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Title: A CRIMSON TRAIL.
Creator: McGill, Caitlin, Neal, Mary Darlin', University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Willing to overstep literary conventions in order to ensure that meaning and purpose reign over structure, cross-genre writing works to push boundaries of genre and tear down the walls of limitation. This cross-genre thesis aims to test literary restrictions of structure and style and, as literary endeavors often do, to rattle our existence. In this thesis, nonfiction and fiction work together to drive meaning to the surface of the page, meaning that is universal in the individual stories as...
Show moreWilling to overstep literary conventions in order to ensure that meaning and purpose reign over structure, cross-genre writing works to push boundaries of genre and tear down the walls of limitation. This cross-genre thesis aims to test literary restrictions of structure and style and, as literary endeavors often do, to rattle our existence. In this thesis, nonfiction and fiction work together to drive meaning to the surface of the page, meaning that is universal in the individual stories as well as in the human experience. Although some characters are fictional and some real, they often intersect, their journeys and discoveries merging into one. The many voices of this thesis, while diverse, speak to similar themes and meaning. The main character of "Silhouettes," a homosexual male who yearns to find his identity away from the place he once called home, experiences feelings of abandonment and loss. The narrator of "A Crimson Trail" longs to uncovers truths about her uncle's suicide and endures similar feelings of loss. "Abandoned Laurels" explores a complex mother-daughter relationship and wades through themes of mourning, regret, and shame. The remaining stories explore similar themes, including those of longing, death, and familial relationships. Shorter pieces are scattered amongst longer works and supplement themes developed in the thesis. Each section contributes to the characters' longing for identity, recovery, and understanding of the past. These related characters and their stories - both real and fictional - merge in a collective endeavor to sift through loss, explore the past, and, most importantly, find identity and hope in the future amidst the rubble of the present.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFH0004165, ucf:44814
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004165

Title: Evidence of Lives.
Creator: Cummings, John, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Rushin, Patrick, Neal, Mary, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Evidence of Lives is a novel that deals with themes of childhood abuse, mental illness, and alienated families. The book opens with the main character, forty-two-year-old Mark Barr, who has returned home from New York to West Virginia after eleven years for his older brother Steve's funeral. Steve, having died of a heart attack at forty-six, was mentally ill most of his adult life, though Mark has always questioned what was (")mentally ill(") and what was the result of their father's verbal...
Show moreEvidence of Lives is a novel that deals with themes of childhood abuse, mental illness, and alienated families. The book opens with the main character, forty-two-year-old Mark Barr, who has returned home from New York to West Virginia after eleven years for his older brother Steve's funeral. Steve, having died of a heart attack at forty-six, was mentally ill most of his adult life, though Mark has always questioned what was (")mentally ill(") and what was the result of their father's verbal and physical abuse during their childhood. When Mark discovers that there is to be no funeral, but a cremation without service, he calls his girlfriend, an attorney back in New York, who tells him he has a (")legal responsibility(") to voice his brother's oral will. Just nights before his death, Steve called Mark and conveyed his last wishes to be buried, not cremated. The book unfolds into an odyssey for Mark to discover love for his brother posthumously in a loveless family. Evidence of Lives is a portrait of an oldest brother's supposed mental illness and unfulfilled life, as well as a redeeming tale of a youngest brother's alienation from his family and his guilt for abandoning them.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004530, ucf:49248
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004530

Title: The Boys' Republic.
Creator: Mueller, Jonas, Hubbard, Susan, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Neal, Mary, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The young men in The Boys' Republic live in a world that is continually falling apart. Their houses collapse into sinkholes, forest fires carve out chunks of their towns, plague spreads through their communes, the money runs out on the construction project where they work. This decay mirrors their own collapsing identities, as they are forced to question their mastery of nature, their nostalgia for their youth, their relationships with others, and the value of masculinity itself. Drawing on...
Show moreThe young men in The Boys' Republic live in a world that is continually falling apart. Their houses collapse into sinkholes, forest fires carve out chunks of their towns, plague spreads through their communes, the money runs out on the construction project where they work. This decay mirrors their own collapsing identities, as they are forced to question their mastery of nature, their nostalgia for their youth, their relationships with others, and the value of masculinity itself. Drawing on the work of writers like Dennis Cooper, Flannery O'Connor, and Benjamin Percy, The Boys' Republic depicts men in the midst of both an economic and an emotional recession. Some, like Carson in Hotel or Zachary in Ignus Fatuus, are trapped in their decaying suburbs by youth, poverty, or habit. Others, like Jared in Corona Radiata or Nick in The Boy's Republic, have fled or been ejected from them. Either way, they are haunted by them, and by the selfish, insecure, destructive behavior that they learned there. The Boys' Republic is about boys confronting their own selfishness, and each other's, in a world that can no longer accommodate it but offers no easy replacement.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004578, ucf:49222
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004578

