Gridlocks and Padlocks is a collection of short fiction and personal essays whose goal is to create characters with depth in both real-world and not-entirely-real-world situations. The strength of nonfiction is the capacity to observe the writer's thinking and motivation. "Ashes to Ashes, Trust to Dust" is a personal essay that explores my struggle with the faith I was raised in, with an emphasis on how friendships and relationships have shaped my perceptions. "The List of Unacceptable Faults" is a personal essay about unwanted interactions with the opposite sex; it is an examination of men and boys through the lens of naive dissatisfaction. "Sing Me Rebecca" is a personal essay that delves into my relationship with my mentally handicapped sister. While the nonfiction writer focuses on his or her own development and struggles, a fiction writer can investigate the human condition by exploring the depth found in imagined people who face everyday situations and what characteristics and behaviors make them believable and absorbing. "Object of Study" is a short story about a girl named Taylor, who in her formative years stumbles upon a friendship between her sister and a boy she does not trust. This story examines Taylor's quirky, multi-faceted character through the actions she takes to investigate and ultimately end the friendship between a boy and her younger sister. "Crossing Fault Lines" is a work of short short fiction that focuses on three characters-a mother and her two sons-and their strained relationship. Whether writing personal essays or fiction, my goal is to create overarching conflicts that reflect people's struggle with being "stuck" in some situation in life.

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Magistro darbo tyrimo objektas – Sigito Parulskio, Gintaro Beresnevičiaus, Giedros Radvilavičiūtės, Regimanto Tamošaičio eseistika, kuri analizuojama kaip asmeninė esė. Nagrinėjami šie minėtų autorių esė rinkiniai: „Nuogi drabužiai“ (2002), „Miegas ir kitos moterys“ (2005), „Vilkų saulutė“ (2003), „Suplanuotos akimirkos“ (2004), „Vitaminų pardavėjas“ (2007). Darbo tikslas – analizuoti Parulskio, Beresnevičiaus, Radvilavičiūtės, Tamošaičio eseistiką kaip asmeninę esė, atskleidžiant šios esė estetikos ir poetikos ypatybes, eseistų individualumą. Uždaviniai: 1) Pateikti asmeninės esė teorines apibrėžtis, nurodant jų ribas ir problemas; 2) Identifikuoti asmeninės esė autoriaus mąstymo bei raiškos ypatybes; 3) Nagrinėti lietuvių autorių esė būdingas poetines priemones ir estetines pozicijas; 4) Palyginti skirtingų autorių eseistikos savybes, jų panašumus ir skirtumus; 5) Nustatyti asmeninės esė skaitytojo tipus, jų sąryšį su autoriaus institucija ir tekstu; 7) Atskleisti adresato „lūkesčių horizontą“ ir jo reikšmę skaitomų tekstų suvokimui ir interpretavimui. Tyrimo metodologija – komparatyvistikos teorija, Billo Roorbacho „asmeninės esė“, Umberto Eco „atviro kūrinio“ bei „pavyzdinio skaitytojo“ ir „empirinio skaitytojo“, Hanso Roberto Jausso „lūkesčių horizonto“ koncepcijos. Kadangi asmeninė esė dar nėra kanonizuota, pasitelkiamos ir Phillipo Lopate’o bei Michailo Epsteino įžvalgos apie asmeninės esė meną. Tyrimas atskleidė, kad tarp asmeninės esė ir „atviro“... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of the Master’s degree work is essays of Sigitas Parulskis, Gintaras Beresnevičius, Giedra Radvilavičiūtė, Regimantas Tamošaitis, which are analysed as personal essays. The following collections of the mentioned authors are analysed: „Nuogi drabužiai“ (2002), „Miegas ir kitos moterys“ (2005), „Vilkų saulutė“ (2003), „Suplanuotos akimirkos“ (2004), „Vitaminų pardavėjas“ (2007). The aim of the Work is to analyse essays of Parulskis, Beresnevičius, Radvilavičiūtė, Tamošaitis as personal essays, revealing peculiarities of these essays and poetry, individuality of essayists. Tasks: 1) to present theoretical concepts of the personal essay, by defining their limits and problems; 2) to identify peculiarities of thinking and expression of the personal essay author; 3) to analyse poetic aids and aesthetical positions, characteristic to essays of Lithuanian authors; 4) to compare peculiarities of essays of different authors, their similarities and differences; 5) to define types of personal essay readers, their links with institution of the author and the text; 7) to reveal the “horizon of expectation” of the addressee and its effect on perception and interpretation of the read texts. Methodology of the Research – theory of comparativistics, conceptions of “personal essay” by Bill Roorbach, “open creation” and “the model reader” by Umberto Eco, “horizon of expectations” by Hans Robert Jauss. As far as the personal essay has not been canonised, insights about art of personal... [to full text]

