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Shaping Character: The Role Of Mythology In Society, Jaclyn Weist

Masters Theses

Throughout history, man has told stories. Some stories were written on walls, tablets, or bits of parchment. Others have been passed down to posterity through oral tradition. Every culture worldwide has a rich tapestry of legends and myths. It is my intent to demonstrate that these stories use the tools of character development within their various plot lines to both express and shape beliefs, superstitions, and life lessons. Whether they are religious in nature or simply trying to make sense of the world, these stories, myths, and legends have played a part in shaping society into what it is today.

Fair Folk, Jamie M. Good

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This is the outline for an upcoming novel centering retold Celtic fairy tales. The project includes research about fairy lore and Celtic mythology, as well as modern Irish customs surrounding cultural beliefs surrounding fairies. This story prioritizes the Pagan versions of folklore, rather than the more modern Victorian and Christian depictions of Celtic traditions and fairies.

The outline includes an introduction, short synopsis, short summaries and goals for fifty-four chapters (the full length of the novel), a list of characters, and a short reflection.

Synopsis:

Three children, Molly, Cal, and Jack, are abducted into the fairy realm. Molly and Cal …

Sometimes I Think I’M Going Crazy, Connor Kesslering

Graduate Thesis Collection

"Sometimes I Think I’m Going Crazy" is a short story collection containing three stories of more or less equal length. Each of three main characters face conflict that tests their resolve and ultimately forces them to reevaluate who they are as human beings. Stress helps people to grow and evolve and the protagonists in these stories are forced to face their greatest fears head on and (with varying degrees of success) come out the other end better for it. But not before going a little crazy in the process.

The Lantern, 2020-2021, Adam Mlodzinski, Julian Barocas, Liam Worcheck, Sarah Buck, Jenna Lozzi, Samuel Ernst, Aurora Mckee, Jessica Schnur, Griffin Banks, Ryan Savage, Gabby Demelfi, Marie Sykes, Kayla Weil, Benjamin Tobias, Anastasia Dziekan, Emily Bradigan, Nadia El-Mourli, Isabelle Wessman, Mairead Mcdermott, Chandrasekhar Palepu, Robert Fisher, Kelsey Gavin, Kathleen Saddler, Liam Powers, Matthew Schmitz, Shayna Kushner, Yakira M. Serrano Rodriguez, Haley Bestrycki, Anaya Demota, Amy Litofsky, Vanessa Worley, Amanda Webber, Morgan Mason, Christian Ndaye, Leo Cox, Olivia Cross, Amy Smith, Valerie Eicher, Ian Abrahams, Amelia Kunko, Ava Compagnoni, Rimsha Maryam, Aviva Schuch, Cyn Ercole, Colleen Murphy, Sarah Fales, Ella Spencer

The Lantern Literary Magazines, 1933 to Present

One Thousand and One is Never Enough • House on Hazel Ave. • Crooked Men at Crooked Alley • Home • Honeybee • The Witch's Daughter • Traveling to Reyu • December 31st, 2019 • The Dominator Rolls the Dice Again • Red Flowers • Military Ball • Drowning in Color • Early Bird • Introspection • Hot Water • Reaching Into Space • Floating Marigolds Before COVID-19 • Smokestack 4 • Longing • His Fifth Year on Amstel Road • Wonderful Moments • Clean Glass • Betty, the Debutante • Teakettles Have it Easy • Fuimos, Somos y Seramos …

Of All The Fires That Ever Burned, Stephen Brophy

CutBank

No abstract provided.

Dark Magic Part 1, Rachel Quaid

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Dark Magic is a novel that mixes old folklore with fantasy and a splash of modern day. This first part of the novel readies the readers to enter the world of the old Irish Aos Sì. Ophelia is a witch, living in the land of the fae. She signs up to help with a research study to better her chances at succeeding as a healer. Rhea is a member of the Tuatha de Danann, the fae folk who rule the land from their courts of old. She is sent by her caretaker to observe this study. Everyone knows witches and …

The Hidden People, K. C. Mead-Brewer

CutBank

No abstract provided.

Catch Hell Blues, Nick Jebsen

Senior Projects Spring 2020

My novella features four friends attempting to navigate the transition between high school and adulthood while coming of age in the midst of political turmoil and an American epidemic of substance misuse. They attend a house party, inebriate, and drive around Los Angeles in a 1996 BMW 7 series while waxing philosophic about God, free-will, and beauty. After purchasing more alcohol, they vandalize a Confederate flag, which incites a road-rage incident. The second half of the novella details their separation from one another and struggles with personal loss and substance abuse.

