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The present essay studies the functions of journey and ascent as recurrent motifs in A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman by Margaret Drabble. The relationships between the geographical and psychological journeys and ascents are explored. Chapter 2 of the core analysis presents the four themes in which the protagonists articulate their strength and self-worth. Chapter 3 is devoted to the comparative analysis of the structures of the geographical and psychological journeys and ascents (item 3.2) and the study of the author's multiple angles on marriage, adultery and widowhood (item 3.3).

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1994.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

This collection of short stories explores the depths of human emotions as seemingly unrelated characters in an Indiana community react to tragedies, including death, divorce, abuse, financial struggles, and assault. Each character experiences intense isolation and hopelessness, and some question the presence of a God who would allow such suffering. Not only are the protagonists' stories unique, but the characters themselves are diverse, encompassing different ages, genders, races, and class levels. Each story is linked by a cause-and-effect in which one person's reaction to grief creates tragedy in someone else's life. Therefore, the protagonist of one story becomes the antagonist of the next, and readers get a glimpse into both sides of the conflict. This chain reaction continues until the final story, in which the protagonist chooses to deal with his grief through faith and forgiveness, offering his attacker redemption and exemplifying the depth of God's love. / Portrait of Jesus (1988) -- The deep end (2003) -- Wrongful death (2005) -- Double shift (2006) -- The fight (2006) -- The path (2006) / Department of English

The purpose of this study was to survey a wide sampling of American short stories from the years 1940-1959 which employ the college professor as a character to determine (1) if any discernible patterns of character portrayal could be discovered and (2) whether the image of the fictional college professor was static or dynamic. Some consideration was also given to the differences found to exist between the image of the professor in the fiction of the 1920's and 1930's and his image in the fiction of the period selected, and to the parallel between the professor's fictional and nonfictional images.The decades of the 1940's and 1950's were selected for this study primarily because these years represent a period of transition for the college short story in America. The fiction of the 1920's and 30's usually presented to readers a melodramatic and/or stereotyped image of the university professor. Very few stories dealt with the professor or the university environment in a realistic way.

If I am anything, I am a Kentuckian, which means I appreciate a good storyteller. In my writing, I hope to bring back some dignity to the “lost cause” of the good values from a broken culture. While I am not quite “southern” enough to qualify as a writer of Southern Gothic fiction, I can relate to this brand of identity crisis in which someone wants to maintain an archaic mindset in a culture charging towards “progress.” As technology and corporate success take precedence over a genteel and pastoral soul, our collective competitiveness has crippled a quaint future of back porch comforts. Being well-read or holding open doors won’t pay for student loans, and there is no such thing as stars in our crowns anymore. For many regions of Kentucky, there is this conflict within the graying of small town communities. My region is one of these. As time marches on, the agrarian lifestyle itself becomes industrialized, and these old family farms, upon which small towns are built, are not self-sustaining. In my stories, I capture the perspectives of a rural community’s personalities. My Regionalism may be dated, but then so are the small town values. With these short stories, I hope to create a collection of characters whose backgrounds may be singular but whose messages are universal. My stories are about the universal fear of loneliness. Perry and White, the cameo characters, pop up throughout because they epitomize this with their irrational companionship. “The Ancient Art of Smile-Making,” “A Well Meaning Marionette,” “The Peacock Cloister,” and “In the Garden, Swallowing Pearls” are essentially about this innate need for company. “Murdered in a Good Dress” and “Myrtle Slog” illustrate the homesickness experienced by those who divorce themselves from closeness of the rural community. Sometimes we call “friendship” kitschy and cliché. And why is that? I made Perry and White’s bond a bit absurd because it is almost ridiculous that there could be a person in the wild world who would sacrifice themselves.

'Trad.' is a collection of short stories and a critical essay that explores a number of issues involved in the adaptation of stories from one popular medium to another. Some problems of adaptation involve questions of the integrity or authenticity of both the original and adapted works. These problems are often made more difficult when the adaptation is made across different media forms. This thesis explores the transformation from popular song to short story in a popular mode in two ways. The first way is based on the recognition of the problems of determining authenticity when the processes of transmission are subject to such great variety as in popular song. The second way is to explore the question of the available popular forms of narrative for the adapted product. In each case, this thesis attempts its investigation in a practical mode through the variety of stories and the way in which they utilise contemporary narrative strategies.

Masters Research - Master Creative Arts / Food, as a social signifier, is an important device in literature that has been used skilfully by writers like Woolf, Proust and Carver. My short story collection, A Taste of Dreams, employs food as a theme across the collection to reveal details about characters and the relationships between those who come together to cook and dine. The essay that follows examines suburban fiction and domestic routines including the preparation and consumption of food, food-related spaces such as the kitchen and dining table and the significance of meals beyond the food itself. Domestic fiction set in the Australian suburbs had a late and uncertain beginning. The image of the Australian bush and frontier dominated both art and literature through the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, well after the cities and suburbs were established. It was only after the Second World War, with the great postwar land boom, that artists and writers turned to the suburbs. Initially, this residential space, where the majority of Australians lived, was derided and spurned, viewed as homogeneous, status-oriented and uniformly conservative. Intellectuals attacked the architecture of the new landscape and concluded that the residents who bought into this lifestyle were conditioned by their streetscape. In the 1970s, new writers like Garner, Winton, Malouf and Updike emerged. They looked beyond the streetscape, front fence and lawns to reveal the details, the diversity and complexities of lives within the suburban milieu. Domestic situations were explored against a background of iconic symbols and signifiers—the backyard, shed, garage, bedroom, laundry and kitchen—to reveal the unique details of characters’ lives within the suburban home. A Taste of Dreams is a contribution to the genre of short story writing set in the Australian suburbs. Food links the stories and provides an avenue through which the reader can gain an understanding of the characters, their homes and their relationships.