______________________________________ Tamara Newton iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to Aoidê, Meletê, and Mnêmê. I dedicate this dissertation to Rochina Cipriani. To me they are the same. To think on her: "Questo é amore" iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Although I know that people typically don't take the time to read the acknowledgments, and many feel that they are unimportant, I believe there is a good reason they are included, which has nothing to do with convention. It lies in the fact that

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... no one can achieve what they do without the assistance of others. Those people deserve to be acknowledged. Therefore, I will not be limiting my acknowledgment section for reasons of space preservation. I would like to begin with the Beguine. In doing so, the first person deserving of my acknowledgment is my loving wife. She has been religious in her devotion to the completion of my degree, sacrificing much. She has also been on this slow dance for the complete duration, and I believe she is nearly as excited as I am that the music has finally faded and we can step off the dance floor. I am excited to begin a post-dissertation life with her.