Title: Young Thinkers.
Creator: Elgeness, Jaclyn, Neal, Mary, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Rushin, Patrick, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Young Thinkers is a collection of short fiction dealing with what it means to earn wisdom in the twenty-first century. When our phones can remember everything for us, and we're plagued by a sense that everything has already been said and digitally cataloged, insight becomes even more important, particularly to the thoughtful characters explored throughout the collection. The prolonged American adolescence facilitated by the economic crisis, as well as the societal acceptance of marrying and...
Show moreYoung Thinkers is a collection of short fiction dealing with what it means to earn wisdom in the twenty-first century. When our phones can remember everything for us, and we're plagued by a sense that everything has already been said and digitally cataloged, insight becomes even more important, particularly to the thoughtful characters explored throughout the collection. The prolonged American adolescence facilitated by the economic crisis, as well as the societal acceptance of marrying and having children much later in life, creates an atmosphere of intense self-doubt. A young man working at a gas station after college witnesses a high school boy die in a hit and run, and he longs to comfort others at the vigil. Another young man decides he would rather rob houses than return to community college while wondering at ways to extend his lifespan. Young women struggle to feel important and independent, but find themselves assuaging their fears with cigarettes and alcohol. These characters yearn for the insight and experience that would make them decidedly and authoritatively adult.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004106, ucf:49097
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004106

Title: I Thought You Were Someone Else.
Creator: Milazzo, Maria, Roney, Lisa, Neal, Mary, Hubbard, Susan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: I Thought You Were Someone Else deals with violence, family, love, art, and gender. The author examines these issues as well as what makes a creative work fiction or nonfiction by creating a multi-genre collection of seven short fiction stories and five short nonfiction pieces. Fictional stories feature protagonists similar to the author and protagonists who could be considered completely different from the author. Nevertheless, the protagonists in these pieces, whether they are real or...
Show moreI Thought You Were Someone Else deals with violence, family, love, art, and gender. The author examines these issues as well as what makes a creative work fiction or nonfiction by creating a multi-genre collection of seven short fiction stories and five short nonfiction pieces. Fictional stories feature protagonists similar to the author and protagonists who could be considered completely different from the author. Nevertheless, the protagonists in these pieces, whether they are real or fictitious, all experience grand realizations concerning their identity and surroundings. Essentially, they realize they are not who they thought they were. A young boy realizes he likes destruction; another comes to terms with love and romance. A father deals with his homophobia, while another older man examines his life of violence. Young women cope with getting older and struggling to create families. Others realize that their needs will never be met. All stories deal with growth, change, and discovery, thereby allowing the author to unearth details about identity and how it is shaped and evolves.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004139, ucf:49078
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004139

Title: Stuffmobile.
Creator: Greenberg, Ted, Rushin, Patrick, Hubbard, Susan, Neal, Mary, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The leitmotif of Stuffmobile, a modern day Florida-based novella, is that of relational healing: a son with his father, ex-lovers with one another, and, even more challenging perhaps, a son making peace with his dead mother. New beginnings are explored, both as resurrection of long dead feelings and as starting afresh after loss. A husband finds distraction in a covert project after his wife's death, so much so that his preoccupied isolation worries his two adult children. The son comes to...
Show moreThe leitmotif of Stuffmobile, a modern day Florida-based novella, is that of relational healing: a son with his father, ex-lovers with one another, and, even more challenging perhaps, a son making peace with his dead mother. New beginnings are explored, both as resurrection of long dead feelings and as starting afresh after loss. A husband finds distraction in a covert project after his wife's death, so much so that his preoccupied isolation worries his two adult children. The son comes to investigate, and his malfunctioning car leads to the beginnings of reconciliation. The characters here struggle to understand and be understood, to avoid hurting others and avoid being hurt, all while searching for respect and love: just another normal day of the human experience.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004189, ucf:49001
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004189

