001416634 001__ 1416634 001416634 005__ 20230614003228.0 001416634 02470 $$ahttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12419/320 001416634 037__ $$aIR 001416634 041__ $$aeng 001416634 245__ $$aProgress or Regression : Depictions of Disability and Disease in Literature 001416634 269__ $$a2017 001416634 336__ $$aThesis 001416634 502__ $$bMaster of Arts in English 001416634 520__ $$aPortrayals of disability and disease in literature date back to the beginning of recorded history, and these portrayals constantly shift based on the culture that writes them. However, depictions of cognitive disabilities lag behind physical disabilities due lo communication being difficult or impossible. Many books that include characters with cognitive disabilities resort to using them less like a character and more like an object that serves the narrative. The characters Bertha Mason in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Benjy Compson in William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, and Christopher "Stump" Hall in Wiley Cash"s A land More Kind than Home offer a cross section of characters with cognitive disabilities that span eras of great importance to disability studies. The three characters are nonverbal; yet, they perform different functions within their stories. Disability theory allows for readers to better understand these characters and how their disability or disease reflects on the writer and culture that produced them. With a proper understanding of the culture that produced characters, one can see how he or she relates to modern thought on disability studies. Theorists' goal is to have more well-rounded characters who happen to have a disability, and to push for more writers with disabilities to share their stories. Alas, such a task is impossible for many cases of cognitive disability. It is difficult to portray a character that cannot communicate their thoughts or feelings in a way readers can understand. Most portrayals of characters like these leave aspects of their characters lacking, but when a writer attempts to write such a voice the depiction of the character helps to normalize the disability as a part of human existence. For a character with a cognitive disability to be well-rounded, the character needs to participate in the narrative beyond being an object. 001416634 6531_ $$adisability 001416634 6531_ $$adisease 001416634 6531_ $$adisability theory 001416634 6531_ $$acognitive disability 001416634 7001_ $$aBunner, Alexander Mitchell 001416634 72012 $$aHoeness-Krupsaw, Susanna M. 001416634 72012 $$aConaway, Charles A. 001416634 72012 $$aMontz, Amy L. 001416634 8564_ $$92a54be60-531a-4cfc-917a-d0aa6b6fd853$$s2187244$$uhttps://library.usi.edu/record/1416634/files/Bunner%2C%20Alex_Progress%20or%20Regression.pdf 001416634 904__ $$a2019-12-09T18:13:42Z$$baccessioned 001416634 904__ $$a2019-12-09T18:13:42Z$$bavailable 001416634 905__ $$a/collection_18/3/dublin_core.xml 001416634 909CO $$ooai:library.usi.edu:1416634$$pGLOBAL_SET 001416634 980__ $$aTHESIS