40; Carrera Andrade, 1970, 6). He utilizes metaphors to develop the theme of “universal coherence and harmony” while at the same time using it to develop the theme of loneliness. We see the appearance of these two images, the theme of loneliness, and other social and metaphysical themes throughout the poetry of Carrera Andrade and specifically in the poem “Hombre planetario.” Pedro Salinas cites examples of the image of the window throughout Carrera Andrade’s poetry, and he cites examples from his poetry as early as 1927, “Vidriera, libro de agua donde los ojos leen/ la unción maravillosa de los árboles, “through 1939, “…la ventana, mi propiedad mayor…” and beyond [“Glass window, book of water where eyes read/ the marvelous unction of trees” “…the window, my greatest property…”] (Salinas 290). Concerning this image, Salinas says that “es de notar que el tema de la ventana no sólo es repetido en la poesía de Carrera Andrade una y otra vez, sino que además está ligado por el poeta a las dos ideas básicas de su poesía:
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research viaje y registro” [“it is worth noting that the theme of the window is not only repeated in the poetry of Carrera Andrade every now and again, but it is also bound by the poet to the two basic ideas of his poetry: travel and discovery.” ] (Salinas 290). The window in Carrera Andrade’s work can be seen as a second pair of eyes. Salinas explains it in this way, “Carrera Andrade, poeta del ver, voluntario entusiasta de la función visual, tenía que ir fatalmente una y otra vez en busca de la ventana, de esos segundos ojos por los cuales se le entrega al hombre y se lo quita cada día, con el advenir del sol y el avance de la sombra, la maravillosa realidad de la corteza del mundo” [“it is worth noting that the theme of the window is not only repeated in the poetry of Carrera Andrade every now and again, but it is also bound by the poet to the two basic ideas of his poetry: travel and discovery.” ] (Salinas 291). What is most attractive about the window is that the poet makes man the owner of whatever he sees outside of it. When man sees the landscape in all its amplitude, he feels small and sees that nature is infinitely more powerful than he. However, within the limits imposed by the window, man sees the reality that he wants to see. He does not see nature as its immensity or power; he sees what he wants to see through this second pair of eyes. Concerning the window, Carrera Andrade has said, “No poseo otro bien que la ventana/ que quiere ser a medias campo y cielo/ y en su frágil frontera con el mundo/ la presencia registra de las cosas” [“I do not possess a greater good than the window/ That wants to be half earth and half sky/ And in its fragile border with the world/ The registered presence of things” ] (Heald, 1950, 44). The window lets man see and discover what he wants. It serves as a bridge between man and the world by not allowing the world to overwhelm man with its power. The image of the window can be related to other themes that Carrera Andrade develops throughout his poetry. Acting like “eyes” or a “bridge” between the interior and the exterior, the window is like an invitation to travel. Diminishing the supremacy that nature has over man, the window represents the first step toward the relationship between man and nature. The second constant image in the poetry of Carrera Andrade is that of the dawn. Carrera Andrade combines different meanings that have traditionally been ascribed to the image of dawn in Spanish American poetry. In his lecture titled “Decade of my Poetry,” Carrera Andrade explains that at one time the image of dawn had religious connotations for mystic poets. Being the first light of day, it served as a symbol of religious revelation. With the onset of modernism, the significance changed from that of religious glory
to that of earthly glory. Carrera Andrade has sometimes given the image its baroque meaning of the end of transitory earthly life and the beginning of eternal life. Life on earth is seen as dark and painful, a vale of tears, and death is seen as the final, limitless goal. Carrera Andrade’s personal definition of dawn however, equates it with the coming of a just world. The image represents the disillusionment of consciousness and metaphysical clarity (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 5-6). In the poem “Edición de la tarde”, we see the image in this context. Using the language of journalism to describe “the sudden death of things,” he closes the poem with the line “el orden nuevo/ implantado en el mundo por el alba” [“The new order imposed upon the world by dawn” ] (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 61). Here we see the image of the dawn as representative of the arrival of a new order of justice and of disillusionment with the old, but the image seems to change with the word “imposed,” making it seem like a dictatorship or government. Although this seemingly gives the image negative connotations, the poet uses the word “imposed” to maintain the language of journalism and to maintain the image as something positive. By creating violent images and using brusque words throughout the poem, the poet gives the dawn the violent force to actually “impose” new “order and justice.” We also see the image of the dawn as illustrative of love, light, and complete happiness. In his lecture, Carrera Andrade says that “the arrival of the loved woman is like the coming of the dawn” (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 6). He demonstrates this perspective on the dawn through this metaphor, “in your smile dawn rises once more/ a song of purity/ as of a dovecote emptying itself” (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 6). He does not simply tell us that the dawn means love, light, and happiness, but he creates an image to show us this. By using the metaphor, he compares the dawn with the image of doves soaring out of a dovecote. He uses the dove to represent this song of purity and the love and happiness that the dawn represents. The image of the dawn, like that of the window, can be related to various themes developed throughout Carrera Andrade’s poetry. This image demonstrates his concern for the metaphysical and for creating universal consciousness. We see the theme of loneliness as one of the most important in the poetry of Carrera Andrade. One poem that deals with the loneliness of man is “Soledad de las ciudades.” While it concentrates on loneliness, Carrera Andrade continues his use of comparing the cosmic with the mundane. Carrera Andrade demonstrates this in the lines “Donde estuviste, soledad,/ que no te conocí hasta los veinte años?/ En los trenes, los espejos, y las fotografías/ siempre
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research estás a mi lado” [“Where were you solitude/ That I never knew you until I was twenty?/ In trains, in mirrors and in photographs,/ You are always by my side”] (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 55). Though loneliness is one of humanity’s most grave experiences, it is reduced to something of daily use such as a photograph. We see that from the quotidian, a train, a photograph, a mirror, the poet develops a theme as profound as loneliness, in which he personifies these objects. This does not diminish the concept of loneliness, but we see it interpreted in a distinct way. Carrera Andrade develops this theme from an original perspective. Various poets who treat loneliness interpret from a pessimistic and anguished perspective. In the poetry of Carrera Andrade, we are left with an idea that, while it has similarities with that of other authors, it is bittersweet by the way that it is presented. He juxtaposes solitude with the need for universal solidarity that he believes could exist among men. He poses the problem of loneliness and suggests it as a cause for the separation and indifference that man displays toward nature. Considering this problem, he says that“los campesinos están menos solos/ porque forman una misma cosa con la tierra./ Los árboles son hijos suyos,/ los cambios de tiempo observan en su propia carne/ y les sirve de ejemplo la santoral de los animalitos” [“Countryfolk are less alone/ Because they are the same thing as the earth./ The trees are their sons,/ They sense the change of the season in their own flesh;/ And the lives of saintly little animals are an example to them” ] (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 55). In few words, Carrera Andrade offers an explanation to what has caused the tremendous loneliness that haunts contemporary man. The necessity to urbanize, with its consequent organization and industrialization, has created a wall between man and nature (Heald, 1961, 608). The man who considers himself intellectual, advanced, and cosmopolitan is the one that suffers from his own inventions. The more humanity searches to industrialize itself, the more it finds itself isolated from nature and drowning in its loneliness. The urban man sees the country man as poor and inferior, but he is the one who suffers the least from this loneliness because of his unity with the earth. The poem blames this social problem on the desire to dominate nature. We attempt to achieve power over something we can never overpower. In relation to the theme of loneliness, Carrera Andrade also touches on philosophical themes, presenting to us the problems of a humanity without nature. Industrialization is relatively new during this time and it is the most control that we as humans have ever had over nature. In other words, it is the first time that humanity has been able to live depending on something other than nature, thinking itself now even more powerful than nature. These
