Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2017

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

English

Degree Program

English, MA

Committee Chair

Griner, Paul

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Maxwell, Kristi

Committee Member

Maxwell, Kristi

Committee Member

Gibson, John

Author's Keywords

creative writing; creative nonfiction; magazine; journalism; memoir

Abstract

This thesis is a collection of nonfiction essays, extending both into the realms of journalism as well as into more traditional creative nonfiction essays. While each piece is based in true stories, each piece has its own style. As such, this collection is an exploration of different forms of and takes on the nonfiction essay. It is divided into four chapters, one for each essay. The first half encompasses journalistic pieces previously published in Louisville Magazine, one in the August 2016 issue and one in the February 2017 issue. The first piece is a literal retelling of three medical stories, incorporating both the patients’ perspectives as well as their doctors and surgeons. It provides direct, linear storytelling based on interviews. The second piece details the technical production of a bourbon barrel. Although it incorporates some background on a worker at the Cooperage, its main focus is on the production process. The second half of this thesis is composed of more traditional nonfiction essays. The first of the two is written in an explorative second-person perspective, an epistolary exploration of guilt and mourning. The last essay is modeled after Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran, using a framed structure of books to explore a major theme of authority.

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