Nonfiction Commons^™

Something Special, John Q.A. Elliot

Manuscripts

Today was to be special. It had to be. The sun through the windows of the bright reading room was a harbinger. The sun gold-edged the emerald leaves of the lilac bush. It danced across the back yard, painting small platinum flecks between the lacelike ebony shadows of the giant maples. The breeze wafted through the open windows pushing the curtains lazily inward and carrying the sweet dew damp scent of the garden into the room.

Corot And Debussey, Diana Harvey

Manuscripts

have often sensed a likeness between the art of Corot and the music of Debussey. Both men picture a dreamy, make-believe world, peopled by slender, fragile creatures, who languorously drift their way through life. They have no cause to be different, for their world itself is languorous.

Shall We Prestidigitate?, Hans Steilberger

Manuscripts

PROBABLY the most difficult task for an immigrant is the mastery of the language of his new country, especially for a European coming to the United States. Before the war thousands were able to make the voyage from restrictions and oppression to a new life in America. Unfortunately, many of them did not have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the language of the land of their choice. As a result they faced a hard struggle when it came to settling down to the task of learning to speak in a new and entirely different tongue from the one to …

Falstaff: A Purposeful Paradox, Laura N. Hill

Manuscripts

The paradoxical Falstaff appeals to mankind at all points of their natures. The wicked find in him a bosom companion, the sedate discover a moral lesson which is pleasant in its learning, and the gay are thrilled with the pure joy of his wit. No other character in literature has embodied so many ignoble characteristics and at the same 'time produced in his readers so many sympathetic reactions.

The Whitewater Valley, Ed Lewis

Manuscripts

The main fork of the Whitewater River has its origin in the rugged hills near Laurel, Indiana. This swirling, torrid, foam-flecked stream comes pouring down out of these hills into the lowlands which form its broad basin near Metamora. When it leaves this peaceful Hoosier hamlet the stream threads its way through a series of graceful spirals until it reaches the historic little city of Brookville where it is joined by its little sister, the east fork. The path of the river, from Brookville to the spot where it empties into the Miami River near Miamitown, Ohio, leads it through …

The Lady And The Sin, Carolyn Finn

Manuscripts

The fire burned brightly in the gloomy room, and a November rain beat drearily against the high windows. The guests were held in a strange hypnosis by the atmosphere of the hour, and none challenged the old man's statement. They waited, expectantly, knowing that some story must follow, and after a moment it did.

Le Havre---November 1945, Charles Delporte

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

Sonnet For Christmas Eve, George Coffin

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

The Rose, Patty Lewis

Manuscripts

Making sure the baby was asleep and that dinner was doing as well as could be expected, she crossed the dreary room another time to see if she could see Jim coming up the street. On her way to the window, she snapped on a light, hoping it would reach into the dark corners of the room until the ugly blackness there disappeared. But though the uncovered bulb glared brightly, it served only to make the garish furnishings more distasteful than ever.

Poems, Allyn Wood

Manuscripts

Includes:

EQUINOX: WIND AND TREES

and

AFTER EQUINOX

Pictures At An Exhibition, George Fullen

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

The Damnation Of Grandfather, George Fullen

Manuscripts

Johnny had squeezed himself tightly into a corner of the back seat of the car. He wanted to feel all alone with his grief. And he was a little angry because he felt SO bad and still could not cry. The old farmhouse looked cold and lonely as they approached it. The trees were barren, and the entire landscape was dirty and grey. No breeze lifted a fallen leaf or stirred a dead weed. There were many cars gathered under the massive old oak tree - more cars than johnny could ever remember seeing there, even for a family dinner. …

Fourteen Lines Rimed In Quiet Desperation, George Coffin

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

The Old Fool, Carl Henn

Manuscripts

FOUR rose bushes bloomed in the casual garden that spread in the back yard of the Lascelle home. Old Mrs. Lascelle did not care much about the other things that grew there; all other flowers seemed to lack something when she saw them next to the rich, red roses that had the most beautiful smell on earth; all other flowers looked a little faded compared to her roses.

