Date of Award

Fall 2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

Program/Concentration

Creative Writing

Committee Director

Sheri Reynolds

Committee Member

Janet Peery

Committee Member

Luisa Igloria

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E64 B57 2004

Abstract

This is a collection of six short stories about family dynamics. The stories follow a rough chronology of family development, beginning with two stories of early family life. In "Wedding Gift" a recently divorced young woman severs a lingering emotional attachment to her ex-husband when she returns a wedding present. In "Strolling," the young female protagonist questions her own fitness as a mother when she witnesses a near-tragedy involving a stranger's child in a stroller. The third story, "Cousin Edward," features a woman at midlife who questions her own happiness as a wife and a mother when she's called on to help her depressed cousin. "The Bartons and The Tates" also explores midlife discoveries when Emma Barton's only daughter becomes engaged to the son of a celebrity couple, setting off a series of events that force Emma to see that her priorities are all wrong. The final two stories feature siblings who learn about themselves through each other. In "Shower," the youngest of three female siblings discovers that to be loved, she must follow her sister's rules. Finally, in ~Bequests," a group of five siblings meet after their mother's funeral to pick up a final gift from her, thereby acknowledging and cementing their attachment to each other after her unifying force is gone.

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/k0h2-q538

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