Date of Award

Spring 2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

Program/Concentration

Creative Writing

Committee Director

Michael Pearson

Committee Member

Janet Peery

Committee Member

Philip Raisor

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E64 S29 2005

Abstract

Young White Male is a collection of personal essays that uses true, personal narratives combined with a narrator's exposition to explain what it means to live a life.

These essays, or short memoirs, are concerned with four broad topics: romantic relationships, family, friends, and jobs. Additionally, the opening and closing essays are concerned with why I've chosen to write and the notion of writing as a means of permanence. With the exception of the last essay, "A Cheat-Sheet Memoir," all are written from the first-person point of view, both as a necessity of form and as an indication of the honesty and unflinching introspection that must underlie this genre. Thematically, this work centers on memory, nostalgia, guilt, fear, and permanence. Emotionally, these essays are about honesty and vulnerability. In the end, this collection aims to elevate one life to a status no higher than anyone else's, but higher than if that life had never been examined at all.

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/ebff-he85

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