Rhetoric Commons^™

Shadow Of Death: A Fantasy Theme Analysis Of The Floyd Collins Tragedy, Leslie Witty

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Floyd Collins, a Kentucky caver who suffered a lengthy entrapment and eventual death inside Sand Cave in 1925, has had his story told repeatedly and in numerous forms. Although the countless genres (and their historical accuracy) vary, they are basically retellings of the same story—a story filled with drama, suspense, and heroics. Because of these characteristics, the rhetoric of the Floyd Collins ordeal lent itself to examination using Bormann's (1972) fantasy theme method. By using a fantasy theme analysis to explore the saga, I advanced beyond the retellings and gained a greater understanding of why seventy-seven years after he died …