Browsing by Subject "Composition"
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Item Appeals to reason : negotiating rhetorical responsibility and dialectical constraints in church-state separation discourse(2014-05) Battistelli, Todd Joseph; Roberts-Miller, Patricia, 1959-This dissertation explores how argumentation theory can supplement models of responsible persuasion in rhetoric and writing studies. In particular, it demonstrates how reasoning as envisioned in the pragma-dialectical approach of argumentation can provide an alternative to exclusionary, unethical operations of reason. Despite longstanding work with models of argument from Aristotle to Stephen Toulmin, rhetoric and writing has paid little attention to the potential uses of dialectical argumentation theory. Such theory deserves greater consideration given its ability to meet the ethical demands voiced by rhetorical critiques of traditional ways of arguing. Critiques of reason demonstrate how the abstractions necessary for logical certainty exist in tension with the inherent ambiguity of human arguments. In attempting to strip away that ambiguity, some discussants unfairly exclude relevant details from others and may exclude entire populations who should be included in a fair deliberation. Goals of understanding and inclusion unite the variety of calls for new ways of arguing made in rhetoric and writing under titles of Rogerian, non-agonistic, listening, and invitational rhetorics. Nevertheless, as Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca describe, even as our arguments involve irresolvable ambiguities, they must also function as stable and coherent viewpoints such that our interlocutors can hold us accountable to agreement or disagreement. In this way, we responsibly argue questions of ethics, politics and law. Though no final resolution of ambiguity is possible in such questions, we can reason together for a better understanding of each other's positions and craft pragmatic policies to deal with our disagreements. In order to explore the disciplinary questions about the relationship between rhetoric and argumentation, the dissertation examines a series of case studies drawn from judicial disputes over church-state separation in the United States. In examining problematic rhetoric of these disputes, the dissertation builds an understanding of responsible reason informed by dialectical argumentation and demonstrates its utility for both critical and pedagogical applications.Item Bloodsong for mezzo-soprano, chamber orchestra, and fixed media(2015-12) Stonaker, Ben Floyd, 1981-; Welcher, Dan; Pinkston, Russell; Sharlat, Yevgeniy; Drott, Eric; Woodruff, PaulBloodsong is a fifty-minute monodrama in one act for mezzo-soprano, chamber orchestra, and fixed media. The piece was written for vocalist Ellie Jarrett Shattles and received its world premiere at the University of Texas at Austin in September 2015. Writing the story, libretto, and music for this piece led to certain systematic approaches and methods throughout the creative process that differed greatly from my previous work as a composer. The piece raises questions about organized religion and sexuality through the point of view of a crazed, blood-obsessed religious fanatic named Elizabeth who believes she has been called by God to seek out and murder hatemongers within congregations all across the South. Bloodsong offers a glimpse into her mind as she recalls moments throughout her life and her secret crusade that ultimately leads her to the conclusion that she must take her own life. These memories and musings are presented as a dramatic song cycle in five scenes that incorporate five of her most beloved hymns. This treatise provides a close examination of specific influences and agencies that went into the work’s construction. The first chapter explains important background information and technical considerations regarding the story, libretto, selection of hymns, and fixed media design. The second chapter provides a scene-by-scene analysis focusing on techniques and processes that illustrate specific interactions between various musical and dramatic elements.Item Callisto(2012-05) Corry, Sara Jessica; Welcher, Dan; Sharlat, YevgeniyCallisto or Jupiter IV is one of 66 moons of the planet Jupiter. Discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610, it is the third-largest moon in the Solar System. It is thought that Callisto’s surface has evolved primarily through violent impacts; its ancient surface is one of the most heavily cratered in the Solar System. The moon was named after Callisto a nymph in Greek mythology. Rumored that she was the daughter of the treacherous Lycaon, king of Arcadia. This piece has two general parallel narratives, one following the harsh creation and development of the physical planet and one that follows the development of Callisto, the nymph, and her father Lycaon. It would be impossible to write music about one of Jupiter’s moons without referencing textural and rhythmic gestures from Gustav Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets, Op. 32.Item Comrades(2013-12) Hayman, Jeffrey P.; Welcher, DanComrades was inspired by Milan Kundera’s first novel, The Joke. The music initially set out to depict four characters from The Joke and their distinct