Yvonne Rainer and the Recuperation of Everyday Life

This chapter examines the evolution of Yvonne Rainer’s interrogation of the everyday from her practice as a choreographer to her practice as a film maker where embrace of the doctrine that the “personal is political” becomes her dominant theme, making her perhaps the leading avant-garde, feminist auteur.

Visual elements in children’s concrete poems: A multimodal analysis of Rain and Ice Cubes

This study is based on the multimodal analysis of two children’s concrete poems from the poetry book, Splish Splash (1994) by Joan Bransfield Graham. It employs Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) Visual Grammar as the analytical tool to analyse the visuals in terms of compositional meaning. It investigates how visual elements (words and images) are represented in the poems. In addition, it focuses on the features of the images and how they cohere on a page. The findings suggest that the representations of images in the poems reproduce the dominant theme of water and its forms. Furthermore, the interrelated-systems of salience and framing are used extensively and they contribute to meaning-making. Words and images support each other and coexist to provide meanings in the poems. Therefore, the combination of words and images creates a meaningful whole and offers readers greater opportunities to create meanings.

Islamic Poems by Rukun Nasution (1928-1998): Themes and Social Relevance

This study analyzes two poems written by Rukun Nasution (1928-1998), namely Syair Pengajak Solat (Invitation to Prayer) and Doa/Syair Menjelang Pajar (Invocation/Poem before Dawn). This manuscript only came to the attention of the authors in 2018, and this is the first time the book of poetry is being studied and described. The main objective of this study is to analyze the content of the poems, with reference to their socio-religious relevance and some philological aspects. Rukun (the popular name of Rukun Nasution) wrote his poems in the 1960s using Latin script, and the fact he had no formal education other than a three-year of elementary school made his creative productivity more interesting. He presented his ideas in a well-structured text while applying the 'aa-aa' rhyme consistently. The poems contain Islamic messages, with prayer procedures being the most dominant theme. These poems are relevant to document religious information, disseminate Islamic teachings, while remains artistically creative.

Mimowolna sylwa. O książce Anny Kaszuby-Dębskiej „Bruno. Epoka genialna”

The article offers a critical discussion of Anna Kaszuba-Dębska’s book Bruno. Epoka genialna [Bruno. The Age of Genius]. The reviewer argues that the main feature of Kaszuba-Dębska narrative is its heterogeneity; it manifests itself through the renouncement of the authorial voice, which it replaced by a dense tissue of quotations, as well as through the extensive discussion of cultural contexts and the lack of a consistently outlined dominant theme organizing the course of the protagonist’s life. For this reason, the reviewer regards Kaszuba-Dębska’s publication as a text reminiscent of a silva rerum (cf. commonplace book), whose heterogeneity, however, seems to stem from the author’s lack of control over her material, rather than from an attempt to cross the borders of the biographical genre.

Tips and Tricks to Improve Ergonomics, Efficacy, Versatility, and Overcome Limitations of Micro Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy

Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL) has evolved over the decades from Standard to Mini to Ultramini PCNL to Micro-perc, with miniaturisation being the dominant theme and supine approach gaining momentum world over.Aim: In literature, miniaturised PCNL with microperc needle access system has raised concerns of intrarenal pressure and has some limitations with its success for larger stones. Our tips and tricks explain how to overcome these pitfalls by utilising the full construct of the needle system to its maximum potential. These will in turn help make the procedure versatile, precise, ergonomical, and enhance a surgeon's experience with improved outcomes for patients especially in large renal stones.Materials and Methods: We describe the limitations of microperc needle access as stated in literature and proposals by the co-authors using microperc for miniaturised access on how to overcome the same.Results: A simplified table describing the limitations and tips and tricks on overcoming these is provided for quick reference.Conclusion: As Technological advancements and techniques for miniaturised access in urolithiasis improve, we believe our suggestions will help surgeons overcome the quoted limitations of microperc needle access for miniaturised PCNL, making this a versatile, safe and efficacious technique even in large and complex stones. A multi centre trial will be the best way to validate the suggestions proposed in this article.

A moralidade em Asfalto selvagem: Nelson Rodrigues entre dois tempos do romance brasileiro / Morality in Asfalto selvagem: Nelson Rodrigues between Two Times of the Brazilian Novel

