The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how six fantasynovels reflects or breaks the heteronormativity in society bylooking at how gender roles and sexuality are described.The theoretical framework is based on Judith Butler's theoryabout the heterosexual matrix which requires two separategenders and a compulsory heterosexuality and YvonneHirdman's two principles about dichotomy and hierarchy.The method used was idea analysis where dimensions basedon the theoretical framework were constructed. Thesedimensions were: behaviour, tasks, relationships and roles.The result shows that all of the books both breaks andreflects the society's values on gender and sexuality. Thereare some stereotypes present, for example that intuition isassociated with femininity and physical strength withmasculinity. However, the books also offer characters ofboth sexes that break the gender stereotypes, such asstrong women and emotional men.

The aim of this study has been to investigate how the death of a close relative is described in pictures and texts through the eyes of a child character in three picture books. The analysis has also considered how the child character copes with the tragedy and how he or she finds support in the grief process. The books analysed here are Resan till Ugri-La-Brek (1987), Farväl, Rune (1986), and Jättebra Olga! (2010). Since these are works of fiction, this study does not assume that they are an accurate reflection of reality, but the way the child characters act and cope with their grief has been compared with the findings of empirical research on how children react in real situations.The material has been examined by means of a qualitative literary analysis comparing the books according to the research questions. The study finds that the child characters receive evasive explanations from people around them concerning what death means, for instance that the person is sleeping.

This two years master?s thesis is about book circles for children, arranged by the public libraries in Sweden. The purpose is to gain knowledge about how children experience their participation in book circles, and how they experience their own reading. It focuses on children aged 10 to 12 years, and their leisure reading. The research questions are: What are the book circles? function for the participants? How and why do the children read? What kind of literature do they like? Do the children experience that their reading has developed through their participation in the book circles? What parts of the reading process do the book circles influence?The theoretical framework is threefold.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine how the gender structure appears in detective novels and in the society during the 1960s and 2000s. We have a pre-understanding that the gender structure is more distinct in the earlier books and we will investigate this by looking at the two aspects occupation and family role. We find this to be an important question to notice because society today isnt equal between the sexes. Our study is based on a theory of Yvonne Hirdmans, she claims that the man is the dominant part and the woman is in an inferior position. We apply a stereotype model she has conceived and we try to categorize the characters in the books we have analysed into this model.

This paper contains an analysis that sets out to investigate how sustainable development is portrayed in textbooks used in gymnasium level civics education. The study covers three textbooks, all in current use. The paper sets out to explore the relationship between the books chapters on economics and those about environmental issues. The sum of these two parts is in the context supposed to make up the books big picture of green sustainable development, i.e. the ecological aspect of sustainable development. An analytical model will be used to categorise and compare the three textbooks.The method chosen for this is analysis of ideas by use of ideal types.

In this thesis I investigate aesthetic preference for picture books among children aged 3?6 as well as criteria for preference among parents. Through my design project: illustration of a picture book, I aim to put my research on preference in the context of illustration and design. By using the design project as an applied method for research I have sought to answer how one as an illustrator can apply knowledge regarding preferences of the target groups when illustrating for picture books. I have primarily based my research within the field of cognitive developmental psychology, with primary focus on stage theory, and the field of literature.

External Thoughts is a studio based project with its purpose to throughworkshops establish contacts and create a dialouge about the content of contemporarygraphic design. The project also aims to apply a design curaticalmethod where the designer is both client and contractor, client and designer.We also wanted to investigate the design content as open-source and examinethe school versus the Internet?s future role in the design and for thedesigner. The project is a collaboration with Rasmus Östgård Ohlson fromBeckmans..

The aim of this Masters thesis is to investigate if the ideas of the realistic tale in Swedish literature for children can be identified by examining four books for children. The four books are all published between the years 1965 to 1975. The methods used to identify the ideas of the realistic tale are the concepts of alienation and antiestablishment. By using the theory of true and false consciousness represented by Diderichsen and the theory of Socialisation by Giddens, two questions are addressed. The questions are if the ideas of the realistic tale develop a true or a false consciousness.

