Masters Theses

Date of Award

6-1987

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

English

Major Professor

John Manchin White

Committee Members

Frank K. Robinson, Marilyn Kallet

Abstract

Poetry is "that, in which [one] comes nearest to being able to utter the truth," Matthew Arnold writes in his essay on Wordsworth. But we humans lack the omniscience to immediately and precisely see what truths lie within persons, situations, or events. We can only seek to discover the truth by examining all the clues given us, much the same as we can guess the actual appearance of an object from the shadow it casts when a bright light is focused on it.

The poetry in this collection, for the most part, is my examination of the clues--the silhouettes--given by words, mannerisms, and actions of the people and events about which I have chosen to write. These poems are my attempts to "come nearest to being able to utter the truth" that lies within the given situations.

Sometimes the scope of the poem is sociological, such as the examination of the effect repression has on Arabian woman in “Inside The Breeder Society." Other times the scope is more individually focused, attempting to describe and understand facets of personal relationships. Occasionally an element from nature or a dream will symbolize aspects of the psyche that I wish to present without editorial comment, as in the poems "Drought" and "After The Battle."

I rely on devices such as alliteration and line breaks to develop a rhythm for each poem that seems more natural to the speaking voice than the traditional meters like the iambic or anapestic.

The short stories in this collection are unified by their exploration of the ambiguous roles of the stranger in our lives. We constantly encounter people who are strangers to us: many of those chance encounters will have an impact on our lives. Some strangers become our dearest friends, provide us with new perspectives and insights, help us to grow spiritually or psychologically. Others play an adverse role, changing our lives dramatically with events we didn't think could happen to us.

The strangers and events that spring forth from the shadows of the world constantly influence our perception of the environment in which we live and our personal mythology, affecting us for better, for worse, and usually forever.

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