Current Search: personal essay (x)
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- Title
- JOURNEY TO THE SCARS: A WHITE TRASH EPIC.
- Creator
-
Rader, J, Hemschemeyer, Judith, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Inspired by the work of writers Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe and motivated by celebrity prevaricator James Frey, Journey to the Scars: A White Trash Epic is a memoir that attempts to redefine the genre by applying the ideals and themes of gonzo and new journalism. The opening chapter, "The Diary of John Doe Frankenstein" tells the story of a pivotal event in the author's life. Immediately following this narrative of a near fatal motorcycle accident, the author/narrator's reliability is...
Show moreInspired by the work of writers Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe and motivated by celebrity prevaricator James Frey, Journey to the Scars: A White Trash Epic is a memoir that attempts to redefine the genre by applying the ideals and themes of gonzo and new journalism. The opening chapter, "The Diary of John Doe Frankenstein" tells the story of a pivotal event in the author's life. Immediately following this narrative of a near fatal motorcycle accident, the author/narrator's reliability is called into question and the remainder of the memoir is the story of the author's efforts to uncover the truth about himself, and more importantly, the events and motivating forces that led to the author's almost Near Death Experience.
Starting with a nonjudgmental look at the life of his parents before he was born, our unreliable narrator/author hopes to improve the reader's opinion of himself while also uncovering the true stories behind all the fictional ones he's been telling himself and others his entire life. As he learns more about where he came from, he begins to try to understand why he has made some of the decisions in his own life. Life is one long party for James Patrick Makowski and he shares his experiences not as a victim of his choices, but as a lonely man who just doesn't want to be left off of any of Life's guest lists.
In a final attempt to improve his credibility with the reader, the author retells the story of his accident with as much focus on factual detail and verifiable events as possible. His select poems reveal his attempts at emotional honesty while appending documentation is included for the purposes of veracity. Treating himself as a hostile witness, the narrator/author goes on to share the development of his literary integrity when he meets the most honest person he has ever met--the drug dealing Dog. "Tales of the Dog" summarizes the author/narrator's attempts to improve his credibility and why this quest has been so important to him.
Journey to the Scars: A White Trash Epic is the gonzo story of one man's efforts to be his own messiah. The author/narrator, after realizing that his life to date has been in large part the result of his efforts to forget his past, J Patrick Rader begins his efforts to remember his.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001664, ucf:47215
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001664
- Title
- Baby Bird (&) the Electronic Abyss.
- Creator
-
Senior, Alexis, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, Thaxton, Terry, Roney, Lisa, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
What is a real life? A well-lived life? And how do we define either? Baby Bird (&) the Electronic Abyss is a collection of personal essays that questions and explores escapism and existentialism as experienced at music festivals and campsites around the United States. Within this collection, festivals are illustrated as more than just spectacular stages and bright lights(-)they're depicted as fascinating, budding utopias that encourage creativity, generosity, and positivity from attendees who...
Show moreWhat is a real life? A well-lived life? And how do we define either? Baby Bird (&) the Electronic Abyss is a collection of personal essays that questions and explores escapism and existentialism as experienced at music festivals and campsites around the United States. Within this collection, festivals are illustrated as more than just spectacular stages and bright lights(-)they're depicted as fascinating, budding utopias that encourage creativity, generosity, and positivity from attendees who abandon inhibitions, and oftentimes logic, in the name of fleeting freedom from the routine of their (")real(") lives. The narrator strives to live a fulfilled life(-)what many might call a well-lived life, if not a privileged life(-)but she struggles to identify her life as meaningful as she works to disentangle the falsities of her (")real(") life as typically defined by society, a corporate, desk life in between festivals, and her electric life, an actualized but less publicly-accepted life at festivals. She repeatedly contemplates her relationship with art, and whether or not art offers a sort of immortality to those who pursue it. As a festival-goer, she finds that the art of music takes her away from her own art, writing, but her writing is about the festivals, so a love/hate relationship grows with the festivals over time. Many of these essays, such as (")In a Tent, a Home,(") (")Rebecca,(") (")We Left Town,(") and (")I Don't Wanna Wear No Shoes,(") ruminate on how dislocation and travel can be fulfilling occasions for further ontological inquiry. Other essays, including (")They Call Me Baby Bird,(") (")Monterey, Babe,(") and (")When the Fire Dancers Come Alive at Night,(") focus on music and entertainment, and a kind of resulting debauchery that compels the narrator to reflect on her moral incontinence, inability to identify reality, and jaded self-appraisal.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006501, ucf:51397
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006501
- Title
- GRIDLOCKS AND PADLOCKS.
- Creator
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Chapman, Rachel, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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"Gridlocks and Padlocks" is a collection of short fiction and personal essays whose goal is to create characters with depth in both real-world and not-entirely-real-world situations. The strength of nonfiction is the capacity to observe the writer's thinking and motivation. "Ashes to Ashes, Trust to Dust" is a personal essay that explores my struggle with the faith I was raised in, with an emphasis on how friendships and relationships have shaped my perceptions. "The List of Unacceptable...