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factors cause more than loneliness, they cause us to questions our own identity and where we belong in this world. We see a different perspective on loneliness in the poem “Biografía para uso de los pájaros.” Instead of directly focusing on loneliness and treating it with certain optimism, Carrera Andrade concentrates more on the state of man in the midst of modernization and man’s almost complete alienation from nature. The first lines of the poem read, “Nací en el siglo de la defunción de la rosa/ cuando el motor ya había ahuyentado a los ángeles” [“I was born in the century of the demise of the rose/ When the motor had already put the angels to flight” ] (Heald, 1961, 608). In this poem, we again see the struggle between man and nature. The word “demise” in this context corresponds to death, but it has a connotation different and perhaps more distressing from that of death. Though these words can be compared, they are different in that death is sudden while demise suggests a lingering, in which the deterioration can be seen over time. The demise of the rose then, can be something considerably more difficult to accept because while it is inevitable, it takes time, giving the illusion that something can be done to delay its passing and even stop it (Heald, 1961, 609). The rose, in the apogee of its flourishing, frequently symbolizes beauty, love, and happiness, but here it is dying in the “century” of the “motor” to reveal the vulnerability of nature to man armed with destructive technology. The poem also addresses the relationship between man and man. Everything that is appreciated by the poetic voice is now a distant memory and the natural and tranquil life is replaced by a new and unknown life. The sadness due to the loss of this life is seen in the last verse: “todo ha pasado ya, en sucesivo oleaje./ Como las vanas cifras de la espuma./ Los años van sin prisa enredando sus líquenes/ y el recuerdo es apenas un nenúfar/ que asoma entre dos aguas/ su rostro de ahogado” [“everything has passed, in a succession of waves/ Like the vain figures of the foam./ The years pass with no hurry entangling their lichens/ and the memory is barely a water lily/ that shows between two waters/ its drowned face”] (Palley 82). These lines can be interpreted as the sadness of one who knows how much reality as remembered has changed, and that it can never be recovered. Though the years “pass with no hurry entangling their lichens,” one suddenly realizes that time has passed and any attempt to recover that lost time is in vain. The image of the drowning water lily augments the despair of the loss. The poet uses personification to present an object of beauty like a water lily with a “drowned face,” and in this way describes the lack of hope that comes with the loss of time.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research In one of Carrera Andrade’s most well-known poems, “Hombre planetario,” we see some of the most typical characteristics of his poetry. Instead of concentrating solely on the theme of loneliness, he discusses many of his concerns, the metaphysical as well as the social, making himself the “planetary man” of the poem (Córdova, 1973, 358). In this poem we see his use of simple words to describe profound subjects to link himself to the common man and to investigate the philosophical problems that humanity has been facing for centuries. He combines the philosophical with the cosmic and the universal to connect all the beings of the world. He contemplates the ancient question of “who am I?” and at the same time alludes to the tension between modernization and nature. The planetary man of the poem identifies himself with “Ulysses, Parsifal, Hamlet and Sigismundo and many others.” By combining literary characters from the past, Carrera shares with them of man’s experiences, loneliness, disillusionment, and anguish. It is important to note the specific characters that were chosen by the poet and what these characters have represented in the western literary tradition. According to José Hernán Córdova González “el poeta sabe que, en tiempos idos ya, él fue el héroe audaz de una odisea; se sabe haber sido el héroe que, sobreponiéndose al conflicto y a la indecisión, logró su redención sientetizando en sí mismo los ideales religiosos y mundanos; se reconoce como el héroe trágico de los soliloquios, torturados por la indecisión; recuerda haber sido el héroe atrapado entre la realidad y el sueño de la vida” [“the poet knows that, in past times, he was the audacious hero of an odyssey; he knows he was the hero that, overcoming conflict and indecision, achieved his redemption by combining in himself religious and mundane ideals; he recognizes himself as the tragic hero of soliloquies, tortured by indecision; he remembers having been the hero trapped between reality and dream of life”] (Córdova, 1973, 359). While this interpretation alludes to the question of “who am I?” it creates other questions by unifying humanity in its entirety. He introduces the tension that exists between nature and modernization in order to expand upon the idea of personal identity. He attacks the apathy and hypocrisy of men who are submerged in the material and dedicated to the superficial when he says, “hombres, mujeres jóvenes,/ dentro de una vitrina/ con adornos de plantas,/ se sientan y sonríen,/ se miran, examinan sus vestidos,/ cambian palabras de humo,/ saborean el tiempo en rebanadas/ o por cucharaditas deleitosas” [“Men, young women,/ Sit smiling/ Behind a plate glass/ Decorated with plants;/ They look at each other, pass on each other’s cloths/ Exchange words of smoke,/ Relishing time in slices/ Or delicious spoonfuls”] (Carrera
Andrade, 1972, 147, 149). He criticizes the modern as materialistic and money as dehumanizing. With the intention of defending nature, he denounces the advancement of the world of machines and technology. With irony he says, “Gloria a los fabricantes de automóviles/ que han poblado el planeta/ de rodantes alcobas” [“Hail to the manufacturers of automobiles/Who have populated the planet/ With rolling bedrooms”] (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 151). He brings to the theme the dichotomy of faith and science. He laments that man has exchanged his faith in the transcendental and eternal for the belief in science, which can give him a material response to any question. He implies that man has lost his identity with the advancement of science and technology, and that the loss of any anchorage has left him with no responses to philosophical questions. He criticizes the norms of human society by pointing out that although time rules our lives, it has no importance to the cosmos and is elusive to him. Of this subject he says, “tiempo cósmico, reinas/ sin fin omnipresente,/ pulpo gris/ sin ayer ni mañana, siempre ahora,/ dormido en el espacio./ Tu masa no se mide por minutos,/ por horas o por días.” And later, “yo te mido mejor, oh inmensurable,/ por amarguras o por alegrías/ y por silencios o por soledades/ de sesenta suspiros cada una./ Yo viví sesenta años en un día/ y en una hora de amor/ sesenta eternidades” [“Cosmic time, you reign/ Endlessly everywhere,/ Grey octopus/ Without yesterday or tomorrow, always now,/ Sleeping in space./ Your mass is not measured in minutes/ Hours or days.” “I measure you better, oh immeasurable,/ In bitterness and joy/ And by silences or solitudes,/ Sixty sighs to each./ I have lived sixty years in a day/ And sixty eternities/ In an hour of love”] (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 145). With time, as with nature, man’s attempts to dominate it by imposing his own order on it are futile. In “Hombre planetario” we also find the images of the window and the dawn that can be found throughout the poetry of Carrera Andrade. Utilizing the image of the window, Carrera Andrade says “¿Soy ese hombre que mira desde el puente/ los relumbres del río,/ vitrina de las nubes?” [“Am I this man who from the bridge/ Stares down at the glitter of the river,/ Showcase of clouds?”] (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 139). These lines present the image of the window as a bridge between the interior and the exterior. The poetic voice sees something as large as the clouds through a showcase that appears in a reflection on the water. Through this reflection he can see something as enormous and distant as the clouds, or in this case heaven, within the limits of a window. Seeing the clouds through a showcase clarifies the sense of clouds as metonomy for heaven.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Displaying something in a showcase gives it a sense of being untouchable or, in this context, unreachable. We find the image of the dawn in the lines, “Eternidad, te busco en el espacio,/ en el cielo nocturno donde boga/ el luminoso enjambre,/ en el alba que vuelve/ todos los días a la misma hora” [“Eternity, I seek you in space,/ Where the luminous swarm/ Curves over the night sky/ And in the dawn which returns/ Every day at the same hour”] (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 143). The poet, knowing he is transitory, searches for eternity in the cosmos and in nature, that which is eternal. The fact that he searches for it in the dawn and says that it “returns every day at the same hour,” can be interpreted as dawn signifying a new consciousness that comes with light. More than saying what dawn represents though, the poet gives us a concrete image to demonstrate what dawn represents. He says he searches for the dawn “where the luminous swarm curves over the night sky.” Here we see a comparison of the mundane with the cosmic: a swarm of fireflies with the stars in the firmament. With one image he speaks of his search for the eternal in the cosmic and the natural. Carrera Andrade points out the universal, clarifies the mysterious, and confronts the transcendental and the eternal by juxtaposing with the cosmic, the things of everyday life. The constant themes that are found throughout the entirety of his poetic works are humanization, social justice, the solidarity of humanity with nature and with itself, loneliness, and the evils of modernization. The art of Carrera Andrade resides in the way in which he presents these themes and in his distinct use of the metaphor. This distinction is what makes him the grand “visionary” according to Pedro Salinas. Throughout his poetry he demonstrates that“la metáfora empieza donde ‘el ojo’ termina de ver y la imaginación comienza a visionar” (Salinas 289).2 His metaphors combine images of the natural and cosmic with that of everyday objects. From the quotidian he creates a world that is imaginative and equally real.
---. Poesia Ultima. New York: Las Americas Publishing Company, 1968. ---. Selected Poems of Jorge Carrera Andrdade. New York: State University of New York Press, 1972. Córdova, González, José Hernán. “El ‘Hombre planetario’ de Carrera Andrdade: Vision de una nueva humanidad.” Hispania 56, 2 (May 1973): 358-363. ---. Itinerario poético de Jorge Carrera Andrade. Thesis: Cornell University, January 1976. Forster, Merlin H. Historia de la poesía hispanoamericana. Clear Creek, IN: The American Hispanist, 1981. Gleaves, Robert M. “The Reaffirmation of Analogy: An Introduction to Jorge Carrera Andrade’s Metaphoric System.” Confluencia 10, 1 (1994): 33-41. Hays, H.R. “Jorge Carrera Andrdade, Magician of Metaphors.” Books Abroad 17, 2 (April 1943): 101-105. ---, ed. trans. Selected Poems of Jorge Carrera Andrdade. By Jorge Carrera Andrade. New York: State University of New York Press, 1972. --. Introduction. Selected Poems of Jorge Carrera Andrdade. By Jorge Carrera Andrade. New York: State University of New York Press, 1972. ix-xxvi. Heald, William F. “Soledad in the Poetry of Jorge Carrera Andrade.” PMLA 76, 5 (December, 1961): 602-612.
