Creative Writing Commons^™

Editors' Introductions

The Mythic Circle

No abstract provided.

My Achilles Years., Ash William Bittner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a historically and rhetorically grounded creative project exploring the traumas of war. This project is divided into three broad chapters, each using a different (and relevant) approach to cover the content contained within that chapter. The first chapter relies on that historical grounding, exploring the history of PTSD as it is currently understood, before exploring ancient Greek poetry and theater and both the historical and military contexts for each, before finally discussing modern warfare and the “Forever War” of the American War on Terror that lasted for nineteen years. With the historical grounding set, it moves into …

Immersed In The Fantastical: Creating Timeless Fantasy Realms And Stories, Kirk Kraft

Masters Theses

The first section of the thesis, my artist statement, discusses my purpose as a writer, what drives me to improve, how I hope to create lasting stories that will outlive me and how this will contribute to becoming a Christian scholar. The introduction will include when I discovered my love for writing and what inspired me to become a storyteller. I’ll briefly discuss my writing process, ideas, imagination and the power of feedback. The discussion will move to my desire to create memorable stories with staying power, similar to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, deep diving into my …

Creating A Narrative About Human Choice And Experience Through Short Fiction, Sidney D. Belleroche

English and Creative Writing Summer Fellows

Originally based on my story titled, ‘Scenes of a Typical Life,’ which I wrote for Professor Kowalski’s Fiction Writing class, I wanted to explore the idea of human experiences and emotions. The original ‘Scenes of a Typical Life’ centered around a character named Bernard Etienne and I imagined what key moments in his life would look like. While I originally planned to continue with this idea, I pivoted toward more general and mature short stories based on experiences from my life. Ultimately, the goal of the project became to examine the humanity of myself and others to effectively convey emotions …

Why Are Men So Obsessed With Pornography? Andrea Dworkin Was Right, Robert Jensen

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

At Home In Horror: Women And Body Horror, Brooklynn Kreps

University Honors Theses

While most discussion around the subgenre of body horror focuses on its birthplace of film, the richest iterations come from women writing body horror fiction to explain the experience of womanhood. As body horror focuses on fear of painful or absurd mishap with the body. Women experience pain or absurdity in their own bodies every day with processes like menstruation, pregnancy, puberty, and heightened chances of becoming a victim of sexual assault. Furthermore, women experience society's forceful shaming and fear about natural processes of the body and experiences such as anger and sexual desire. Using this idea as a framework, …

Margaret Cavendish And Radical Self-Love, Marina Burandt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Margaret Cavendish was an early modern Englishwoman writer who lived from 1623 to 1673. She wrote under her own name at a time when it was more common for women to write under a pen name, and published almost everything she wrote. Her writings include a multiplicity of genres, from science fiction, poetry, drama, and philosophy, to letters, biography, and autobiography. Cavendish’s style often blends multiple genres and forms, showcasing a modality that is driven by complexity and hybridity. Cavendish was a surprisingly modern figure in many ways, as her writings show. The Description of a New World, Called the …

The Shōnen Apocalypse: An Analysis Of The Shōnen Power System And Its Narrative Functions, Mario Da Silva Melo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis has two primary goals. First, it provides an overview of the history of manga as a medium, and manga studies as a field. In doing so, I observe a lack of terminological and methodological specificity. As a result, I provide a formalist approach to thematic criticism in order to address the above issues. Second, my thesis primarily centers on shōnen power systems and their narrative functions. Power systems are "magic rules" that determine how superhuman abilities mechanically function. I identify two main power systems in shōnen manga: spiritual manipulation and transformations. My thesis posits that shōnen manga authors …

The Narratological Maus, Isla Lader

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Complete Maus, a memoir graphic novel surrounding the events of character Art Spiegelman as he collects, records, and illustrates his father’s life pre-the Holocaust in Europe, his time in Auschwitz, and then life in the United States has been one of the focal Holocaust survivor testimonies and has redefined the genre it exists in as both a graphic novel, but also as a form of testimony. Like many popularized works dealing with the Holocaust, though, cultural preconceptions of Jewish people, genocide, and audiences’ desire to find morals within the work have made it so often audiences come to …

My Mind In Middlemarch, Margaret A. Fisher

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

“My Mind in Middlemarch” is a creative-critical essay and personal narrative of self-diagnosis. It was modeled in length and (somewhat) in style on Rebecca Mead’s essay, “Middlemarch and Me,” which appeared in The New Yorker in 2011 and was later expanded into her book, My Life in Middlemarch (2014). This personal essay narrates my journey to self-diagnosis and the initial discovery of my autism— a realization sparked by the resonance I found between my life and that of Dorothea Brooke, the central heroine of George Eliot’s classic British novel.