Show more"Gridlocks and Padlocks" is a collection of short fiction and personal essays whose goal is to create characters with depth in both real-world and not-entirely-real-world situations. The strength of nonfiction is the capacity to observe the writer's thinking and motivation. "Ashes to Ashes, Trust to Dust" is a personal essay that explores my struggle with the faith I was raised in, with an emphasis on how friendships and relationships have shaped my perceptions. "The List of Unacceptable Faults" is a personal essay about unwanted interactions with the opposite sex; it is an examination of men and boys through the lens of naive dissatisfaction. "Sing Me Rebecca" is a personal essay that delves into my relationship with my mentally handicapped sister. While the nonfiction writer focuses on his or her own development and struggles, a fiction writer can investigate the human condition by exploring the depth found in imagined people who face everyday situations and what characteristics and behaviors make them believable and absorbing. "Object of Study" is a short story about a girl named Taylor, who in her formative years stumbles upon a friendship between her sister and a boy she does not trust. This story examines Taylor's quirky, multi-faceted character through the actions she takes to investigate and ultimately end the friendship between a boy and her younger sister. "Crossing Fault Lines" is a work of short short fiction that focuses on three characters-a mother and her two sons-and their strained relationship. Whether writing personal essays or fiction, my goal is to create overarching conflicts that reflect people's struggle with being "stuck" in some situation in life.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFH0004351, ucf:44976
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004351
- Title
- Blivits!.
- Creator
-
Sutter, Charles, Mills, Lisa, Stoeckl, Ula, Schlow, Stephen, Shults, Katherine, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Blivits! is a feature-length documentary produced, written, and directed by Charles Sutter in pursuit of the Master of Fine Arts in Film (&) Digital Media from the University of Central Florida. This thesis examines the ethical questions of making a documentary in the digital era.In accordance with the restrictions of the program's guidelines, this film was completed a budget of less than $50,000. The film was shot over 18 days, in various locations up and down the east coast of the United...
Show moreBlivits! is a feature-length documentary produced, written, and directed by Charles Sutter in pursuit of the Master of Fine Arts in Film (&) Digital Media from the University of Central Florida. This thesis examines the ethical questions of making a documentary in the digital era.In accordance with the restrictions of the program's guidelines, this film was completed a budget of less than $50,000. The film was shot over 18 days, in various locations up and down the east coast of the United States. This thesis is the record of Blivits!'s journey through development until completion of picture lock.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005720, ucf:50140
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005720
- Title
- Ode to Amiel: A Micro-budget Experimental Essay Film.
- Creator
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Redman, Phyllis, Harris, Christopher, Stoeckl, Ula, Schlow, Stephen, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Ode to Amiel is a feature-length experimental essay film by Phyllis Redman, made as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Film in the Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema track from the University of Central Florida. The film explores one woman's reaction to trauma and depersonalization disorder through the journal entries of 19th Century Swiss philosopher, Henri Frederic Amiel. Passages from Amiel's Journal Intime provide the narrative and voice over for the lead character,...
Show moreOde to Amiel is a feature-length experimental essay film by Phyllis Redman, made as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Film in the Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema track from the University of Central Florida. The film explores one woman's reaction to trauma and depersonalization disorder through the journal entries of 19th Century Swiss philosopher, Henri Frederic Amiel. Passages from Amiel's Journal Intime provide the narrative and voice over for the lead character, a grieving mother who finds herself locked behind an inescapable, invisible and immaterial barrier that separates her from the outside world.Following the guidelines of the film program, the film was produced on a micro-budget (under $50,000) level. The goal was to create a film that was effectively a no-budget film, one similar in process to that of Tarnation, an award-winning experimental film created for $200. With an actual shooting cost of under $1,000, Ode to Amiel met this challenge.This is the record of the film's progression from development to picture lock, in preparation for distribution.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005697, ucf:50121
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005697
- Title
- Mirrors and Vanities.
- Creator
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Salas, Leslie, Rushin, Patrick, Poissant, David, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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"Mirrors and Vanities" is a multi-modal collection which showcases the diversity of working in long and short storytelling forms. Featured in this thesis are fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and screenplay.Using unconventional approaches to storytelling in order to achieve emotional resonance with the audience while maintaining high standards for craft, these stories and essays explore the costs inherent to the subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships. The fiction focuses on the...
Show more"Mirrors and Vanities" is a multi-modal collection which showcases the diversity of working in long and short storytelling forms. Featured in this thesis are fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and screenplay.Using unconventional approaches to storytelling in order to achieve emotional resonance with the audience while maintaining high standards for craft, these stories and essays explore the costs inherent to the subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships. The fiction focuses on the complications of characters keeping secrets. A husband discovers the truth behind his wife's miscarriage. A girl visits her fianc(&)#233; in purgatory. A boy crosses a line and loses his best friend. Meanwhile, the nonfiction centers on self-discovery and gender roles associated with power struggles. A schizophrenic threatens to ruin my mother's wedding. I rediscover my relationship with my father through food writing. Sword-work teaches me to fail and succeed at making martial art. The title work of the thesis is a collaged story highlighting the tribulations of a physicist fixated on recovering his lost love by manipulating the multiverse. The multi-modal format implicates the nebulosity of physics theories and how different aspects of the narrative can be presented in various formats to best suit the nature of the storytelling.Through the interactions of characters in mundane and extraordinary circumstances, the works in this thesis examine the consequences of choice, the contrast between reality and expectation, coming of age, and the Truth of narrative.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004745, ucf:49789
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004745