APPROVED: Janelle Mathis, Major Professor Mariela Nuñez-Janes, Minor Professor Leslie Patterson, Committee Member Nora White, Committee Member Nancy Nelson, Chair of the Department of Teacher Education and Administration James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School NINTH GRADE STUDENTS’ NEGOTIATION OF AESTHETIC, EFFERENT, AND CRITICAL STANCES IN RESPONSE TO A NOVEL SET IN AFGHANISTAN Cheryl Taliaferro, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2011