References Bishop, John Peale. “The Poetry of Jorge Carrera Andrade.” Jacket Magazine. (July, 12, 2000) http://jacketmagazine. com/12/andr-bishop.html Carrera Andrade, Jorge. “Biography for the Use of the Birds.” Poetry 172, 2 (May 1998): 76. ---. “Decade of My Poetry.” State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1970. Jacket Magazine. (July 12, 2000) http:// jacketmagazine.com/12/andr-vassar.html 26
---. A Study of the Imagery in the Poetry of Jorge Carrera Andrade. Tulane University, May 1, 1950. Hoffman, Reynolds Hays. BA. (April 17, 1943): 102,104-105 Li, William Spindler. “Jorge Carrera Andrade: Ecuadorian poet and prose writer.” Encyclopedia of Latin Amercian Literature. 175-178. Ojeda, Enrique. Introduction. Poesia Ultima. New York: Las Americas Publishing Company, 1968. 9-20.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Palley, Julian. “Temática de Jorge Carrera Andrdade.” Hispania 39, 1 (March 1956): 80-83. Salinas, Pedro. “Registro de Jorge Carrera Andrade.” Revista Iberoamericana 5, 10 (October 1942): 285-294. Shuler, Esther Elise. La poesía de Jorge Carrera Andrade. University of Minnesota, June 1945.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Jorge Carrera Andrade: El Poeta ‘Visionero’
J
orge Carrera Andrade es quizás el poeta del siglo XX más famoso del Ecuador. Su poesía fue influida por varios acontecimientos de su vida personal y las etapas de su poesía corresponden a las etapas de su vida. La preocupación sobre los indígenas de su país y los problemas sociales que los acompañan se ve principalmente en su poesía correspondiente a su vida política. Durante esta etapa de su vida participa en la fundación del partido socialista ecuatoriano con motivo de mejorar la condición de los indígenas ecuatorianos mediante un cambio en la estructura social del país. El humanismo social y la solidaridad humana son temas influidos por la revolución rusa y las doctrinas marxistas que le interesaban a Carrera Andrade en aquella época (Ojeda 10). Encontramos los temas existenciales, inclusive el tema de la soledad, en su poesía cuando vive en Europa. Más tarde en su vida vemos la introducción del tema de la maldad de la modernización y de la tecnología. Este tema se relaciona con los problemas sociales de su país, con la solidaridad de los seres, y con la soledad del hombre por el alejamiento de la naturaleza y el deseo de acercarse a lo moderno, lo impersonal, y lo materialista. En la poesía de Carrera Andrade se destaca el uso de la metáfora. Aunque Carrera Andrade fue influido por los vanguardistas franceses, el surrealismo y el cubismo, la obra de Carrera Andrade se distingue de la de ellos. En vez de alejarse de la realidad hacia el mundo del sueño como los surrealistas, creando más distancia entre el objeto y la imagen y de esta manera creando confusión, Carrera Andrade utiliza objetos concretos e imágenes de realidad objetiva para aclarecer conceptos difíciles y profundos. Se compara con los surrealistas porque crea metáforas con imágenes que no parecen tener semejanza, pero la diferencia es que los hace para clarificar en vez de mistificar (Gleaves 34-35). La diferencia también viene en el hecho de que Carrera Andrade intenta comunicar lo sensorial; se preocupa de describir lo que ve, oye, huele, y toca. Por ejemplo, en el poema “Canción de la manzana,” describe la fruta diciendo, “Cielo de tarde en miniatura:/ amarillo, verde, encarnado,/ con lucero de azúcar/ y nubecillas de raso… ” Aquí vemos su predilecto por la imagen sensorial, mezclando lo que puede ver, saber, y tocar (Hays,1972, xix). De su uso de la metáfora, Carrera Andrade dijo
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en su conferencia titulada “Decade of my poetry” que dió en la Universidad del Estado de Nueva York (Stony Brook) que “my poetry rejects all excessive remoteness from reality and takes pleasure in bringing things and men closer in an effort to achieve universal coherence and harmony” (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 8). Así que se puede ver a Carrera Andrade como un gran “visionero.” Es decir, ve en lo cotidiano lo que nos escapa a los demás. Como lo ha dicho Pedro Salinas, “la metáfora empieza donde ‘el ojo’ termina de ver y la imaginación comienza a visionar” (Salinas 289). De su propia poesía, Carrera Andrade dice, “from my point of view, the poetic evolution of the world has undergone three stages: the musical stage (up to romanticism), the sculptural or formal stage (parnassian) and the visual stage (initiated by symbolism and continued up to the present). My poetry belongs to this last stage” (Hoffman 105). Jorge Carrera Andrade ha utilizado metáforas con valor simbólico a través de las imágenes de la ventana y del alba (Salinas 290; Heald, 1950, 40; Carrera Andrade, 1970, 6). Se vale de las metáforas al desarrollar el tema de “universal coherence and harmony” y a la vez para desarrollar el tema de la soledad. Vemos la apariencia de estas dos imágenes, el tema de la soledad, y otros temas sociales y metafísicos a lo largo de la obra de Carrera Andrade y específicamente en el poema “Hombre planetario.” Según Pedro Salinas, la imagen de la ventana se ve a lo largo de la poesía de Carrera Andrade, y cita ejemplos en su poesía desde 1927, “Vidriera, libro de agua donde los ojos leen/ la unción maravillosa de los árboles,” hasta 1939, “…la ventana, mi propiedad mayor…” y aún más tarde (Salinas 290). Sobre esta imagen, Salinas dice que “es de notar que el tema de la ventana no sólo es repetido en la poesía de Carrera Andrade una y otra vez, sino que además está ligado por el poeta a las dos ideas básicas de su poesía: viaje y registro” (Salinas 290). La ventana en la obra de Carrera Andrade se puede ver como un segundo par de ojos. Salinas lo explica de esta manera: “Carrera Andrade, poeta del ver, voluntario entusiasta de la función visual, tenía que ir fatalmente una y otra vez en busca de la ventana, de esos segundos ojos por los cuales se le entrega al hombre y se lo quita cada día, con el advenir del sol y el avance de la sombra, la maravillosa realidad de la corteza del mundo” (Salinas
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research 291). Lo más atractivo de la ventana es que el poeta hace al hombre dueño de todo lo que se ve fuera de ella. Cuando el hombre ve lo amplio del paisaje, se siente pequeño y ve que la naturaleza es infinitamente más poderosa que él. Dentro de los límites impuestos por la ventana, el hombre ve la realidad que quiere ver. Es decir, no ve la naturaleza por su grandeza y poder, sino que ve lo que quiere ver a través de este segundo par de ojos. Sobre la ventana, Carrera Andrade ha dicho, “No poseo otro bien que la ventana/ que quiere ser a medias campo y cielo/ y en su frágil frontera con el mundo/ la presencia registra de las cosas” (Heald, 1950, 44). La ventana deja que el hombre vea y descubra lo que quiera. Sirve como puente entre el hombre y el mundo sin que el hombre esté abrumado por el poder de la naturaleza. La imagen de la ventana se relaciona con otros temas que Carrera Andrade presenta en su poesía. Actuando como “ojos” o un “puente” entre lo interior y lo exterior, la ventana es como una invitación al viaje. Disminuyendo la supremacía que la naturaleza tiene sobre el hombre, la ventana representa el primer paso hacia la relación entre hombre y naturaleza. Otra imagen que se encuentra a menudo en la poesía de Carrera Andrade es la del alba. Carrera Andrade mezcla los significados tradicionalmente asociados con el “alba” en la poesía hispanoamericana. En su conferencia titulada “Decade of my Poetry,” Jorge Carrera Andrade explica que en una época la imagen del alba tenía connotaciones religiosas para los poetas místicos. Siendo la primera luz del día, servía de un símbolo de revelación religiosa. Con el modernismo, la imagen se cambió de significado a una gloria terrenal en vez de religiosa. Carrera Andrade le da el significado Barroco a la imagen del final de la vida transitoria y el comienzo de la vida eterna. Es decir, la vida es vista como oscura y dolorosa, un valle de lágrimas, y la muerte es vista como una meta final sin límites. A lo que más se acerca Carrera Andrade en su definición personal de alba, sin embargo, es el significado social de la hora de justicia y un futuro mejor. La imagen representa la desilusión de la conciencia y la claridad metafísica (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 5-6). En el poema “Edición de la tarde” encontramos la imagen en este contexto. Usando el lenguaje de periodismo para describir “la súbita defunción de las cosas,” el poema termina con los dos versos, “el orden nuevo/ implantado en el mundo por el alba” (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 60). Aquí vemos la imagen del alba como la llegada de la justicia y de la desilusión, pero también parece cambiar la imagen del alba con la palabra “implantar,” atribuyendo al alba la calidad de un gobierno o dictadura. Aunque esta imagen tiene connotaciones negativas a la superficie, utiliza la palabra “implantar” para mantener el
lenguaje del periodismo y para mantener la imagen del alba como algo positivo. Mediante imágenes violentas y palabras bruscas a lo largo del poema, el poeta logra hacer que el alba tenga la fuerza violenta para verdaderamente “implantar” la justicia. Carrera Andrade también usa la imagen del alba para significar el amor, la luz, y la felicidad completa. Dice él en su conferencia que “the arrival of the loved woman is like the coming of dawn” (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 6). Nos muestra como intenta comunicar esta perspectiva de la imagen del alba a través de la metáfora cuando dice, “in your smile dawn rises once more/ a song of purity/ as of a dovecote emptying itself” (Carrera Andrade, 1970, 6). Para no decir directamente que el alba significa el amor, la luz, y la felicidad, crea una imagen que nos demuestra lo mismo. Con el uso de la metáfora, compara el alba con la imagen de palomas saliendo de un palomar. Utiliza la paloma para representar una canción de pureza y el amor y felicidad que representa el alba. La imagen del alba, como la de la ventana, de igual manera se relaciona con varios temas vistos a lo largo de la poesía de Carrera Andrade. Esta imagen nos muestra su preocupación por lo metafísico y por crear una conciencia universal. Entre los temas más graves en la poesía de Carrera Andrade se destaca el de la soledad. Un poema que se trata de la soledad del hombre es “Soledad de las ciudades.” Mientras se trata generalmente de la soledad, Carrera Andrade sigue la costumbre de comparar lo cósmico con lo mundano. Se ve un ejemplo en los versos de “Soledad de las ciudades” que dicen “Donde estuviste, soledad,/ que no te conocí hasta los veinte años?/ En los trenes, los espejos, y las fotografías/ siempre estás a mi lado” (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 54). Aunque la soledad es una experiencia grave de la humanidad, en estos versos se reduce a algo de uso diario como una fotografía. Vemos que de imágenes cotidianas, un tren, una fotografía, y un espejo, desarrolla un tema abstracto como la soledad, en el cual personifica estos objetos. Este hecho no disminuye el concepto de la soledad, sino que lo vemos interpretado de nueva y sorprendente manera. Carrera Andrade ve este concepto desde una perspectiva original. Se le da a la soledad un carácter pesimista y angustiado generalmente, pero en la poesía de Carrera Andrade cobra un carácter agridulce. Yuxtapone la soledad con la solidaridad universal del hombre. Plantea el problema de la soledad y sugiere como causa la separación e indiferencia del hombre hacia la naturaleza. Considerando este problema, dice que, “los campesinos están menos solos/ porque forman una misma cosa con la tierra./ Los árboles son hijos suyos,/ los cambios de tiempo observan en su propia carne/ y les sirve de ejemplo la santoral de 29
