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Instant Conductors
Title
Instant Conductors.
Creator
Petralia, Mary, Kesler, Russ, Nwakanma, Obi, Thaxton, Terry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Instant Conductors is a collection of poems meant to engage the reader in conversation about the imperfect nature of the world in relation to the imperfect nature of readerly experience. Walt Whitman wrote, (")I have instant conductors all over me whether I pass or stop / they seize every object and lead it harmlessly through me.(") And so the things on these pages are intent on transmitting what one experiences in the minutiae of memory and routine: the sounds that surround a blackwater...
Show moreInstant Conductors is a collection of poems meant to engage the reader in conversation about the imperfect nature of the world in relation to the imperfect nature of readerly experience. Walt Whitman wrote, (")I have instant conductors all over me whether I pass or stop / they seize every object and lead it harmlessly through me.(") And so the things on these pages are intent on transmitting what one experiences in the minutiae of memory and routine: the sounds that surround a blackwater tidepool, what one imagines happens behind the closed doors of the friendly neighbors, or what's heard in the whispers of an elderly man sitting in a waiting room. These pieces are situated along the spectrum of narrative and lyric, between self and other, around various speakers and listeners. They flow through the sensors of Florida swamp, pray to the train ride of some nebulous god or lack thereof, and comment on the artifice of social media. They visit the transient nature of relationships and interrogate how one comes to know, or not know, the self. These pieces speak to old form and new verse. They touch on place, and time, and timelessness. They attempt to reimagine the negative space of individual, sometimes muddled, histories, into some understandable or at least familiar, organic, whole. Universal truths or no, these are the electric currents of language. They are hazardous. They are harmless. They are instances and instants.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFE0005987, ucf:50774
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005987
Black Skies and Gray Matter
Title
Black Skies and Gray Matter.
Creator
Bennett, Jacquelyn, Rushin, Pat, Kesler, Russ, Hubbard, Susan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Black Skies and Gray Matter is a collection of stories thematically centered on characters that are lonely or lost in the world. These stories explore the characters' personalities through their interactions with others (strangers, family, friends, and spouses) and the difficulties they face being misunderstood. Their journeys are ones of trying to find happiness and their place in society (or rejecting it). As they face alienation, they must endure the trials of everyday life (some more...
Show moreBlack Skies and Gray Matter is a collection of stories thematically centered on characters that are lonely or lost in the world. These stories explore the characters' personalities through their interactions with others (strangers, family, friends, and spouses) and the difficulties they face being misunderstood. Their journeys are ones of trying to find happiness and their place in society (or rejecting it). As they face alienation, they must endure the trials of everyday life (some more extreme than others) and, at the same time, search for kindred spirits, a sense of belonging. Some stay true to themselves while others conform to social norms with various degrees of success and contentment. One trait all characters share is selfishness, but they are not aware of it, nor are they aware of how their selfishness affects others. These stories also explore the characters' philosophies and growth (or stagnation) through how they deal with alienation, loneliness, social awkwardness, drug abuse, alcoholism, disease, death, failure, rejection, and loss.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFE0005579, ucf:50256
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005579
Two Tongues
Title
Two Tongues.
Creator
Ghannam, Lana, Thaxton, Terry, Kesler, Russ, Stap, Donald, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
"Two Tongues" is a collection of poems that explores the societal norms that mixes American and Middle Eastern cultures. The use of sensory language empowers the speaker of these poems to break the barrier between both cultures and mold them into one significant place(-)the individual. Within these poems lie the exploration of identity(-)both religiously and culturally(-)through the speaker's family upbringing and her social settings, as well as the use of spoken language.This collection...
Show more"Two Tongues" is a collection of poems that explores the societal norms that mixes American and Middle Eastern cultures. The use of sensory language empowers the speaker of these poems to break the barrier between both cultures and mold them into one significant place(-)the individual. Within these poems lie the exploration of identity(-)both religiously and culturally(-)through the speaker's family upbringing and her social settings, as well as the use of spoken language.This collection attempts to convey the struggles of a bicultural background through use of pure metaphor and sound play where language(-)Arabic and English(-)is an essential element to the collection. Contained within these lyrical poems is the hope for acceptance, love, and humanity, and that all lands will unite as a common people. The speaker searches for self in each poem with an insatiable curiosity, one that will no longer fear expression.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFE0005619, ucf:50221
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005619
Let Me Tell You About Homestuck: The Online Production of Place
Title
Let Me Tell You About Homestuck: The Online Production of Place.
