Committee Chair

Baker, Sybil

Committee Member

Balazs, Thomas; Einstein, Sarah

Department

Dept. of English

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Traipsing the Old Stomping Grounds is a novel-in-stories about the quest for love and belonging in the life of Emily, a twenty-something year-old who depends on relationships with boys/men as her only resource for fulfillment of these desires. Based on real life events but with fictionalized characters and places, each story in the novel explores a relationship Emily forges while living on her own in small town Oklahoma during the 1980s, where Mackie's, a fast food restaurant, and the people who work there become the center of her life. My craft essay explores the methods of imposing plot on life through the lens of Robin Hemley’s Turning Life into Fiction, and discusses how the craft elements of point of view and structure play significant roles in adapting life into fiction in my own work as well as in the works that have influenced my creative process.

Acknowledgments

I would like to offer words of gratefulness to all my professors at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who have each contributed to my growth as a writer. I would especially like to thank Professor Sybil Baker, my thesis director, for her exceptional guidance and attention to my work, and my committee members, Dr. Sarah Einstein and Dr. Thomas Balázs, for their thoughtful reading and feedback. I also owe much of my success in completing this manuscript to the helpful feedback of my workshop classmates. I would especially like to thank Bonné de Blas for taking the time to read an early draft of my work and offer valuable insights and Jessica Kramer for her close reading, insightful and valuable feedback, and hours of discussion over many cups of coffee.

Degree

M. A.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts.

Date

5-2017

Location

Oklahoma -- Fiction

Keyword

Novel-in-Stories; Fiction; Oklahoma; 1980s

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

vii, 96 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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