personalities, with each movement individually depicting a specific character. As the piece was being composed, it gradually began to distance itself form the novel, and in its final state, exists independently of any association with the novel, instead depicting four unspecified characters from an unwritten story who relate in non-programmatic ways. Regardless of its removed association with Milan Kundera’s novel, the orchestration of Comrades was chosen based on a Moravian folk music ensemble in which the characters within the novel performed. In an effort to remain loyal to its conception, the piece attempts to use European folk influence to generate much of its musical material.Item Disciplining the muse : evaluating creative writing studies’ effort to establish itself as an academic discipline(2015-08) Hedengren, Mary Leah, Ph. D.; Charney, Davida; Walker, Jeffrey; Roberts-Miller, Patricia; Longaker, Mark; Hesse, DougDisciplinarity in the humanities has long been neglected by writing-in-the-disciplines (WID) scholars in favor of science and business writing. Disciplining the Muse argues that there is much for WID scholars to learn by investigating non-traditional fields that make claims for disciplinarity; additionally, emerging and contested disciplines offer insight into the nature of disciplinarity itself. My work bridges WID issues of disciplinary definition and development by looking at one extreme case within English Studies: creative writing studies (CWS). CWS rhetorically disidentifies with literature, composition and traditional creative writing while inspiring cohesion within their own field. Complicating this project, long-held ambivalence towards disciplinarity within creative writing creates a riff between the vanguard and many practitioners. The CWS vanguard declares disciplinary criteria of research, pedagogy and institutional sanction in order to bolster their claims. Instead of using outsider definitions of disciplinarity, in this dissertation I employ qualitative and quantitative research methods to evaluate the gap between the vanguard’s disciplinary claims and practices. The material and cultural implications of being a discipline can be high, and WID scholars should seek for the insider view for new disciplines—how well developing disciplines live up to their own stated standards and aspirations.Item The drawing board(2014-05) Heitlinger, Alex; Mills, John Russell, 1953-The composition The Drawing Board is an extended three-movement work for jazz orchestra, approximately twenty-six minutes in length. The Drawing Board is a musical portrayal of an imaginary artist as he undertakes his work, exploring the emotions inherent to the artistic process, including the uneasiness of staring at a blank canvas, the magical feeling of abstract ideas coalescing into something concrete, the frustration of an unfinished or imperfect work, and the unique sensation of artwork gradually revealing itself to the artist. The introductory section of the accompanying dissertation outlines my overall musical approach and philosophy, and describes the compositional goals behind this work. The core of the dissertation is a musical analysis that provides insight into various compositional techniques and strategies, showing relationships between the three movements. Topics include form, harmony, melody, orchestration, counterpoint, and contexts for improvisation.Item Effect of Harvest Dates on Biomass Accumulation and Composition in Bioenergy Sorghum(2012-02-14) Borden, Dustin RossSorghum (Sorghum bicolor) has the potential to be used as a cellulosic feedstock for ethanol production due to its diversity and wide adaptation to many different climates. With a wide range of diversity, this crop could be tailored specifically for use as a feedstock for ethanol production. Other factors such as water use efficiency, drought tolerance, yield potential, composition, and established production systems also make sorghum a logical choice as a feedstock for bioenergy production. The objectives of this study were to better understand the biomass potential of different types of sorghum that may be used for energy production, and determine the composition of these sorghums over the season to better understand biomass yield and composition over time. Six commercial sorghum cultivars or hybrids that represent sorghum types from grain to energy were evaluated near College Station, Texas during the 2008 and 2009 cropping years. An optimal harvest window (defined by maximum yield) was established for all genotypes, and significant variation was seen among the genotypes for fresh and dry biomass production. The later maturity genotypes, including the photo-period sensitive and modified photo-period sensitive type sorghums, produced the highest yields (up to 24 dry Mg/ha). Compositional analysis using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIR) for lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose was performed on a dry matter basis for the optimal harvest window for each genotype. Significant differences were seen in 2009 between the genotypes for lignin, hemicellulose, cellulose, ash and protein; with the earlier genotypes having higher percentage of lignin, and the later genotypes having lower percentages of lignin. Genotype x Environment interactions