Title: Trade Secrets.
Creator: Kolman, Rachel, Hubbard, Susan, Neal, Mary, Rushin, Patrick, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Trade Secrets is a collection of fourteen short stories that explores characters falling in and out of relationships and coping in unusual and even comedic ways. These characters are often obsessive and do not trust one another. They think life is funny, and discover that love is funny, and yeah, sex can be funny too. They don't feel the right things when they're supposed to. They find love, and lose love. They find hope, and lose hope. They escape sometimes, but more often are unable to go...
Show moreTrade Secrets is a collection of fourteen short stories that explores characters falling in and out of relationships and coping in unusual and even comedic ways. These characters are often obsessive and do not trust one another. They think life is funny, and discover that love is funny, and yeah, sex can be funny too. They don't feel the right things when they're supposed to. They find love, and lose love. They find hope, and lose hope. They escape sometimes, but more often are unable to go anywhere. These stories consider relationships through the disconnection between reality and fantasy, exploring how the lines between illusion and actuality can become blurred. A young boy fantasizes about running on the wind; teenagers pretend to be werewolves; twenty-somethings obsess about potential love affairs, dreams, and the possibility of escape. There is a driving curiosity behind these characters, a desire to figure one another out(-)a desire to learn the other's secret. Trade secrets are insider information after all, and must be earned. These characters are all earning the right to hold their own trade secrets and, when the time is right, sharing that information with whomever is willing to listen.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004273, ucf:49512
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004273

Title: Finding Sundays: A Collection of Stories.
Creator: Martin, Tamra, Neal, Mary, Hubbard, Susan, Thaxton, Terry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Finding Sundays: A Collection of Stories is a collection that explores the lives of people in the fictional town of Hickory Springs, Virginia. The title story (")Finding Sundays(") follows the life of Deacon Taylor and connects him to the characters around him in the proceeding pieces. These stories explore the lives of Deacon, his family, and his childhood friend, Sandra. The focus of this collection is not meant to be about spirituality or religion in general, although these exist as themes...
Show moreFinding Sundays: A Collection of Stories is a collection that explores the lives of people in the fictional town of Hickory Springs, Virginia. The title story (")Finding Sundays(") follows the life of Deacon Taylor and connects him to the characters around him in the proceeding pieces. These stories explore the lives of Deacon, his family, and his childhood friend, Sandra. The focus of this collection is not meant to be about spirituality or religion in general, although these exist as themes in the background of the stories. Instead, it is meant to look at how the lives of people connected through a church and a small town setting can affect them and lead them on different paths through the choices they make. Their personal struggles and challenges help them to either discover who they are or lose a piece of themselves in the process, which is especially true for Deacon. He is the character who appears as a child, as an adolescent, and as an adult. Self-discovery is not always peaceful or satisfying for him or any of the characters around him, and their individual journeys show this process and the different events that come from the choices they make. This collection focuses on how religious roots, friendships, and familial connections, or the lack of such bonds, affect the characters' own personal views and decisions as well as how they relate to those around them.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004408, ucf:49386
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004408

Title: Unseen America.
Creator: Shuster, Jeffrey, Neal, Mary, Roney, Lisa, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Unseen America is a glimpse into the lives of what American society considers to be low status men. (")Kumbaya(") involves a Cub Scout dealing with the fallout from a neglectful father and an alcoholic mother. (")Devil's Tower(") is about an overweight boy trying to prove himself in front of his peers. In (")True Patriots,(") we see two displaced working class men forced to come to terms with an America that doesn't belong to them anymore or need them anymore. (")Zippo Heart(") deals with a...
Show moreUnseen America is a glimpse into the lives of what American society considers to be low status men. (")Kumbaya(") involves a Cub Scout dealing with the fallout from a neglectful father and an alcoholic mother. (")Devil's Tower(") is about an overweight boy trying to prove himself in front of his peers. In (")True Patriots,(") we see two displaced working class men forced to come to terms with an America that doesn't belong to them anymore or need them anymore. (")Zippo Heart(") deals with a recently divorced young woman spurring on the advances of a loser coworker while dealing with her grief over September 11th. Finally, (")Devil's Backbone(") showcases two days in the life of Caleb Jacobson, a native of West Virginia who can't let go of his heritage even when it puts him in danger. With Unseen America, I hoped to give light to men who are often seen as caricatures if they're even noticed at all. The stories wrestle with the questions of what it means to be a man in contemporary American society. Should a man do the right thing, and for what reasons: societal pressure or a tug of conscience? Does a man live for himself or does he devote himself to a higher ideal? Does he let others define who he is or does he live by his own code? Low status men wrestle with these questions every day, but it goes unseen.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006182, ucf:51122
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006182

