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Title: MILD TO MODERATELY SEVERE.
Creator: Valencia, Julian, Thaxton, Terry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Mild to Moderately Severe is an episodic memoir of a boy coming of age as a latch-key kid, living with a working single mother and partly raising himself, as a hearing impaired and depressed young adult, learning to navigate the culture with a strategy of faking it, as a nomad with seven mailing addresses before turning ten. It is an examination of accidental and cultivated loneliness, a narrative of a boy and later a man who is too adept at adapting to different environments, a reflection on...
Show moreMild to Moderately Severe is an episodic memoir of a boy coming of age as a latch-key kid, living with a working single mother and partly raising himself, as a hearing impaired and depressed young adult, learning to navigate the culture with a strategy of faking it, as a nomad with seven mailing addresses before turning ten. It is an examination of accidental and cultivated loneliness, a narrative of a boy and later a man who is too adept at adapting to different environments, a reflection on relationships and popularity and a need for attention and love that clashes with a need to walk through unfamiliar neighborhoods alone. "Mild to moderately severe" is a diagnosed level of my hearing impairment. It is also the level of clinical depression I'm supposed to have been suffering since I was a preteen. It is also an answer to the question, "How was your day?"
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003749, ucf:48770
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003749

Title: IMAGO DEI: STORIES.
Creator: Langevin, Benjamin, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Translated from Latin, Imago Dei means the image of God. In the very beginning of the Torah, the writer says that God created humanity in Their own image. According to the text, woven in the fabric of who we are is God. In a post-secular society, the concept of God brings a lot of weight and baggage. Which God are we talking about? Can God be talked about it? Is God or thinking about God even relevant anymore? Hasn't science taken care of it? What good can discussions on faith bring us? These...
Show moreTranslated from Latin, Imago Dei means the image of God. In the very beginning of the Torah, the writer says that God created humanity in Their own image. According to the text, woven in the fabric of who we are is God. In a post-secular society, the concept of God brings a lot of weight and baggage. Which God are we talking about? Can God be talked about it? Is God or thinking about God even relevant anymore? Hasn't science taken care of it? What good can discussions on faith bring us? These are the questions explored in Imago Dei: Stories. Within the collection is a story about a group of college students in the Bible belt struggling with sorting through emotions in the aftermath of their pastor's suicide. There's a husband search for grace and acceptance in the midst of a looming divorce and a dying father. Finally, there's a letter from a youth pastor who is publically accused of abusing a transgendered student. The collection was written under the guidance of Dr. David James Poissant with the help of Professors Laurie Uttich and Nathan Holic. In the directed readings portion of the program, I read Marilynne Robinson, Bret Lott, and Flannery O'Connor to get a better picture of faith and moral fiction. For craft guidance, I read works by Bret Anthony Johnston, Junot Diaz, David Foster Wallace, Vanessa Blakeslee, and John Henry Fleming.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFH0004712, ucf:45403
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004712

Title: BURIED IN THE DUST.
Creator: Farrell, Jessica, Kesler, Thomas, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In July 2012, I left America for the first time to travel to Madurai, India, for a month-long journalism internship. The inspiration for the poetry in this work is deeply rooted in my experiences while in India, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Not knowing why I chose India to travel to for my first time abroad, I realized much later that I needed to be there in order to transition into the next stage of my life. I always wanted to experience what life was like without the amenities the...
Show moreIn July 2012, I left America for the first time to travel to Madurai, India, for a month-long journalism internship. The inspiration for the poetry in this work is deeply rooted in my experiences while in India, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Not knowing why I chose India to travel to for my first time abroad, I realized much later that I needed to be there in order to transition into the next stage of my life. I always wanted to experience what life was like without the amenities the Western world is accustomed to (hot showers, washers and dryers, reliable electricity, etc.). Through isolating myself from the familiar I woke up to a simpler, happier perspective on life. This isolation also stirred mixed emotions in me that I wasn't aware of until I began writing about the experience in these poems. The feeling of being watched by everyone was common and sometimes frightening or disturbing. This vulnerability was uncomfortable even though the experiences and realizations I had outweighed the negativity while I was in India. The intent of this thesis is to explore how I've grown and what I took from the trip while comparing my Indian experience to life before and after my visit. With unconventional structural elements, I set out to put life and movement on the page to represent the chaotic, beautiful India and the emotions that carried the weight of each poem. Just from one month of being surrounded by strangers who stared with stone eyes, a language I didn't understand and memories of a life I didn't miss as much as I thought I would, this thesis follows the imaginative perceptions of a sleeping person through her evolution into a waking life.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004390, ucf:44980
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004390