Son Of Red Earth Or The George Story: Novel Excerpt, Callie Ann Atkinson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Gini, Andrea O'Connor

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.

Crossroads And Crow Feathers, Travis E. Bowman

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the short story form to examine the influence of myth, magick, and the supernatural on the interstitial areas of the United States. The power of words as a force for change figures prominently in these stories. This thesis looks at the monstrous as it moves in the darkness and in the minds of humans, but also at the tremendous depths of compassion and courage we find in ourselves when faced with monstrous situations.

Eulogy, Kim T. Allison

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Particular to the three short stories in Eulogyis the importance of place, as they are set in the fictional location of Potter’s Island, which is based on my childhood sense of Florida.Contradictions, complications, and disappointments can be uniquely tied to a sense of place. My own parents and grandparents moved to Florida when I was three years old, but where they lived, how they lived and worked, and what dreams they pursued was only partially an immigrant’s story of wanting a better life.

The past has weight—a weight that must be dealt with, for real people, and for …

Ben Battle: A Soldier Bold, Thomas Alan Burtelow Iii

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Emergent Fiction, Brandon Mcfarlane

Publications and Scholarship

The sixty-four works of emergent fiction of 2015 evidence several noteworthy transitions in Canadian prose. While it is admittedly problematic to discuss the novels and collections of short stories as some form of unified whole, several patterns emerged that merit highlighting and demand critical attention because they represent new directions for Canadian fiction.

The texts mark the arrival of a new wave of literary experimentation that embraces risk-taking and the pursuit of novelty as fundamental characteristics of good art and great storytelling. The featured texts created wonderfully new ways to tell stories by inventing narrative techniques or breaking with generic …

Frida's Daughter, Myrta Vida

Theses

The purpose of my creative writing is to highlight a group of U.S. citizens still woefully underrepresented in literature proper: the Latinx middle class. I’m keenly interested in exploring Puerto Rican and first- and second-generation Latinx immigrant stories. Even though some of the experiences from these groups have been elegantly visited by writers such as Giannina Braschi, Sandra Cisneros, Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, and others, there are nuances to the Latinx middle class experience that are yet to be uncovered. Being stuck in the cultural, linguistic, socio-economic, and political middles in a country that has recently taken a largely nationalist …

Walking In Waves, Sarah David

All NMU Master's Theses

The following thesis consists of a story collection, the majority of which are flash fiction pieces. The thesis consists of two sections. The first section, “Walking in Waves,” is composed of stories about familial relationships and the balancing act of motherhood. Some of these stories play with unique formats or degrees of speculative fiction. Many are rather lyrical in nature. The second section is a novella-in-flash; entitled “Tiny’s Jazz Magic,” this series of stories tells the tale of a woman and her young daughter in 1920’s Storyville, New Orleans.

Ruth Harris: Under The Prairie Moon, Mary Hays

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Ruth Harris: Under the Prairie Moon is rooted in the rural Illinois landscape and its communities. The stories follow Ruth from childhood to old age and offer multiple viewpoints on fidelity, home, forgiveness, and finally, love. Focus on one character through a lifetime allows perspective to shift as she ages.

The Cliff, Beatrice Ann Wedd

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College.

Janice Holt Giles And The "White Caps” Of Kentucky, Michael R. Brown

Library Staff Presentations & Publications

Janice Holt Giles (1905-1979) has more to say about the Brethren in Christ than any other novelist or popular writer;' in fact, she stands alone. Her 25 books, written from 1950 to 1975, sold four million copies in her lifetime, and some remain in print and have recently attracted renewed interest. Primarily noted for her historical fiction about the Western frontier, she is also noted for novels and memoirs set in her adopted state of Kentucky. Of these, four describe or characterize the Brethren in Christ at varying length and another three mention or make allusions to them. One novel, …

Heavenly Reason, Nicole Hansell

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Suburban Train: Part One Of A Novel, David E. Field

Senior Theses and Projects

Part One of a novel titled Suburban Train, inspired by Dante Alighieri's Inferno. This contemporary remix focuses on a teenager named Skylar who runs away from his troubled past and finds himself in the capital city of Hell. Guided by his own Beatrice and Virgil analogues, Skylar undergoes a transformative journey to cleanse himself of past guilt and regret. Influences include Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, China Mieville, and others.