were also seen, and show the significance that rainfall can have. Based on this research, grain sorghum could be harvested first, followed by photo-period insensitive forage varieties, then moderately photo-period sensitive forage varieties followed by dedicated bioenergy sorghums (that are full photo-period sensitive), allowing for a more constant supply of feedstock to processing plants. Sweet sorghums would also allow the end user to obtain biomass when needed, however these types of sorghum may be much better suited to a different end application (i.e. crushing the stalks to obtain the juice).Item EMF(2012-05) Stoffregen, Robert Max; Pinkston, Russell; Pennycook, BruceEMF Duration: c.a. 15 minutes Robert Max Stoffregen, M. Music The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Russell Pinkston Co- Supervisor: Bruce Pennycook This piano trio is an extension of my work in the area of chamber music composition, and constitutes the single largest work of mine in this area. Chamber music is the most significant area of my work as a composer, and this composition represents an attempt to expand the scope of my chamber works from single movement, contiguous pieces, to a multiple movement concert length work. The titles of each of the movements of EMF are abstracted from song lyrics by indie-rock singer/songwriters Bill Callahan, John Vanderslice, and hip-hop producer/vocalist Eligh. Each movement borrows musical material from its respective song and develops significantly the given musical “seed” according to various compositional techniques. It was my hope from the beginning that this type of referencing and borrowing might lend the music freshness, and at the very least, form a connection between my work as a composer and my musical tastes and experiences as an objective listener. There are no programmatic intentions behind EMF.Item Enduring character : the problem with authenticity and the persistence of ethos(2013-12) Dieter, Eric Matthew, 1976-; Roberts-Miller, Patricia, 1959-This dissertation is interested in how people talk about character in a variety of public spheres. Specifically, it explores the tangled relationship between authenticity and ethos, or what is taken as the distinction between intrinsic and constructed character. While this dissertation does not presume to settle the question of authenticity’s actuality, it does discuss the ways authenticity cues in rhetorical acts continue to influence how “sincere character” in those acts is understood, even as audiences exhibit shrewdness in recognizing that character is a purposeful manifestation of the rhetor. The fundamental phenomenon this dissertation seeks to describe is how people, with better and worse success, negotiate the dissonance between valuing character as authentic and as presentation and representation. Character in this view is a much richer and more paradoxical concept than many discussions of the term admit. A too-diluted study of ethos limited strictly to pinpointing credibility in an argument makes it difficult to articulate why an exhibition of character sometimes works and sometimes flops. Ethos in its fullest complexity is, and is not, constructed by any single act; it is the consequence of narratives, both of those narratives, and also what we say about those narratives; it is something we know about a rhetor, at the same time that it comes from what the rhetor claims to know; it is, most important, an appeal to authenticity, even when we know ethos is discursively, kairotically, and socially constructed. This dissertation offers an expanded definition of ethos as rhetorical transactions that rhetors and audiences mutually negotiate in order to determine the extent to which all sides will have their rhetorical needs met, and the extent to which all sides can assent to the those needs. The dissertation, using the works of Wayne Booth, Kenneth Burke, and Chaïm Perelman as its primary theoretical structures, offers pedagogic implications for these mutual negotiations.Item Examining the multilingual and multimodal resources of young Latino picturebook makers(2013-08) Zapata, Maria Angelica; Roser, Nancy; Fránquiz, María E.The purpose of this qualitative research was to better understand the multilingual and multimodal composition resources appropriated by students during a study of Latino children’s picturebooks within a predominantly Latino, third grade classroom. A conceptual framework guided by socio-cultural perspectives, a social semiotic theory of communication, and Composition 2.0 studies was employed to investigate the ways in which students remixed multilingual and multimodal composition resources and manifested identities in texts. This research was guided by both design-based and case study methods and drew upon constant-comparative, discourse, and visual discourse analytic methods to examine the data. Analysis was also located in the literature on identity and texts so as to better understand the socio-cultural histories and identities attached to the children's picturebooks. Data collection was focused on both the multilingual and multimodal resources students appropriated to compose and the ways students orchestrated those resources during the classroom picturebook study. Analysis was structured by two interrelated strands. The first strand