Title: Trauma.
Creator: Sokolowski, Thomas, Wolff, Jacob, Milanes, Cecilia, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This collection of stories explores the intersection of emotional and physical trauma. In the title story, a rookie EMT relives his brother's death while caring for a young patient who may be permanently paralyzed. (")The Rounds at Blanding(") follows a military policewoman at a National Guard training base who confronts a strangely determined trespasser as well as painful memories of her son's absentee father. Other stories, such as (")Men My Mother Loved,(") (")Watching Mr. Pete,(") and ("...
Show moreThis collection of stories explores the intersection of emotional and physical trauma. In the title story, a rookie EMT relives his brother's death while caring for a young patient who may be permanently paralyzed. (")The Rounds at Blanding(") follows a military policewoman at a National Guard training base who confronts a strangely determined trespasser as well as painful memories of her son's absentee father. Other stories, such as (")Men My Mother Loved,(") (")Watching Mr. Pete,(") and (")Fighting for Faran,(") consider trauma-as-heritage by asking young protagonists to navigate the loss, wounds, and abuse of their parents. In the collection, pain is presented as both stalker and trapper(-)pursuing its prey while also creating the obstacles that threaten their escape.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007533, ucf:52588
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007533

Title: Everyday Monsters: Stories.
Creator: Druckenmiller, Brian, Poissant, David, Thaxton, Terry, Roney, Lisa, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: These seven short stories explore characters either at war with themselves or living in a delusion, unaware that their skewed sense of self projects a subjective version of the universe. When one operates in a world that doesn't quite exist, their real world is destined to crumble, and, for many of these characters, the challenge is understanding the mirage's existence before it's too late. By slightly bending the parameters of reality as well as inviting these characters and conflicts into...
Show moreThese seven short stories explore characters either at war with themselves or living in a delusion, unaware that their skewed sense of self projects a subjective version of the universe. When one operates in a world that doesn't quite exist, their real world is destined to crumble, and, for many of these characters, the challenge is understanding the mirage's existence before it's too late. By slightly bending the parameters of reality as well as inviting these characters and conflicts into absurdity, Everyday Monsters offers wholly unique commentary on familiar struggles, including marriage, occupation, grief, destiny, and societal expectations.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006588, ucf:51305
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006588

Title: Moving Water.
Creator: Arend, Alexandra, Thaxton, Terry, Poissant, David, Hubbard, Susan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Moving Water is a novella in which the characters must reckon with grief, time, the divine, and the mysterious bonds forged and broken with each other. Phoebe and her family come to terms with the death of Jason, Phoebe's older brother, and with themselves. Around them, the universe moves in ambivalent splendor, dying and being born anew.
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006558, ucf:51337
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006558

Title: Blood Moon.
Creator: Stephens, Brendan, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Poissant, David, Hubbard, Susan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Blood Moon is a collection of short stories that explore friendship, addiction, and punk subculture. Centered around a hardcore band called Dead Phoenix, the three members(-)Eliot, Noah, and Josh(-)go on tour, live in a punk house, and plunge headfirst into opioid addiction. The stories explore their lives before they played together in the band, while touring with the band, and after the band's controversial breakup. These stories attempt to show that music, identity, and temporary bonds...
Show moreBlood Moon is a collection of short stories that explore friendship, addiction, and punk subculture. Centered around a hardcore band called Dead Phoenix, the three members(-)Eliot, Noah, and Josh(-)go on tour, live in a punk house, and plunge headfirst into opioid addiction. The stories explore their lives before they played together in the band, while touring with the band, and after the band's controversial breakup. These stories attempt to show that music, identity, and temporary bonds forever alter the trajectory of a person's life.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006665, ucf:51216
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006665