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research los animalitos” (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 54). En pocas palabras, Carrera Andrade ofrece una explicación de lo que ha causado la tremenda soledad del hombre de su época. La necesidad de la urbanización, con su consiguiente organización e industrialización, ha creado una gran pared entre el hombre y la naturaleza (Heald, 1961, 608). El hombre que se considera el intelectual, el avanzado, y el cosmopolita es el que sufre de sus propias invenciones. Mientras más busca industrializarse la humanidad, más se encuentra aislada de lo natural y hundido en su soledad. El hombre urbano ve al campesino como un ser inferior, pobre, sin embargo es el que sufre menos de la soledad por su unidad con la tierra. El poeta echa la culpa de este problema humano al deseo de dominar la naturaleza. Intentamos tener poder sobre algo que jamás podremos apoderar. Relacionado con el tema de la soledad, Carrera Andrade también toca temas filosóficos presentándonos con el problema de la humanidad sin la naturaleza. La etapa de la industrialización es relativamente nueva durante esta época y es el mayor control que hemos logrado sobre la naturaleza. Es decir, que es la primera vez que la humanidad ha vivido dependiente de algo más que la naturaleza, creyéndose ahora hasta más poderosa que la naturaleza. Estos factores causan más que la soledad; causan cuestiones acerca de nuestra propia identidad y el lugar donde nos quedamos en el mundo. Vemos otra perspectiva sobre el tema de la soledad en el poema “Biografía para uso de los pájaros.” En vez de enfocar la soledad directamente y tratarla con cierto optimismo, se concentra más en el estado del hombre en la modernidad y la enajenación casi total del hombre de la naturaleza. En los primeros versos del poema dice, “Nací en el siglo de la defunción de la rosa/ cuando el motor ya había ahuyentado a los ángeles” (Heald, 1961, 608). En este poema vemos de nuevo el problema entre el hombre y la naturaleza. La palabra “defunción” corresponde a la muerte, pero tiene una connotación completamente diferente y hasta más triste. Aunque estas dos palabras se comparan, las acciones son diferentes en que la muerte viene de repente, mientras la defunción es algo que se demora, y donde el progreso se puede ver con el tiempo. La defunción entonces, puede ser algo considerablemente más difícil porque es inevitable, pero aún pasa con el tiempo, dando la ilusión que se puede hacer algo para retardar su paso y aún detenerla (Heald, 1961, 609). La rosa, en el apogeo de su florecimiento, frecuentemente simboliza la belleza, el amor, y la alegría, pero aquí está muriendo en el “siglo” del “motor” para destacar la vulnerabilidad de la naturaleza en su relación con el hombre armado de la tecnología destructiva. El poema también 30
abarca el tema de la relación entre el hombre y el hombre. Todo lo que aprecia la voz poética es ya un recuerdo lejano y la vida tranquila y natural es remplazada por otra nueva y desconocida. La tristeza de la pérdida de esta vida se ve en la última estrofa: “todo ha pasado ya, en sucesivo oleaje./ Como las vanas cifras de la espuma./ Los años van sin prisa enredando sus líquenes/ y el recuerdo es apenas un nenúfar/ que asoma entre dos aguas/ su rostro de ahogado” (Palley 82). Estos versos se pueden interpretar como la tristeza de alguien que sabe cuanto ha cambiado la realidad de sus recuerdos, al punto que jamás serán los mismos. Aunque los años “van sin prisa enredando sus líquenes,” uno se da cuenta de repente que el tiempo ha pasado y cualquier tentativa a rescatarlo es en vano. La imagen del nenúfar ahogado aumenta la tristeza de la pérdida. Usa personificación para presentar un objeto de belleza con un “rostro de ahogado,” y así describe la falta de esperanza que viene con la pérdida del tiempo. En uno de sus poemas más conocidos, “Hombre planetario,” se ven muchas de las características más típicas de la poesía de Carrera Andrade. En vez de tener un tema prácticamente central de la soledad, toca un poco en casi todas sus preocupaciones, tanto las metafísicas como las sociales, haciéndose él mismo el “hombre planetario” del poema (Córdova, 1973, 358). Aquí vemos su uso de palabras sencillas para representar temas profundos, en manera que se relaciona con el hombre común, para indagar los problemas filosóficos que la humanidad ha venido enfrentando hacía siglos. Combina lo filosófico con lo cósmico y con la universalidad en general para conectar todos los seres del mundo. Contempla la antigua pregunta de “quien soy yo?” y a la vez alude a la tensión entre la modernidad y la naturaleza. El hombre planetario del poema se identifica con “Ulises, Parsifal,/ Hamlet, y Segismundo y muchos otros,” juntando personajes literarios del pasado y así compartiendo con ellos todas las experiencias, la soledad, la desilusión, y la angustia del hombre. Es importante notar los hombres específicos que eligió Carrera Andrade y qué han representado estos hombres en la tradición literaria occidental. Según José Hernán Córdova González “el poeta sabe que, en tiempos idos ya, él fue el héroe audaz de una odisea; se sabe haber sido el héroe que, sobreponiéndose al conflicto y a la indecisión, logró su redención sientetizando en sí mismo los ideales religiosos y mundanos; se reconoce como el héroe trágico de los soliloquios, torturados por la indecisión; recuerda haber sido el héroe atrapado entre la realidad y el sueño de la vida” (Córdova, 1973, 359). Mientras esta interpretación alude a la cuestión de “quien soy yo?,” crea otras cuestiones al unir la humanidad en su totalidad.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Introduce la tensión entre la naturaleza y la modernidad para añadir a la cuestión de identidad propia. Ataca la apatía y la hipocresía de los hombres sumergidos en lo material y dedicados a lo superficial cuando dice, “hombres, mujeres jóvenes,/ dentro de una vitrina/ con adornos de plantas,/ se sientan y sonríen,/ se miran, examinan sus vestidos,/ cambian palabras de humo,/ saborean el tiempo en rebanadas/ o por cucharaditas deleitosas” (Carrera Andrade, 1972 146, 148). Critica lo moderno como materialista y el dinero como deshumanizante. Con motivo de defender la naturaleza, denuncia los avances del mundo de las máquinas y de la tecnología. Con ironía dice, “Gloria a los fabricantes de automóviles/ que han poblado el planeta/ de rodantes alcobas” (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 150). Dentro de este tema vemos la pérdida de la fe y la confianza en las ciencias. El hombre ha trocado su fe en todo lo trascendental y en todo lo eterno por la creencia en las ciencias, que le puede dar la respuesta material a cualquier pregunta. Implica que el hombre ha perdido su identidad con el avance de las ciencias y la tecnología, y que la pérdida de cualquier anclaje le ha dejado sin respuestas a las cuestiones filosóficas. Critica las normas de la vida humana al usar como un ejemplo el hecho de que el tiempo domina nuestras vidas, aunque no tiene importancia física ni a él ni al cosmos. Al hablar de esto dice, “tiempo cósmico, reinas/ sin fin omnipresente,/ pulpo gris/ sin ayer ni mañana, siempre ahora,/ dormido en el espacio./ Tu masa no se mide por minutos,/ por horas o por días.” Y luego, “yo te mido mejor, oh inmensurable,/ por amarguras o por alegrías/ y por silencios o por soledades/ de sesenta suspiros cada una./ Yo viví sesenta años en un día/ y en una hora de amor/ sesenta eternidades” (Carrera Andrade, 1972. 144). Con el tiempo, así como con la naturaleza, el hombre intenta dominar lo que no puede ser dominado u organizado. De estas maneras vemos que Carrera Andrade intenta destacar lo universal, aclarar lo misterioso, y abarcar lo trascendente y lo eterno al yuxtaponer con lo cosmico la vida cotidiana. Vemos también en el “Hombre planetario” las imagenes de la ventana y del alba que recurren en la obra poética de Carrera Andrade. Valiéndose de la imagen de la ventana, Carrera Andrade dice, “¿Soy ese hombre que mira desde el puente/ los relumbres del río,/ vitrina de las nubes?” (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 138) Se puede decir que estos tres versos presentan la imagen de la ventana junto con el hecho de que la ventana funciona como un puente entre el interior y el exterior. A través de una vitrina la voz poética ve algo tan grande como las nubes que aparecen en el reflejo del agua de un río. A través de este reflejo, marcado por los límites de una ventana, puede ver el cielo. Ver las nubes a través de una vitrina aclara el sentido de
nubes como metonomía para cielo. En una vitrina se encuentra algo digno de admiración y a la vez inalcanzable. La imagen del alba se encuentra cuando el poeta dice, “Eternidad, te busco en el espacio,/ en el cielo nocturno donde boga/ el luminoso enjambre,/ en el alba que vuelve/ todos los días a la misma hora” (Carrera Andrade, 1972, 142). El poeta, sabiendo que es transitorio, busca la eternidad en el cosmos y la naturaleza, o sea lo eterno. El hecho de que la busca en el alba y que dice que “vuelve todos los días a la misma hora,” se puede interpretar como el significado de alba como una nueva conciencia que viene con la luz. Más que decir lo que representa el alba, el poeta nos da una imagen concreta para demostrar lo que representa el alba. Dice que busca el alba “en el cielo nocturno donde boga el luminoso enjambre.” Aquí vemos su uso de comparar lo mundano con lo cósmico en que compara un enjambre de luciérnagas con el firmamento y las estrellas. Con una sola imagen muestra su búsqueda de lo eterno en lo cosmico y lo natural. En la poesía de Jorge Carrera Andrade vemos temas que recurren en su obra poética total, pero en cada poema se desarrollan a distinción de los demás. A lo largo de su poesía vemos los temas de la humanización, la conciencia social, la solidaridad de todos los seres, la soledad, y la maldad de la modernización. El arte de Carrera Andrade se ve en la manera en que nos presenta estos temas. A través de la metáfora Carrera Andrade luce como el gran “visionero” que lo llama Pedro Salinas (Salinas 289). Con la metáfora crea imagenes concretas para que podamos ver lo que él ve. Llena sus metáforas con imagenes y objetos naturales, cósmicos, y a la vez cotidianos. De lo cotidiano crea un mundo imaginativo e igualmente real. Lo que además lo destaca a Carrera Andrade es el desarrollo de sus temas a lo largo de su poesía. Su poesía se basa en sus preocupaciones sobre el mundo, sea el individuo, la sociedad, o la naturaleza. Comunica sus preocupaciones de estos temas complicados y profundos con imagenes simples y diarias, viendo desde perspectivas originales y creativas.
Referencias Bishop, John Peale. “The Poetry of Jorge Carrera Andrade.” Jacket Magazine. (July, 12, 2000) http://jacketmagazine. com/12/andr-bishop.html Carrera Andrade, Jorge. “Biography for the Use of the Birds.” Poetry 172, 2 (May 1998): 76.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research ---. “Decade of My Poetry.” State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1970. Jacket Magazine. (July 12, 2000) http:// jacketmagazine.com/12/andr-vassar.html
---. Introduction. Selected Poems of Jorge Carrera Andrdade. By Jorge Carrera Andrade. New York: State University of New York Press, 1972. ix-xxvi.
---. Poesia Ultima. New York: Las Americas Publishing Company, 1968. ---. Selected Poems of Jorge Carrera Andrdade. New York: State University of New York Press, 1972.
Heald, William F. “Soledad in the Poetry of Jorge Carrera Andrade.” PMLA 76, 5 (December, 1961): 602-612.
Córdova, González, José Hernán. “El ‘Hombre planetario’ de Carrera Andrdade: Vision de una nueva humanidad.” Hispania 56, 2 (May 1973): 358-363. ---. Itinerario poético de Jorge Carrera Andrade. Thesis: Cornell University, January 1976.
---. A Study of the Imagery in the Poetry of Jorge Carrera Andrade. Tulane University, May 1, 1950. Hoffman, Reynolds Hays. BA. (April 17, 1943): 102,104-105. Li, William Spindler. “Jorge Carrera Andrade: Ecuadorian poet and prose writer.” Encyclopedia of Latin Amercian Literature. 175-178
Forster, Merlin H. Historia de la poesía hispanoamericana. Clear Creek, IN: The American Hispanist, 1981
Ojeda, Enrique. Introduction. Poesia Ultima. New York: Las Americas Publishing Company, 1968. 9-20.
