Creative Writing Commons^™

The Wellington Affair: A Detective Story, Anakin Weston

Masters Theses

The week the heiress to the Wellington Family fortune returns to England, a series of strange events sweeps through the streets. The Wellington Diamond, unsurpassed by all of its kind, becomes the envy of more criminally-minded eyes and a plan is put into motion to steal it. Caught in the cross-fire, prospective writer Mark Verner is framed for the theft of the diamond but is saved from arrest by none other than the heiress herself. When the conspiracy to steal the jewel turns murderous, the only hope of the duo lies in the hands of the reluctant yet limitless detective …

Twenty-Nine Delusions Concerning Love, Jackie Donaldson

Masters Theses

Twenty-Nine Delusions Concerning Love is the story of my relationship. I narrate the relationship's unfolding through the contexts of philosophy and cultural theory, and through artifacts of my own work rendered since the relationship's inception in December of 2020. The purpose of this project was to identify a gap in the autotheory genre, and to fill that gap with my own meaningful contribution -- a book which hybridizes life writing with prose and poetry. This piece is both a narration of my own experience, and an investigation into hookup culture and the way technology has redefined the modern romantic relationship. …

Day Trips, Life In Camp, And Dogs: An Alaskan Memoir, Karen Reed

Masters Theses

Day Trips, Life in Camp, and Dogs: An Alaskan Memoir is a collection of essays reflecting the narrators immersion in life above the Arctic Circle.

Imaginary Things, Heather Gardewine

Masters Theses

Imaginary Things is a coming-of-age memoir about growing apart from one’s family and struggling with identity and independence. This story draws from predecessors in the family dysfunction subgenre of memoir, such as Educated by Tara Westover, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. The narrator tries to find her own identity in the things she loves while navigating familial opposition and rejection. “Imaginary things” such as films, plays, and video games become markers of identity and guide the reader through the story and towards growth, resolution, and sense of self.

The Cast Of A Giant's Shadow, Angela Kay Steineman

Masters Theses

Adapting fairy tales and folklore has been an ongoing endeavor by storytellers and artists since the very first story was repeated. The evidence can be seen in the many versions of fairy tales like those of the sleeping beauty, from Giambattista Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia” to Walt Disney’s Maleficent. However, unlike their European counterparts, adaptations of American tales outside of children’s literature are not as ubiquitous. My writing rectifies this by adding to the resurging interest as seen in recent retellings like Matt Bell’s Appleseed: The Monstrous Birth (2019).

In an effort to reframe the American tall tale …

"There Is Nothing Else Like It": The Innovative Personality Of Lowney Turner Handy, Nathan Crews

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Developing Text-Based Writing And Working Through The Revision Process, Valerie Clark

Masters Theses

A narrative continuation is designed to assess a student’s ability to comprehend a text selection and use their own creativity to redesign the text’s conclusion. This study took a narrative continuation writing assessment and analyzed the process which 41 sixth grade students followed, specifically looking at the prewriting and revision procedures. The goal was to determine if the supports and resources provided were effective for the type of writing and student population. Throughout the process, students’ behaviors which indicated motivation levels were noted (participation in discussions, level of focus, attentiveness, and amount of redirection required). Student work was then reviewed …

Mary Mcgovern: Adapting A Life In Three Genres, Kelly M. Pierce

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

One Way: Miles To Go, Jamie Lynn Golladay

Masters Theses

This creative thesis is a memoir dedicated to a close examination of a childhood taking place in a meth ridden midwestern town, under the supervision of meth addicted parents. Using both prose and poetry to explore small excerpts of memory in a sequential vignette form, this memoir follows the author through early adolescents to middle school, tackling issues such as addiction in the home, prostitution, homelessness, and incarceration as well as more domestic points of interest like sibling bonds, childhood roleplay, and parent/child relationships.

At its core, this narrative looks at the home and the family from the perspective of …

Surrender Dorothy: A Battle With Alzheimer's, Rebecca Lynn Lawson

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Baby Fat -- A Legacy, Brandi M. Gard

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Things Miraculous And Strange: A Poetic Interpretation Of The Death And Afterlife Of Agnes Sampson, Ann Mary Hart

Masters Theses

In this collection of poems, I tell the story of Agnes Sampson's 1591 trial for witchcraft, her torture and death, and her response to these events from the afterlife. Using persona perspectives and utilizing a variety of poetic forms, I reveal the voices, thoughts, and feelings of Agnes and others involved in the trials in hopes to give a full and well-rounded account of the events in a compelling and creative way. Included in the collection are erasures on some of James VI' s poems with the goal of turning them into responses to his actions from Agnes. Using this …