Title: Road Stories.
Creator: Mindar, Louis, Rushin, Pat, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Road Stories is a collection of three novellas that explore the pull, allure, sanctuary, serendipity, and adventure of life on the open road. The novellas examine how for some, the road holds the promise of a new day, an improved life, a better opportunity, or a deeper love; while for others, it is nothing more than an assortment of jumbled blue lines on a map. In Tierra del Fuego, a man takes to the road to figure out how to deal with the grief and sense of betrayal he feels following the...
Show moreRoad Stories is a collection of three novellas that explore the pull, allure, sanctuary, serendipity, and adventure of life on the open road. The novellas examine how for some, the road holds the promise of a new day, an improved life, a better opportunity, or a deeper love; while for others, it is nothing more than an assortment of jumbled blue lines on a map. In Tierra del Fuego, a man takes to the road to figure out how to deal with the grief and sense of betrayal he feels following the death of his wife.Lake of the Falls involves a decades-long dispute between a father and son who take to the road and come to realize that home is not always where you live.In Back on the Road, three recent college graduates set off on a road trip inspired by Kerouac's On the Road to celebrate the end of their college years and lament the imminent approach of adulthood, only to learn that their lives are soon going to take vastly different paths.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005670, ucf:50194
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005670

Title: These Romantic Dreams in Our Heads.
Creator: Ironman, Sean, Uttich, Laurie, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Poissant, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: These Romantic Dreams in Our Heads is a collection of linked essays that study how key relationships in the narrator's life intersect. The essays attempt to show the complicated nature of relationships and how multiple lives are affected by one's decisions. Taking place over two years, the relationships in focus involve the narrator's parents, his girlfriend, and his dog. The essays deal with themes of manhood, parenthood, gender roles, religion, and memory. The characters deal with...
Show moreThese Romantic Dreams in Our Heads is a collection of linked essays that study how key relationships in the narrator's life intersect. The essays attempt to show the complicated nature of relationships and how multiple lives are affected by one's decisions. Taking place over two years, the relationships in focus involve the narrator's parents, his girlfriend, and his dog. The essays deal with themes of manhood, parenthood, gender roles, religion, and memory. The characters deal with discovering their limitations and searching for a balance between responsibility for others and responsibility for their own lives.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005510, ucf:50355
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005510

Title: Heavy Hit Me.
Creator: Basques, Shauna, Roney, Lisa, Thaxton, Terry, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Heavy Hit Me is a memoir series linking obesity to sexual desire and its corresponding fear, linking fantasy to the lived loneliness of a girl too distrusting of her own body and attractions to live outside her own head. Told through essay, found letters, and shifting points of view, Heavy Hit Me explores the breadth of its protagonist's chosen isolation. It shows how the many itches of insecurity craft a young woman never challenged to really know and love herself(-)until now.
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006932, ucf:51678
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006932

Title: (In)Tangible Things.
Creator: Skaryd, Ryan, Uttich, Laurie, Roney, Lisa, Thaxton, Terry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: (In)Tangible Things is a collection of memoir essays and poems that examines loss, pain, and identity. Many pieces explore familial ties through separation, secrecy, and divorce, while other stories and poems observe the author's connection to drag culture, sexuality, eating disorders, and time itself. Using techniques such as framing devices, backwards storytelling, and delineated narrative, the author invites the reader to experience memories and moments from his past that show consistency...
Show more(In)Tangible Things is a collection of memoir essays and poems that examines loss, pain, and identity. Many pieces explore familial ties through separation, secrecy, and divorce, while other stories and poems observe the author's connection to drag culture, sexuality, eating disorders, and time itself. Using techniques such as framing devices, backwards storytelling, and delineated narrative, the author invites the reader to experience memories and moments from his past that show consistency and change, betrayal and forgiveness.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006661, ucf:51215
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006661