Gleaves, Robert M. “The Reaffirmation of Analogy: An Introduction to Jorge Carrera Andrade’s Metaphoric System.” Confluencia 10, 1 (1994): 33-41.
Palley, Julian. “Temática de Jorge Carrera Andrdade.” Hispania 39, 1 (March 1956): 80-83.
Hays, H.R. “Jorge Carrera Andrdade, Magician of Metaphors.” Books Abroad 17, 2 (April 1943): 101-105. ---, ed. trans. Selected Poems of Jorge Carrera Andrdade. By Jorge Carrera Andrade. New York: State University of New York Press, 1972.
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Salinas, Pedro. “Registro de Jorge Carrera Andrade.” Revista Iberoamericana 5, 10 (October 1942): 285-294 Shuler, Esther Elise. La poesía de Jorge Carrera Andrade. University of Minnesota, June 1945.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT Daniel Trump Class: Senior Major: Theatre (acting)
While at MSU, I participated as an actor in numerous productions and in others as designer, writer, director, producer, choreographer or dramaturge. I find acting to be a pervasive field of study that encompasses nearly all forms of learning in its intent to mirror human life, and so a wonderful platform for sparking scholarly endeavor.
Cara McHugh
Class: Junior Major: Theatre and Political Science I have appeared in many productions while at Murray such as “Julie” in Miss Julie, “Spirit” in Tooth and Nail, and “Teenage Greek Chorus” in How I Learned to Drive. I am also actively involved in Sock N’ Buskin Theatre Club, Alpha Psi Omega Theatre Fraternity, Student Government Association, and Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority.
Theatre as an Instrument of Social Change: The Tooth and Nail Experience This essay defines and relates the importance of a dramaturge in the rehearsal process and production of a play. This paper specifically uses the experience of three dramaturges and the all encompassing South African play Tooth and Nail to prove its hypothesis of the vitality of research and how a cast and crew must know the context of the play they are delivering to an audience. The end result for the audience will be realizing the actors’ engagement of this context and how a play can ultimately produce and advocate social change.
FACULTY MENTOR Jonathan Awori is an Assistant Professor of Acting in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Murray State University. He received his BA in English from McGill University and his MFA in Acting from Illinois State University. He has acted professionally with such companies as the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and the Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre in Colorado. He has also directed several productions in various international locations including his native Kenya, Canada and the US. Recent directing credits include How I Learned to Drive, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Tooth and Nail.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
“Theatre as an Instrument of Social Change: The Tooth and Nail Experience”
C
ulture is a weapon.” Sifiso, a character in the 1988 play Tooth and Nail by the Junction Avenue Theatre Company, uses these words to advocate change in the apartheid era in South Africa. In a play such as Tooth and Nail, which is so rich in political and social history, detailed research and analytical compilations are vital in presenting a liaison between the playwright’s original vision and a director’s execution of his or her own personal vision. Racial segregation, social oppression, forced removal, the hope of a blossoming democracy, state of emergency, paranoia, tribal mentality morphed into official regimes, selective propaganda and personal insoluble human trauma are just a few of the innumerable complexities borne by apartheid and presented in Tooth and Nail. There are many obstacles that develop in this process, such as how one makes sense of foreign information, how one conveys this information--in the theatrical world--to a cast and crew, and how this information can be properly processed and utilized in an interactive manner by the cast, crew, and potential audience. It is at this point is where the duties of a dramaturge are introduced.
“
Some of the dramaturge’s responsibilities within the process of a theatrical production include researching and defining unfamiliar information and compiling an organized outline for the cast, crew, and audience. Dramaturges must acquire expertise in the subject matter presented in the script; their knowledge must be so pervasive that they can answer any question posed by any actor, member of the crew, or designer at any time of the rehearsal process or during production. The result of the dramaturge’s research and communication of that material is a more informed cast of actors, which in turn creates a more informed performance of greater integrity. The dramaturges began collecting information approximately eight months before the opening of Tooth and Nail, months before the casting, designing, or production planning had begun. The first step for Tooth and Nail’s three dramaturges was for each of us to establish a personal understanding of the play’s historical context. Establishment of this basic understanding was created by a mass intake of factual information. Initial accumulation of facts 34
“Come give me the AK.” Thandi rejects her mother’s plea not to join the anti-apatheid struggle. include historical dates (South Africa’s first democratic elections were held in 1994), chronological timelines (the African National Congress, a rebel group, becomes the official ruling party), specific jargon (“boers”, a term for the white ruling class), statistics (the 20% white minority ruled the 80% black majority) , names of people, places, names, and movements [Nelson Mandela, Soweto, The Black Consciousness Movement, and demographics (there are eleven official languages in South Africa)]. From this point, the three dramaturges met and discussed the most beneficial manner in which to filter the research that we had already compiled and the future research we still needed to obtain. Had we conveyed ever bit of what we had learned, we would have produced an ensemble of dramaturges rather than actors and technicians. We then divided specific important contextual topics of discussion such as feminism during apartheid, opposing religious views in South Africa, the reigning political ideologies and attitudes in South Africa, the history of theatre in South Africa, and important influences of specific people such as Nelson Mandela or Stephen Biko. Because there was so much history and information, it was
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research important for us to decide what we thought the most important aspects were to focus on and which ones were going to impact the actor or designers in the most useful way. After collecting all the information on our specific research topics, we met again for a much different purpose--to filter and condense our collected data. The technique for this boiled down to relevance. Each piece of information was faced with the question “is this relevant to the production of Tooth and Nail?” For example, substantial information on Aids and on the diplomatic relations between South Africa and America were of general interest but did not actively impact the world of the play. We had to agree on what information would be the most comprehensible and most embraced by the cast and crew to influence their personal technique of acting or method of design, and that would ultimately have a positive effect on the audience’s understanding. During the rehearsal process, dramaturges present research in an interactive, practical, and engaging fashion. On the first day of rehearsal, we provided all members of the cast and crew with an organized dramaturgical packet consisting of timelines, footnotes, journal articles, images, powerful quotes, and poems. Apartheid had been broken down into three distinct eras (pre-apartheid, apartheid, and post-apartheid) by the dramaturges before the rehearsal process. The first week of rehearsal was dedicated to presenting the objective and factual basis of these three eras through oral lectures, visual media, cast inclusive exercises, interviews with South Africans, audio media, and finally an open dialogue with the cast. Deeper within the rehearsal process, more in depth questions were posed to the dramaturges and to the cast in reference to each person’s specific role or character. One such example is when both the actors and dramaturges worked collaboratively to define each character’s affiliations in a society steeped in social organizations, political institutions, and heterogeneous cultural ethnic groups. It was important to specifically find where each character belonged. There were no factual documents to support the character’s supposed backgrounds but instead the fusion between the dramaturge and the actor helped to design a springboard from which the actor could jump in the role artistically. We associate Sifiso, the young radical militant who advocates political change, with the ANC; Letitia, the Caucasian female sympathetic to the antiapartheid movement, as British as opposed to the dominant Dutch, founders of the apartheid regime; and Manfred, the Caucasian businessman who reveals his loyalty to apartheid, as a member of
the AWB, the white extremist group. In the final phases of rehearsal and the beginning of production, the dramaturges still remain available to the actor and crew but also focus more on relations with the audience. We began by writing an excerpt and a page of essential definitions that would be provided in the program of the production for the direct benefit and knowledge of the audience members. We then created a visual display that encapsulated our research in a condensed aesthetic form. The display was placed in an immediate and accessible location to set the initial tone through historical images and props. It provided visual aid with pictures of Nelson Mandela, Stephen Biko, acts of violent racial discrimination, means of propaganda, and powerful poems and quotes. Finally, we advertised the production throughout the University and community through flyers, newspaper interviews, television promotions, radio interviews, and university email. Taking advantage of our positions as dramaturges and knowing the subject matter, we were able to develop a keen sense of what audience members would be especially drawn to and interested in the production of Tooth and Nail. Appealing to the intellect in pre-production via information, influencing creativity during rehearsal via collaboration, and again appealing to the intellect during production via public relations allowed Tooth and Nail’s dramaturges not only to attract interested audience members, but, perhaps more importantly, to enlighten those audience members who had come without preconceived notions. Enlightened notions, preconceived or otherwise, are not of much value to the audience if not effectively presented by the actors in Tooth and Nail. Thus, the process of developing a character under the influence of a dramaturgical crew becomes a process of balancing the intellectual and the visceral. It is one thing to intellectualize a role; it is another thing entirely to perform it. In a production such as Tooth and Nail¸ guttural, instinctual, and physical performance is an absolute necessity. However, a solid intellectual basis has the potential to give shape to the most vulnerable--even primal--human performance. Armed with dramaturgical research, each actor was able to create a detailed fictional character biography to bring with them, intellectually, on stage as well as a detailed understanding of historical context and their roles in that history. This specificity made for more layered choices in performance. For instance, an integral part of Tooth and Nail was the addition of three South African gumboot dances, an emotionally intensive
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research and physically raw style of dance that would be brought to America in the form of step-dancing. Without dramaturgy, these dances would have existed as just that—dances. Their places within the history of the play, within the lives of the characters, the stakes they held for those characters, would be lost; they would be an acceptable, but generic, physical expression. With a dramaturgical background, however, each dance became a specific experience; the first greeted the audience with the tone of an eclectic group of storytellers excited to relay their story, the second was an angry anti-apartheid protest, and the third a complex mingling of those two “Call and Response Greeting.” Company engages in a team building song and dance sequence. positive and negative emotions. As was the case in all matters encompasses the politics, literature, important leaders, outstanding of performance in Tooth and Nail, a general situation was given individuals, four distinct eras of apartheid, religious aspects, complex and specific human characteristics borne from intellect feminist issues, and theatrical elements. Also included are a list and expressed through emotional and physical engagement. of “for further viewing” if you find yourself intrigued and desire more information regarding the history, apartheid era, and present Intellectualism can only take an actor so far; engagement must take state of South Africa. the performance from intellectualized to fully realized. Likewise, References the dramaturge’s intellectual effect on an audience can only take them as far as the fall of the curtain; engagement will ultimately De Villiers, Marq. White Tribe Dreaming: Apartheid’s Bitter Roots realize their experience as well. For the actor, engagement involves as Witnessed by Eight Generations of an Afrikaner Family. emotional and physical commitment and connection during a New York: Penguin Books, 1987. performance. The actor, onstage, must make choices. For an audience member, true engagement begins after a performance. Here, in the world outside the theatre, choices are made. Social change of any kind is the progressive result of choices, of raising awareness and provoking a response to that awareness. The final product of the dramaturgical process, the execution of the production by the cast, crew, and director, produced the Tooth and Nail, an experience that proved the theatre’s capacity for more than mere entertainment and highlighted its potential as an outlet promoting hope through the possibility of social change. For those who are interested, the dramaturgical packet in its entirety will be posted at http://campus.murraystate.edu/services/URSA/ index.html. This is the “dramaturgical packet” that is referred to throughout this essay which includes various information that
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Junction Avenue Theatre Company, The. Tooth and Nail. South Africa, 1994. Kavanagh, Robert Mashengu. Theatre and Cultural Struggle in South Africa. London: Zed Books Limited, 1985. Library of Congress. “South Africa: Chronology of Important Dates.” Library of Congress Country Studies. http://1cweb2. loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+za0013) Thompson, Leonard. A History of South Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT
Johnathan Frederick Class: Senior Major: Engineering Physics
In addition to my research at MSU, I was involved in research in the Integrative Matrix Mechanics Laboratory at Rice University in Houston, TX, with mentors Drs. Tracy Blevins and Jane Grande-Allen. I also enjoy playing clarinet and reading.
