Creative Writing Commons^™

A Prediction, Warily, Taylor Reyes

Goldenrod Poetry Festival

No abstract provided.

Names, Natalie Rickman

Goldenrod Poetry Festival

No abstract provided.

F. Warden, Natalie Turner

Goldenrod Poetry Festival

No abstract provided.

Transitions, Harrison C. Taul

Goldenrod Poetry Festival

No abstract provided.

2016 Jim Wayne Miller Contest Winners, Creative Writing Committee

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

Pear Tree - (1st Place Winner), Bridget Yates

Goldenrod Poetry Festival

No abstract provided.

“Looking Skyward: An Analysis Of ‘Augress’ By Michael Shewmaker”, Lydia Anvar

Undergraduate Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture

No abstract provided.

"A Life And Death Dilemma", Christy Lester

Undergraduate Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture

No abstract provided.

“Son Of Man (Of Steel): Messianic Imagery In Zach Snyder’S Man Of Steel (2013)", Jordan Upton

Undergraduate Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture

No abstract provided.

A Great Massacre, Brittany Brown

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

Confessions Of An American Ginseng Addict, Addison Davis James

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Confessions of an American Ginseng Addict uses the Lazy Branch Holler in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky as a setting for a creative nonfiction work, which uses history, confession, remembrances, and digressions to tell the story of a man dealing with loss, mental health issues, environmental sustainability, and the power of ginseng. In the style of Desert Solitaire and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the narrative is a discursive work of raw unadulterated gonzo writing.

Fusion Of Art Forms Across The World: An Examination Of Contemporary Dance Improvisation In England And America, Jade Primicias

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Artists in the dance world are now experimenting with new and more varied subgenres of contemporary dance such as contemporary dance improvisation, but audience reception of this type of work is incongruent from country to country, and even from place to place within one nation. In America, the artistry spans from those who are making breakthroughs and experimenting with new techniques to companies which continue to perform celebrated repertoire. Because of London’s role as a world leader in the arts, and its geographical location in England, avant-garde artistry is especially common throughout that nation. The author spent time studying in …

Heaven's Disco Dances, Savannah Leigh Osbourn

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Heaven’s Disco Dances is a collection of poetry about finding identity through defamiliarization and displacing oneself from reality to better understand it. Within the literary community, there is a great deal of derision toward writing that fails to be “real” or “serious” enough, and poetry is an excellent example of how sometimes the extraordinary speaks to us in ways that realistic fiction cannot. The marvelous and fantastic might serve as an escape from the world, but not necessarily from reality. Rather, they give readers a different lens on life, and sometimes that makes it a more powerful one, because people …

Babel, Anais Dorian Norman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

babel is a collection of nonfiction essays in which I explore a female twenty-something’s crossdimensional dilemma of spirituality, racism, art, and love in the wake of Bible-belt hipsterdom. I board the train that is human pride, that great metal snake by which we essayists craft our lives, and measure out my stories by cities and coffeespoons—dotted with dark roast, preferably. The train of my collection glides through the first ‘burg and its Godlike aspirations, Babel; travels a ways to Virginia, specifically Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and Prince Edward County, which was the hotbed of the Civil Rights in Education Movement; …

Between Two Worlds, Stephanie Tillman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

“Original Sin”—evocative and powerful words, but what if they were applied to one of the world’s most popular fairy tales? This thesis explores Snow White in the context of the Seven Deadly Sins and the grand fall of Adam and Eve. The forbidden fruit manifests itself in different ways, pulling the prim and proper princess into places she never could have imagined. But what of the Wicked Queen, here known as Lilith? She too feels the bite of the world’s sick sense of humor, exacting revenge on those who have wronged her. Are these poems about them? Or are they …

Blood At The Root, April Schofield

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a coming of age story about two very different boys – Jason, a Northerner who ends up stuck in a small Southern town and Billy, a Southern boy with an abusive father. The boys become friends and grow up learning the dark secrets that are allowed to fester in a tiny southern town ruled by the Good Ol’ Boy System of justice. The story chronicles how their shared experiences change them in ways they never imagined and ultimately destroys their friendship and their lives. Through a history of violence and prejudice, Billy and Jason learn who they really …

Aging Ragefully: A Look At Aging Women In Four Contemporary American Dramas, Rachel Thomas

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Despite the growing feminist discourse in America, ageism continues to be a problem, partially due to stereotypical representations of aging women in the media and in literature. This thesis examines the portrayals of aging women in four American dramas: Zona Gale’s Miss Lulu Bett, Edward Albee’s The American Dream and The Sandbox, and Tracey Letts’ August: Osage County. Each of the aging matriarchs in these dramas plays a different role within her family structure; however, all employ others’ perceptions of them as a means of gaining or keeping control over their own situation. Chapter 1 examines Mrs. Bett from Zona …

No Absolutes: A Fantasy Collection, Tiffany M. Hughes

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Genre fiction, particularly fantasy and science fiction writing, has a mixed reception in academia across the world. The notion that make-believe characters and worlds could not be intellectually fulfilling is an old stereotype that reduces some of the most profound fiction of our era down to children’s tales. This fantasy collection serves as an example of how genre fiction can contain impactful stories that challenge our understanding of traditional values. As the title suggests, life, from relationships to self-identity, offers no absolutes for the future. Humanity faces uncertainty of the past, present, and future every day. These stories reflect the …

2015 Jim Wayne Miller Contest Winners, Creative Writing Committee

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

Quickness, Hunter Conner

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

John Lennon: A Day In The Rye, Derek S. Ellis

Goldenrod Poetry Festival

No abstract provided.

