It is the scope and purpose of this study to investigate the Whitman-woman relationship and to attempt to answer, so far as this Whitman puzzle may be answered, the question of the effect of women on the Whitman philosophy and the nature of that philosophy concerning women.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate various religious elements in Nathainel Hawthorne's life in relation to his career as a literary artist. The moral seriousness of this author at once strikes us as being something closely akin to religious sentiment, but he refused to endorse any specific dogma or to subscribe to any one organized faith. We know from his work that he had a religion, but his silence leaves ample room for conjecture if we wish to "label" him, or decide which of those religions that he contemplated was most congenial to his nature.

This thesis studies historical punctuation its uses and standards developed.