Creative Writing Commons^™

The Women Of Middle Fork, Pamela J. W. Shingler

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Pamela J.W. Shingler on December 9, 1999.

Another Person's Skin: Imagining Race In The Works Of Crane, Dunbar, Cather And Stevens, Lisa M. Durose

Dissertations

This study is interested in the motivations behind certain authors' attempts to, in the words of Willa Cather, "enter into another person's skin"~in the desires compelling writers to cross, transgress, or perhaps transcend those barriers that have historically divided people in the world: barriers of color, class, and gender. In particular it seeks to examine the works of four early twentieth century writers who undertake what these days is considered risky: transracial and transethnic crossings. By relying on biographical, cultural, and historical sources, I explore the strategies American writers Stephen Crane (1871-1900), Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872- 1906), Willa Cather (1873-1947), …

Skin: A Work Of Fiction, Kellie Wells

Dissertations

In Skin, a polyphonous novel, a community of characters similarly metaphysically vexed and similarly grappling with issues of selfhood and identity intersect and catalyze in one another moments of recognition. These brief self-reckonings suggest to the characters that though the quest to discern their place in the universe is a plagued one, it is not without value as it at least results in faint glimmers of enlightenment. Ultimately, how ever, these flickerings of understanding inch the characters no closer to the big certainties they seek, and they therefore must determine that the process itself, or, more to the point, …

Revisiting Lydia Sigourney, Mike G. Smith

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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A Bare Unpainted Table: A Manuscript Of Poems, Gladys Cardiff

Dissertations

The poems in this collection reflect Cardiff's bi-cultural Native American and Euro-American inheritance. The book title comes from a sixteenth century chronicle in which the native peoples of the Americas are seen as "simple gentiles" living under the "lawe of nature " . These narrative poems refute the Eurocentric notion that American Indians can be likened to a "bare table" or "a blank sheet of paper to be written upon ". The poem s celebrate her Indian heritage and also engage allusively with Western and Asian tradition s and conventions. Sometimes edgy, sometimes honorific, the juxtaposition of traditions in these …

Indoor/Outdoor: Poems, Jeffrey Greer

Dissertations

The poems in this manuscript can be sorted into two distinct, but compatible, categories. First, a series of narrative poems attempt to challenge Edgar Allen Poe’s dictum that an American poet cannot successfully write a poem longer than 100 lines. These poems approach coherent subjects through disjunctive forms. There is non-linear and linear movement in these poems that meander along in an attempt to capture a witnessed scene along with the action of making sense of that witnessing. There is a process of breaking the familiar and coherent down into something strange, then reconstituting it again into something newer and …

Records Of Women Scorned: Anomic Feminine Imagery In The Poems Of Felicia Hemans, Karen Dale-Doucet

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

A Fisherman's Heritage, Matthew G. Cooke

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

I would not be a fisherman today, if it were not for my father. He taught me to fish, cast, tie a fisherman’s knot, identify one species of fish from another. He also taught me courage. Often when we fished from one of Kelley’s Island’s many limestone shores, Dad stopped casting and dropped to his knees beside a rock. With a quick hand, he snatched brown water snakes as long as his arm. Holding the writhing serpent in front of my face, he would order me to touch it.

When we were not fishing together, Dad let me wander off, …

It Wasn't Always Like This With Me, Greg Rickard

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This work is divided into four parts, each having its own tone while contributing to the work as a whole. To emphasize this dual purpose, I chose to title each part with a phrase that both reflects the pieces included within it and contributes to the statement which underscores the thesis: “Follow me my son, beyond the truth of day to day, where redemption hides behind each fleeting smile, and damnation awaits with open arms." Though the reader will immediately notice that this statement contains contradictory aspects, upon closer perusal, he will find that both redemption and damnation are tempered-if …

The Role Of Community In Two Novels By Barbara Kingsolver, Rebecca K. Calwell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Throughout her career, contemporary writer Barbara Kingsolver has written novels that appeal to both readers and critics. Beginning with The Bean Trees in 1988, through Poisonwood Bible in 1998, Kingsolver established herself as a rising star among contemporary writers. In a review of one of the Kingsolver’s books, one critic said, “It seems there is nothing she can’t do” (Smith 3).

Kingsolver sets herself apart from many of her peers in both her style and her themes. Raised in Kentucky, but now living in Arizona, she has a gift for storytelling. Her dialogue is strong, especially in its ability to …

Five Days At India House, Amy M. Consiglio

Theses and Dissertations

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

L.I.F.E., Omar Merideth Headen

Masters Theses

I've written my creative thesis in support of the Chicago Public School (CPS) System's "Character Education" initiative. This initiative is composed of a teaching curriculum designed to develop instructional lessons and activities for students, training for teachers and CPS staff, and information for the community that will serve to reduce racial, ethnic and/or religious intolerance and increase sensitivity, cooperation, and understanding. The purpose of this thesis is to give teenage students valuable lessons in character building and allow them to come face to face with various realities of life (i.e., peer pressure, divorce, death, etc.). But more importantly, this thesis …

I Was A Teenage Necrophiliac: A Screenplay, Walter Howard

Masters Theses

The critical essay that introduces this thesis pays homage to three people in the movie business who have most influenced my original screenplay, I Was a Teenage Necrophiliac. Also included is a section that briefly explains the impetus for this project, and a closing argument that examines the intentional use of cliche as a creative tool.

The zany style of writer/director John Waters is the first major creative influence described. Although my story is not as graphically extreme as some of Waters' earlier work (it would be easy to make a comedy about necrophilia a vile exploitation film), it does …

Door To Door, Bryan Levek

Masters Theses

My creative thesis consists of four short stories and my author's introduction to them.

In my introduction, I discuss my primary literary influences; not only the author's whose approaches to short fiction that I share, but also those I feel indifferent towards. Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio is admirable for its sketches of common people and ordinary life events. James Joyce is highlighted as the originator of literary epiphany, a moment of revelation or profound insight, and both A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners provide examples of the device. Hemingway's stripped down language is appreciated for …

Confrontation And Identity In The Fiction Of J.M. Coetzee, Dawn Grieve

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is an examination of the fictional works of J.M. Coetzee to date. By focusing my gaze upon either the lack of encounter or the encounters between the 'Self' and the 'Other', I explore the relationship between confrontation and the fluid formation and erosion of identity. This exploration takes place against a dual background: the history of the apartheid government in South Africa, the legacy of oppression and the post-apartheid opportunities and challenges; and Coetzee's own acknowledgement of complicity with the past and commitment to a reconciled future. This study not only examines a broad range of criticism on …

Nowhere Land, Andy Davidson

Honors Theses

This is not a finished manuscript. Even after two semesters of work, I have not found the time to complete it. What follows is a book that is still in revision. It has a beginning and an end, but in between are numerous errors and oversights on my part, things I have yet to correct. Also, the content is not in its final form. Sentences will change. Characters will change. What you're about to read is my second draft, but far from the final one.

The World-Swimmers, Patrick L. West

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis has two main parts. The first comprises a collection of nineteen short stories, entitled The World-Swimmers. The second takes the form of an exegesis, 'Framing Fictions & Fictional Friendships,' which provides a critical commentary on the collection, and on the nexus of text and context. The stories vary in length from approximately 1,000 to over 4,000 words. Various writing styles are used to develop fictional explorations of a range of themes, which include: the relationship between the natural and the human worlds, the imbrication of local place and international space, obsession, entrapment, and desire. However, perhaps the most …