Michael Synder Class: Senior Major: Physics
I am a non-traditional student who dropped out of high school in 1985. After graduating from IET with an associateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in electronic engineering, I became a certified network engineer and worked in Silicon Valley during the technology boom. After leaving California, I went to college and found out that I had dyslexia. I will graduate from MSU in December with a 3.22 GPA.
Photonic Dipole Contours of a Ferrofluid Hele-Shaw Cell Understanding magnetic fields is important to facilitate magnetic applications in diverse fields in industry, commerce, and space exploration, to name a few. Large electromagnets can move heavy loads of metal. Magnetic materials attached to credit cards allow for fast, accurate business transactions. And the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magnetic field gives us the colorful auroras observed near the north and south poles. Magnetic fields are not visible, and therefore often hard to understand or characterize. This investigation describes and demonstrates a novel technique for the visualization of magnetic fields. Two ferrofluid Hele-Shaw cells have been constructed to facilitate the imaging of magnetic field lines. 1,2,3,4 We deduce that magnetically induced photonic band gap arrays similar to electrostatic liquid crystal operation are responsible for the photographed images and seek to mathematically prove the images are of exact dipole nature. We also note by comparison that our photographs are very similar to Solar Eclipse photographs.
FACULTY MENTOR
Stephen Cobb is professor and chair of the Department of Engineering and Physics. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from Georgia Tech in 1988, with research interests in atomic and molecular physics applied to chemical laser systems. He holds five patents for visible chemical laser processes, was appointed a Fulbright Scholar to Russia in 1995, and is also registered as a Professional Engineer.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
Photonic Dipole Contours of a Ferrofluid Hele-Shaw Cell
W
e seek to analyze the paths that light follows when injected orthogonally into a ferrofluid Hele-Shaw cell (also referred to as â&#x20AC;&#x153;the lensâ&#x20AC;? in this paper). Each cell is made of two circular, optically flat, windows of glass sandwiched together with a very thin layer of ferrofluid in between. Light is injected radially into the edges at regular intervals (various wavelengths have been examined). We define the flat plane of the glass as the xy plane; the light was injected into the outside edges of the glass, and the pictures were taken by a camera in the z axis. Two versions of the apparatus were utilized. One was made up of two 150mm diameter BK7 glass windows with a parallelism of 1 arc minute. The second was made up of two 114mm diameter windows that had a hole of 38mm removed from the centers. Both were filled with ferrofluid EFH1 which uses light mineral oil as a medium.
Background Information All measurements were kept in pixels. Our goal was to identify the dipole nature contained within our photographs. To define a dipole one needs only the location of one of the poles and the distance vector to the other pole. The ferrofluid Hele-Shaw cells were made by Timm Vanderelli from Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Mounts and lighting systems were created to investigate his claim of an optical presentation of magnetic flux.2 In the course of this investigation, seven apparatuses with different lighting systems and lens sizes have been evaluated. The trend has been to use larger apparatus with higher resolution cameras. (Starting in the fall 2006 with a 50 mm diameter lens, then a 100 mm diameter lens in the spring 2007, and finally a 150 mm diameter lens in the fall 2007.) Ten of our resulting videos have been posted on YouTube.com.5
The magnets used for the photographs were 25.4mm diameter tesla rated spherical neodymium-iron-boron magnets mounted on wood dowels and rotated by computer controlled stepper motors. The experimental setup is shown in the supplemental images (Figure 6, see pp. 44).
Both fiber optics and light emitting diodes have been used to inject photons into the lenses. A microscopic image of the particles flowing in the ferrofluid is shown in Figure 2 (below).
Figure 1: Diagram of lens mount. The radial lines are holes within the apparatus, for light injection.
Figure 2: Image of alignment of ferrofluid particles in the presence of a static magnetic field. The dark area at left is the magnet.6
38
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research form of magnetic potential lines, it is helpful to use a Gilbert Model of a magnetic dipole.
[
m0p 4p
Vm =
1 1 r1 r2
]
(1)
In equation (1), Vm is magnetic scalar potential, p is the magnetic charge, μ0 is the permittivity of free space, r1 and r2 are the pole position vectors. The constants are uninteresting in our case because it is the image geometry that we wish to match; so they will be considered unity from this point forward. Equation (2) is the Cartesian coordinate system version of equation (1). Vm =
1
-
√ (x - x ) + (y - y ) 2
2
1
(2)
1
√ (x - x ) + (y - y ) 2
1
2
2
2
If we place the poles on the y axis, c distance above and below the origin, than equation (3) is the result. Vm =
Figure 3: Image taken with red light and vertical dipole moment. The outside edges are light sources. The illumination leads to two different color response modes of the lenses. Starting at red wavelengths and working down to green wavelengths, photons pass through the lens giving detailed dipole contour lines of the externally imposed magnetic field, as seen in Figure 3 (above). Blue wavelengths provide significantly different pictures. The blue light images tend to form an evenly highlighted background, and imposing a magnetic field seems to restrict the amount of light oriented toward the viewer, particularly near the pole locations, leaving a uniform blue field with black void features. As a result, red LEDs were generally used to view dipole field details; and blue LEDs were used to map general pole locations. Lasers were found to create images but tended to give irreproducible results. Most likely, this is due to the limitations of our equipment. We have found that directed but diffuse light works best for our apparatus.
Mathematical Background and Method of Analysis It has been observed that light “follows” magnetic potential contours in the apparatus under investigation. To see the functional
1
√
(x2 + (y - c)2
-
(3)
1
√ (x + (y + c) 2
2
The center offset c is half the distance between the two magnetic charges. Curves of constant Vm were computed in MatLab and compared to the experimental images.
Data Acquisition The still photographs were taken with a Nikon 995 digital camera and the movies with a CoVi CVQ-2110 security camera. The CoVi provided an excellent low light NTSC output that was captured onto our lab computer. The Nikon 995 is one of the better low cost cameras for scientific purposes because its exposure and focus settings are lockable during operation, providing for a consistent series of photographs. We used a Nikon Wide Angle WC-E63 lens in order to gather as much light as possible. Our best still images came from an exposure setting of 8 seconds and a 4.6 F-stop. The still photographs were calibrated by using standard astronomical techniques of taking five dark frames before and after every run. The dark frame average was then subtracted from each photograph as it was processed within MatLab. Our processors of choice were MatLab for images and the program VirtualDub by Avery Lee for the video editing.8 The standard processing was to break up the photographs and videos into RGB layers and process each layer separately. Contrast and lighting settings were chosen to enhance the dipole lines contained within 39
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research the images. At no time was information added to photographs; but video filters were used to remove unwanted information. For example, in VirtualDub, the black and white, smoothing, and level filters were used in the videos. In MatLab, the still photographs were broken up into RGB arrays, with dark frame noise subtracted. Then contrast was set by multiplying the arrays by a scalar value. A radial light intensity distance dependence was found within the photos. The centers of the photographs were brighter than the light sources at the edges. This made digitizing the images challenging because near the center there was one signal to noise ratio, but the levels just a few hundred pixels away were different, meaning any digitizing operation in Matlab would fail because the photos did not have consistent signal and noise levels. This challenge was overcome by multiplying the value of each pixel by 1.02 times its pixel distance away from the center. This equalization process allowed us to create binary masks from the photographs.
Data Analysis
The computer then tagged regions of equal field magnitude values. For example, in MatLab one can issue a single command that finds all the .002 values in the complete array and changes them into 1099 values. Then one can digitize all values greater than 1098 to ones and all else to zeros. This produces a very quick and accurate equal-field-line image. In order to identify those equal-potential lines of interest, it was decided to seed the ideal dipole image with equal-field magnitude locations from the photographs. This is equivalent to an array indexing operation in a sense, to find a white spot on the original, and then look at the same location on the candidate image array and find the value underneath it. We then tagged all those values in the idealized image equal to the seed-referenced value as in Figures F1-F4 (see pp. 44-45). Since both the original and idealized images are made up of curves, the chances of tagging a wrong line and finding an image comparison fit is very small. If one tags the incorrect line, it simply curves away from the area of interest. Only when both the computer generated pole parameters and the correct equal field lines are tagged does the computer return a fit. The best fit is the fit that most closely resembles the experimental image, i.e. the most tagged points. See Figure 4 (and supplemental information on pp. 44-45) for an example of a best fit.
Observation of the resulting images suggested that the lines were most likely lines of equal magnetic field of a dipole oriented perpendicular (in the xy plane) to the magnetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actual dipole moment. To confirm this, we chose a parameter variation method to find the dipole locations. Our method was to examine the first 24 photographs of a particular run and guess the possible locations of the poles. From this set of initial conditions, a calculation of the associated magnetic field for that pole location could be produced. A computer algorithm was written to vary the locations of the initial guess in an iterative process until a best fit was obtained in comparing the simulation to the observed set of field lines. To generate the idealized dipole plots, an array was created and filled with inverse values radiating away from the center. To make a dipole plot, a smaller section of the pole inverse array was taken and then subtracted by an offset section of the same array. The resulting array is a dipole array. To make it easier to work with, we deleted the near field values and used the absolute values of the array. Figure 4: This is an example of the model produced in MatLab. 40
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Results
that were determined by MatLab. C is just the distance from (x1,y1) to (x2,y2).