Title: BROKEN OPEN.
Creator: Stannard, Taylor, Rushin, Pat, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACT Broken Open is a collection of short stories, four of which deal with culpability and the unexpected transformations that occur when blame, either unintended or deliberately invoked, is exposed and finally understood. The remaining two stories concern relationships that turn out to be gifts, as well as painful learning experiences. In "Other Living Creatures," one family contends with post traumatic stress disorder as another implodes following the death of a young soldier in Vietnam...
Show moreABSTRACT Broken Open is a collection of short stories, four of which deal with culpability and the unexpected transformations that occur when blame, either unintended or deliberately invoked, is exposed and finally understood. The remaining two stories concern relationships that turn out to be gifts, as well as painful learning experiences. In "Other Living Creatures," one family contends with post traumatic stress disorder as another implodes following the death of a young soldier in Vietnam. "Hunters" deals with the unconscious motivations that leave a father resentful and unable to forge a relationship with his son. In "Bardenbrook," an accidental death is the impetus for blame and, finally, forgiveness. Rage acts as a catalyst in "The Summoning," the story of a lesbian couple's struggle to accept the reality of breast cancer shortly before one of the partners undertakes a transformative journey as her death approaches. The two remaining stories in Broken Open deal with the protagonists finding their voices. In "Sunday Wars," a girl begins to think for herself, and in "Beyond the Parking Lot," a woman comes to terms with the restraints, self-imposed and otherwise, that have held her captive for most of her life. Each character in Broken Open struggles, perseveres, grows and, ultimately, flourishes. Despite sorrow, pain, and unexpected loss, being broken open leads them, as it does us all, if we let it, to the richest places within.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001552, ucf:47135
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001552

Title: TWO BLADES COME TOGETHER: STORIES.
Creator: Pursell, Mark, Leiby, Jeanne, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This collection of seven short stories details the emotional triumphs and complications of characters whose lives are altered by issues of sexuality and disconnection. An adolescent girl feels her father slipping away from her and, in turn, willfully destroys the imaginary world of the boy she babysits; a speech therapist struggles to make headway with a young patient while finding himself unable to communicate with his ex-lover; a gay poet cheats on his boyfriend in a desperate attempt to...
Show moreThis collection of seven short stories details the emotional triumphs and complications of characters whose lives are altered by issues of sexuality and disconnection. An adolescent girl feels her father slipping away from her and, in turn, willfully destroys the imaginary world of the boy she babysits; a speech therapist struggles to make headway with a young patient while finding himself unable to communicate with his ex-lover; a gay poet cheats on his boyfriend in a desperate attempt to fuel his failing art. The dramatis personae of Two Blades Come Together is comprised of individuals who struggle towards grace and happiness but are thwarted by their inability to fit neatly into the lives of those they love. Several of the stories approach these issues through the framework of contemporary myth, exploring how fairy tales and the supernatural act upon the characters' relationships and the way they perceive their situations. The heroines of "Proof of Snow" and "The Pill Woman" are both affected by the unseen; one suffers under the strange influence of her brother even after his death, while the other must make a decision to uphold her fairy-tale world or dismantle it. In these stories, the tangibility of the supernatural is elusive and unproven, but the altered perceptions of the protagonists and their actions because of it are extremely real, with extremely real consequences. The collection also explores and tests the boundaries between poetry and fiction, pushing always towards language that is aesthetic and musical while not sacrificing the momentum and architecture of prose. Two Blades Come Together incorporates linguistic ideas from poets as varied as contemporary surrealists Laura Kasischke and Mary Ruefle to the grounded wryness of Tony Hoagland and Lynda Hull, weaving poetic language with narrative, hybridizing the qualities of fiction and poetry in an attempt to create a unique, musical vision of short fiction that is both functional and artful.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001976, ucf:47438
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001976

