Digital Commons Network^™

Cultural Trauma Fiction: Political Violence, Rampage Violence, And Structural Violence In Contemporary American Literature, Courtney Mullis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation identifies and proposes a new subgenre of American literature, Cultural Trauma Fiction, that has arisen since the late 20^th century in response to numerous large-scale traumatic events and their representation in the media. Cultural trauma occurs when a shocking, shared event fractures collective identity and initiates a discursive process to understand what took place, why it happened, and how the affected culture can heal. Cultural traumas differ from individual trauma because cultural traumas affect a culture, rather than an individual, and because they are mediated; many members of the culture experience the trauma of these events secondhand …

Divinity School: A Novel, Ella Marie Schmidt

Honors Projects

I wrote Divinity School, an Honors Project for the Department of English, under the auspices of my project advisor, Professor Anthony Walton, and my readers, Professors Marilyn Reizbaum, Ann Kibbie, and Aaron Kitch. Divinity School is a novel whose conflicts are religious, generational, and familial. Set mostly in Hoboken, New Jersey with vignettes in Manhattan, Vienna, the west coast of Ireland, and an anonymous New England college town, it is the story of one family and the open secrets that keep them apart. Hal Macpherson is a Divinity School professor uged into premature retirement by allegations of misconduct; his …

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.

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

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

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.

The Meaning In The Music: Music And The Prose Of Chopin, Joyce, Baldwin And Egan, Colin Perry

Senior Theses

Kate Chopin, James Joyce, James Baldwin, and Jennifer Egan are collectively gifted in the art of prose, yet each author also experiments with music in their literary works. An analysis of Chopin's The Awakening, Joyce's "The Dead," Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," and Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad reveals a trend of authors utilizing music to enrich their texts and convey major themes.

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 …

Maiden Voyage (A Novel), Kyra Bauske

English

Maiden Voyage is an adventure story. It didn’t start out that way, but that’s what it has become. The story follows a young woman who stumbles onto her father’s secrets. Alexandra feels trapped in an 18th century English settlement on Nassau. Under her father’s protection, Alexandra is expected to marry and remain on the island. When she discovers a letter in her father’s office naming her as an “asset” she finds herself asking who her father really is. Who is the business associate who comes every month? Why does he really want her married to Lord Dewhurst? When her best …

Ties That Bind, Sarah Louise Slack

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ties that Bind is a collection of short stories that explores the lives of women. From physical danger that Rickie and her friends face in "The River's Children," to Maureen's emotional distress as she realizes she's losing her memory in "The Visit," from Mattie's work ethic as she tries to take her mother's responsibilities in "Keeping the Light," to Justine's struggle with unexpected pregnancy in "Here There Be Dragons," from Rae's confusion at her roommate's attitude in "The Tree that Holds the World," to Anya's temptation to suicide in "An Artist's eye," the first six stories stand alone and address …

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.

Same In The Sea And Other Stories, Mary Grace Buckley

Theses

This thesis is comprised of five novel chapters and two short stories that explore individuals’ interactions with their families and with the world around them. These interactions are not limited to physical interactions and verbal exchanges; they also include meditations on how the individual fits within the family and within the world at large. These stories also include interactions with the quirky, strange, and borderline fantastical as a way of displaying and relating to the individual’s feeling of personal strangeness by finding a similar strangeness in the outside world.

Comanche Boys, Benjamin D. Honea

Theses and Dissertations--English

Comanche Boys is a novel that was written and revised during Benjamin Honea’s time at the University of Kentucky. The novel focuses on Brandon, who lives in rural southwest Oklahoma, and how the arrival of two people in his life, one old and one new, changes his future irrevocably. Taking place at the intersections of modern American and Native American life, the narrative explores history, culture, mythology, faith, despair, racism, poverty, vengeance, and justice. The struggles of the past and present, the lost and reclaimed, propel and pervade the lives of the characters.

Constellations, Erin Leigh Pounders

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

AbstractConstellations consists of a collection of ten “linked” short stories. The short stories share the setting of Memphis, Tennessee and have recurring characters. Using realism, the stories attempt to examine the Modern American South, specifically Memphis. In this collection, the social milieu of the Old South, which is in its final throes, is explored, exploited, parodied, and sometimes honored. Focusing upon the characters of Garnet Pigeon and her daughter, Caroline, Constellations explores generational differences along with themes such as relationships between mothers and their children, class and social status, feminism, grief and loss, revenge, love, and the art of knowing …

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 …

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.

