Leamy, Jennifer Rhea ; John Kessel, Committee Chair,Bill Henderson, Committee Member,Angela Davis-Gardner, Committee Member,Leamy, Jennifer Rhea ; John Kessel ; Committee Chair ; Bill Henderson ; Committee Member ; Angela Davis-Gardner ; Committee Member
The purpose of this thesis has been to write original narrative short stories, to allow plot to arise out of character, and to experiment with story structure.Each story is told by a distinct narrator, and each narrator has his or her own set of values and expectations arising from past experience.In some cases, untold experiences inform the central conflict of each story, and in many cases, the stories illustrate a situation in which a commonly held belief or assumption proves faulty, even though the characters themselves are behaving as they believe they should. In other cases, the story is part of a chain of events that began in which the long term consequences of past decisions and events become clear.Since originality of voice has been a focus, characters are of various social backgrounds, and narrators of both genders are used.