After using MatLab to find the best C for 24 representative experimental images, we found that C=325±9 pixels (95%) which is approximately twice the diameter of our magnets. C here is twice as much as the c used earlier (in Equation 5) and represents the distance between north and south poles observed with our apparatus. Table 1 shows how our measured C value was determined. The x’s and y’s were the best fits
Table 1 Results of parameter variation in MatLab. Image
x1
y1
x2
y2
1
547
706
869
701
322.0
2
547
709
871
709
324.0
3
547
704
871
709
324.0
4
547
704
870
709
323.0
5
541
706
870
702
329.0
6
542
704
870
704
328.0
7
546
705
865
701
319.0
8
547
707
865
703
318.0
9
542
702
869
707
327.0
10
540
702
871
708
331.1
11
547
704
871
708
324.0
12
547
705
871
702
324.0
13
547
709
867
702
320.1
14
546
709
871
709
325.0
15
539
707
871
707
332.0
16
547
701
864
709
317.1
17
547
708
871
706
324.0
18
547
709
871
709
324.0
19
539
706
871
706
332.0
20
546
708
871
701
325.1
21
539
707
871
701
332.1
22
539
703
863
702
324.0
23
539
703
863
702
324.0
24
539
707
868
706
329.0
C
In addition to the curves actually analyzed, there exist other orientations of the magnet, all basically consistent with the “following” of equal field lines. This is seen when it is taken into account that magnetic fields are actually extant in three dimensions, instead of the two that have been investigated. Also, when light is supplied in other orientations, i.e. the room light, a different result is seen. In this case a “bow shock” shape as in Figure 8 is seen, basically concave away from the direction of the light source. Superposition of the two effects is valid, as might be seen in Figure 9 (see p. 43). Also, the images behave as light following dipole surfaces in a limited area of the lens. In the areas adjacent to where the actual north and south poles of the magnet exist, it is viewed as a crossing of light paths. This is contradictory to a simple dipole model. The crossing lines do however bear an uncanny resemblance to those of the sun’s corona 9,10, as shown in Figure 5 (see p. 42). Some kind of three dimensional effects may be the cause of this unusual feature.
Conclusions Ferrofluid Hele-Shaw cells are useful as a magnetic field visualization instrument, unlike any other known to the authors. It is quite conceivable that other utilizations will be found with further research of this previously unknown phenomenon .11 Many questions have been raised during our current research, including the magnetic field strength required for the phenomenon to occur and the actual mechanism by which it occurs. Some interesting articles that may help understand the mechanisms include. 12,13,14 The mechanism we propose is one of magnetically induced photonic band gap array similar to electrostatic liquid crystal operation 15. The main idea being that the rodlike Ferrofluid molecules dynamically line up head-to-tail like reflective compass needles and form three dimensional waveguides that direct the radially injected light along the surfaces of the dipole.
41
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Michael Snyder (2006-2007) http://www.youtube.com/user/ SirZerp.
5
6
Photo by John R. Shearer of Pittsburgh (10/2007).
R.E. Rosenweig. Electromagnetism and Fields: Magnetostatic Field Equations. Ferrohydrodynamics (1985). pp. 74-77.
7
VirtualDub by Avery Lee http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/.
8
Photo by Fred Espenak of Tracys Landing, MD http://www. mreclipse.com/MrEclipse.html.
9
10
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Website. http://sohowww. nascom.nasa.gov/.
11
Alfonso F. Davila. Detection and Function of Biogenic Magnetite. pp. 61-79.
12
Richard J. Cook, Heidi Feam, and Peter W. Milonni. Fizeau’s Experiment and the Aharonov-Bohm Effect. American Journal of Physics, August 1995, pp. 705-10.
13
John P. McTague. Magnetoviscosity of Magnetic Colloids. The Journal of Chemical Physics, July 1969, pp. 133-6.
14
W.F. Hall and S.N. Busenberg. Viscosity of Magnetic Suspensions, The Journal of Chemical Physics, July 1969, pp. 137-44.
15
Figure 5: A picture of a solar eclipse.9 Compare with Figure 3 (see p. 39).
Endnotes R.E. Rosenweig, Ferrohydrodynamic Instabilities: Labyrinthine Instabilities. Ferrohydrodynamics (1985). pp. 208-16.
1
Timm Vanderelli from Ligonier, Pennsylvania. USPTO patent application #20070241745 Magnetic Flu Viewer. http:// nanomagnetics.us/
2
R.E. Rosenweig, Magnetic Fluids. Ferrohydrodynamics (1985). pp. 33-73.
3
C. Sherer and A.M. Figueiredo Neto. Ferrofluids: Properties and Applications. Brazilian Journal of Physics, September 2005, pp. 718-27.
4
42
Gerhard Meier. Applications of Liquid Crystals (1975).
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Supplemental Image Gallery
Figure 6: The experimental setup showing camera in a box and lens on the left face of the box. During operation, the box is closed, and the room lights usually turned off.
Figure 7: The apparatus showing the magnet location and use of stepper motor mounted on a PVC frame. Blue LEDs were used in this case.
Figure 8: Photograph of a pronounced “bow” with white light source to the right (not visible) and dipole moment on the z-axis. Annular magnet at center.
Figure 9: Photograph of a “bow” effect with white light source to the right (not visible) and blue LEDs turned on. Three repulsive dipole moments on the z-axis.
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Supplemental Image Gallery
Figure S1: Source image #6
Figure S2: Source image #19
Figure F1: Fit of image #6 rotated 88 degrees, (experimental mask | idealized dipole) on Left (experimental mask & idealized dipole) on Right
Figure F2: Fit of image #19 rotated 299 degrees, (experimental mask | idealized dipole) on Left (experimental mask & idealized dipole) on Right
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Supplemental Image Gallery
Figure S3: Source image #21
Figure S4: Source image #23
Figure F3: Fit of image #21 rotated 330 degrees, (experimental mask | idealized dipole) on Left (experimental mask & idealized dipole) on Right
Figure F4: Fit of image #23 rotated 358 degrees, (experimental mask | idealized dipole) on Left (experimental mask & idealized dipole) on Right
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CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
ABSTRACT
Danielle Williams
Class: Senior Major: Communication Disorders After graduation in May 2008, I plan to pursue a Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in SpeechLanguage Pathology. As an undergraduate student in the communication disorders program, I have gained an appreciation for research in my field. I hope to utilize my interest in research as well as my passion for helping others in my future career as a Speech-Language Pathologist.
The Relationship of Gestures and Communication Development in Infants and Toddlers Infants and toddlers tend to use gestures as a method of communication before their acquisition of verbal speech. Such gestures serve not only as a functional communication modality, but also serve as a transitional device to later verbal labeling. The recent popularity of commercial baby signing products illustrates the benefits of teaching gestures to babies. Gestures help to facilitate prelinguistic communication between the infant and caregiver and have also been identified as predictors of later verbal language acquisition. This paper describes the development of gestures in normal infants and discusses literature that examines the relationship of early gesture use and the onset of verbal language.
FACULTY MENTOR Kelly Kleinhans is a clinical supervisor and lecturer in the Department of Wellness and Therapeutic Sciences. She is working on her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Sciences from The University of Kentucky. Ms. Kleinhans teaches courses in the Communication Disorders Division and supervises graduate students at the Murray State Speech and Hearing Clinic. She earned her M.A. from Kent State University and has over 15 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist. Her research focuses on facilitating the communicative competence of individuals with complex communication needs.
46
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research
The Relationship of Gestures and Communication Development in Infants and Toddlers
T
eaching babies sign language is a growing trend among modern day mothers. Based on American Sign Language (ASL), baby signing is being taught to hearing infants as a method of communication prior to the infant’s acquisition of verbal speech. Mothers now have access to commercialized products that promise to promote increased verbal labeling and overall language skills. Interactive videos on the market today offer sign training in the comfort of one’s home. Such products include © Signing Time by Two Little Hands Productions, © Sign2Me by Northlight Communications, and © My Baby Can Talk by Baby Hands Productions. These DVDs introduce some of the first words used in the baby’s environment such as eat, drink, and cookie as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 (see p. 48). It appears these products are no gimmick. In fact, researchers have provided evidence that supports the fact that production of gestures, including the use of more conventional signs such as those found in the commercial products, enhance language development (Capone & McGregor, 2004). In addition, available research also indicates that prelinguistic gestures not only precede language, but are also predictors of verbal language acquisition (Iverson & Goldin-Meadow, 2005). During language acquisition, gestures not only function as a communication modality, but appear to serve as a transition to verbal language (Capone & McGregor, 2004). Goodwyn, Acredolo, and Brown (2000) suggest that when young children produce gestures before they can speak the same symbol, the gesture production is representative of language learning. McEachem and Haynes (2004) provide evidence that prelinguistic gestures facilitate the onset of early single words in typically developing children and subsequently function as a transitional device for later developing multiword utterances (McEachem & Haynes, 2004). Therefore, the increasing popularity of teaching baby signs to infants is not merely a trendy phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the significant role that gesture development plays in communication and language development in typically developing children.
