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
Recommended Citation
Lorenzo, Taylor M., "How to Water the Body" (2019). MSU Graduate Theses/Dissertations. 3402.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3402