Zephyrus, Western Kentucky University

Student Creative Writing

The fine arts magazine of Western Kentucky University at Bowling Green.

Ua68/6/1 The Flight Of The Phoenix, Vol. 1, No. 1, Wku English

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by the WKU English Department for alumni regarding activities of the department, faculty and alumni.

Ua12/2/2 2015 Talisman: Resurgence, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

2015 Talisman yearbook.

• Osborne Sam. Into the Woods – Big To-Do Music & Arts Festival
• Spalding, Shelley. The Outliers – Greeks
• Badjie, Haddy. The Right to Live – Racism
• Gibson, Helen. Net Worth – Soccer
• Greer, John. Sustaining Seasons – Sustainability
• Wegert, Sally. Bloom – Eva Ross
• Cislo, Everett. Harvest – Hemp
• Kolb, William. Preserve – John All
• Voorhees, Jessica. Making Strides – Track & Field
• Greer, John. The Science Guy – Bill Nye
• Cole, Tanner. Lip Service – Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Belknap, Abby. Race to the Senate
• Gibson, Helen. Game of Loans – Student Financial Aid
• Belknap, Abby. …

Narrative Life Review And Poetry-Writing With Older Adults, Cherita M. Black

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis explores narrative life review and poetry writing with older individuals, as an alternative to support their successful aging. Four females, ages 66-93, participated in a two-part project. Phase I included: (a) completing a narrative life review, and (b) developing original poetry with the researcher. Phase II included: (a) poetry reflection and (b) completing an open-ended evaluation. Phase 1 results demonstrated four successful narrative life reviews, which composed the poetry-writing sessions. Phase II demonstrated that three out of four participants reported no significant positive influences in the evaluation. Implications suggest social well-being replicated study can possibly assess social well-being …

Rulers, Rhetoric, And Ray-Guns: A Post Colonial Look At 90'S Alien Invasion Media, Logan Matthew Hudspeth

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis opens discussion on American alien invasion films of the 90s as a self-critique, a reaction to being an imperial power at the end of the Cold War. The alien menace in these films is not the "other" but rather the U.S. itself being the colonizer or conqueror looking to expand its sphere of influence. Furthermore, it discusses how Presidential rhetoric in the films play a role in this postcolonial reading. Specific works studied are: Independence Day (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998), and The Puppet Masters (1994).

Variation Within Uniformity: The English Romantic Sonnet, Thomas Hamilton Cherry

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The English Romantic poets of the early nineteenth century wrote numerous poems from genres and styles all across the poetic spectrum. From the epics of ancient origin concerning kings and fanciful settings to the political odes on fallen leaders and even the anthropological histories of what it meant to live in their time, these poets stretched their stylistic legs in many ways. One of the most interesting is their use of the short and rule-bound sonnet form that enjoyed a reemergence during their time. Though stylized throughout its existence, the sonnet most often falls into a specific form with guidelines …

Isaac Watts And The Culture Of Dissent, Andrew Eli M. Yeater

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Although Isaac Watts wrote hymns in the early eighteenth century, some of his hymns, such as “Joy to the World,” “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” survive today as well-known hymns. However, little has been written about the rhetorical effects of his hymns. This thesis demonstrates that, like any other literary work, Watts’ hymns can be analyzed rhetorically. This thesis analyzes Watts’ hymns with the aid of Louis Montrose’s New Historicism, showing how Watts’ hymns were impacted by the English culture in which he lived and how they impacted the religious culture to …

I Am Not A Tree, Ashley Coulter

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

I am not going to gut my thesis like a fish. To give you an “abstract” is to give you the “big picture” of this intricate, complex work. I don’t know “love” or “hope” or “humanity” or “loss.” I know a wooden rocking horse, the touch of bare feet on a cold tile floor, the bond I feel when driving for hours on the interstate behind the same car, the sudden hint of despair that comes over me when the car begins to veer toward the exit, as if I’m losing my travel companion. To give you the “big picture” …

Two Of A Kind: The Death And Life Of Patricia And Joan Miller, Monica Spees

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Twin sisters, Patricia and Joan Miller, create an unusual story that few people know. In their youth, they had fairly successful singing and performing careers, but they became reclusive as they got older and continued their lives only with each other. No one knew much about or heard much from them for about 40 years. Then police found them dead in their South Lake Tahoe, Calif., home in February 2012. Autopsy reports showed they died within hours of each other several weeks before police found them.

I intend to investigate the lives of the two sisters and their devotion to …