Title: CONTACT.
Creator: Osbourne, Brittany, Jensen, Toni, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACT This fiction novel focuses on the Sankofa philosophy that we as human beings must learn from our past to better understand our current existence and future; however, sometimes we choose to ignore or suppress the past because remembering it may be too hurtful. When we forget what happened yesterday our outlook on today and tomorrow becomes distorted. Contact is a novel that attempts to explore how Ã‚Â"living in the nowÃ‚Â" alone becomes problematic...
Show moreABSTRACT This fiction novel focuses on the Sankofa philosophy that we as human beings must learn from our past to better understand our current existence and future; however, sometimes we choose to ignore or suppress the past because remembering it may be too hurtful. When we forget what happened yesterday our outlook on today and tomorrow becomes distorted. Contact is a novel that attempts to explore how Ã‚Â"living in the nowÃ‚Â" alone becomes problematic because the pastÃ‚Â--if not rememberedÃ‚Â--will come back to haunt you. The erasure of the line between Diasporic Africans and their African past is the primary theme explored. The writer deconstructs how living in the now is indeed living in the past because the past and present, in the life of Tufa, become one. Reincarnation serves as the vehicle to explore this theme. Tufa, known for her aberrant behavior, is the reincarnation Afua AtaÃƒÂ¡Ã‚Â--an Ashanti woman who survived the Maafa, or Transatlantic Slave Trade. Past love, hate, dishonor, rivalry, pain, and hope complicate the Ã‚Â"ordinarinessÃ‚Â" of TufaÃ‚Â's teenage life. The novel is divided into a prologue and eight chapters. The bulk of each chapter follows TufaÃ‚Â's current life and ends with a vignette told by five African women, one being Afua AtaÃƒÂ¡. Each vignette paints in broad strokes the landscape and historical moments of the Maafa. The present becomes complicated when traces of the Maafa seep into TufaÃ‚Â's life. Some of these traces are culturally specific rather than unique to Tufa. However, other traces are uniquely shaped by TufaÃ‚Â's former life. People from her past disrupt her current life by their presence. Their disruption takes many formsÃ‚Â--some of it brings pain and some of it brings joy. By reading TufaÃ‚Â's story, others may find the strength to confront their past when it makes contact with their present. Like Tufa, we must confront the pain in our past to experience its joy.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0002987, ucf:47939
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002987

Title: The Clockman Movement.
Creator: Martin, Allison, Jones, Anna, Thaxton, Terry, Smith, Anne, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: As a genre of Neo-Victorian fiction, Steampunk is largely identified by Victorian aesthetics and technology centering on clockwork and steam power. The novel The Clockman Movement seeks to emphasize the (")punk(") in (")steampunk(") by exploring the social concerns of colonialism, including sexism, racism, and classism, while embracing the more fantastic and entertaining aspects of steampunk.Before all other labels(-)Nordlunder, daughter, woman(-)Eve Traugott is a machinist. Or she would be,...
Show moreAs a genre of Neo-Victorian fiction, Steampunk is largely identified by Victorian aesthetics and technology centering on clockwork and steam power. The novel The Clockman Movement seeks to emphasize the (")punk(") in (")steampunk(") by exploring the social concerns of colonialism, including sexism, racism, and classism, while embracing the more fantastic and entertaining aspects of steampunk.Before all other labels(-)Nordlunder, daughter, woman(-)Eve Traugott is a machinist. Or she would be, if one of the machinists in the capital would hire her as an apprentice. She thought it would be simple to find a machinist willing to take a chance on her in Aufziehburg, the mechanical center of the State of Nordlund, but so far the Aufziehburger machinists have been as narrow-minded as the one she left behind in her hometown.Her inheritance dwindling, Eve sets her sights on the clockmen, the State's automaton workers, hoping that studying them might help her learn enough to gain an apprenticeship. When her curiosity draws the unwanted attention of Statesman Bristed and the winders, procuring an apprenticeship becomes the least of Eve's concerns.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006476, ucf:51439
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006476

