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Short Story Collection, Kevin Bond

Theses and Dissertations--English

This thesis consists of four pieces of short fiction workshopped as part of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at the University of Kentucky. Themes and topics explored include familial dynamics, depictions of childhood and coming of age, solitude, adverse psychological effects of toxic masculinity, natural sphere as sanctuary and source of spiritual renewal, and sense of place.

The Changing, Sabrina B. Black

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In poems that center on experiences of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, The Changing explores the formation of identity and the malleability of the self. Sabrina Black writes into the spaces between people—at times finding connection there and at times isolation. Throughout the collection, the speaker reflects on complicated relationships with family members, classmates, and friends; on the ways those relationships have shaped her; and, most of all, on her relationship with that elusive thing called the self.

In a series of “Dear Advice Columnist” poems scattered throughout the manuscript, Black shifts focus away from personal experience, adopting the persona …

In Window Tree: A Novel And Three Fables, Jack Pagliante

Senior Projects Spring 2020

A young man begins to remember his childhood when he finds a child asleep in a fallen tree.

This, My Breath, Suzette Louise Mack

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This, My Breath, is a creative collection of memories gathered along the seasons in my life-mostly from my formative years. The stories highlight the patient, unconditional love my parents shared, and the way it has influenced me throughout my life. The stories are about life, love, loss, a yearning to belong, and a longing to be both interdependent and independent.

In my family of origin, it was the simple rhythms established through daily life and the honoring of traditions that inspired the deepest meaning, purpose, and hope. The seasons of the year brought my family alive with a flow of …

The Boys With The Spare Keys, Katelyn Elizabeth Grisham

MSU Graduate Theses

As human beings, we are constantly losing something: our keys, our wallets, our credits cards, or the mate to our favorite pair of socks. But what if you lose something that cannot be replaced, something that will impact your life in a permanent way? This collection looks at what it means to lose something life-altering; our sense of self, our friendships, our planned futures, our grasp on reality. Some things cannot be replaced. From trust fund kids to a dad preparing a Christmas tree for his daughter, this collection will explore the idea of what we can (or cannot) afford …

Touch The Soil, Kirstin Fierro

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Only One Went Through The Green Door, Rachel Sahaidachny

Graduate Thesis Collection

Written in three parts, Only One Went through the Green Door, explores abandonment, homelessness, childhood, womanhood, and choices made or unmade that create the complicated and winding path of life. The poems use narrative and lyric to examine the effects of childhood trauma on the development of a persona, and its shadow. Emotional realities explored through natural landscapes, and at times through child-like language, create an unsettled speaker who quests for some final understanding that might lead to peace.

So, “In Your Eyes, I Am Complete.” A Play In One Act, K. Michelle Sellers

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

So, “In Your Eyes, I am Complete” is a one-act play and a one-woman show. I will be playing various characters such as mom, dad and sister where I will address many layers: such as cross-cultural differences, mental health and alcoholism, to name a few.

Still Life: Growing Up With Death - A Visual Memoir, Lindsey Roth-Rosen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone is a multidimensional visual narrative project that incorporates heuristic methodology to illustrate complicated grief that emerged from early childhood loss. The memoir’s intention is to exemplify grief as a complex and mutable composite response to the death of my mother. One objective of this capstone is to understand melancholy, commonly associated with mental illness or symptomatic of depression, as an aesthetic emotion as well as a conduit for philosophical reflection. I use non-verbal approaches to the genre of a memoir by incorporating my photography to epitomize art as a powerful means to comprehend the totality of loss: as …

Ghetto Birds And Other Things That Lurk, Mary Frances Henn

MSU Graduate Theses

This collection is comprised of poetry critically introduced by a narrative essay. The pieces included explore place, trauma, and the female experience: what modern domestic life looks like, what life looks like in the urban core, how substance abuse impacts familial relations, and especially, what it means to be female in relation to these things. Often, the intersection of these themes becomes central to a poem; the borders of these subjects blur, leading to overlap in the record of personal experiences and observations.

Remembering Elsewhere, Amelia Ernestine Walsh

Senior Projects Spring 2017

In my works, I tried very hard to create characters with unusual perspectives. I wanted to write from the point of view of children, while avoiding anything overly precious or intentionally naive. The trauma of aging, and eventually dying, are the themes for these works. I attempted to draw forth unusual and thought-provoking imagery that could successfully draw my reader into a constructed reality and, hopefully, draw them to less common questions we might ask regarding human nature.

The Prologue Past, Raymond Mckee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Prologue Past is a collection of four essays and one novella which explore the past in different fashions. Memory, and the ability to reflect and find meaning in our experiences, is an important cornerstone of engaging the past. Memories are a true anomaly of how our inner-consciousness operates. With each day, the past facilitates a special part of our memory bank which we seldom have any control of. While the abilities of people to recall times, events, places, and experiences differ largely in capacity, we all undoubtedly share universal traits in the manner in which we hold onto our …

Ten Pounds For Adults, Kids Travel Free: An Essay On The Effects Of Migration Upon The Children Of The British Migrants To Western Australia In The 1960s And 1970s ; And , The Red Pipe: A Novella Set In Port Hedland, Karen Helen Fouweather

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study comprises an essay entitled ‘Ten Pounds for Adults, Kids Travel Free’ and a creative component entitled ‘The Red Pipe: a Novella Set in Port Hedland’. The essay focuses upon the children of the ‘golden era’ of British migration to Australia, between 1961 and 1971, when over 300,000 arrived as part of an unprecedented post-war population drive. Most travelled under an assisted passage scheme in which adults paid £10 towards their fare and their children travelled free of charge. Consequently, these assisted British immigrants were known by Australians as the ‘Ten Pound Poms’. Two decades on from the introduction …

My Made For Tv Life Or How We Survived My Psycho-Killer Dad, Sarah Beth Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The critical afterword discusses my struggles writing a memoir after a lifetime of primarily fictional influences, the ethics of truth and memory, and my attempts to find a style that would do justice to my mother s struggles. The memoir began its life as a portrayal of my mother's story, but in the end was the story of a girl growing up with the knowledge of her father's attempted murder, and the strength of her mother's guidance. My story.

Behind Blue Eyes: A Memoir Of Childhood Who Am I?: A Collection Of Essays, Glyn Parry

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

How should one approach childhood memories for the writing of literary memoir? Behind Blue Eyes is my childhood revisited. I have fashioned my earliest memories in order to tell a story. My story, and the story of my family. It covers the years between 1963 and 1967, when I was a boy growing up in the north-east of England. I made the decision from the outset to tell the story through the eyes of a child. This is an approach seldom taken, but one that has intrigued me for some years now. Could I sustain the voice of a four-year-old, …