Creative Writing Commons^™

Worry, Kristen Tracy

Dissertations

The poems that make up Worry investigate themes of feminine struggle, identity, and survival. They move at a fast pace, and many of the metaphors are drawn from the animal kingdom.

Starlight Drive, William R. Reynolds Jr.

Dissertations

Starlight Drive is a book-length manuscript of poems that reflects my abiding interest in how poetry can use the fiction writer's tools, such as characterization and setting, without sacrificing the beauty of the lyric. Like Rodney Jones, I write about my north Alabama childhood filtered through the lens of my adult life here in the Midwest. My field of perception does not begin in a cotton field like Jones', but on a cul-de-sac in a middle-class neighborhood of Huntsville, where my father was an engineer for NASA. The poems in my manuscript show my protagonist moving through a landscape peopled …

The Spiral Of The Self: Coleridge's Conversation Poems, Naglaa Mohamed El Baz

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Coleridge's Conversation Poems lacked due attention from literary critics and scholars for ages. They are original compositions which have their sources in early poetic traditions of the 18th century. They manifest Coleridge's ability to experiment with traditional forms and introduce a new genre, which is more simple in style, while rich in philosophical and psychological depth. The unity between form and content, as seen in these poems, was a phenomenal occurrence in their time, while their spiral structure enables the poet to express his poetic thought with all its complexities. The poems expose the double facets of the poet's self …

The Town Hall Is Filling With Boulders, Christopher Miller

Honors Capstone Projects - All

When I first decided that I wanted to endeavor the realization and composition of a book-length collection of poetry, I had no theme or binding conceptual idea in mind. I saw the thesis project as a chance to create an anthology of work, one that would both map my personal growth as a writer and the distillation of my craft and technique. I knew the poems were going to reach over a period of about two-and-a-half years, so it was clear to me right away that I had no idea where writing would take me, or what iterations my imagination …

Becoming The Bridge: Border-Crossing, Intersectionality, And Wave Theory In Contemporary Feminist Movement, Meagan Lynn Weatherby

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The self-proclaimed “third wave” ofUnited Statesfeminism, which rose from the abyss of “postfeminist” 1980s conservatism in the early 1990s, is a vibrant movement that is quickly picking up the pace of feminist organizing in the new millennium. Third wave feminists envision themselves as taking up the torch of the 1960-1970s “second wave” of feminism, but expanding upon it by emphasizing intersectionality (the complex interaction of multiple oppressions, e.g. sexism, racism, classism) and making room for sexiness, joy, and fun in feminist organizing and theorizing. It is a discourse that strives toward and privileges intersectional analyses that create space in which …

Over State Lines: Somewhere Between, Melodie Past

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 Melodie Past on January 20, 2005.

Hurricane Shoes And Other Stories, Kristie Smeltzer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hurricane Shoes and Other Stories is a collection of short stories that center on evolving and devolving relationships. The characters in these stories form tentative bonds with people in their lives while other relationships slip away. In "Hurricane Shoes," Katrina attempts to reinvent herself by ending an affair. Katrina's pregnancy and her mother's cancer pull the two women closer. "Da's Violets" is about Cheryl's changing relationship with her father. Just as he moves on from the wife who left him for her podiatrist, the wife returns with hopes to reconcile. These stories catch characters in moments when they must make …

Bistro Girls, Vanessa Blakeslee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bistro Girls is an interconnected collection of short stories focusing on characters whose lives intertwine in the affluent Floridian town of Bellamy Park. In "Bistro Girls of Bellamy Park," a senior at a privileged college struggles to confront an old friend who has slipped into addiction. In "Bobby Blues," two women's stifling situations with live-in boyfriends give way to a small hope as Valerie casts aside her illusions and leaves to find a new apartment, temporarily freeing herself from the pattern of relying on a man. In these stories people wrestle with flawed concepts of personal identity that create outward …

The Description Of The Characters In Herman Melville's White-Jacket, Or The World In A Man-Of-War, Toru Nishiura