Front Matter

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

Bailamos Juntos: Salsa En Los E.E.U.U. Y El Mundo, Betty Tran

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This composition traces the history of Cuban-American cultural identity formation through the lens of music and dance. As the author explains, Cuban immigrants cultivated a rich music and dance culture in New York City by creating a series of Latin and Afro-Cuban music genres and dances that brought diverse groups of people together. As a Vietnamese-American woman, Tran sees several connections between her family’s Vietnamese heritage and the cultural histories of Cubans who came to the United States as refugees seeking asylum from political oppression. As a first-generation college student, Tran believes it is important to share this composition as …

A Tres Pasos De La Muerte, Samuel Temblador

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

"A Tres Pasos de la Muerte" tells the story of a son of Mexican immigrants and his search for his roots. Here, Temblador attempts to communicate a bicultural experience through the frame of border literature (Literatura Fronteriza) born out of the intersection between Mexican and American culture.

Applications For Dummies, Carla M. Sanchez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem discusses the overwhelming pressure that is put on students to justify their right to be admitted into universities or to receive scholarships based on their extracurricular activities. Many working-class, first-generation college students are unable to participate in organizations and programs that offer students a more well-rounded college experience. This can lead first-gen students, like the author, to feel isolated, inadequate, or illegitimate. "Applications for Dummies" expresses Sanchez's incessant fear that she will never be able to compete with other students who were given the opportunity to build more worldly resumes, despite her strong academic commitment and intellectual potential.

It's Not Just A Leave, Genesis L. Montalvo

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

In this piece, the author sets out to explore the first-generation college identity through a gothic lens. In the early stages of this project, Montalvo had considered doing research on narratives from other first-gen college students as a way to trace the uncanny and the abject in their experiences. However, as she began reflecting on her own personal history, she realized that in a matter of only two years she had already experienced moments of distance, uncanniness, and confusion, which are recorded here. In presenting these installments in non-chronological order, Montalvo intends to insert a gothic element of disorder, which …

Flashlight, Min-Jung Kim

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem illustrates the struggle of an undergraduate first-generation college student who knew little about the first-gen identity or the experiences she would encounter until she became a First To Go Scholar at Loyola Marymount University. The poet represents the First To Go Program as a flashlight that has helped her to navigate a once dark and unfamiliar environment.

Volume 15, Issue 1: Full Text

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

Samplings

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

A Pasture At Twilight, Gloria Novak

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

Poker Club, Harry Ames

Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

Ward Number Ten, John H. Spears

Manuscripts

Most of the men on ward ten had been brought in the evening before. They were engaged in adjusting themselves to another hospital of the chain of field, evacuation and general hospitals stretched around the globe...

Havana Whisky Run, G. Udell

Manuscripts

Part of my period of service was spent with the Army Air Forces Air Transport Command. The mission of the Air Transport Command was explained somewhat by its name. We transported anything and practically everything which had to be delivered in a hurry to some place on one of our many battle fronts. Our personnel strength was maintained at a very high level because of the fact that we were called upon to transport almost unlimited amounts of cargo at unscheduled times. Naturally, our entire group was rarely if ever functioning all at the same time, and so there were …

Developing Composition In Photography, Charles Shaw

Manuscripts

Most amateur photographers will approach the subject of composition with fear and trembling. Probably the necessity for it in pictures has been stressed to the amateur since that first day he took his first picture, but a coherent grasp of the subject has eluded him. However, good composition is like good taste, based on simple principles and common sense.

Island Magnificent, Ed Lewis

Manuscripts

The smooth, turquoise waves of the Pacific come speeding up the even coral runways and fling themselves, as if filled with exhaustion, on the glistening white sands of the beach. Graceful palm trees, pregnant with coconuts, stride down to the water's edge and cast their shadowy silhouettes on the blue glass of the lagoon.

July Comes To Hope, Betty Blades

Manuscripts

There aren't many towns smaller than Hope. It's just about as small as a town can be and still be called a town, but it is typically Hoosier from the top of the shiny silver water tower to the green tufts shooting through the cracks in the sidewalks around the Square. It lies in an area of large, prosperous farms just south of the point where a small meandering creek called Haw-creek crosses State Road 9. The town is surrounded by rich pastures and tall, golden corn fields, with an occasional wood lot dotting the landscape.

Charley: Child Of Fate, William T. Edwards

Manuscripts

CHARLEY was getting on in years when I met him. We took the same plane to Whitehorse where we were to work on the construction of a refinery, and there we were both assigned to the same crew of electricians...