Title: Only the End: A Collection of Connected Short Stories.
Creator: Sneeringer, Lucy, Milanes, Cecilia, Roney, Lisa, Neal, Mary, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In a series of connected short stories, the author explores the funeral industry by following a body as it is prepared for its final resting. The EMTs, mortician, funeral director, and cremators offer their unique perspective on the many faces death can take. However, it is the eyes of the mourners and Benny himself that see the deeper impact of his passing. By uncovering who Benny was in life, a man struggling with marriage and fatherhood, the author shows just how far the impact of his...
Show moreIn a series of connected short stories, the author explores the funeral industry by following a body as it is prepared for its final resting. The EMTs, mortician, funeral director, and cremators offer their unique perspective on the many faces death can take. However, it is the eyes of the mourners and Benny himself that see the deeper impact of his passing. By uncovering who Benny was in life, a man struggling with marriage and fatherhood, the author shows just how far the impact of his death reaches.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006662, ucf:51242
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006662

Title: Lightning Flowers.
Creator: Rupert, Nickalus, Neal, Mary, Hubbard, Susan, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Lightning Flowers traces the psychological collapse of Waylan Dranger, an East Texas construction worker / folk artist. Waylan suffers from hallucinatory encounters with Reeve, his missing brother. Reeve often blames Waylan for his disappearance and implied death. Waylan also worries that Sam, his live-in girlfriend, will leave him before he can resolve his own increasingly erratic behavior. Largely, Lightning Flowers is preoccupied with the consequences of nostalgic thinking. Among others,...
Show moreLightning Flowers traces the psychological collapse of Waylan Dranger, an East Texas construction worker / folk artist. Waylan suffers from hallucinatory encounters with Reeve, his missing brother. Reeve often blames Waylan for his disappearance and implied death. Waylan also worries that Sam, his live-in girlfriend, will leave him before he can resolve his own increasingly erratic behavior. Largely, Lightning Flowers is preoccupied with the consequences of nostalgic thinking. Among others, the novel grapples with the following questions: What defines contemporary notions of (")brotherhood(")? To what extent does one's survival necessitate self-delusion? How do social stigmas inform our experience of mental illness?
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0006054, ucf:50988
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006054

Title: Marriage and Other Trouble.
Creator: Buckingham, Benjamin, Poissant, David, Neal, Mary, Roney, Lisa, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Marriage and Other Trouble is a collection of (mostly) realist short stories. These stories explore the dynamics of marriage and family, ranging from characters dating in their twenties, to remarrying in their sixties. The characters in this collection grapple with adultery, sexual identity, addiction, class, privilege, and illness. I am interested in the lasting impact of events. Therefore, these stories often reflect on the history of relationships and on how the events of these characters'...
Show moreMarriage and Other Trouble is a collection of (mostly) realist short stories. These stories explore the dynamics of marriage and family, ranging from characters dating in their twenties, to remarrying in their sixties. The characters in this collection grapple with adultery, sexual identity, addiction, class, privilege, and illness. I am interested in the lasting impact of events. Therefore, these stories often reflect on the history of relationships and on how the events of these characters' lives will carry into the future. Mostly set in Florida, place plays an important role in these stories, providing both structure and conflict. The one magical realist story I've included takes place in the afterlife. Addressing suicide and depression, this story explores the guilt over those left behind, and the continual struggle to reconcile with the past, even after death.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006080, ucf:50955
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006080

Title: Stories I Told Myself: A Memoir.
Creator: Crimmins, Brian, Neal, Mary, Roney, Lisa, Uttich, Laurie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Stories I Told Myself: A Memoir explores the experience of growing up gay in the 1980s. It is one boy's journey toward self-acceptance set against the conservative backdrop of a rural community on California's central coast. The story illuminates the hunger for a life different than the one being lived, and the ever-present sense of being different exacerbated by bullying and unrequited love. It is a narrative of evolving identity, and includes cultural insights and societal context of the...
Show moreStories I Told Myself: A Memoir explores the experience of growing up gay in the 1980s. It is one boy's journey toward self-acceptance set against the conservative backdrop of a rural community on California's central coast. The story illuminates the hunger for a life different than the one being lived, and the ever-present sense of being different exacerbated by bullying and unrequited love. It is a narrative of evolving identity, and includes cultural insights and societal context of the time period. The author poses a fundamental question, (")How did I make it out of the 80's alive?(") and he explores the answer with poignant humor and self-examination. Mr. Crimmins shows that, beyond the constraints of time and place, the process of coming out remains an important and consistent element of the queer experience.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005152, ucf:50710
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005152