explores more broadly the composition resources in use during the classroom picturebook study, and the second analyzes explicitly the ways two focal students remixed composition resources within their picturebook productions and sedimented identities in texts. Three findings generated from the two related strands of analysis provided insights into the potential of a picturebook study as a viable multilingual and multimodal composition curriculum. First, in the context of the teacher and researcher co-designed curriculum and instruction, students appropriated literary, illustrated, material, and picturebook form resources from Latino children’s picturebooks in diverse ways. Second, in the act of picturebook making, students invoked other socio-cultural texts as mentors and remixed composition resources from diverse sources to craft their own picturebooks. Finally, students manifested aspects of their identities within the material worlds and languages reflected within their picturebooks. Together, these findings situate picturebook study and picturebook making as creative and intellectual acts for students. Moreover, this study features Latino children’s picturebooks as culturally responsive mentor texts. Several pedagogical implications related to composition instruction for young writers and diverse population are also discussed.Item From the American Enlightenment : (cantata for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone and piano quintet on texts of Philip Freneau)(2012-05) Harder, Lane, 1976-; Welcher, Dan; Sharlat, Yevgeniy; Grantham, Donald; Freeman, Robert; Webb, LaurenFrom the American Enlightenment is a secular chamber cantata for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, and piano quintet, and it is based on the poetry of Philip Freneau. The overwhelming organizational principle of the music is the spiraling key relationships and their unfolding from sharp keys and their enharmonics (when the poetry deals with political radicalism) through to keys with more naturals in them (as the poetry begins to deal more with the cycle of life and naturalism), terminating on C major. Another localized organizational parameter concerns the specific musical motives (both motives of pitch and motives are rhythm) that are used in many guises throughout the work and that are used to construct themes, all with an eye toward unifying the musical materials over time and across movements. My analysis of the work deals with these two subjects as well as harmony and harmonic doubling, counterpoint, key centers within movements, and others as necessary. I will also discuss pre-existing works in various genres that influenced my piece. I begin the paper with background on the reasons for writing the piece, an outline of the American Enlightenment, and a brief discussion of the author of the texts, Philip Freneau.Item Genetic Analysis of Stem Composition Variation in Sorghum Bicolor(2012-10-19) Evans, JosephSorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) is the world's fifth most economically important cereal crop, grown worldwide as a source of food for both humans and livestock. Sorghum is a C4 grass that is well adapted to hot and arid climes and is popular for cultivation on lands of marginal quality. Recent interest in development of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass has drawn attention to sorghum, which can be cultivated in areas not suitable for more traditional crops, and is capable of generating plant biomass in excess of 40 tons per acre. While the quantity of biomass and low water consumption make sorghum a viable candidate for biofuels growth, the biomass composition is enriched in lignin, which is problematic for enzymatic and chemical conversion techniques. The genetic basis for stem composition was analyzed in sorghum populations using a combination of genetic, genomic, and bioinformatics techniques. Utilizing acetyl bromide extraction, the variation in stem lignin content was quantified across several sorghum cultivars, confirming that lignin content varied considerably among sorghum cultivars. Previous work identifying sorghum reduced-lignin lines has involved the monolignol biosynthetic pathway; all steps in the pathway were putatively identified in the sorghum genome using sequence analysis. A bioinformatics toolkit was constructed to allow for the development of genetic markers in sorghum populations, and a database and web portal were generated to allow users to access previously developed genetic markers. Recombinant inbred lines were analyzed for stem composition using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIR) and genetic maps constructed using restriction site-linked polymorphisms, revealing 34 quantitative trail loci (QTL) for stem composition variation in a BTx642 x RTx7000 population, and six QTL for stem composition variation in an SC56 x RTx7000 population. Sequencing the genome of BTx642 and RTx7000 to a depth of ~11x using Illumina sequencing revealed approximately 1.4 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1 million SNPs, respectively. These polymorphisms can be used to identify putative amino acid changes in genes within these genotypes, and can also be used for fine mapping. Plotting the density of these SNPs revealed patterns of genetic inheritance