Sunset View, Danielle Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sunset View is a linked collection of short fiction that explores the dynamics of dysfunctional families. Characters in this collection have been affected by the neglect, absence, or death of their family members and friends. They search for recognition and love as they try to find their place in life. Some turn to animals or fleeting relationships to fill this void. Others attempt suicide or simply disappear. The characters are in denial, unsure how to deal with grief, and often make decisions that alienate them from the friends and family they do have. Set in northeast Tennessee and named after …

In Solidarity: Collaborations In Lgbtq+ Activism, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D., Kathryn L. Norsworthy

Faculty Publications

What follows is a fictional account. Our “characters” bear our real names; the other eight are composites of students we have taught and from whom we have learned; activists with whom we have worked; and staff, faculty, and administrators we have trained in venues such as Safe Zone. We portray our ally (Lisa)-lesbian (Kathryn) relationship this way for two reasons: one, we had not secured permission from real students, colleagues, or community members to represent their lives and experiences, and two, we seek a way to show our partnership, both personal and professional since 2000, in action. To each of …

The First Foretelling, Cynthia M. Davidson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This is an original work. It is a full length novel. The main character is Zeso Eliza Greylin.

Fiction Fix 16, April Gray Wilder, Jayshiro Tashiro, Christopher Stephen, Cathleen Calbert, Amanda Paulger, Van G. Garrett, Jane Zich, Di Jayawickrema, Josh Lamstein, Liz Dolan, Denise Mostacci Sklar, Holly Day, Erica W. Jamieson, Jack King, Meeah Williams, Glenn Erick Miller, Edward Hagelstein

Fiction Fix

No abstract provided.

Volume 4, Issue 2: Full Issue

Manuscripts

Full issue of the January 1937 issue of Manuscripts. Includes work by Wayne Hill, Margaret Pierson, Elizabeth Messick, Margaret Kendall, Mary Burrin, Grace Ferguson, Betty Richart, Charles Aufderheide, Dorothy Steinmeier, Mars B. Ferrell, Cathryn Smith, Ruth Marie Hamill, Phillipa Schreiber, Robert Ayers, Marguerite Ellis, Wilbur Elliot, Margaret Parrish, William Steinmetz, Glenn White, Jack Howard, Richard Joyce, Anne Horne, Dave Craycraft, Charles Hostetter, Ralph W. Morgan, Louise Ryman, Norman Bicking, Dorothy Schilling, Mildred Barnhill, and Marion Swann.

Compulse, Candise W. Henson

Student Publications

A short short story that looks at the details of a strange marriage between a minister with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and his pregnant wife as they attempt to exorcise five girls at a backwoods church camp.

Reason For Rejoice, Jennifer Karr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This collection of short stories features characters who face unexpected situations arising from ordinary circumstances. Most of the characters find themselves compelled to react in ways that may even surprise themselves. A young woman finds her first feeling of joy in a long time in the face of her mother’s possible death. Best friends recall their years spent doing drugs and ignoring responsibility. When a woman confronts her fear of sex, she finds herself literally in another world. Rather than sticking with one form, several stories depart from traditional structures. One flash fiction piece is told in the first-person collective …

“Breakfast Shots” And Other Stories: Collected Fiction Of Joseph D. Haske, Joseph D. Haske

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The following thesis for the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing consists of two parts. The first part contains five excerpts from a short story cycle, tentatively entitled Breakfast Shots. The second part includes experimentation with the short story form, including the noir-influenced Bloqueo and two minimalist stories derived from this piece. Several stories included in this thesis have been published in journals such as Boulevard, Fiction International, and Dark Sky. The rest are currently under consideration for various journals and anthologies.

Fiction Fix 09, Mark Ari, Kate Kaiser, Alison Bergblom Johnson, Jewel Beth Davis, Margarita Meklina, Mathieu Asselin, Chris Mccann, Sanjukta Shams, Jane Hertenstein, Alysha Hoffa, Alexis Wilson, Jeff Baker, Geri Lipschultz, Leslie Tucker, Robbie Knopf, Justin Toole, Lis Anna

Fiction Fix

No abstract provided.