Title: Cold Snap.
Creator: Phin, Jonathan, Roney, Lisa, Neal, Mary, Milanes, Cecilia, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Cold Snap is a collection of short stories that details the breaking down of self by those closest to us and the rebuilding process necessary to continue on in this diverse world. The sometimes autobiographical short stories attempt to explore the different stages of psychological and/or physical abuse and their aftermaths. Three short stories revolve around a singular family and include themes of cultural division, LGBT coming-of-age, neglect, and acceptance. The other short stories focus on...
Show moreCold Snap is a collection of short stories that details the breaking down of self by those closest to us and the rebuilding process necessary to continue on in this diverse world. The sometimes autobiographical short stories attempt to explore the different stages of psychological and/or physical abuse and their aftermaths. Three short stories revolve around a singular family and include themes of cultural division, LGBT coming-of-age, neglect, and acceptance. The other short stories focus on themes including but not limited to self-worth, fear, desire, and survival. All characters revolve around the Buddhist idea that to want is to suffer and conclude with how the protagonists live with those consequences.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006486, ucf:51385
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006486

Title: Pearl Necklaces.
Creator: Redmond, Jordan, Thaxton, Terry, Stap, Donald, Neal, Mary, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Pearl Necklaces aims to excavate raw moments of connection and find beauty in the depravity of self and situation. Set in the Deep South, this collection of poems thrives on lusty nights, hard love, and the twinge of memory. The voices within range from youthful to jaded as they speak across pages, flowing into one another to create a pain-body which ultimately seeks closure in relationships with objects, family, drugs, lovers, body parts, heroes, and setting. Tuned to the lyrical voices of...
Show morePearl Necklaces aims to excavate raw moments of connection and find beauty in the depravity of self and situation. Set in the Deep South, this collection of poems thrives on lusty nights, hard love, and the twinge of memory. The voices within range from youthful to jaded as they speak across pages, flowing into one another to create a pain-body which ultimately seeks closure in relationships with objects, family, drugs, lovers, body parts, heroes, and setting. Tuned to the lyrical voices of poets Kim Addonizio, Lynn Emanuel, and Dorianne Laux, poems such as (")Learning Shapes,(") (")Things that Make Me Feel Cool,(") (")Can't Say Daddy, and (")Don't Miss Mississippi(") seek out what makes up a person as the collection continues to practice manipulation with language, tradition, and context in works like (")Pearl Necklaces(") and (")Golden Boy.(") Faithfully and sarcastically, these collected poems drive to the fuzzy edges of attachment and never come back.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006489, ucf:51394
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006489

Title: When Our Cities Hollowed.
Creator: Al-harastani, Hana, Milanes, Cecilia, Neal, Mary, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: When Our Cities Hollowed is an interrelated collection of short fiction that follows an extended family's everyday lives before and during the Syrian Civil War. In efforts to combat current media narratives regarding Syrians, this collection presents a complex counter-narrative, following characters of a typical Sunni Muslim, middle-class family, some of whom support the government, others of whom support the opposition. War, in these stories, is a looming shadow, often acting as a catalyst...
Show moreWhen Our Cities Hollowed is an interrelated collection of short fiction that follows an extended family's everyday lives before and during the Syrian Civil War. In efforts to combat current media narratives regarding Syrians, this collection presents a complex counter-narrative, following characters of a typical Sunni Muslim, middle-class family, some of whom support the government, others of whom support the opposition. War, in these stories, is a looming shadow, often acting as a catalyst to many of the characters' conclusions about love, family, and what it means to be alive.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006552, ucf:51354
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006552

Title: Kidron Road and Other Stories.
Creator: Molohon, Jason, Neal, Mary, Powell, Mark, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Kidron Road and Other Stories is a collection of fiction that ranges from the soberly tragic to the magically real. The characters in each selection are molded by their choices, the choices of others, and the cruel whims of fate. I am fascinated by the way fatalism and free will intersect in the human experience. Therefore, my work often explores the paradoxical way lives are molded by past decisions while, at the same time, those decisions seem determined by outside forces.
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006146, ucf:51158
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006146

