Volume 5: Spring 2021
Permanent URI for this collection
This issue of Royal Road includes essays composed during the 2019-20 academic year. Students completed revisions with a faculty mentor throughout 2020-21.
EDITOR
Joseph Letter
STUDENT EDITORS
Celina M. Rodriguez Rivera
Maggie Sperry
FACULTY ADVISOR
David Reamer
Royal Road features the best researched arguments produced in the University of Tampa's AWR 201: Academic Writing and Research course. Student essays are nominated by instructors and reviewed by a faculty panel; those that are selected for potential publication undergo a process of peer review and revision that reflects the standards of academic publishing. Selected essays are published annually and used as models for future sections of AWR 201.
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item The Imagined National Identity of The North and South During the Civil War, as Expressed Through War-Songs(Keyhole Press, 2021) Valentonis, Alexander S.During the American Civil War, a major means of communicating national concepts was through song, due to its role as a form of popular entertainment, combined with low literacy rates. And during the American Civil War, war-songs in particular acted as important phenomena which expressed and developed the national identities of the Union and Confederacy. As the war progressed, the concepts in the war-songs developed alongside the zeitgeist of the war, portraying the American experience during this time by the soldiers in both the North and South. Because of this, war-songs contributed to the development of the Confederate and Union national identities during the Civil War. This essay seeks to understand this effect and analyze the ways in which war-songs affected the early American nationalism. Specifically, the popular war-songs of the beginning, middle, and end of the Civil War are analyzed in this essay to understand how national identity was developed and expressed through the medium of music. The basis of this paper is formed in the idea that the creation of a nation comes from how a social group forms an imagined community that is connected across space and time by shared media and culture, as set forth in Benedict Anderson’s book, Imagined Communities. While Anderson does not refer to music specifically as a means of developing an imagined community, this essay seeks to show how music played a major role in the establishment of a national conception in America during the Civil War, one that has even persisted to the modern day.Item From Paradise to Punchline: How the Media Has Shaped Public Perception of Florida(Keyhole Press, 2021) Ruggles, HaleyFlorida has always encompassed an otherness that separates it from the rest of the United States. However, the exact nature of what makes Florida unique has shifted overtime. This essay examines how the media’s portrayal of Florida has impacted the way the state is viewed by the rest of the country. Starting after the civil war, Florida was portrayed as an exotic paradise. Today, the Florida Man trend has caused Florida to be viewed as place for lawlessness and strange crimes. To avoid a negative impact on Florida’s tourism industry in the future, Florida needs to be reinvented once again. This time, Florida’s rare beauty and ecotourism opportunities need to be highlighted in order to appeal to the desires of millennial travelers.Item It's (Not) Only a Joke: The Changing Face of Sexist Humor in M*A*S*H(Keyhole Press, 2021) Blūma, AliseSexist humor in TV series enables sexist behaviors, minimizes its inappropriateness and negative effects, and contributes to misogyny existing in society. Audiences consuming television media are exposed to such consequences. Visual media has a massive impact on its viewers; therefore, it must reflect progressive and non-discriminatory values. Creators and producers bear a responsibility in enabling positive change and conversation about sexist humor and behaviors by producing media that eradicates such practices. TV series M*A*S*H (1972-1983) offers a framework for progressive humor. It relied heavily on sexist humor in its earlier seasons for much of the series comedy, featuring humor based on behaviors such as female objectification, misogyny in the workplace, and female characters created through warped sexist stereotypes. However, influenced by growing social change, M*A*S*H was successful in reworking its harmful humor into a productive one. The sexism within the show is transformed to illustrate the absurdity of such behaviors and female characters become more than props for comedic relief, thus allowing for reflection and productive conversation.Item Tissue Paper Houses Just Don't Cut It: Addressing Gentrification, Housing Discrimination, and Institutionalized Racism in Portland, Oregon(Keyhole Press, 2021) McCarthy, MadelineThe state of Oregon has tried to break away from its dark history of racism, exclusion, and erasure by fronting as an inclusive safe haven. But inclusion is far from the truth. Gentrification and redlining have torn apart communities that were built in spite of the state’s racist past. Thousands of Oregonians have subsequently been displaced, like many from past generations. This article looks to historical papers, personal accounts, Census demographics, city development plans, and scholarly research to examine how the attitudes surrounding race have shaped the lives and dynamics of people in Oregon.Item MAOA Genetics in the Courtroom: The Last Legacy of State v. Waldroup(Keyhole Press, 2021) Aiello, TaylorThe developing scientific world has uncovered critical information that will continuously correlate with the criminal justice system. More specifically, genetic evidence has been at the forefront of criminal court cases in recent years. The monoamine oxidase-A (MAOA) gene has been scientifically linked to aggressive and antisocial behavior in people. Individuals who have been found guilty of a violent crime have been found to be carriers of the MAOA gene. In response, defense attorneys have started using the MAOA gene to lessen the culpability of criminal defendants, which has ultimately raised a number of concerns within the criminal justice system. A key case that proved the genetic defense to be successful was State v. Waldroup in 2009. The defense's triumph contributed to both ethical and moral questions amongst scientists, courtroom officials, and other members of the criminal justice system.Item Mickey's New Identity: How Disney's Theme Parks Successfully Arrived in China(Keyhole Press, 2021) Reeber, OliviaThis paper examines the integration of the Disney brand into China in the form of theme parks to argue that a largescale entertainment company can successfully function in a country with high censorship and government control. Disney’s partnership with China demonstrates the need to balance global and local values in order to both preserve the brand’s identity and appeal to the customs of the Chinese people and government. An analysis of both the Hong Kong and Shanghai Disneyland parks as well as recent conflict regarding film content argues that while expansion into China may not be in the best interest of every global company, Disney successfully adhered to the strict demands of the Chinese government while maintaining the brand’s image. This research paper concentrates on the business model that Disney used with China and should not be read as implied support for the repressive actions of the Chinese government.Item [Front Matter] Royal Road: A Journal of Undergraduate Research(Keyhole Press, 2021) Reamer, David, Faculty Advisor; Letter, Joseph, Ed.; Rodriguez Rivera, Celina M., Student Editor; Sperry, Maggie, Student EditorTable of Contents and Editor's Introduction