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Many characters who have various personalities app ear in Herman Melville’s White-Jacket . However, few critics have comprehensively examined the action and the characteristics of them in detail. In this thesis, I explore Melville’s depiction of the battleship world in this novel by clarifying the narrator ’s standard to judge ot her characters. In White-Jacket, the whole story is narrated by White-Jacket; therefore, the characteristics of his narrative clarify the theme of this novel. I start with an analysis of his narrative and examine whether he is a reliable narrator or not. Then, I explore the relationship between the battleship …

Canary In The Dark, Andrea Fekete

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

I began researching Appalachian culture in 1998. I wanted to tell a story about conflict and beauty while revealing my vision of who my people were/are. I strived to create a fiction not unlike poetry with realistic and minimalist features to give Appalachia the most accurate face possible as perceived by me through my own lens.

I wanted to explore the idea of beauty: Virginia’s (the main character) ideas about her beauty, her culture and other cultures. What is beauty? Who defines it? Can it be found everywhere? How? What does it look like when it is somewhere you wouldn’t …

A Place Between Heaven And Hell, Holley Barker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

After twenty-some years of marriage, routine, and living life without feeling, time finally catches up to Effie Crunkleton, giving her the opportunity to confront a haunting past (her hell) which thwarts peace of mind (her heaven). As inner and outer voices lure Effie to a nearby cemetery (actually found at Twin Falls State Park), she exposes herself to a lifetime of suppressed memories and emotions that have taken place in the fictional Appalachian town of Coal Hollow.

Capers Island, A Novel, Jennifer J. Cavender

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Capers Island is a creative thesis about a woman named Delaney who has been having problems sleepwalking ever since her grandparents passed away. She decides to spend the summer on Capers Island, visiting an old college friend. While there, she visits a hypnotist to uncover repressed memories from her childhood. She begins the novel alone in West Virginia, and in the end, winds up on Capers Island in a tightly knit community. The novel contains elements of magical realism, the supernatural, and the psychological.

The Great Becoming, Sara L. Blackwekk

Theses

Few questions stir as much curiosity and controversy as the question of how and why did man evolve. This culminating project strives to explore that issue creatively. Using a combination of religious overtones, myths and legends, and imagination, this project strives to be an original creation myth- a piece of fiction that answers how civilization, as we know it today, began. The story bas not been written to replace commonly accepted religious beliefs. Rather, it has been written to complement them, to question them, and to explore the very beginnings of religion itself.

The introduction to this project focuses on …

Integrating Writing Within The Foreign Language Classroom: Shifting Dynamics, Not The Task, Patricia Ann Evans

MA TESOL Collection

This classroom based research project considers the following questions: Why should my foreign language students write? From Pedagogy to Purpose; what happens when students use technology with their writing; what transitions take place with regard to the role as teacher when integrating writing into the Spanish language classroom? This project follows the shift from writing , disconnected activities to writing. How a student-centered writing process and technology support the shift away from the perception that good writing is voiceless and mechanical. It traces the shift from learning to write to writing to learn. The project studies the shift that occurs …

Towards The Light : A Fictionalized (Auto) Biography, John Cailes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Towards the Light - - at times biographical, autobiographical, and basically fiction - is built out of anecdotes supplied to me as the result of direct questioning of my parents and relatives, and from my own memories of past experiences; from private 'on the ground' observations both in Western Australia and in Cornwall, England – and, where factual information is lacking, a good deal of creative invention on my part. My paternal great-grandfather who at the age of eight began his working life in a Cornish tin mine provided me with a figure central to my purpose while constructing this …

A Little Slice Of The Moon: Stories, Fatima Rashid

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Little Slice of the Moon: stories is a collection of short stories that explore the struggles of various characters to find their place in the world. And the world, despite its familiarity, can be a hostile place. The characters in this collection learn that families are a fragile lot, that every desire contains a paradox, that the Road of Life can seemingly be grasped by the horns, but that the future twists and turns, yet never escapes the past. And it is the past that haunts these characters' lives. One word, one act, impacts a lifetime. In A Little …

The Gurgitators, Scott Gage

LSU Master's Theses

Hardy Runyan, an obese dishwasher from Louisiana, seeks to become a champion gurgitator through the guidance of Trina Hicks, a coach of competitive eating who’s starving to reclaim her former glory. Armed with a stunted gag reflex and a stomach he can stretch to the skin, Hardy eats his way toward a showdown in which he dethrones the world champion of oyster eating.

