Date of Graduation

Spring 2019

Degree

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

Committee Chair

Jennifer Murvin

Abstract

This thesis begins with a critical introduction about metamorphosis, both literal and figural, in short fiction. I analyze essays on metamorphosis by Marc Chenetier and Stanley Corngold and apply them to my work as well as other works which are influential to my own writing style and form, including Lydia Davis. Metamorphosis in literature is a reaction of the human condition of resistance to an end. In utilizing transformation, writers can explore the longing humans experience to continue themselves while revealing deeper truths about written subjects. After the critical introduction, you will find flash fiction and poetry. My work is especially concerned with how an initial observation of the transformation of an object moves my narrators into a state of daydream and, ultimately, places my characters into a transformation of their own. My work experiments with form and voice and explores themes of heartbreak and loss, especially those of female narrators.

Keywords

metamorphosis, daydream, transformation, observation, flash fiction, poetry, feminism

Subject Categories

Creative Writing

Copyright

© Taylor M. Lorenzo

Open Access

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