Fiction Commons^™

2015 Fall Chapbook, Otterbein English Department

Quiz and Quill

No abstract provided.

2015 Fall Micro Chapbook, Otterbein English Department

Quiz and Quill

No abstract provided.

The Attic, Brandon S. Jones

Student Theses and Dissertations

The Attic is a Contemporary fiction novel set in the town of Bitter Springs, Arkansas. Death is the ultimate end to all stories, but death darkens the center of Jonathon Duke's story. Orphaned in 1987 at the age of twelve because of the death of his parents, Jon moves in with his grandparents in the small town of Bitter Springs, Arkansas. Soon he, his best friend and their girlfriends spiral into an abyss of self-destruction with terrifying consequences. Troubled by nightmares spawned by an acid trip and a drug dealer whose payment is taken in flesh, Jon is sent to …

The Abandoned, Elizabeth Ivey

Faculty Articles

I didn’t always know what I was, but I knew I was different.

Father And Mother Songs, Heather Fowler

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A collection of stories submitted by Heather Fowler for receipt of an MFA degree in Summer 2015.

Blackletter: Fiction And A Wall Of Precedent, Louis Anthony Di Leo

Dissertations

The eight stories that make up Blackletter explore situations in which people are forced to challenge the legitimacy of authority, rethink and rebuild their own identities, or confront their own involvement in human and environmental degradation. A central theme running throughout the collection is law, broadly, and the ways in which people adhere to or sometimes break from a particular rule, be it social or legislative. In each case, the role of law and its correlation to place and identity—either overt or veiled—serves as a major component of each story. In this way I locate these stories within a sociolegal …

The Topology Of Absence, Nora E. Culik

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

“The Topology of Absence” literalizes triangulations, hyperbeloids, and the concept of the limit in the story of “locating” a lost mother. This story, like “The Physicist’s Basement” in the July 2014 issue, is part of a series that worries about competing notions of mathematics, i.e., mathematics as some sort of disembodied configuration or as emergent in the material reality of human life.

Diario De Perla Jimenez, Brenda Dorantes

World Languages and Cultures

The aim of this project is to present the effect of the immigration issue in the United States, with a direct focus in San Luis Obispo, and including a spread of intercultural knowledge between the Hispanic and the Caucasian community. Through a fictional short story, the manifestation of these ideas will relate to current events occurring in our society today. These events focus primarily on immigration in California, deportation issues, socioeconomic issues in Mexico, and the cultural barrier seen in Mexican and American cultures; expressed through the main character: a young college student named Perla.

My primary goal in completing …

The Real Thing, Ruben T. Rodriguez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

THE REAL THING is a collection of short stories released from the confinement of the everyday. The stories allow characters to pop off the page from every angle. With an eye for anthropomorphism and ear for lyric, the collection is comprised of twenty-nine short stories, nineteen of which work in a flash fiction form.

Magical in its motions, and charming in its spirit, The Real Thing explores life’s losses and gains through the lens of the strange and at times the absurd. It invites its readers to cast away expectation, sit back, and watch the show.

That Which Binds Us, Tracey M. Dover

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This novel follows three individuals struggling with isolation and loneliness. Rina, a twenty-two year-old college student is studying abroad in Japan when she learns of her grandfather’s death. As his last living relative, she decides to leave her studies and a burgeoning romance to take care of her grandfather’s final affairs. At his funeral she meets Marcus, a mysterious man whose past ties in with her own. Marcus gives Rina the opportunity to uncover secrets surrounding her family and forces her to question not only her grandfather’s past but also her own identity. Tilnu is an immortal with a foggy …

"And While We Were Here", Benjamin Rader

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The creative thesis, "And While We Were Here" contains a critical introduction titled, "Narrative Design and the Aesthetics of Collage in Ben Rader's "Picked Me a Plum" and “The (re)Witnessing of Disenfranchised Grief", a story titled, "Picked Me a Plum," and another story titled, "The (re)Witnessing of Disenfranchised Grief".