Review Of The Medici Curse, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How To Walk On Water: Living Through The Absurd, Esther Du

Masters Theses

Set in a speculative world submerged by water, this thesis constructs a fragmented, nonlinear narrative that reflects on survival, memory, and displacement in the aftermath of catastrophe. Through three interwoven chapters—The Outcast, The Researcher, and The World—the project explores the emotional and psychological landscapes of individuals navigating a post-apocalyptic existence where the past is irretrievable and the future uncertain. Using an interdisciplinary form of visual storytelling, writing, and sound, the work draws from personal experience and collective trauma to examine how people reconstruct identity and meaning after loss. Rather than offering a definitive answer to existential …

Bellyache, Valerie Braylovskiy

Canterbury Scholars

My manuscript of poems, called "Bellyache," speaks to my experience with endometriosis and how it intersects with both womanhood, and the pain we inherit from our ancestors that becomes stored in our bodies over time. This project gave me the permission to write poems that grapple with both escaping and recreating what it’s like to be a woman inside the medical system which continues to equate pain with hysteria, and inside a world that either says you’re sick, or you aren’t.

Strange Bird, James L. Wilson

Masters Theses

Strange Bird is a deeply emotional, character-driven novel about loss, resilience, and the unexpected bonds that heal us. When Camille dies suddenly, her son Malik—an autistic boy navigating a world already challenging to him—is left in the care of those who loved her most but who struggle to fill the void she leaves behind. Margaret, Camille’s fiercely protective mother, and Marcus, Camille’s former partner, battle grief, strained loyalties, and an emerging threat from Malik’s estranged biological father, Daryl.

As Marcus fights to protect Malik's future, hidden truths unravel, testing friendships, family ties, and the meaning of true guardianship. The novel …

The Craft Of Christie: A Dissection Of Agatha Christie’S Creation Of Character, Rachel Grace Olds

Masters Theses

Agatha Christie’s writing is widely known, but not deeply known. She is a master of the genre of mystery, and many critics and scholars have lauded her genius. However, she is not often recognized for her mastery of the craft of character. In fact, several critics have misunderstood her characters as two-dimensional beings that exist only to advance the plot. This thesis aims to examine the way Agatha Christie crafts her characters, how her methods of the craft of character work to perfectly mislead her readers, and her ultimate purpose for creating and implementing manipulative elements for the reader. In …

Poetries Of Abandonment: A Study Of Plath And Glück, Yara Abdelmoneim

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the intersection between literature and trauma, which can be discerned in the key works of two poets, Sylvia Plath and Louise Glück. While offering readings of crucial poems, the thesis also examines the interrelations among trauma, memory and narrative as theorized by two contemporary psychiatrists, Bessel van der Kolk and Judith Herman. Both Plath and Glück wrote about personal and generational trauma after going through different experiences of abandonment. Absence, indirection and repetition provide the basis for literary techniques that allow their traumas to be better understood by authors and readers alike. The degree to which each …

A Crisis Of Craft: Creative Writing In The American University, Brenna E. Derbish

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this essay, I aim to analyze the changing nature of the Creative Writing MFA through the lens of the American culture that shaped it. In the 1930s, creative writing in American universities began to take shape, citing itself as a way to reform the philological study of literature into a more active field, a way for the common person to learn through creativity and self-expression. However, as the number of MFA programs in the nation continued to rise, admittance became increasingly selective, with many universities accepting only between 5 and 10% of their applicants. This increase in exclusivity, coupled …

Ztc Eng 151 Syllabus: College Writing, Nicolette Guida

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus provides a curriculum for an introduction to research writing. In this course, students develop introductory skills for academic research writing, work on critical thinking and analysis skills, and build an awareness of the rhetorical situation both in texts read in class and in their own writing. This course focuses on the impact that culture has in shaping behavior and life experiences. Included course texts are centered on the exploration of the different cultural groups that people occupy and the specific cultural norms, values and beliefs for each of these groups. This is zero textbook cost (ZTC) course, so …

When The Siren Sounds, Madelynn H. Morgan

Persimmon Creek

Growing up being the daughter of a fire fighter was not easy. I had a very absent father growing up, and this was due to his work in the fire service. Through this reflective essay, I discuss what growing up as a first-response family was like, and how it has shaped me into the adult I am becoming.

Wulver In Appalachia, Wylan Blair

Persimmon Creek

A poem about a mysterious figure who comes to the aid of a mountain community.

The Stereo Skips, Maryssa H. Mckinney

Persimmon Creek

"The Stereo Skips" is a reflective poem that captures the chaotic and emotional experiences of a child navigating family struggles and religious expectations on a typical Sunday morning growing up in their household. Through the recurring image of a skipping stereo, the poem emphasizes the dissonance between external appearances and internal turmoil, as the child reflects on their relationship with God, the absence of their father, and the contradictions in their family life. The stereo's skips serve as a metaphor for the interruptions and unresolved emotions in the speaker's world.

