Creative Writing Commons^™

Existential Bebop, Brett Kaplan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

EXISTENTIAL BEBOP is a collection of thirteen short stories that use humor and satire to address some of the absurdities of human existence.

In some stories, characters are forced to come to terms with mortality, such as the six-year-old boy in “A Goldfish Memory,” who learns about death for the first time. In “Cassandra Knows All” a rational twenty-something is lured by a charlatan who convinces her that there is an afterlife. In others, the comedy centers on human frailties, such as “Weekend in Deceit,” where two couples confront infidelity. “The Sacrifice of Mikey Horowitz” explores family values, ancient and …

Arizhio: Tales Of Glorious Manifest Destiny, Clinton Craig

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a book of short stories with a critical introduction. In theme, the stories seek to find the border between the Midwest and the Southwest of America by focusing on Ohio and Arizona. Some of the stories seek to exemplify “experimental” fiction, while the critical introduction seeks to define “experimental.” In addition, the introduction theorizes about the role of setting in linking collections and characterization.

Science, Between The Lines: Rosalind Franklin, Rachael Renzi

Senior Honors Projects

The purpose of this paper is to contrast scientific rhetoric with creative biographical writing style. Both forms of communication rely on specific syntax and styles to describe research findings to the appropriate audiences, but the often passive format of scientific literature excludes the passionate reasonings of the researcher. In order to understand why the scientist is kept separate from his or her published findings, I am going to experiment with the two contrasting forms. Throughout the paper, each form will be tested and used at varying levels. Both scientific and creative writing will be mixed. To emphasize the technically dense …

Casual Myths, David Grandouiller

Creative Writing Minor Portfolios

This portfolio is a multi-genre collection of the best or most representative writing during my three years in the Creative Writing minor at Cedarville University. It includes seven pieces of nonfiction, one short story, and five poems. The most consistent link between these pieces across the genres is an imagist aesthetic, an attempt to live up to W. C. Williams’ adage, “No ideas but in things.” Primary themes the collection explores are my relationship with family, with place, and with God.

The Last Cold Winter, Gabriela P. Suarez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Last Cold Winter is a historical novel that takes place in Romania at the end of the 1989 Communist Revolution. George Bird, a naturalized American citizen, returns with his thirty-year-old son, Adrian, to the country they had defected from twenty-eight-years earlier. George Bird is dying of lung cancer, and he wishes to see his parents and his country one last time. The trip quickly turns into a nightmare when he is kidnapped the first day back. Adrian, who doesn’t speak Romanian, must now meet the kidnapper’s demand for a list he knows nothing about in order to save his …

Engl 352: Intermediate Fiction Writing—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Chigozie Obioma

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Absent the elements of effective writing, there has been a strong debate on whether or not other aspects of creative writing can be taught. Many practicing writers like myself who teach have concluded that a student writer can be guided towards fully actualizing their talent, and this “guidance” is what mostly constitutes teaching. How then do we evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching, and to what extent do students’ individual talent help or stand in the way of effective instruction? How do we plan various learning outcomes and test the success of such strategies over the duration of the ENGL …

The Whole World To Please, Elena Leith

Audre Lorde Writing Prize

This is a fictional piece derived from stories of women who have experienced abortions for different reasons.