from shared ancestral lines both between the newly sequenced genotypes and relative to the reference genotype BTx623.Item A hero's journey : a modern musical exploration of the monomyth(2009-12) Brace, Conor Lane; Mills, John, saxophonist; Hellmer, Jeff; Fremgen, JohnThis thesis presents and analyzes the author's original jazz composition "A Hero's Journey," based on the ancient and widespread storytelling pattern that Joseph Campbell called the "monomyth." Using major concepts from the monomyth, the author composed a suite for ten-piece jazz orchestra consisting of six scenes divided into two acts. Although rooted in the jazz tradition, the piece borrows freely from classical music, African music, Indian music, and modern rock and hip-hop to create an adventurous and continually evolving musical experience. This thesis first provides an overview of the entire suite, then discusses its important melodic themes, and finally analyzes the techniques used for harmonic development within the piece.Item How about here(2012-08) Shank, Joshua, 1980-; Pennycook, Bruce, 1949-The material for this piece is all based around immutable musical objects and how they interact with one another. The opening movement takes various ostinato patterns and has them combine with different bass notes. The second movement attempts to merge three melodic fragments with three different chords and the final movement is a sequence of unchanging passacaglias which overflow into an ecstatic conclusion. The whole thing reminded me of someone rearranging furniture in a room; the actual pieces don't change but, rather, combine in different ways to make something pleasing. Hence, the title: "How About Here."Item I-10(2014-05) Sigler, Andrew Lloyd; Pennycook, Bruce, 1949-I-10 is a multi-movement song-cycle inspired by the I-10 corridor as it passes through southern Louisiana and its impact on my life. I grew up in Lake Charles, spent nine years in Lafayette, and made countless trips to New Orleans in my youth, and I-10 looms as a character in my life as well as the lives of those around me. Once into Louisiana on an eastward trajectory, the Interstate changes dramatically. No longer in the dry, hot desert, the freeway enters the humidity of southern Louisiana, passing over swamps and lakes en route to New Orleans. I was always struck by the exits. They begged to be characters, and I use these as points of departure for this work. I've also drawn freely from the culture of southern Louisiana, its shape determined by I-10 as much as mine. A cycle of 6 songs orchestrated for four voices, guitar, electric bass, drums, percussion, and chamber orchestra, I present this work as an "album" of sorts with each song leading to the next and working together as a cohesive whole.Item Language and tool support for multilingual programs(2011-08) Lee, Byeongcheol; McKinley, Kathryn S.; Cook, William R.; Grimm, Robert; Hirzel, Martin; Kim, Miryung; Lin, CalvinProgrammers compose programs in multiple languages to combine the advantages of innovations in new high-level programming languages with decades of engineering effort in legacy libraries and systems. For language inter-operation, language designers provide two classes of multilingual programming interfaces: (1) foreign function interfaces and (2) code generation interfaces. These interfaces embody the semantic mismatch for developers and multilingual systems builders. Their programming rules are difficult or impossible to verify. As a direct consequence, multilingual programs are full of bugs at interface boundaries, and debuggers cannot assist developers across these lines. This dissertation shows how to use composition of single language systems and interposition to improve the safety of multilingual programs. Our compositional approach is scalable by construction because it does not require any changes to single-language systems, and it leverages their engineering efforts. We show it is effective by composing a variety of multilingual tools that help programmers eliminate bugs. We present the first concise taxonomy and formal description of multilingual programming interfaces and their programming rules. We next compose three classes of multilingual tools: (1) Dynamic bug checkers for foreign function interfaces. We demonstrate a new approach for automatically generating a dynamic bug checker by interposing on foreign function interfaces, and we show that it finds bugs in real-world applications including Eclipse, Subversion, and Java Gnome. (2) Multilingual debuggers for foreign function interfaces. We introduce an intermediate agent that wraps all the methods and functions at language boundaries. This intermediate agent is sufficient to build all the essential debugging features used in single-language debuggers. (3) Safe macros for code generation interfaces. We design a safe macro language, called Marco, that generates programs in any language and demonstrate it by implementing checkers for SQL and C++ generators. To check the correctness of the generated programs, Marco queries single-language compilers and interpreters through code generation interfaces. Using their error messages, Marco points out the errors in program generators. In summary, this dissertation presents the first concise taxonomy and formal specification of multilingual