Tsenacommacah, Wylan Blair

Persimmon Creek

This poem is about the area that was once called Tsenacommacah, the Powhatan people, and the horrors of the centuries that followed 1607.

Whiplash, Jillian M. Canady

Persimmon Creek

Whiplash is an abstract poem that emphasizes emotion and imagery over narrative clarity. Through the juxtaposition of a moth and a neon sign, it delves into themes of struggle and transience, blending surreal elements—sickly slouching figures, flickering candles, and woven snakes—to create a landscape of sorrow and light. With fragmented language and rhythmic shifts, the poem invites deep engagement and personal interpretation, culminating in a sensation of rapid motion and transformation, challenging readers to find meaning within its evocative chaos.

Girls Are Coming Out Of The Woods (Title Taken From Tishani Doshi), Jillian Canady

Persimmon Creek

This evocative haiku, inspired by Tishani Doshi’s poem, Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, beautifully captures the essence of resilience and emergence. It portrays women as powerful forces, symbolized by roaring fires and vibrant sunsets, evoking warmth and intensity. The detail of "pink painted toes" adds a playful yet bold touch, blending femininity with strength. This concise piece invites readers to reflect on the dynamic spirit of women stepping into their own, embodying both elegance and fierce determination.

Warmth, Brandi E. Shuler

Persimmon Creek

The short story Warmth is about an unnamed character who encounters a violent fire elemental. It is an experimental piece about what it feels like to experience a traumatic burn and what the character went through afterward.

Stories Of The Silenced And Mixed Media In Fiction: Disrupting Tradition For The Enhancement Of Reader Experience, Rylanne Burdette

English Creative Writing Theses

In almost all crimes, there is a victim, a perpetrator, and someone trying to uncover the truth. These tropes are often highlighted in fiction – told in thrillers, mysteries, or true-crime books that include intense themes, suspenseful moments, and plot twists. Stories of the Silenced is a collection of short stories told from the perspective of three characters in an exploration of cycles of violence and silence. Each character – a detective, victim, and serial killer – responds to and engages with the world differently, and their individual lives are shared. Each story emphasizes the idea of mixed media to …

Reimagining Heroes: The Evolving Narratives Of Helen And Achilles In Feminist Greek Mythology Retellings, Elena A. Smith

Honors Scholar Theses

“Reimagining Heroes: The Evolving Narratives of Helen and Achilles in Feminist Greek Mythology Retellings” is an analysis of an array of novels, monographs, and critiques regarding the genre of mythology retellings. Combining feminist ideas with historical examples, this thesis delves into why retellings are so popular in the twenty-first century and why the stories of Greek Antiquity have stayed relevant.

This thesis focuses specifically on Helen of Troy, Achilles, and the events of the Trojan War in The Iliad. Comparing the epic with retellings of its events may reveal why these characters, gods, and heroes have continued to be discussed …

The Prescribing Of Gender, A Scope On The Societal Ideologies Showcased Within Le Roman De Silence, Derrian Fernandez

Master's Theses

Culture is constantly evolving, its ideologies cementing themselves within our minds, shaping how we as a society guide ourselves through living in such. Social class, religion, gender, all are forms of identity that have a place, and a certain understanding and standing within our culture and society. Through this understanding of ourselves, we are defined, creating multiple forms of distinct expression to help differentiate our place further. A pope is expected to wear a certain attire just as a bride is expected to. The same ideology trickles down, creating demarcations of attire that subsequently ingrain themselves into our culture and …

Transgressive Fiction And The Problem Of Negative Affect: A Case Study Of Samuel Delany’S Hogg, Brian Thornton

Master's Theses

Samuel Delany began drafting Hogg in March of 1969 and worked on it intermittently before completing the novel in October of 1973.1 Yet Hogg remained unpublished until 1995 before finally seeing the light of day “during the ‘transgressive turn’ in American literature” (Mitchell 1). As such, the novel is historically situated along what Jonathan Mitchell calls a “dual temporality,” which “allows the novel to be located as an intervention in two key moments in America’s LGBT+ history: first, the developments in identity politics coming out of the socio-political cultural shifts of the 1960s; and, second, the post-AIDS awareness 1990s”.

A Slight Pinch, Carling Mcquinn

English Honors Projects

This project is a short story collection featuring four independent stories that each explore what it means to embrace the chaotic independence of adulthood and to confront, often for the first time, an inescapable sense of self-awareness. The first story, “Ghost Town,” follows a 19-year-old ghost confined to the Airbnb where she died, forced to face the self-destructive behavior that led to her death. Next, “Camilla” depicts the volatile friendship of college student Lexi and her best friend Camilla as it forms, shifts, and inevitably implodes as the years pass. The third piece, “A Slight Pinch,” explores the complexities of …