"In Motion", Mckenzie Dial

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Fantissity, Alexandra N. Dean

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Monstrous Tomorrow, Ty Noel

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Unfinished: A Memoir, Bryan Edward Hebeler

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Render Down, Nathan Hinote

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Heroic Texts And Special Effects, Joshua D. Goss

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Neon Calico, Joshua Webb Garrett

Masters Theses

This is a work of creative fiction in the genre of cyberpunk that explores themes of loss, sexuality, and trans-humanism though the eyes of a young Asian-American woman who struggles to cope with the loss of her former boyfriend, with an emerging sexual attraction to a friend of the same sex, and with feelings of disconnectedness complicated by a loss of humanity brought on by her continually improving her own physical body through cybernetic implants and augmentation. Inspired by such works as William Gibson's Neuromancer and Shirow Masamune's The Ghost in the Shell, this book explores the struggle that …

Woodlawn: A Collection Of Working Class Poems, Anthony Travis Shoot

Masters Theses

This thesis includes a collection of working-class poems that explore such issues as poverty, work, racism, family, and substance abuse through the lens of class. It also includes a critical introduction that gives a brief overview of the history and current state of working-class studies, specifically poetry. In this thesis I relate the work of contemporary poets such as Jim Daniels and Simon J. Ortiz to my own work, while explaining the themes of contemporary poets compiled in anthologies such as Working Classics: An Anthology and American Working Class Literature.

Creative Writing Pedagogy: The Autobiographical Narrative In Hybrid Projects As A Means To Explore Intersectionality, Tana G. Young

Masters Theses

My thesis addresses the role of creative writing methods in fostering close observation, attention to detail, critical thinking and a keener awareness of intersectionalities in writing classrooms across disciplines, but most especially the humanities and social sciences. I contend that the "real work" of the academy is critical thinking. Further, using creative writing, specifically autobiographical narrative in FYC, anticipates multimodal projects and digital storytelling, all of which fosters creative and critical thinking.

Between Heaven And Hell And Heathens, Gabrielle Knock

Masters Theses

This work of fiction explores the relationship between worshipped and worshipper by dually depicting it as a child/parent relationship and as a relationship between lovers. Written in the tradition of parodies like Don Quixote and re-imaginings of myths like The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee, I use humor and a contemporary setting in my book about a child who could be the second coming of Christ, but who cares more about his mother' s approval than he does about God.

Growing Pains: The Good, The Nasty, The Ugly, Sarah Porter-Liddell

Masters Theses

This thesis includes a collection of Slam and performance poems that examine issues of race, sexuality, religion, family, and life choices; including a critical introduction briefly explaining the oral roots of slam and performance poetry in which I relate the work of contemporary poets such as Alix Olson and Hattie Gossett to my own work, while explaining the effects of reading the work of contemporary poets in anthologies such as ALOUD: Voices of the Nuyorican Café, and how my poetry develops through the language of the poets included in these anthologies.

The Lyric And The Lathe: Dreams Of Perfect Poetic Efficiency, 1800-1917, Steven A. Nathaniel

Masters Theses

This study examines patterns of efficiency in the poetry and theory of William Wordsworth, Hilda Doolittle, and other figures from the Modernist and Romantic periods. I begin by defining perfect efficiency as occurring when energy transforms, without loss, inside a closed energy system, and I offer perpetual motion machines as hypothetical examples of this impossible state. I then demonstrate the process of efficiency in William Wordsworth's poetry, which begins with circumlocutory poetic cycles but contracts into terse repetitions. Since technical efficiency is calculated by the formula output/input, poetry's subjectivity makes poetic efficiency difficult to measure. However, I suggest that repetitions …

For Quality And Training Purposes: Stories, Sean Towey

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Troubled, Solomohn Nallshi Ennis-Klyczek

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Grayscale, Emily Bowers

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

How I Love You, Hannah R. Green

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

And By The Grace Of God, We'll Travel West, Aaron White

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Red Star Studded Chaos: Sex Scandal, Juan Salas

Masters Theses

Leon de Cruz is a fame hungry journalist that published sex pictures of the greatest pop group in the world: Red Star Studded Chaos. The group was genetically engineered to be physically perfect and live a minimum of 10,000 years without aging. Leon's news article about the group catapults him into international superstardom, and RSSC's only rival, a recently founded Christian pop group called Properness, wants to manipulate Leon into using his new found fame to write a novel that condemns the very debauchery RSSC stands for.

Looking to capitalize on the chaos sparked by the sex photographs, Properness's management …