interfaces and, based on this taxonomy, shows how to compose multilingual tools to improve safety in multilingual programs. Our results show that our compositional approach is scalable and effective for improving safety in real-world multilingual programs.Item The light that passes through it : three portraits of Chihuly glass art(2015-05) Caputo, Daniel John; Welcher, Dan; Grantham, DonaldThe light that passes through it (2015) for orchestra is a three-movement composition inspired by the life and artwork of Pacific Northwest glass artist Dale Chihuly. Each movement aims to express the brilliant and luminous qualities of specific Chihuly glass sculptures through orchestrational color and large-scale musical structure. The first movement, "The Sun," depicts the wildly vibrant and intricately constructed glass sculptures of the same title. The second movement, "Seaforms," captures the rippling patterns in works of Chihuly's Seaforms collection through post-minimal formal processes. The final movement, "Niijima Floats," is inspired by the multiple symbolic meanings behind Chihuly's correspondingly titled series of immense spherical floats.Item Literature in first-year composition : a mixed methods analysis(2013-05) Odom, Stephanie Marie; Roberts-Miller, Patricia, 1959-This dissertation intervenes in a long-simmering debate about whether literature belongs in composition classes. Using a combination of empirical and textual methods, my scholarship proceeds inductively from analyzing artifacts of teaching, providing a better sense of what is happening in writing classrooms rather than simply speculating about it. In doing so, I revisit arguments made against using literature in composition and argue that the 21st century English department provides a different context within which literature and composition co-exist. One of the charges leveled against using literature to teach writing is that it is a "humanist" practice and therefore elitist. I trace the genealogy of this term and demonstrate the wide range of meanings this term has carried within the last century alone, arguing that those who raise the alarm against humanism need to clarify what they mean. Taking off from the humanistic concern with style, I analyze composition anthologies to see how the questions following the literary selections deal with stylistic concerns. By and large, I find that the literary selections reinforce the themes of the primarily nonfiction chapters, but are not presented as prose from which students can derive stylistic lesson. I then turn to analyzing syllabi, testing the accusation that those coming from literature backgrounds will teach literature in their composition classes at the expense of working on student writing. I find that literature specialists do not necessarily spend an excessive number of class days on literature, but do spend more class days on readings generally, with fewer days devoted to student writing than rhetoric specialists. Finally, I argue that the validity of student evaluations of teaching needs to be assessed by composition scholars because concerns specific to our courses--the small sizes, the frequent feedback teachers give students, the difficulty of assessing student work, and the fact that ours is a female dominated field--mean that research conducted by educational psychologists may not apply to composition. My research reinforces the idea that our course readings, assignments, pedagogy, and assessment methods should align purposively with each other.Item Lofty : a culminating cinematic experiment(2013-05) Smith, Patrick William, active 2013; Raval, P. J. (Paul James)The following report is an in depth, step-by-step analysis of the processes and experiments undertaken during the creation of the thesis film, "Lofty," written, directed, photographed, scored, and edited by Patrick William Smith. From inception to mastering the finished film, this report serves to highlight the filmmaker's rationale behind attempts at various experimental methods of pre-production, production, and post-production on the film.Item Long distance : for solo percussion, wind ensemble, and electronics(2014-05) Snowden, Steven, 1981-; Pinkston, RussellLong Distance is a work for solo percussion (marimba and vibraphone), wind ensemble, and electronics consisting of four movements and lasting approximately twenty minutes. Each movement is designed to be able to stand on its own and, when multiple movements are performed, their order is flexible. A version of this piece with no wind ensemble also exists and was commissioned by a consortium of 33 percussionists. From its inception, this solo version was composed with the possibility of expansion to a larger instrumentation in mind. In this paper, I will discuss and analyze many of the factors and influences involved in my composition process for this piece. This will include performance techniques, extracting and utilizing musical material from field recordings, audio processing techniques, orchestration, drawing musical inspiration from non-musical sources, and stylistic juxtaposition. In addition, I will provide some background on how this commission came about and how composition as a collaborative process shaped this piece especially in the context of working with such a large and diverse consortium.