Jameson's Story: A Tale Of The Human Condition Through Fiction, Steven Kubitza

Honors Projects

A work of fiction focusing on two characters living in the same world, but under much different circumstances. One must try and find out who he is while the other is attempting to uphold his way of life in a society threatening to take it away. The story delves into the ideas of a somewhat dystopian world; one in which our society could ultimately mirror in the near future. The work is unfinished, which is explained in the reflection paper at the beginning of the document.

Another Word For Autumn And Other Stories, Henry Burgard Shepard Iii

Master's Theses

The subject, style, and form of these stories are different from one another. At first glance, there seems to be no obvious thematic connection throughout this collection, no binding thread that ties them together. However, what allows these stories to exist side by side is their focus. The characters in these stories are human, no matter what situation they find themselves in, be it strange, fantastic, or mundane, they strive to achieve their desires. Each story takes a different approach to create a succinct feeling, all parts working toward eliciting a certain emotion. In one story, a family is powerless …

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 …

Pathologized Peculiarities: A Collection Of Short Stories, Kasey Jones

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis is comprised of three short stories that explore the pathologization of perceived social abnormalities and the isolation that often follows. "The Firmament" focuses on ostracization due to social difference, while "Shards" and "A Box of Rocks" focus on a specific 'abnormality'—schizoid personality disorder and high-functioning autism, respectively. These stories are not exact representations of a specific disorder, but my interpretation of the materials that I encountered during my research.

Danse Russe, Danyelle Pullens

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Little Red, Danyelle Pullens

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

The Classics, Blake Fields

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

The Ebb And Flow Of Sir Jacques Depluntaine, Courtney Cox

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

The Librarian, Abby Edele

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Good Things Bad People, Zachary M. Alley

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Salutations, Bret Lundstrom

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Collateral Damage: Exploring The Metaphors And Realities Of War In Three Fictional Narratives, Jessica N. Dancisak

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Since earliest recorded history, human beings have been going to war with each other. It seems that this is an integral and inescapable part of our existence. As humanity has advanced and expanded over time, our wars have advanced and expanded in stride, to the point that we are capable of destroying all life on the planet “at the push of a button.” This awesome power, coupled with an impulse so primal that we struggle to understand it, is a dangerous and terrifying prospect. It is vitally important that, in this age of drone strikes and nuclear proliferation, we do …

Lavender Bride, Robert Kostuck

Bryant Literary Review

Svetlana and Valery at the late edge of a summer weekend, aligned vacations, rented bicycles, wool sweaters, damp air spilled inland from the half-empty beaches.

Ginger, Charles Butterfield

Bryant Literary Review

After Sam's truck clears the hill, all Lucius hears is the cooing of wild pigeons in the cavernous haymow.

Gerstler's Triumphant Return (1972), Julie Zuckerman

Bryant Literary Review

Sitting among the malodorous teenagers--boys ripe with day-old sweat, girls thick on jasmine scents--Jeremiah Gerstler tried to check his mounting vexation.

Gift-Wrapped, Daniel M. Jaffe

Bryant Literary Review

Will there come a point during your El Al flight home from Israel when you can politely question the elderly man in the middle seat beside you as to why, during taxi yet before take-off, he ensconced himself toe-to-head within a 30-gallon, heavy-duty, clear plastic trash bag?

The Strap, Ruth Latta

Bryant Literary Review

"Carmen? Carmen Lawrence? Where are you, girl?"

I peeked through the planks of the porch stairs

Phantom, Adam Matson

Bryant Literary Review

The pinky finger betrayed her. It sent a signal to Martin, who reached out from beneath the frilly cuff of his costume and grasped it.

Class Mate, John Kristofco

Bryant Literary Review

"Hey, has anybody seen my Hawthorne?" Terrence Terrill poked his head into the small living room.