Lying In Translation, Brooke Rachel Champagne

LSU Master's Theses

Lying in Translation is a thesis of creative non-fiction that is a process of self-discovery as I retell my Hispanic grandmother's stories and the life we lived together. Lala is a woman to be feared and loved by all those who encounter her, and the main thread through the work is whether or not I will ultimately decide to embrace her insanity or running screaming from it. Other questions arise, and hopefully, are answered in this book: What does it mean to be half of one thing and half of another? How do immigrants survive in America, in a land …

Behind The Bestsellers: Building The Formula For Success In Children's Literature, Zenja R. Quarles

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Poetics: A Symphony Of Ideas, Clayton E. Walker

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Playing With A Full Deck, Matthew D.J. Kies

Theses

This thesis project is a poem series about the spiritual growth of an archetypal messianic figure through his relationship to the growth of secondary characters as interpreted via the tarot deck.

Great care was taken throughout the piece to correlate directly the poetry with the symbol sets represented by the tarot. The individual pieces, for each piece of poetry can be taken individually as each of the cards can be apprehended individually, tie into both the artwork and the interpretation of the card to which the poem is connected. This is straightforward with the interpretations as they are relatively similar …

Nurses, My Family, & Elvis, Cristle Coleman-Griwach

Theses

This collection of sh01t stories will focus primarily on nurses from the turn of the last century to the present. Some of the stories are fiction and some are based on experiences of nurses I have known. There two stories unrelated to nursing, one is about bow my father helped launch Elvis Presley's career, the other is about my family.

The goal of the collection is to illustrate the different roles and personalities or nurses. The first story, "A Feather in Her Bonnet" is set in the early nineteen-hundreds. A seemingly innocent feathered bonnet on the head or a frumpy …

Good To Be Gone, Robert George Bloom

LSU Master's Theses

n/a

Cane Burning Season, Ashley K. Berthelot

LSU Master's Theses

Short story collection.

Ball And Chain, Eloise Holland

LSU Master's Theses

Ball and Chain is a coming-of-age story that explores the pain and joy of an unusual first love. Patsy is a twenty-six-year-old virgin. As her body begins to deteriorate as the result of an unknown ailment, she finds herself intrigued by the beautiful and vibrant Anita. Initially unwilling to admit her attraction, Patsy distracts herself with work, her best friend’s quest to find the perfect tattoo artist, and the politics of her wealthy Houston family. When Patsy grows increasingly ill, she decides that she must find a way to get Anita’s attention before it’s too late.

Three Plays : The Other Woman, Banana Split, Awa' The Crow Road ; And An Essay, Writing The End, Heather Nimmo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Other Woman is an eighty-minute stage play which asks the question: Do women really play the political game differently? A high-flying politician can't admit to a small mistake. A woman kills herself. Does her mother want justice or revenge? Banana Split is a ninety-minute comedy for two actors which investigates life after divorce, the connections between risk and reward, and the implications of doubling (or coupling). The play asks a number of questions: Is it riskier to stay or to go? Which is the more damaging to a relationship-nostalgia for a golden age or the fantasy of a perfect …

Adventures Of A Former Girlfriend: A Novel, Colleen Helen Fava

LSU Master's Theses

This is a novel about a young woman trying to redefine herself after years of defining herself through her relationships with other people, most specifically her boyfriends, but also her family. The heroine faces many challenges: the end of a long-term relationship, the illness of her niece, complications with her best friends, and a revelation about her parent's relationship. These ordinary obstacles of everyday living will propel the main character into a confrontation with her perception of herself and the world around her.