Divine and the Everyday Devil contains a scholarly preface that discusses the experiences and literary works that influenced the author's writing with special attention in regards to spirituality and sexuality. The preface is followed by six original short stories. "Evil" is a work addressing a modern conception of evil. "Eschatology" concerns a man facing his own mortality. "The Gospel of Peter" tells the story of a husband grappling with his wife's religious beliefs. "The Mechanics of Projects" relates the experiences of a woman looking for love in Mexico. "The Rocky Normal Show" involves a husband growing apart from his wife and "Mutant: An Origin Story" is about a teenager trying to find his own unique identity.

If I Could Live Next Door for a Day is a collection of short stories with the recurrent theme of taking life for granted. "Climbing the Fence" is a story about a sexually unfulfilled woman who has an unfulfilling affair. In "Chained Melody" a condescending young man learns about life in and out of jail. "An Educated Man" shows the inferiority of one man in the presence of others he considers more important. A deluded school counselor brings a jealous boy and his younger brother together in "Piggie and Pete," while another young man in "The Good Boy" tries to break away from his mother. Finally, a woman learns about herself and the world around her when she wins a large sum of money in "What About Ten-Fold?"

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Eight short selections of fiction. "Inventions" consists of two invented creation myths. The three stories in "Dreams" are fantasy tales set in a common dream-world. The selections in "Imitations" are neither fantasy nor science fiction: "Time's Tapering Blade" is an experiment in form; "The Wake" concerns a group of friends dealing with a death; and "Janie, Hold the Light" is based on stories from the author's family about Christmas during the depression of the 1930's.

The dissertation begins with an introductory chapter that examines the short story cycle as a specific genre, outlines tendencies found in minimalist fiction, and discusses proposed definitions of the short story genre. The introduction examines the problems that short story theorists encounter when they try to.define the short story genre in general. Part of the problem results from the lack of a definition of the short story in the Aristotelian sense of a definition. A looser, less traditional definition of literary genres helps solve some of the problem. Minimalist fiction and the short story cycle are discussed as particular forms of the short story. Sixteen short stories follow the introduction.

These sketches and stories are the result of moods, daydreams, and experiences. The collection progresses from those intimate stories controlled by personal experience to the last two works which try to crystallize a mood or experience in a medium without the device of first person. "Grandpa," "Great-Grandpa," and "Weedgod" are sketches which describe the boundary between what things are and what things seem to be. "Aunt Mary," "Hospital," and "Eggy Cooter" are short stories presenting situations in which the reader can determine this boundary line himself.

The five stories contained in the thesis show the changes that take place in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the narrator of the stories, Lucius. The first story, "Getting Ready," depicts a society that builds absurd monuments to itself. The other stories, "Dog Days," "The Narwhal in the Arkansas," "Mayflies," and "The Razing of the Brown & Duncan Building," show the society's deepening commitment to the absurd. Insane actions are condoned by the society as long as they do not threaten the society's equilibrium; acts of madness that conform to the society's norms are tolerated. Finally, the society becomes so immersed in its own absurdity that the pointless destruction of monuments to the society begins. Through this world of random slaughter wanders Lucius, the survivor. He survives by remaining detached, autonomous, and static.

This is a collection of short stories written to satisfy the requirements for a Master of Arts degree. These stories are done in several different forms in an attempt to help the author discover which one suits his personal style best. The preface to these stories is an examination of how and why the author goes about the creative process. The author has examined the lives and methods of other literary figures to see what their individual inspirations were and how they worked. This preface also looks at some of the obstacles and hazards that these men and women face while they are writing.

The thesis begins with an introduction, followed by six short stories. The stories that follow span three or four regions of the American landscape and three or four decades of the twentieth century. What drives each story is the isolation of both narrator and main character (when these are not the same) from the world of the story. In each story, there is either a sense of wanting to belong or an urge to escape, or both. The paradox--also the writer's paradox--is that if one belongs, one has no need to escape; if one escapes, one can never belong.

This thesis illustrates the production of the narrative short film Neil and the Nun. The various chapters included in this written work delineate the development, preproduction, production, and post-productions stages of this thesis film. In supplement to these four larger chapters, the script, shot list, budget, and script breakdown are included. Neil and the Nun, written, directed, produced, and edited by me, articulates life through the perceptions of a child. The story centers on the volatile relationship of two fourth graders and their teacher, a possibly closeted lesbian nun. Because they are children, they have different notions than adults of priority, relevance, and the meaning of life's events. The intention of this film is to authentically delve into this child worldview, revealing their shift towards wisdom and compassion. The film took twelve shooting days and involved five primary locations. My larger goal was to create a film that exemplifies my capacity as a filmmaker, thus, steering me towards the next step of my career.