Date of Award

Fall 1988

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

Program/Concentration

English

Committee Director

Alf Mapp, Jr.

Committee Member

Wayne Ude

Abstract

All of us, even those who never stray far from home, are embarked on a series of journeys throughout our lives. We are constantly growing and discovering. Our relationships with other people bring us our greatest pleasure and, all too frequently, our greatest pain.

In my collection of original prose, which includes both nonfiction and fiction, I have chosen to explore family relationships. In "Following the Ship," I have written about a journey I shared with my own daughter. It is a personal and introspective journal about a universal voyage of discovery, that of mother and daughter growing together.

For the creative writer, the transition from journal to short story is a natural and fluid process. In a journal, the writer attempts to come to terms with life as it really exists. The short story offers the writer a chance to shape life and to extend his writing into the world of imagination and possibility.

Bob, in "Family Dinner," seeks to change reality. He imagines an ideal relationship with his son and attempts to create that ideal. Martha, in "A Decent Burial," must examine the values she has learned from her mother and decide for herself whether it is possible to apply them to the reality she faces.

Our relationships with others are marked by discovery and denial as we journey toward self-awareness. I have written about this journey, exploring my own reality and possibility in nonfiction and fiction.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/0xvb-z059

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