Creator
Short, Jennifer, Hubbard, Susan, Kesler, Russ, Rushin, Pat, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This thesis investigates the potential for the online production of place, specifically as it applies to the host site for the Homestuck web comic, MS Paint Adventures, and its attendant fandom. The proliferation of digital environments such as video games, web sites, and chat rooms has led to numerous opportunities for the study of online spaces and the numerous practices that take place within them. The lack of physical location in online spaces can, however, make it difficult to...
Show moreThis thesis investigates the potential for the online production of place, specifically as it applies to the host site for the Homestuck web comic, MS Paint Adventures, and its attendant fandom. The proliferation of digital environments such as video games, web sites, and chat rooms has led to numerous opportunities for the study of online spaces and the numerous practices that take place within them. The lack of physical location in online spaces can, however, make it difficult to conceptualize of a web site as real, a problem that has often led researchers to develop new theories of space that do not rely on material places. This thesis was inspired by questions about the potential for the production of online place, and how and to what extent this operation can be studied through the application of a theory of place. Applying Certeau's theory of place from The Practice of Everyday Life this thesis theorizes the operations through which Andrew Hussie created MS Paint Adventures as a habitable place. Hussie accomplishes this through the generation and maintenance of authority, the creation of stable and ordered elements, and the establishment of the "proper," the rules and reality that govern the site. In addition, I theorize about the space that MS Paint Adventures as a place attempts to create, a space where readers are encouraged and enabled to engage with the web comic Homestuck and with each other through meaningful online interaction, and about the ways in which the site can be, and is, inhabited. Ultimately, I explore the extent to which web sites, though lacking physical location, can be fairly and logically conceived of, and therefore examined as, habitable places.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFE0005416, ucf:50424
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005416
Stranger Species
Title
Stranger Species.
Creator
Latham, Devin, Thaxton, Terry, Stap, Donald, Kesler, Russ, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Stranger Species is a collection of interconnected personal and lyrical essays that illustrate and dissect the biological and psychological forces that drive humans to act. While essays in the collection prove the narrator's need to believe that we are animals first and human beings second and that sex and persistence to survive are proof of our animalism, essays simultaneously counter-argue that humans(-)our emotions, weaknesses, and consciousness(-)are unique to our species, separating us...
Show moreStranger Species is a collection of interconnected personal and lyrical essays that illustrate and dissect the biological and psychological forces that drive humans to act. While essays in the collection prove the narrator's need to believe that we are animals first and human beings second and that sex and persistence to survive are proof of our animalism, essays simultaneously counter-argue that humans(-)our emotions, weaknesses, and consciousness(-)are unique to our species, separating us from the animal world. Throughout the collection, fear resonates that we do not control our desires and ultimately our lives, that biology and our deep seeded psychological inadequacies drive us blindly and often recklessly towards our species' survival never asking for our permission, leaving us to wonder why we do the strange things that we do. The narrator uses research and her experience to explore genetics, reproduction, desire, loneliness, binding societal constructions, control, and loss.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFE0005516, ucf:50323
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005516
According to the Gospel of Haunted Women
Title
According to the Gospel of Haunted Women.
Creator
Roney, Judith, Kesler, Russ, Nwakanma, Obi, Thaxton, Terry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
According to the Gospel of Haunted Women is a collection of seventy-five poems divided into four sections. The voices speaking within, are, indeed haunted by varying definitions. They bespeak complex, troubled emotions such as guilt, shame, and anxiety, yet work towards expressions of courage. The dead and the living are cajoled and accused, while others are provided a format through which they may be heard long after their mouths have closed. The poems are arranged in four sections. Section...
Show moreAccording to the Gospel of Haunted Women is a collection of seventy-five poems divided into four sections. The voices speaking within, are, indeed haunted by varying definitions. They bespeak complex, troubled emotions such as guilt, shame, and anxiety, yet work towards expressions of courage. The dead and the living are cajoled and accused, while others are provided a format through which they may be heard long after their mouths have closed. The poems are arranged in four sections. Section I, (")We Begin,(") consists of memoir pieces from the poet's early life. Section II, (")We Speak,(") is a dedicated space for the voices of both the famous and the obscure. The third section, (")We Migrate,(") gathers an eclectic assortment of female speakers expressing geographical and mental transference, interweaving personal migratory poems of the author. The final section, (")We Hunger,(") returns to personal pieces that speak from a more settled, albeit still haunted, vantage point.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFE0005703, ucf:50149
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005703