Creative Writing Commons^™

Blood Sugar: A Collection Of Essays On The Highs And Lows Of Diabetes, Annalisa Morganelli

Honors Program Theses and Projects

As soon as I began working on this thesis project, I knew that I wanted this collection to focus on the different aspects of my life that have been affected by me having type one diabetes. The diabetic experience is one that has been underrepresented—and arguably, misrepresented—in popular media. The four non-fiction essays in my collection aim to add my personal experience to the existing literature, showing that while diabetics may have similar experiences, these experiences can also be vastly individualistic. Additionally, while I share my own stories, I explore the general chronic illness experience and how ableism and misunderstanding …

The Haunting Of Wright Manor, Katherine Holzman

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The Haunting of Wright Manor explores the fear of the unknown, and more specifically, the hereditary nature of evil. “The phrase ‘nature versus nurture’ was first coined in the mid-1800s by the English Victorian polymath Francis Galton in discussion about the influence of heredity and environment on social advancement”(Serpell 2013), writes Mick Serpell in the British Journal of Pain. Essentially, “Nature versus Nurture” boils down to a debate of which character traits are inherited and which are the result of external environmental factors. Wright Manor’s protagonist, Victoria Mariano, finds herself struggling with the aforementioned debate. At the age of 12, …

Evading Oblivionland, Caitlin Faria

Honors Program Theses and Projects

When I initially started this project, I hoped to tell stories in genres that I love while exploring the impact my father has had on my life. Although I prefer to write fiction, the nonfiction essays of this piece show who my father is through my eyes as well as provide me with the space to explore and find words for my own fears of losing him one day. The fictional stories interwoven throughout also show how my father inspires my writing even when it does not directly involve him, or a character exactly like him. For example, my dad …

Dead On Arrival, Paige Couture

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Everyday Trauma: Narrativizing The Self In Chris Ware’S Graphic Novels, Jacob Bibeault

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The term “graphic novel”—that is, a book-length narrative that employs the comics medium to tell its story—has entered into the vocabulary of comics enthusiasts and readers alike. But, despite the popularity of contemporary graphic novels, many graphic novelists began their careers writing underground comics that garnered little mainstream attention.

The Air That Moves Between Us, Maia Lynn Daschke

Honors Program Theses and Projects

When I enrolled in my first creative nonfiction workshop my junior year of college, I was immediately taken with the genre. I had always loved writing, but I had never written about myself. Growing up I wrote fiction, and as I got older my writing was entirely comprised of academic pieces only. As soon as the nonfiction workshop allowed me to write about myself, I began using writing as a form of therapy and self-help. I was able to work through my feelings on the page and turn my emotional trauma, my regrets, and my embarrassments into artwork, which has …

A Perfect Storm: Nonfiction On The Progression And Regression Of Anxiety, Amanda Guindon

Honors Program Theses and Projects

From the moment I decided to write a creative nonfiction collection of essays for my thesis, I knew that anxiety would be my focus. Mental health awareness is on the uprise as it’s estimated by the National Institute of Mental Health that 31.1% of all United States adults will experience any anxiety disorder in their lives. While I knew anxiety would be an important topic to discuss in order to bring awareness to causes and effects of anxiety, I had no concept of the challenges I would face in portraying my mental health to an audience who may know nothing …

Big Nothing: A Story About Bicycles And The Girls Who Ride Them In The Heart Of West Texas, Keziah Staska

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Their one-way road trip had started the day before when they left their home in San Bernardino for the final time. Paisley was afraid of moving away from the city she grew up in, but not for the same reasons many children her age would be. . So, her social life wasn’t her primary concern when it came time to abandon her home. Instead, she was afraid to leave San Bernardino because she had memorized all the perfect bike routes within a thirty-mile radius. On the other, the fear that their new home would have insufficient routes and roads compared …

African American Literary Traditions In Justina Ireland’S Young Adult Novels Dread Nation And Deathless Divide, Gabrielle Sleeper

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Justina Ireland’s young adult novels Dread Nation (2017) and Deathless Divide (2020) tell the story of a Black girl by the name of Jane living in the aftermath of the Civil War, around 1880.