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.

The Long Road Home, Kim Mailes

Theses

The Long Road Home is the first half of a novel consisting of 113 pages of narrative prose divided into nine chapters. Fiction-writing techniques utilized include exposition, character development, and action. These techniques are designed to produce conflict within the protagonist. The rising action of the narrative reaches climax at the close of this document. This climax serves as the turning point for the continued development of the novel.

Mothers And Mothers, Courtney Miller Santo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This novel closely examines the relationship between mothers and daughters through the prism of the Keller women, their olive grove, and their Northern California town. The youngest, Erin, arrives home carrying the child of her married lover. Her only objective is getting her mother, Deborah, paroled before the birth of the child. Deborah, in prison for killing her husband, has not spoken to her own mother, Calliope, in the twenty years she’s been incarcerated. Calliope, who lost her faith in a plane accident and gained an addiction to painkillers, struggles to overcome her disconnect and embrace an unlikely love, despite …

Gravesend, William Boyle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gravesend, a novel, is set predominantly in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, though there are several scenes that take place in a fictional upstate town called Hawk's Nest. The novel centers around three characters: Conway D'Innocenzio, Alessandra Biagini, and Eugene Calabrese. These characters are tied together by Ray Boy Calabrese, who has recently been released from prison for his role in the brutal death of Duncan D'Innocenzio, Conway's brother, sixteen years before. Ray Boy returns and Conway, twenty-nine and working at Rite Aid, seeks revenge. Alessandra, a failed actress who has been in Los Angeles for a decade and has …

Crashing Against The Wood, Jessica Ryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this collection of short stories, the characters struggle to recover equilibrium in their lives that have been turned upside down. They struggle against one another, against change, and against the loss of loved ones. No matter what bonds hold the characters together, the underlying tension of change and reaction permeates their relationships and threatens what they know to be true. A theme of discontent runs in these stories. Something beneath the surface is not right, and the characters struggle to climb out of the mess their lives have become. Some of them have been stifled, like the narrator in …

Making Love During The Apocalypse, Richard Jude Goodness

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

How The Sky Tastes: Eight Stories, Daniel Sinclair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How the Sky Tastes is not simply a collection of stories. It is my representation of moments in life, social commentaries, bits of humor, and pure entertainment all in one. Each story, although unique and easily able to stand alone, shares qualities I find important in writing fiction. First, each story features realistically flawed, yet sympathetic characters dealing with difficulties in life. Secondly, the actual moment is important in each story--whether that moment is something shared between two or more characters or simply the time a certain character comes to a serious realization. Finally, the style can make or break …

A Family Portrait: Domestic Dynamics In The Fiction Of Mary Lavin, Lisa Lorraine Montagne

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Mary Lavin (1912-1996) was fairly well-known in Ireland during her lifetime; however, there has been relatively little critical attention paid to her, especially in America, throughout her fifty-year career. This study focuses on the domestic dynamics of the family in Lavin's fiction, whose world is influenced by the more harsh realities of early twentieth-century Irish society: the Victorian expectations of traditional gender roles, a rigid social caste system, and, at times, misguided religion. It is the purpose of this study to explore whether Lavin's characters can find happiness and fulfillment by acting according to personal conscience within this closely-prescribed social …

Living The Bomb: Martin Amis's Nuclear Fiction, Rebecca L Bostick

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Living the Bomb: Martin Amis's Nuclear Fiction examines the importance of nuclear issues in Amis's fiction, particularly Einstein's Monsters and London Fields. Critical attention is given to Amis's concept of "thinkability," his political agenda and the effect of nuclear weaponry on his literature. Amis's nuclear symbolism is examined and the corrupt effect of nuclear weapons on our powers of creation (literal and artistic) and the environment is illustrated. Finally, Amis's anti-nuclear philosophy is linked with feminism: both espouse pacifism and a reinventing of gender roles in a post-nuclear world.

Dissent Women In Anthony Trollope's Fiction: A Sympathetic Portrayal, Elisabeth Morton Mclaren

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study examines Anthony Trollope's depiction of women, specifically dissent women who, for one reason or another, did not conform to the expectations of their society. His treatment of these women reveals an author who grew more sympathetic to the position of women as he grew older. I have divided his writing career into three periods, and from each period, I have representative women who clearly indicate Trollope changing viewpoint; In Chapter One, the Introduction, I explain Trollope's development as a writer, how he is viewed by modern critics, and his position in nineteenth-century England; Chapter Two, "Single Women" deals …