title: Holding Out For a Heroine: Representations of Voice, Silence and Adolescent Girls’ Identity in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

authors: Wilkinson, Melody Julianne May

subjects: Heroines

abstract: Today, teenage girls are told they can do anything. However, this is not reflected in the images they see and the books they read, which often reinforce messages of passivity, weakness, objectification, and undermine the need for girls to develop a strong voice and autonomous sense of self. This thesis explores these issues through an analysis of heroines in Young Adult dystopian fiction. With its popularity and its exaggeration of real-world issues, this literature is in a unique position to address not only wider political and social contexts but also the lack of representation of young girls.
Using developmental psychology as a frame and Girl’s Studies as theoretical lens, this thesis analyses two popular Young Adult series. The first, ‘The Selection’ series by Kiera Cass, offers an example of a passive heroine in the protagonist America Singer. America is a problematic heroine who embodies deep-rooted tropes of passivity and submission to her male counterparts. In contrast, Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy by Suzanne Collins offers a positive example of what it means to find your voice when your world demands your silence.
This thesis has a creative component which seeks to construct a Young Adult dystopian heroine who, like Katniss, is a positive role model of strength and empowerment. However, this heroine is ordinary rather than exceptional, makes mistakes and yet has the courage to fight for herself and others. The Choice specifically addresses many of the themes explored in the exegesis: the toxic effect of the media; the potential for girls to support each other rather than fighting with each other; and the importance of maintaining identity, even if you fall in love.

text: Holding Out For a Heroine: Representations of Voice, Silence and Adolescent Girls’ Identity in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction Today, teenage girls are told they can do anything. However, this is not reflected in the images they see and the books they read, which often reinforce messages of passivity, weakness, objectification, and undermine the need for girls to develop a strong voice and autonomous sense of self. This thesis explores these issues through an analysis of heroines in Young Adult dystopian fiction. With its popularity and its exaggeration of real-world issues, this literature is in a unique position to address not only wider political and social contexts but also the lack of representation of young girls.
Using developmental psychology as a frame and Girl’s Studies as theoretical lens, this thesis analyses two popular Young Adult series. The first, ‘The Selection’ series by Kiera Cass, offers an example of a passive heroine in the protagonist America Singer. America is a problematic heroine who embodies deep-rooted tropes of passivity and submission to her male counterparts. In contrast, Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy by Suzanne Collins offers a positive example of what it means to find your voice when your world demands your silence.
This thesis has a creative component which seeks to construct a Young Adult dystopian heroine who, like Katniss, is a positive role model of strength and empowerment. However, this heroine is ordinary rather than exceptional, makes mistakes and yet has the courage to fight for herself and others. The Choice specifically addresses many of the themes explored in the exegesis: the toxic effect of the media; the potential for girls to support each other rather than fighting with each other; and the importance of maintaining identity, even if you fall in love.

year: 2018

title: Do we expect too much? Reflection on chemistry content in higher education

authors: Coll, Richard K.

subjects: chemistry

abstract: Education research in the 1970s, like other related areas, was dominated by quantitative work¹ during an era for which social sciences sought to draw upon the successful scientific approach typically used in the physical sciences (in particular) to investigate teaching and learning.¹’² So if we felt a cohort of students did not understand some con¬cept, we tried to find out whether or not a different teach¬ing approach could fix their misconceptions.³ But how to do this? Well, drawing on a scientific approach, we would divide the class or classes up, teach one cohort the same way we always had, and the other cohort in our new way, and evaluate any differences in conceptual understanding using, e.g. a standardized topic test. Differences would be examined for statistical significance of evidence that our new approach to teaching had worked. And this is the way much research was done at the time. Control of variables, randomized sampling, and so on, were all embedded in such an approach to educational research.

text: Do we expect too much? Reflection on chemistry content in higher education Education research in the 1970s, like other related areas, was dominated by quantitative work¹ during an era for which social sciences sought to draw upon the successful scientific approach typically used in the physical sciences (in particular) to investigate teaching and learning.¹’² So if we felt a cohort of students did not understand some con¬cept, we tried to find out whether or not a different teach¬ing approach could fix their misconceptions.³ But how to do this? Well, drawing on a scientific approach, we would divide the class or classes up, teach one cohort the same way we always had, and the other cohort in our new way, and evaluate any differences in conceptual understanding using, e.g. a standardized topic test. Differences would be examined for statistical significance of evidence that our new approach to teaching had worked. And this is the way much research was done at the time. Control of variables, randomized sampling, and so on, were all embedded in such an approach to educational research.

year: 2008

title: He Poroporoaki ki a Kahurangi Te Heikōkō Kāterina Mataira

authors: Temara, Pou

subjects: Poroporoaki

abstract: He kupu whakamānawa nā Ahorangi Pou Temara ki a Kahurangi Te Heikōkō Kāterina Mataira i tana matenga.

text: He Poroporoaki ki a Kahurangi Te Heikōkō Kāterina Mataira He kupu whakamānawa nā Ahorangi Pou Temara ki a Kahurangi Te Heikōkō Kāterina Mataira i tana matenga.

year: 2012-05