The Novel Mystique: Depictions Of Women In Novels Of The 1950s, Sarah Fender

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Welcome To The Real World: A Skeptical Examination Of Working Class Life, Ryan O'Connor

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Love You To Death, Kaleigh Longe

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Self And Society: Critical Reflection Of Taking Root, Caitlyn Cribben

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This story, Taking Root, was in its brainstorming stages back in the summer of 2016, while the actual writing began in the fall of the same year. Since the beginning, I considered this my own “coming out” story, a full-length novel for and about queer people. I had dabbled with the inclusion of queer characters in short stories before, but they were shy attempts compared to Taking Root. Although I had considered writing outside of my genre comfort zone for my first longer story with queer characters, going a more traditional slice-of-life young adult route, in the end I wanted …

The Internal Compass, Joshua Dyer

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Birth By Portland: A Collection Of Short Stories By Shay Duchaine, Shay Duchaine

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

How Do You Squash A Cricket? A Collection Of Essays, Kelley Barrett

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Essays include:

• How Do You Squash a Cricket?
• Imagine That
• The Night of Their Lives
• Not A Member
• Coming of Age in a Catholic School Bathroom
• The Perils of Being Pleasant
• Single White Female Seeks Fairy Godmother
• Parents These Days
• Losing My Religion
• A Good Enough Samaritan

People Are Oceans: A Novel, Brianna Cataldo

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Fairy Tales Rewritten: Reclaiming Womanhood For Women, Caitlin Rose Bradley

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Reaper In The Rain: An Animated E-Book, Kurt Stilwell

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Reaper in the Rain is a short story approaching Novella length in the young adult fantasy genre. The story follows two protagonists, Rebecca Reed, a freshman college student, and Eric Manning, a teenage boy who harnesses the powers of the Grim Reaper to destroy the Temuti mafia and avenge his mother’s death. This thesis explores the melding of genre; the fantasy of the Grim Reaper, the realistic grounding of Chicago, and the visual novel with the addition of animations.

Blood Of The Monster: Book 1 In The Covenant Trilogy, Emily Hayes

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

What Carries On: Drafting, Revising, And Attention To Craft In Young Adult Fiction, Briana Mcdonald

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Rooms Without Men, Kailey Brennan

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

A Series Of Tubes, Timothy Concannon

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Grafton Ave.: A Screenplay, Christopher Porazzo

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Mom, Dad, And Johnny, John Condry

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Smooth As Raven's Claws, Kyle Farnworth

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This Creative Honors Thesis titled Smooth as Raven's Claws is a novel that focuses on a young mixed martial arts fighter named Dennis Lopes after his release from prison and his struggle to find a place in the corrupt world he is entering. The piece is populated with many characters whose lives intersect as they form a radical group of young outcasts and misfits that try to create positive change in the fictional Chatgrove City, though not by positive means. Dennis becomes a masked vigilante known only as “The Raven”, and he uses his newfound persona and followers to try …

Reading And Writing Women Of The Middle East: A Story Of War And Recovery, Saide Ranero

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Emergency Exit, Thomas Porter

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Doomed: A Speculative Work Of Science Fiction, Caitlin Angelo

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Songs For The Nightingale, Michael Cotter

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Ahead lies four rough chapters of a World War I fiction novel I have started earlier this semester as part of an ongoing English Honors Thesis project. The following pages represent an inkling of the research I have undertaken to start this project, but more importantly, they record the beginnings of my continual development in understanding that fiction is truly based around character. Utilizing the elements of craft I have learned from Bridgewater University’s various writing workshops, I submit four individuals that are the product of my imagination and ongoing effort. Fully conscious of the flaws within, I’m still proud …