Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Contact, Christine M. Stevralia

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A year after Alyssa Milano’s tweet launched the #MeToo movement, survivors of sexual assault are being called ‘accusers’ in the media, and public opinion is swinging in favor of guilty men. #MeToo raised awareness but not understanding. What is rape? What is consent? As evidenced by the #MeToo movement and the backlash against it, clearly, as a society, we don’t know. Contact is a work of Creative Nonfiction that uses scenes and details from the narrator’s personal experiences to illuminate the micro-negotiations that occur in sex and seduction.

In a world where women are still expected to stay small and …

Bramble And Knife, Sara Ryan

All NMU Master's Theses

This thesis is a collection of poems that center on the themes of extinction, family, the female body, and the presence of the animal. During my time in the Upper Peninsula, I found a connection with the natural world around me, and this led to my fascination with animals and extinction, both of which manifested in my poetry. As I struggled with the residual effects of toxic relationships, as well as the bleak romantic landscape of the UP, I saw my own body reflected in the bodies of animals. I specifically noticed this reflection while studying the art of taxidermy; …

The Damsel Can Rescue Herself: Subverting Common Literary Tropes Of The Fantasy Genre, Melissa N. Hurlburt

Honors Theses and Capstones

This thesis consists of a fantasy novella. A character-driven work, it focuses on internal conflicts rather than the external conflicts and grand, sweeping plotlines that are typical of fantasy novels. Taye is an aerial performer with the king’s circus troupe, Corracha. She is also the vigilante Saorsa, a figure who fights against the injustices the king of Monadh inflicts upon the kingdom’s immigrants. A young woman haunted by her past and struggling to make something of herself in a male-dominated society, she must confront her inner demons when she is injured during a performance. She relies on her best friend …

[There Is So Much Blood In Us], Lindsey C. Whitlock

Scripps Senior Theses

[There is So Much Blood in Us] is an ambiguously alternate universe in which absolutely nothing is true but almost everything could be. In these poems, tension between the absurd and the possible synthesize into one linguistically and psychologically driving force – discomfort. More than anything, I am writing about discomfort.

America’s media representations of women are almost always defined by a singular, and often sexualized experience. Yet, when I talk to the many wonderful / brilliant / badass / etc. women in my life, most of our truly defining experiences are impressively unsexy. Our womanity, if you will, orbits …

Escape From Wonderland - A Novel, Crystal Denise Pennymon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

N/A

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.