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: 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: Mercury.
Creator: Gaines, Adrienne, Rushin, Patrick, Neal, Mary, Roney, Lisa, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Mercury is a collection of short stories based in the fictional town of Mercury, Georgia. Set over the course of several decades, the stories trace the events that changed individuals, families, and a whole community for decades. Loosely based on the author's real-life family history, the stories, both humorous and heartbreaking, show characters caught between the past and the present and searching for a way forward. A girl who makes friends with a ghost, a woman who can't help but run from...
Show moreMercury is a collection of short stories based in the fictional town of Mercury, Georgia. Set over the course of several decades, the stories trace the events that changed individuals, families, and a whole community for decades. Loosely based on the author's real-life family history, the stories, both humorous and heartbreaking, show characters caught between the past and the present and searching for a way forward. A girl who makes friends with a ghost, a woman who can't help but run from crying babies, a man forced to face the town's darkest side(-)these and other characters respond in surprising ways to circumstances that are both ordinary and extraordinary. Most of the stories in the collection are linked, showing the interconnectedness of the lives in this small town. The pieces work together to present a larger narrative of how the characters and the town struggle to change, survive, hope, and face the future.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004846, ucf:49692
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004846

Title: IN SEARCH OF: STORIES FROM THE ONES LEFT BEHIND.
Creator: Velez, Mayra, Rushin, Pat, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: "In Search Of: Stories from the Ones Left Behind" introduces five young women-- June, Leila, Kiss, Marianne, and Alma-- who struggle to impede loved ones from abandoning them. One woman confronts her worst fears when she finds out about her husband's affair with a mutual friend; one comes to terms with her sister's poor lifestyle choices; another copes with her mother's sudden marriage; and yet another figures out that in order to keep her fiancé, she must be willing to...
Show more"In Search Of: Stories from the Ones Left Behind" introduces five young women-- June, Leila, Kiss, Marianne, and Alma-- who struggle to impede loved ones from abandoning them. One woman confronts her worst fears when she finds out about her husband's affair with a mutual friend; one comes to terms with her sister's poor lifestyle choices; another copes with her mother's sudden marriage; and yet another figures out that in order to keep her fiancé, she must be willing to take on responsibilities foreign to her. And then there is the story of Alma, a contemplative but naïve seventeen-year-old girl who commits a serious mistake, an act of prostitution, and when her parents find out, she's left with no choice except to leave her hometown before high school graduation. Alma learns that when it comes to the aftermath of mistakes, women often get a double-dose of pain, plus they run the risk of being removed from the family circle. These stories also touch on other themes: mother-daughter relationships; sibling rivalry and communion; adultery; marriage to foreigners; spirituality; atheism amongst a religious family; dependency; and also how contemporary young women deal with relatively successful careers. But the one common thread running through the heart of these women's stories is how they confront the threat of being pushed aside or deserted by a loved one.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001841, ucf:47365
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001841

Title: MOONFLOWERS AND OTHER STORIES.
Creator: Prevatt-Harris, Sarah, Hubbard, Susan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: "Moonflowers" and Other Stories is a collection of short stories focusing on complex relationships among characters who are estranged from their families and their pasts; some seek to reestablish connections, while others decide to simply walk away. All of the stories are set in Florida. In "Stained Glass," Abby returns home after seventeen years to help care for the father who disowned her. In "Blue Green Red," Melaney is compelled to find her brother after years of lying about his existence...
Show more"Moonflowers" and Other Stories is a collection of short stories focusing on complex relationships among characters who are estranged from their families and their pasts; some seek to reestablish connections, while others decide to simply walk away. All of the stories are set in Florida. In "Stained Glass," Abby returns home after seventeen years to help care for the father who disowned her. In "Blue Green Red," Melaney is compelled to find her brother after years of lying about his existence. Selina, the protagonist of "Fatty Walsh" is so embarrassed by her family she will not tell her friend Alucia where she lives, although she must ultimately choose between her younger brother and her friendship with Alucia. All of the stories in this thesis find characters desiring to establish or restore relationships despite past mistakes and grievances, evidence of their innate longing for human connection.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001980, ucf:47428
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001980

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