Creative Writing Commons^™

Twisted Threads: A Novel And Exploration Of Fraternity Culture And Race, Christian S. Golden

Senior Theses

Twisted Threads: A Novel and Exploration of Fraternity Culture and Race is a project that seeks to explore questions about race and brotherhood through the lens of the urban fantasy genre. It is the first ten chapters of a full-length fantasy novel and can be considered the first half of the planned novel. The Introduction details some of my influences, both literary and cultural, as well as the thought process behind much of the worldbuilding in my manuscript. It also details some of the research that was conducted to help build accurate allegories and allusions. The novel follows a black …

A New Atticus Is Afoot: The Portrayal Of Lawyers In Popular Culture, Anna Thrush

Senior Theses

This project analyzes the stereotypical image of lawyers in popular culture, focusing on either overly demonic or unrealistically heroic. Both stereotypes that are common portrayals of attorneys in popular culture are unrealistic and deny society a true comprehension of the profession. Popular culture has molded the image of lawyers to the characteristics that sell, rather than focusing on a realistic portrayal. Therefore, popular culture creates a falsely dramatized image of attorneys to generate revenue, putting the reputation and future of the profession as risk. These stereotypes are exemplified in this project through a close literary analysis of lawyer characters from …

Artificial Magic, Tawny Ventura

Senior Theses

This novella by Tawny Ventury emerged from a short story written for a creative writing course on speculative fiction.

Who Is Neil Wells?, Colin Anderson

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis takes the form of a mystery novel by Colin Anderson.

The Butte, Natasha Bailey

Senior Theses

The Butte is a collection of short stories about a small town in the Pacific Northwest. In these short stories I explore idealistic small-town culture and blend it with the Pacific Northwest’s own (modern) paranormal mythology. This medley of different genre aspects in my stories makes The Butte difficult to label, but ultimately, my goal while writing was to explore various styles and points of view.

The nine stories set in The Butte shift styles on a variety of levels from character switching, point of view (1^st person, 3^rd person, and omniscient), and formatting (structure and linguistics). These …

Things That Happened, Christian Chase

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis contains a collection of short stories by Christian Chase.

• A Whole Lot of Nothing
• Grand Artistic Vision
• Architecture
• Hanging Around
• Silent Life
• A Special Dread
• Snowbound

Nature's Paths, Chloe Switzer

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis contains a lyric essay, short story, and poetry by Chloe Switzer.

• Love of Place
• Lost in Venice
• The Willow's

Behind The Lines, Idalis Nieves

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis contains fiction by Idalis Nieves.

A Social Study Of Discworld Autonomy, Morgan Rogers

Senior Theses

From 1983 to 2015, Sir Terry Pratchett wrote a series of forty-one novels, several short stories, and companion works set on the Discworld. The Discworld is a flat world that rides through space on the backs of four giant elephants that stand themselves on the back of the Great A’tuin, a world turtle. The Disc is based around the Hub, or central point, and the Rim, or the circumference of the world. There is a waterfall all around the Rim of the world that falls into space itself. The Hub compares to the Earth’s poles in that it is the …

The Penobskan Porcupine Panic, Quinn Riesenman

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis takes its origins from a ten-page story written for a fiction class in the spring of 2015 and inspired by the song "Penobska Oakwalk" from the band Quilt.

Mother's Bed: Gender Representation In Children's Literature, Karin Hanni

Senior Theses

This children's book and accompanying research paper both address gender inequity in children's literature. There is a significant imbalance of gender representation in children's literature, with the number of central male characters almost doubling that of central female characters. Additionally, the roles of males and females still tend to be stereotypical: boys are action-oriented and heroic, while girls are nurturing and passive. Further, it is believed that boys will only enjoy books about boys, while girls will enjoy books about both boys and girls. This imbalance in children's literature hurts both genders. Children not only learn to read from books, …

Mix Tape, Michael Davis

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis contains short stories, a piece of memoir writing, and a screenplay by Michael Davis.

• Grey Giants
• Purple Jasmines
• The Cameraman
• Bubby Rose

Being An Oreo: A Novel, Lauren Gabrielle Funtanilla

Senior Theses

The story of Sophía Annalicia Maria Martin, or Sam, as she likes to be called, is a coming of age novel. Being an Oreo focuses on the lessons Sam learns in the summer she turns thirteen. She begins her story by telling readers the story about her loud and boisterous Mexican family. She introduces readers to a colorful set of characters and their wild antics, and how she often finds herself stuck in the middle of them. The sensation of being “stuck in the middle” is a phenomenon that Sam faces throughout the book. Readers watch as she struggles to …

In The Hours Between You And Me, Amanda Mattern

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis incorporates memoir writing and fiction by Amanda Mattern.

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The France Chronicles
  • Obligatoire
  • Le Bus
  • [untitled]
• Chapter 2: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Relationships are a Bitch
  • Love Conquers All
  • "Alone" Isn't Lonely, It's Safety
  • My Bottom Line
  • The Relationship Agreement
• Chapter 3: It All Comes Down to Family
  • Preggers
  • 10500 NW Greenview Lane
  • I'll Be Loving You Always
  • The Game of LIFE
• Chapter 4: Happily Ever Afters
  • Hiding
  • Come to Our Wedding, It's in a Mausoleum
  • Perfectly Buttered Toast

Angelu Demonai, Caitlin Leigh Halvorson

Senior Theses

This project has been a long time in the making. The concept originated several years ago, and what was once just the shadow of a character has morphed into the story you see today - the makings of a graphic novel about one rock musician’s quest to discover herself, and save the worlds in the process.

Of course, you will only see a small part of the story. What is included in this thesis project is only the first volume of several (four, I expect). And while the journey is not yet completed, the ride has been thrilling so far. …