Animerade filmer görs idag till störst del av stora företag som har en rejäl budget och arbetskraft. Är det möjligt att göra en hel animerad kortfilm ensam med hjälp av endast program som är gratis?. I det här examensarbetet redogörs om det är möjligt att göra en animerad kortfilm helt själv under begränsad tidsram och begränsade förutsättningar. Jämförelser mellan kommersiell programvara och open-source kommer att göras, där programmen jämförs som helhet och i sina individuella funktioner.

This Master's thesis aims at pinpointing the political arguments that appear in the recent debate on scientific publication. There is a widely spread opinion that prices on digital resources are far too high, thus taking up a major part of the University libraries budget, while publishing companies make high profits. It is also a common opinion that the current publishing method does not take full advantage of the possibilities of electronic publishing. Lately a number of alternative ways of publishing have been initiated and discussed, generally referred to as open access. Open access published material is available free of charge and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions on the public internet.In this thesis the minutes from four hearings held by the UK House of Commons in the spring of 2004 are examined.

Med denna uppsats vill vi ge läsaren en uppfattning om vad Free Software och OpenSource (FOSS) handlar om och mer specifikt analyseras huruvida FOSS kan fungera ien kapitalistisk värld eller inte. Den grundläggande idén med Free Software ochOpen Source, eller fri programvara och öppen källkod, är att ge varje användare avett datorprogram rätten att fritt köra, undersöka, ändra och vidaredistribueraprogrammet.Författarna ställer i uppsatsen frågan ?Hur kan pengar tjänas på FOSS?. Uppsatsensyftar till att försöka bena ut denna frågeställning. Frågeställningen ger upphov till tvåperspektiv; dels i meningen ?på vilka sätt kan man tjäna pengar på FOSS? och dels ibetydelsen ?hur kommer det sig att det går att tjäna pengar på FOSS då det är gratis?.Uppsatsen knyter an till litteratur kring FOSS samt ekonomisk teori och är främstteoretisk till sin natur.I uppsatsen visas att gamla beprövade affärsmodeller inte kan användas rakt av förföretag som använder eller utvecklar produkter baserade på Open Source.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether or not capitalism, viewed here as the system that is currently the dominant economic system in the Western world, can be seen as a modern myth or not. An author, Brian Tracy, of several popular self-help books is the target of this investigation and the language he uses in his books have been scrutinized in order to see whether or not he uses a religiously influenced, and more importantly, myth-creating language. In order to do so, Bruce Lincolns theories of myth have been used in correlation with Stefan Arvidssons definition ov myths. Also of interest is whether or not Tracy in his books uses any of the instruments of power defined by Michel Foucault to support his claims.The investigation shows that capitalism indeed can be seen as a modern myth. This claim is supported by the facts that Tracy not only uses a language heavily influenced by Christian texts and belief but furthermore because he descirbes himself and the people he claims to have helped in a way that strongly resembles the narratives of myths.

Open ecosystems, such as grasslands and pastures, have naturally been shaped by disturbances like fire and grazing. These processes play a crucial role in creating habitats with high biological diversity, particularly favourable for a wide range of herbaceous plant species. In recent years, many of these disturbances have ceased, leading to encroachment, fragmentation and habitat loss. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the effects of fire, herbivory and a combination of fire and herbivory on the emergence of herbaceous plants. The study was conducted at the Ecopark at Nordens Ark.

Today the talk about global warming and climate change are on top of the public agenda. There for schools and schoolbooks also debate the issue of global warming. A newcomer on the school stage is the sponsored school materials that studies show to be a growing phenomenon. In a debate like that of global warming which is filled with uncertainties and so much political and economic interest, I find it interesting to study how these schoolbooks talk about the issue.In my study I have tried to analyze and compare how school materials for primary school discuss the phenomenon of global warming. I have compared two different types of schoolbooks.

The main purpose of this Masters thesis is to examine how Braille users needs are satisfied by The Library of Talking Books and Braille TPB. The other issues are: How do some of the library workers at TPB experience that the needs of Braille users are satisfied? Is it possible to make the service better in the future for Braille users and in that case, how? The study is based upon interviews with five persons, who have defective vision and read Braille. I have also interviewed two employees at TPB who have defective vision. To build up a complete background presentation of the subject I have chosen a book about hermeneutic interpretation to understand how historic facts influence the function of the subject today and in the future.