Creative Writing Commons^™

Memory And Identity: Inter-Generational Resilience And Construction Of Diasporic Identities Among Somali Refugees, Hamida Dahir Sheikh Ahmed

Master's Theses

The violence and displacement many refugees face often create a lifelong trauma that manifests in many ways within themselves, their families, and communities. The Somali refugee community in the United States is no different. Since their resettlement in America started in the 1990s following the civil war, the community has struggled with different manifestations of that trauma; substance abuse and gang violence among the youth, prominence of depression and suicide rates, rise of domestic violence, as well as other direct and indirect results associated with mental health. This is the reality of many refugee and immigrant communities, coming directly from …

A Collection Of Misfits, Kayla Gates

Master's Theses

The following creative writing thesis, A Collection of Misfits, includes a critically informed introduction which places my works of fiction within the larger conversation of contemporary fiction. These short stories explore numerous ways in which characters fail to connect to the world around them. Characters falter with relationships, religion, and fitting in. The collection also explores how the use of humor works to bridge the fissure that can form around a character who fails to connect–creating a personal connection between reader and character. Taken in sum, these stories indicate that we, as humans, have a binding thread that intertwines …

'Disembodied Bones': Recovering The Poetry And Prose Of Elinor Wylie 2021, Sarah R. Bullock

Master's Theses

Picking a book to read is like diving for a pearl, writes Elinor Wylie, a 20th Century American poet, novelist, essayist and prominent magazine literary editor. In her essay "The Pearl Diver", she writes that it is the diver that risks the unknown- unaided by diving equipment in the form of library indexes-who gains the greatest joy, Wylie states (Fugitive Prose, 869). Wylie explains:

I venture to perceive an analogy between the rebellious pearl diver and myself, in my slight experience with public libraries...how much more delightful, how much more stimulating, to abandon the paraphernalia of card indexes and mahogany …

Remaking Divinity In Aldous Huxley’S Brave New World 2021, Sebastian Vignone

Master's Theses

Humanity is an experience. Shaped through both individual and collective encounters, we understand the self and the world around us as an amalgamation of interactions over the course of our lives. Arguably, one of the most common experiential archetypes is religion, and more specifically the relationship one has with a divine being as it has been framed by a religious institution. While the United States does not have an official religion, there is a host of people who refer to the U.S. as a “Christian nation,” and it is therefore irresponsible to elide the panoply of inequities that run through …

Found Media: Interactivity And Community In Online Horror Media 2021, Jax Mello

Master's Theses

Being isolated is a common fear. The fear can take many forms, from the fear of being the last one alive in a horrific situation to being completely deserted by everyone you love. This is a fear that has been showcased many different times in movies, novels, and every other piece of media imaginable. Although not always tied to the horror genre, the fear of being isolated is tightly intertwined with many horror stories. Therefore, it is interesting when a horror production goes out of their way to encourage interactivity within its audience. This goes beyond an artist’s desire for …

An Interdisciplinary Approach: Schizophrenia Derails Heteronormative Expectations In Psychological Narratives 2021, Bobbie Jo Weaver

Master's Theses

Required introductory psychology courses teach students a general and oversimplified version of the immense number of subfields within Psychology studies, much like introductory literature classes compress different genera throughout history into a miniscule number of “representative” texts. Nevertheless, these footholds generate an entryway into a whole new world of (specialized) exploration. Reading a text such as The Quiet Room: A Journey out of the Torment of Madness by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett provides a window for many students to crawl into one of Psychology’s darkest shadows, the field of abnormal psychology. Schiller’s non-fictional memoir, The Quiet Room, tells readers …