Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

6562

Date

2020-06-07

Document Type

Thesis (Campus Access Only)

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Major

Creative Writing

Committee Chair

Eric Schlich

Committee Member

Courtney Santo

Committee Member

Lorinda Cohoon

Abstract

"These People, God, & Everybody" is a Master of Fine Arts thesis comprising sixteen chapters of fiction about women who are finding their identities in the modern south, specifically the rural town of Edinburg, Mississippi. Influenced by the work of Flannery O'Connor, Amy Tan, Dorothy Allison, Alice munro, and Elizabeth Strout, the novel is divided into three sections, each themed around motherhood and mental illness. The first section centers of Maggie Wells, a woman who realizes only after becoming a mother that she cannot fulfill this role. The second section focuses on her daughter Linette, who deals with the tragic death of a younger sister as well as her mother's abandonment. The final section is about Linette's daughter Lela Cate as she comes to terms with how her mother's past has shaped her own present. Some chapters focus on other characters in the lives of these women, but all address an inner struggle for emotional fulfillment.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

Download

Share

COinS