Abstract(s) of the week!

A couple from the journalistical field:

THE SYMBOLIC HERO, A STATE SCRIBE AND A NATIONAL CRISIS: A MYTH ANALYSIS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES COVERAGE OF PRESIDENT BUSH IN THE WAKE OF THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK

This study examined The New York Times' use of myth to portray President George W. Bush as a modern version of the archetypal hero following the September 11 attacks. This qualitative study relied on the principles of textual analyisis [sic] and semiotics to identify metaphors, binary oppositions and the functions that provided the underlying meaning to portray Bush as a hero. The research found that The Times functioned as a state scribe, invoking myths that stemmed from the powerful binary opposition of good vs. evil. His religious ideology placed him in a narrative world where he was acting on behalf of God to wipe out the evil terrorists. . . .

What paper was this, again?

One more (all text, of course, sic):

MEDEA IN THE MEDIA: NARRATIVE AND MYTH IN PRINT MEDIA COVERAGE OF WOMEN WHO KILL THEIR CHILDREN

Motherhood has beeen represented in fact and ficion as a supreme calling, a happy achievement, a heavenly blessing, a womanly profession, the pinnacle of femininity. Women who become cmother are suppose to be guised by "natural" feminie instinct that make them instantly loving, all-knowing, and selfless. . . . Some scholars suggest curcumscribed views of motherhood harm women because they discourage them from seeking help when they cannot or do not mother well. . . . Using qualitative analysis, this dissertation explored the dominant narratives in news articles about women who killed thier children adn examined myths embedded in those narratives. The analysis included 10 seprate incidents of infanticide in 229 news stories published in mainstream U.S. newspapers during the past 15 years. Findings revealed four distinct narratives: the perfect/imperfect mother, which positioned woem who killed their children as either insane or evil. The good mother, which included stories from woem who killed their children, who said they loved their children but also admitted thy harmed them. The accountable mother, which revealed that woem are held to a higher standard of parenting than fathers, and which postioned men and others in the community as victims of devious women. The wounded community, in which the community was persionfied and presented as the victim of a crafty, deceitful mother. Using a framework of "master myths," in journalism, the analysis revealed that mother were presented as victims, scapegoats, and trickster. In addition, findings suggest that journalists employed "materinal myths" in articles about women who killed their children:Women were presented as fallen angles adn rebles and were compared with a perfect, mythical "Good Mother." However, findigns laso revealed cracks in dominant narratives and myths, as journalists reported women's disscusions of their own ambivalent maternal exiperiences.

Sounds like something from Sangamon State University, but no! It's from the University of North "Carlonia," Chapel Hill.