Resumo: O artigo compara Asfalto selvagem ao romance brasileiro anterior e contemporâneo à sua publicação, para compreender a pouca atenção da crítica literária à produção romanesca de Nelson Rodrigues. Especificamente, compara-se a construção da moralidade naquela obra com o que predominava no “romance de 30”, aqui analisado em duas obras representativas: a “Tragédia burguesa”, de Octávio de Faria, e Capitães da areia, de Jorge Amado. Enquanto lá despontava uma moralidade normativa e dualista, encenando duas visões em conflito para estabelecer a visão “correta” a servir de orientação moral para o leitor, em Rodrigues não se identifica tal moralização ostensiva, e sim a disposição de elementos textuais que deixam as inferências morais a encargo do leitor. Mediante o conceito de affordances éticas de Webb Keane, analisa-se como as racionalizações e justificações das personagens configuram uma representação aporética da moralidade e um padrão “neurótico” de comportamento, novamente em contraste com o romance brasileiro entre as décadas de 1930 e 1970. Ao final, propõe-se que quatro características do romance de Rodrigues explicam sua pequena fortuna crítica: o humor na encenação do “pecado”; a recusa do ativismo moral e político; a ausência da temática nacional (i.e. da interpretação do Brasil como sociedade, história e cultura); a crítica moral aporética, que não reconhecia a religião, a família, o Estado, a ideologia política ou a ética do trabalho como fontes de autoridade.Palavras-chave: Nelson Rodrigues; moralidade; “romance de 30”; teoria das affordances; história do romance brasileiro.Abstract: We compare Asfalto selvagem to the contemporary and the immediately preceding novelistic production in Brazil, in an attempt to understand why Nelson Rodrigues’s novels have received little attention from our literary critique. More specifically, we compare his approach to morality with what prevailed in the “1930s novel”, here analyzed in two representative works: Octávio de Faria’s “Bourgeois tragedy” and Jorge Amado’s Captains of the sand. While in the 1930s a normative and dualistic morality prevailed, with the staging of conflicts between two visions as a means to establish the “right views” as moral guides to the readers, in Rodrigues there is no such ostensive moralization, but the display of textual elements that suggest moral inferences to be made by the reader himself. Through Webb Keane’s concept of “ethical affordances” we analyze how the characters’ rationalizations and justifications also build a paradoxical representation of morality and a “neurotic” pattern of behavior, again in contrast with preceding and contemporary novels in Brazil. In the end, we suggest that four characteristics of Rodrigues’s novels might explain their small academic repercussion: the use of humor in the dramatization of “sin”; the refusal of moral and political activism; the absence of Brazil (as society, history and culture) as a dominant theme; a paradoxical moral perspective that did not recognize religion, family, the State, political ideologies or any work ethic as sources of authority.Keywords: Nelson Rodrigues; morality; “1930s novel” in Brazil; theory of affordances; history of Brazilian novel.

The Father Figure in Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist

The father figure has been a dominant theme in the works of the American southern novelist Anne Tyler (1941- ). She explores the psyche of male characters and tries to shed light on the struggles that the postmodern men go through in their daily life. She utilizes the chaos that occurs in their life to highlight their development. Family plays a major role that helps the father to understand the world around him. The Accidental Tourist (1985) tells the story of Macon Leary, a father who loses his only son and falls into grief. He loses his aim in life until he meets a woman called Muriel, who changes many things about him.

Theme and Rheme in Students' Writing

The objectives of this research were to investigate the types of theme and to describe the most dominant theme used in students’ writing. The data were 35 students’ Recount Text writing at SMA Negeri 4 Tanjung Balai, and the data were analyzed based on M. A. K Halliday & Matthiessen’s Theory (2014). The research was done using descriptive qualitative methods. The data collection involved observations and document study. The results showed that the most dominant theme was the topical theme (311, 74%) and the most dominant element of the topical theme in the students’ writing was the nominal group (222, 71%). The students used most of the clauses as a topical theme started by a word or phrase functioning as a subject and adjunct. All of the types of theme were used in the students’ Recount Text writing, except for the interpersonal theme (vocative adjunct, modal adjunct and finite verbal operators) and a part of the textual theme (continuative and conjunctive adjunct). Keywords: Topical, Interpersonal, and Textual Theme

The UK Workforce: Changes to Home Working During the Pandemic & What this Means for the Future.

<p><i>Using data from a larger study, a theme on ‘homeworking’ emerged. Data from 437 semi-structured interviews with NHS professionals across a wide range of specialities identified a dominant theme of ‘homeworking’. Using this themed data, a short preliminary article has been produced with an infographic guide that is developed as a generic guide, not just for NHS staff<b>. </b>There are considerable benefits relating to the current changes in working patterns, with now many working from home, however there are also challenges and risks associated to these changes, which require further exploration to ensure that the UK workforce is best utilised, yet protected. This article provides an overview of this data, and a helpful hints and tips infographic. A larger, UK-based study is now underway (in NHS and other) to explore the experience of homeworking, and understand its benefits and challenges in more depth to help inform government policymaking decisions in the UK. </i></p>

The UK Workforce: Changes to Home Working During the Pandemic & What this Means for the Future.

<p><i>Using data from a larger study, a theme on ‘homeworking’ emerged. Data from 437 semi-structured interviews with NHS professionals across a wide range of specialities identified a dominant theme of ‘homeworking’. Using this themed data, a short preliminary article has been produced with an infographic guide that is developed as a generic guide, not just for NHS staff<b>. </b>There are considerable benefits relating to the current changes in working patterns, with now many working from home, however there are also challenges and risks associated to these changes, which require further exploration to ensure that the UK workforce is best utilised, yet protected. This article provides an overview of this data, and a helpful hints and tips infographic. A larger, UK-based study is now underway (in NHS and other) to explore the experience of homeworking, and understand its benefits and challenges in more depth to help inform government policymaking decisions in the UK. </i></p>