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Standing Stone, a novel, and the accompanying commentary, Stepping Stones to Standing Stone, form this thesis. The title, Standing Stone, refers to both the Rollright Stones and the journey to self-actualisation of the American protagonist, Barbara Shaunaky, as she gradually develops inner strength and independence. In seeking to understand the mystery shrouding her birth, Barbara travels through contemporary Wales, back in time to nineteenth century England and earlier still to the fifteenth century and Mother Shipton to whom myth credits the formation of the Rollright Standing Stones. The maid/mother/crone triptych as archetype forms a repeated thread throughout the novel as an ancient choice affects consequence influencing each succeeding time period. The commentary seeks to understand and classify Standing Stone within works of fiction. The nature of story is explored by examining what story is and how Standing Stone is positioned in relation to genre – specifically historic, supernatural, and magical realism as well as classification – particularly Young Adult, Adult and Crossover fiction. In doing so I explore the relation of plot and theme, language, symbols, archetypes, as well as fore- and backshadowing. Standing Stone is analysed by comparing the works of Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, Kate Mosse and others. My intent in both Standing Stone and its accompanying analysis, Stepping Stones to Standing Stone, was to understand the concept of story; the classifications of story; and to examine and understand the term ‘Crossover’ in relation to fictive genre literature.

The case studies examined how three preservice teachers within a Master of Arts in Teaching program at a small, private university negotiated meaning around an educational practice--collaborative action research. Preservice teachers must negotiate multiple, and often competing, internal and external discourses as they "sort out" what educational practices, policies, organizational structures to accept or reject as presented in the teacher education program. This negotiation is a dynamic, contextual, unique meaning-making process that extends, redirects, dismisses, reinterprets, modifies, or confirms prior beliefs (Wenger, 1998). Korthagen's (2004) model for facilitating understanding and reflection was used to explore the process of negotiating meaning. Known as the Onion Model, it includes six levels: the environment, behavior, competencies, beliefs, identity, and mission. When alignment occurs between all levels, Korthagen explained that individuals experience wholeness, energy, and presence. In contrast, tensions can occur within a level or between levels of the Onion Model and limit the effectiveness of the preservice teacher regarding the area in question. Reflecting on the collaborative action research experience through the layers of the Korthagen's model may allow preservice teachers (and professors) to identify degrees of alignment and areas of tension as preservice teachers negotiate meaning. Once identified, areas of tension can be deconstructed and better understood; self-understanding can empower individuals to assume an active and powerful role in their professional developmental. To explore how preservice teachers negotiated their identity regarding collaborative action research, the following research questions guided the study: (1) How do preservice teachers' trajectories align with the practice of collaborative action research? (2) How do individuals negotiate meaning regarding the practice of collaborative action research? (3) How do preservice teachers frame collaborative action research in relation to their future practice? Triangulated data from interviews, observations, and document analysis was collected, analyzed, and interpreted to provide insight into preservice teachers' process of negotiating meaning around a nontraditional educational practice. Each participant traveled a unique and emotional journey through the process of collaborative action research and their personal trajectory did influence the way they negotiated the practice of collaborative action research. Findings included: (a) each participant had a dominant trait that influenced areas of alignment and misalignment between their trajectory and the practice of collaborative action research; (b) some participants exhibited visible misalignments while the misalignments of others were hidden; (c) participants relied on personal strengths to reestablish the perception of alignment as they negotiated meaning through the practice of collaborative action research; (d) the way misalignments were negotiated limited the transformational potential of the learning experience of collaborative action research; and (e) participants' expectations for their future use of the practice of collaborative action research aligned with their dominant traits. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The objective of this study was to characterize growth, carcass composition, and meat quality in two Duroc lines of pigs divergently selected 10 generations for testosterone production and then maintained by random within line selection. In generation 21 endogenous testosterone production in the high (HTL) and low (LTL) testosterone lines averaged 49.0 ng/ml and 27.8 ng/ml (P < 0.01), respectively. Eight LTL and 10 HTL boars were used to create 29 LTL and 33 HTL litters. These same boars were mated to a line of white composite (WC) females to generate 11 WC by LTL litters (WLT) and 23 WC by HTL litters (WHT). Barrows and gilts were then selected LTL (n = 53), HTL (n = 61), WLT (n = 102), and WHT (n = 101) for testing. Pigs were weighed and scanned using real-time ultrasound 48 h prior to one of two slaughter dates. Data were analyzed with a mixed model including fixed effects of line, mating type, sex, and random effect of sire nested within line. All possible interactions among fixed effects were tested. Growth and carcass traits analyzed included days to 114 kg (D114), average daily gain (ADG), back fat adjusted to 114 kg (BF), loin muscle area adjusted to 114 kg (LMA), and predicted percent lean (PPL). Fat-O-Meater data collected included hot carcass weight (HCW), adjusted fat depth (FDEPTH), adjusted loin depth (LDEPTH) and percent lean (%LEAN). Meat quality traits characterized included marbling score at 24 h post-mortem (MAR), percent lipid (%LIPID), pH, water-holding capacity (DRIP), color score (CS) and Minolta L*, a*, and b*. The HTL had fewer D114 (P < 0.05), greater ADG (P < 0.01), greater BF (P < 0.01) and lower PPL (P < 0.01) than LTL. For crossbred progeny, WHT and WLT did not differ for D114, ADG, or BF. The WLT had larger LEA (P < 0.05) and higher PPL (P < 0.01) than WHT. The WLT had lower LDEPTH (P < 0.05) than LTL and HTL. The LTL and HTL had higher subjective scores for MAR (P < 0.05). Least square means for %LIPID for HTL and LTL were 4.00 and 3.95, respectively. The WHT had higher means for DRIP (P < 0.01), L*, a* and b* (P < 0.05) than WLT, but did not differ for pH or CS measurements. Pigs selected for increased testosterone production grew faster and produced fatter carcasses than pigs selected for decreased testosterone. Because of their high intramuscular fat content and acceptable meat quality, these lines may be useful in developing premium products.