Communication Researchers have not only focused on the impact of gestures and the acquisition of language development, but also on the communicative value of such intentional prelinguistic communication. The prelinguistic communicative behaviors of infants are believed to be used by the infants to express communicative intentions (Wetherby, Cain, Yonclas, & Walker, 1988). Speech act theory (Austin, 1962) has been adopted for use by researchers in child language who propose the emergence of communication occurs in three stages: the perlocutionary stage, illocutionary stage, and locutionary stage (Bates, 1975; Wetherby et al., 1988). At birth, infants’ communicative behaviors are characterized as perlocutionary. In this stage of prelinguistic communication development, all vegetative and unintentional infant behaviors are attributed meaning by the caregiver. Infant behaviors are often studied for the unintentional effects on their communication partner in this perlocutionary stage. Around six to nine months of age, the child transitions to the illocutionary stage. The hallmark of this stage is intentionality. During this stage of prelinguistic communication development, the infant begins to intentionally produce gestures and vocalizations to affect the caregiver’s behavior. Around 12 months of age, the infant begins using real words to express intentional communication and at this time, the infant has entered the locutionary stage (Wetherby et al., 1988). The use of gestures as a primary means of communication occurs during the illocutionary stage, when the infant has not yet acquired verbal labeling to express intentional communication, but is intentional. Researchers have reported that the primary communicative functions of these early gestures include regulating the behavior of others and engaging in social interaction and joint attention which is sharing focus on an entity or event (Bruner, 1981). Wetherby and colleagues (1988) suggest that these prelinguistic communicative functions provide the foundation for the emergence of verbal labels because of their communicative value. 47
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Gestures Iverson and Thal (1998) characterize gestures as intentional actions produced by the infant for a communicative purpose. Therefore, gestures serve a social-attentional or social-regulatory function in the child’s communicative environment. The first gestures to emerge are primitive, but recognizable in form because they are contextually bound and are used primarily to gain or direct the attention and actions of their caregiver (Capone & McGregor, 2004). As children grow and develop, the types and functions of gestures they produce undergo several changes. The infant progresses from reliance on the less sophisticated primitive gestures to more conventional, even symbolic, gestures such as those found in baby sign materials. During the illocutionary period of communication is when caregivers will notice the emergence of these early gestures. Recall during this period, typically somewhere between six to nine months of age, the babies are believed to be becoming intentional communicators. Baby behaviors that have been reported to signal intentional behavior include the babies’ ability to be persistent in their signaling, their ability to alternate eye gaze between the communicative goal and listener, as well as their ability to display expressions of satisfaction or dissatisfaction regarding basic care needs (Wetherby & Prizant, 1989). Parents will be familiar with
eat
Tap your fingers to your mouth a few times just like you are going to eat something.
some of the earliest gestures which include showing, giving, and pointing (Wetherby & Prizant, 1989). These early prelinguistic gestures are either deictic or representational (Iversan and Thal, 1998). Deictic gestures are first used by the infant to call attention to objects or actions, such as when the infant lifts his bottle upward toward his mother or when an infant stretches both arms upward toward a parent. Deictic gestures function to regulate the behavior of caregivers. Gestures used for this purpose are referred to as protoimperatives. An example of a protoimperative might be when an infant standing at the coffee table stretches their torso and extends their arms across the table while opening and closing their fingers in order to obtain their mother’s coffee cup. After protoimperatives appear, protodeclaratives emerge. Protodeclaratives function to call attention to an object in the social or physical environment. An example might be when an infant points to direct the attention of a caregiver to a dropped cookie. As infants mature at around 12 months of age, infants’ gestures become more sophisticated and symbolic. Representational gestures are used to symbolize a particular referent that does not change in different contexts and symbolize actions that are carried out on an object in order to imitate its function (Capirci, Contaldo, Caselli, & Volterra, 2005). Some of the earliest representational gestures function as a social convention such as a wave for “bye-bye” or a
drink Form your hand around an imaginary cup and bring it to your mouth.
Figure 1. The American Sign Language sign for eat as illustrated by © Signing Time by Two Little Hands Productions. Readers may refer to www.signingtime.com. 48
Figure 2. The American Sign Language sign for drink as illustrated by © Signing Time by Two Little Hands Productions. Readers may refer to www.signingtime.com.
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research head shake for “yes” or “no”. Representational gestures are also recognizable as the earliest conventional play schemes, such as when the child holds their fist to their ear to mimic the use of a telephone. These early representational gestures provide a way for children to refer to objects before their acquisition of verbal labeling. Iverson and Goldin-Meadow (2005) have provided anecdotal descriptions of a systematic progression of representational gesture use based on their observations of three infants (ages 10-24 months). They report infants first label objects using gestures only. With the emergence of verbal labels, children then begin using gestures in conjunction with verbal labels and then primarily rely on only verbal labels. Based on their observations, Iverson and Goldin-Meadow observed that gestures serve as a transitional device for infants as they begin to combine two-words, but only after their acquisition of gesturespeech combinations. They also hypothesized that gestures function as a critical component of early lexical development by allowing new meanings to enter a child’s communicative vocabulary first through the use of these prelinguistic gestures. Capone & McGregor (2004) specify that infants tend to imitate gestures produced by adults in their environment. For instance, in baby signing, adults simply model the gesture in conjunction with the verbal label of the referent during every day activities. The repetitive modeling of the gesture soon causes the infant to
Bend your fingers to make the shape of a cookie on top of your other palm, then twist it back and forth like a cookie cutter.
cookie Figure 3. The American Sign Language sign for cookie as illustrated by © Signing Time by Two Little Hands Productions. Readers may refer to www.signingtime.com.
mimic the behavior and later produce it spontaneously. Gestures allow infants to initiate communication with their caregiver and maintain their attention (Capone & McGregor, 2004). A report by Goodwyn and Acredolo (1993) revealed infants who are taught gesturing in order to intentionally communicate with their caregiver before the onset of verbal language have a greater occurrence of gesture production than infants who begin producing gestures spontaneously. Such infants also show an advantage for the acquisition of spoken words. Goodwyn, Acredolo, and Brown (2000) reported on a study that identified a significant correlation between symbolic gesturing and later verbal language acquisition. In this study, 103 infantcaregiver dyads were recruited from middle-class Californian families. Infants were entered in to the study at 11 months of age, prior to the acquisition of a verbal vocabulary. Infant-caregiver dyads were randomly assigned to the experimental or Sign Training (ST) group (n= 32) the Verbal Training (VT) group (n=32), or the Non-intervention Control (NC) group (n=39). Caregivers assigned to the ST group were trained to model symbolic gestures to their children by always using them in conjunction with a spoken word. An example of a symbolic gesture would be nodding their head as a symbol for “yes”. The parents in the VT control group were encouraged to verbally label as many items as possible during daily interactions with their children. In contrast, the NC group did not undergo any training of any kind. All the parents were given picture books and toys that depicted the target gestures the parents in the ST group had been taught to use. The mothers were interviewed biweekly and were asked to describe their gesture modeling efforts in specific detail. The interviews allowed the researchers to gather information about the frequency of target symbol modeling by the parents and also determine if any gestures or vocalizations were occurring in the infants (Goodwyn, Acredolo, & Brown, 2000). Symbolic gesturing was defined by the researchers to guide data collection. The criteria were as follows, (a) spontaneous usage of the gesture by the child, (b) stereotypical usage of the form of gesture, and (c) use of the gesture throughout multiple contexts (Acredolo & Goodwyn, 1988). Data analysis revealed the overall mean number of symbolic gestures used by the infants in the ST group was nearly 15 points greater than the average gestures used by the NC group. Therefore, the parents who repeatedly modeled gestures did indeed cause their infants to use gesturing themselves (Goodwyn et al., 2000). Therefore, it is evident that gestures do not hinder, but enhance, language development (Capone & McGregor, 2004). 49
CHRYSALIS: The Murray State University Journal of Undergraduate Research Mayberry and Nicoladis (2000) also studied the relationship of gestures and language development. These researchers examined a group five French-English bilingual children who ranged in ages from 24 months to 3-and-a-half years of age. The researchers studied bilingual children exposed to two different languages beginning at birth because evidence shows that many bilingual children develop each language at a different rate. This allowed the researchers to examine the use of gesture production and verbal labeling of the children as they acquired both languages. The researchers used a longitudinal study design collecting observational data in six month intervals. Researchers videotaped observations of conversations with either the child’s mother or father. Researchers reviewed tapes and gathered data on each child’s gesture use and average length of utterance. Consistent with the literature on bilingual language acquisition, three of the five children developed the two languages at different rates, while the remaining two children showed a close rate of language development between both English and French. Because the children in this study were at the onset of multiword utterances, researchers chose to code gestures as iconic or beat. Iconic and beat gestures are commonly used by adults during verbal speech, therefore they are considered to be a more complex gesture that is attributed to the maturation of the child’s cognitive skills. Iconic gestures represent a physical aspect of their referent and may include spatial images, actions, people, or objects such as when a person uses their hands to describe the size of an object. Beat gestures are rhythmic movements made by the hand, finger, or arm that emphasize verbalized words such as when an adult quickly shakes their finger at a child when telling them to clean their room. Researchers reported iconic and beat gestures were never produced during the children’s use of one or two-word utterances. For example, if a child was speaking multiword utterances in English, he/she also produced iconic and beat gestures during such instances. However, the child never produced such gestures during one or two-word French utterances when it was the child’s lesser developed language. This evidence is indicative that as a child’s language develops, the types of gestures they produce mature as well. The two children who showed a close rate of development between both English and French produced iconic and beat gestures when speaking both languages. Therefore, children only produced complex gestures, such as iconic and beat gestures, in conjunction with complex utterances. Such evidence supports that the gestures are not independent from language development, but yet serve as a
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functional transitional device from prelinguistic communication to the acquisition verbal speech. (Mayberry & Nicoladis, 2000).
Discussion All individuals, including infants, use multimodal communication in order to interact with others in their environment (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005). For infants, their gestural repertoire appears tightly linked to their later acquisition of verbal lexicon and then, like adults, serves as a complimentary function. It also appears gestures not only precede language, but act as a predictor of later language acquisition (Iverson & Goldin-Meadow, 2005). The recent influx of commercialized baby signing products on the market is more than appropriate for adults who wish to enhance communicative interactions of young preverbal infants. Baby signing products which use American Sign Language are particularly appropriate because of their use of language conventions as opposed to programs that include invented or idiosyncratic gestures because the use of signs by infants is only a temporary modality for communication. There is also a significant body of literature that documents the therapeutic value of gestural and signing systems for children with hearing or language impairments. Despite some individuals’ skepticism toward teaching sign language to infants, research shows that such commercialized products may allow caregivers to communicate with their babies long before their acquisition of verbal speech. As infants transition from prelinguistic intentional gestures to more conventional gestures such as baby signs and then on to verbal language, the evolving modality allows infants to communicate for a variety of functions. It is also evident gestures help to facilitate the onset of verbal language, not hinder its onset (Goodwyn, Acredolo, & Brown, 2000). In fact, intentional modeling of gestures by caregivers may actually speed the infant’s onset of verbal language (Goodwyn, et al., 2000). Baby signing can be used on all infants, not only those who have hearing impairments or other disorders. With the array of products on the market today, sign training is available to any parent who is willing to learn.
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