This creative nonfiction dissertation is a book of essays that explore the author's life and relationship to Upstate New York. The project also connects this experience to gender and trauma. Though the topics range from local history to cosmetic surgical procedures, the essays are collected by how they illuminate cultural tensions and universal truths. These essays are preceded by a critical preface that examines the differences between essays collections, books of essays, and argues for the recognition of narrative nonfiction as an artistic choice.

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In an effort to connect women’s spiritual development to the general call for professors to reconnect significantly with their students, this dissertation argues that expressive writing should remain a staple of the composition curriculum. It suggests that the uses of expressive writing should be expanded and explored by students and professors of composition and that each should become familiar with the link between writing and emotional wellness. In cancer centers, schools of medicine, and pregnancy care centers, writing is being used as a tool of therapy. More than just a technique for helping people cope with the stresses of loss, pain, and abuse, teaching personal writing techniques enables writers to transfer their skill in writing narratives to other forms of writing, including the more traditional academic essay. By presenting interdisciplinary blending of composition and performance studies, the discussion introduces contemporary tools of writing that engage digital environments and digital storytelling techniques already familiar to students. An important highlight of the research, that allowing students to treat personal themes in the writing classroom boosts students’ overall academic performance, is a discussion relevant to professors outside of the English department. Spurred by the public health calls for intervention in the HIV and HPV spread on minority, tribal, and HBCU campuses, the essay also considers the appropriateness of offering the Life-Support Class (a mainstay of Pregnancy Care Centers) in campus clinics. The subject of emotion is treated in the essay in relation to women’s relationships on campus and the evasion and stigmatization of emotion among professors in the academic setting. Further, the essay highlights research which suggests that a fear of feminist retaliation interferes with campus psychologists’ recommendations for the best outcomes for sexual health. This dissertation follows the trend of feminist research methodology by explicitly exposing the author’s hopes and goals, which connect women’s spiritual formation to expressive writing.

This thesis is a collection of five pieces of creative nonfiction written over the academic years 2003—2005. Creative nonfiction is a genre that, in some form or another, has always existed, though trends in form and style are constantly in flux. Based on the experiences of the actual author, creative nonfiction seeks to present the journey of a mind at work, in a style that is candid, quirky, and insightful. It seeks to persuade its reader by establishing a likeable and trusted narrator; by relating interesting facts that teach the reader something about the subject at hand; and by appealing to the reader's emotions, especially through techniques of metaphor and figurative language typically employed by writers of fiction, poetry, and drama. Thus, it utilizes the three main tools of rhetoric laid down by that great orator of yore, Aristotle; namely, ethos, logos, and pathos. Rather than exploring one subject in-depth, as is typical of a thesis, this work explores a number of different topics, as is typical of creative nonfiction. The topics include my physical quirks, especially a congenital defect that prevents me from smelling; my volunteer experiences at the Provo, Utah Boys and Girls Club; the traditions of fishing and storytelling in my family; and my burgeoning interest in family history, which was stimulated by a trip to Pine Valley, Utah—a small, rural town in southwestern Utah where some of my early Mormon ancestors settled. The pieces are united more by form than by content, as well as by having been filtered through a single consciousness. Mostly, they are supposed to be enjoyable reading.

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Lisa Markley, a.k.a. "Miz Markley", is a genuinely happy person even if she is not particularly financially successful as a musician. In an effort to validate my own choices as an artist, I chose to follow her. What was intended to be a portrait of a working musician, becomes instead a feminist musical essay film about the transformative power of art making.