Title: Antipodes: Ways to See the World.
Creator: Sallee, Brenda, Neal, Mary, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis is an examination of the geographical oddities of my past, the process of transitioning between worlds, and the kinds of relationships that survive those transitions. In a world where I can fly from Atlanta to Beijing non-stop in fifteen hours, I sometimes convince myself that geography no longer matters. I was born in the tropics, raised in the arctic, and became a dual citizen of the same two countries twice. I could distinguish gunshots from fireworks by age five and have...
Show moreThis thesis is an examination of the geographical oddities of my past, the process of transitioning between worlds, and the kinds of relationships that survive those transitions. In a world where I can fly from Atlanta to Beijing non-stop in fifteen hours, I sometimes convince myself that geography no longer matters. I was born in the tropics, raised in the arctic, and became a dual citizen of the same two countries twice. I could distinguish gunshots from fireworks by age five and have ridden the Trans-Siberian Railroad in both directions. I have milked a water buffalo and played Tchaikovsky's piano and been interrogated by a Maoist by firelight on the top of a mountain at the far western edge of the earth. I have seen the Louvre and the Hermitage and the highest point in Iowa and The Pit, the outhouse that connects directly to Hell. I sometimes believe I can go anywhere. See anything. Befriend anyone. But I deceive myself. Some places are so far away, it takes years to settle, to adjust, to reach a level of familiarity where the world outside your window, and the people in that world, no longer shock you. I have seldom stayed that long.The transient life does not get easier, but you can get better at it. I have gotten better at it. Distance is a matter of perspective and convenience and desire. The farther two places, or two people, or two lifestyles are from each other, the subtler and more intricate the connecting lines. My contentment and sanity and relationships depend upon deciphering those lines. This is the story of what I've learned.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004746, ucf:49765
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004746

Title: Drops of Light in the Dark.
Creator: Urban, April, Neal, Mary, Hubbard, Susan, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The short stories in this collection focus on young individuals', especially women's, experience and development as they navigate personal relationships and search for a place in the world. Both longer stories and flash fiction are included, and stories are told in past and present tense, and from first, second, and third person point of view. However, the narration of all of these stories stays close to the characters' points of view, inhabiting their visceral experience. These stories take...
Show moreThe short stories in this collection focus on young individuals', especially women's, experience and development as they navigate personal relationships and search for a place in the world. Both longer stories and flash fiction are included, and stories are told in past and present tense, and from first, second, and third person point of view. However, the narration of all of these stories stays close to the characters' points of view, inhabiting their visceral experience. These stories take place in a variety of settings, including a beachside motel, college campuses, bars, and offices. All of these characters, though, struggle with questions of identity, intimacy, and purpose. These conflicts are revealed through the characters' interactions with others and reactions to their environments, especially focusing on the small details of ordinary events and settings. By depicting these characters' encounters with the everyday, their sense of self and experiences are shown, and thus the particularities of women's relationships with their selves, their bodies, and their relationships are represented. In addition to this collection of short stories, the Writing Life Essay in this thesis discusses my development as a writer, my aims, and the writers, such as Dylan Landis, Joy Williams, and Mary Gaitskill, who have influenced my work. A Reading List of influential works, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, follows.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004764, ucf:49766
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004764

Title: Hidden Variable.
Creator: Harms, Heather, Hubbard, Susan, Rushin, Patrick, Neal, Mary, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Hidden Variable is a novel that blends linear storytelling with the novel-in-stories form. It poses questions about the nature of identity as well as the feasibility of personal power, particularly with respect to disorders of the mind.Darla Pierson, the novel's protagonist, is a woman in crisis. She is steeped in self-loathing brought on by the knowledge that she has, in effect, become her dead father(-)a genius with an epic libido, habitually using and discarding people. Her father has...
Show moreHidden Variable is a novel that blends linear storytelling with the novel-in-stories form. It poses questions about the nature of identity as well as the feasibility of personal power, particularly with respect to disorders of the mind.Darla Pierson, the novel's protagonist, is a woman in crisis. She is steeped in self-loathing brought on by the knowledge that she has, in effect, become her dead father(-)a genius with an epic libido, habitually using and discarding people. Her father has another habit that Darla doesn't share: being struck by lightning. After the second strike kills him, Darla makes a conscious attempt to recreate herself. But soon the new Darla sinks into depression, and her act begins to crumble, damaging her and those around her. Throughout the years, she and her family members experience periodic clashes with nature, never fully realizing that sometimes the most powerful, most devastating opponent comes not from without, but within.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004784, ucf:49774
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004784

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