Date of Award

Spring 2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

Committee Director

Sheri Reynolds

Committee Member

Janet Peery

Committee Member

Collin Brooke

Abstract

The Book of Changes is a collection of twelve short stories which correspond to the hexagrams of the ancient Chinese oracle, the I Ching. Each hexagram in the I Ching indicates an answer to a question. When a line moves, the hexagram changes into another hexagram. Thus my twelve stories represent two hexagrams; one moving and one at rest. In a way, each story moves, changing into its opposite. Like the I Ching, my stories illustrate the dynamics of dualistic oppositions. Through a process of accident, discovery, decision, and action, endings become beginnings, lies result in truth, fate engenders free will, dispersion leads to gathering, and false hope brings true belief. Unlike the I Ching, my stories are not a means of oracular divination. The future, like language, memory, and truth, is slippery, intangible. Instead, my stories present readers with the potential contained within a single moment, a reflection of the readers own hopes, desires, or fears.

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/cyky-f661

ISBN

9780599754775

Available for download on Monday, February 12, 2029

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