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English Language and Literature

Cleveland State University

2010

Short stories

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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Suicide Pelicans, Amanda A. Mccoy Jan 2010

Suicide Pelicans, Amanda A. Mccoy

ETD Archive

The suicide pelican lives in Costa Rica. You may not believe me, but I've seen it with my own eyes. Blindness is common for these birds, mostly caused by their form of fishing: dive-bombing into the water at full speed and spearing fish with their beaks. This head-first diving damages the eyes over the years. Once blind, some of the pelicans intentionally crash into rocks to avoid an unbearable, unnatural existence. These birds and their surprisingly beautiful, graceful suicide plunges influenced this collection of short stories aptly titled Suicide Pelicans. Though my collection is mostly about women and not actual …


Shells, Joline L. Scott Jan 2010

Shells, Joline L. Scott

ETD Archive

This thesis combines four short stories which revolve around themes of loss and disorientation. The first three stories, "Costa Rica," "Greece," and "On the Way Down to Florida" are derived from a larger work entitled GhostShells, and are connected by character development and a common mystery. The fourth piece, "Car Crash," is an independent piece that centers around a minor auto accident and the community activity it creates. All four pieces are linked by a central assertion that our physical bodies are merely shells for the souls within, and may be empty or full depending on the state of the …