Matching Items (923)
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In the essay, "Maps and Legends of Hell: Notes on Melodrama," Charles Baxter defines it as, "about, among other things, the failure of explanations." He goes on to describe the ways that melodrama interfaces with emotion, pulling us as readers in directions that we do not expect to feel the

In the essay, "Maps and Legends of Hell: Notes on Melodrama," Charles Baxter defines it as, "about, among other things, the failure of explanations." He goes on to describe the ways that melodrama interfaces with emotion, pulling us as readers in directions that we do not expect to feel the way we do. This conflict between emotional and logical responses is a critical part of the human condition, and its value in a literary space is often overlooked as juvenile and not worthy of the same kind of consideration as other, more distinguished driving forces for stories. We don't always feel the way we think we're supposed to, and those moments can tell us a lot about who we really are, as people. This trio of selected stories all have some element of this failure of explanation of emotions. "Table for Two" centers around a couple whose anniversary dinner ends with their landing in Hell. "Melodramatic Fools" is the story of a bad night out that results in a fantasy battle that the narrator cannot believe he is seeing. Finally, "Throwin' Slop" is about a minor league ballplayer past his prime, who can't understand what it was that held him back, in all aspects of his life. All three interface with the unknown in a way that explores it, tries to understand it, but ultimately fails to do much beyond notice it's there. The collected stories seek to explore the human condition through a mixture of the aforementioned melodrama, comedy, and surreal elements.
ContributorsShahon, Benjamin Clark (Author) / Irish, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Bell, Matthew (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
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"The Half-Open Pomegranate" is a collection of four short stories based on Armenian characters balancing their cultural identity with their national identity in the Diaspora. The image of the half-open pomegranate is a symbol of what Armenia has become. The pomegranate, which is the motherland, was ripped open during the

"The Half-Open Pomegranate" is a collection of four short stories based on Armenian characters balancing their cultural identity with their national identity in the Diaspora. The image of the half-open pomegranate is a symbol of what Armenia has become. The pomegranate, which is the motherland, was ripped open during the Genocide of 1915. Her seeds have scattered all over the globe, sprouting new communities which are still thriving to this day. As William Saroyan once said, "For when two [Armenians] meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a new Armenia." The titles of my stories are the names of the protagonists, or "seeds" of the pomegranate. My first story, "Dr. Balian," is written about a thirty-something-year-old physician who struggles with doing what is best for herself, even if it means being the subject of hearsay. "Razmik" is a story about a teenage boy who copes with grief-related anxiety, and learns the importance of his place in the Diaspora. "Sarkis" is written from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran whose drunken perspective about regret and forgiveness touches lightly on the idea of reconciliation between the Armenians and the Turks. My last story "Noor" is written from the perspective of a young girl who struggles upholding the demands of her culture while pursuing her dream of becoming a pilot, an unconventional path for an Armenian female. Each of these stories embodies the strength of the Armenian people, who are more than just victims of Genocide. They are fruitful, resilient, and indestructible.
ContributorsSafarian, Rafaella Pearl (Author) / Bell, Matthew (Thesis director) / Fore, Chad (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Set in South Texas, the poems of “Before the Body” address the border, not of place, but in between people. Following a narrative arc from a grandfather who spoke another language—silence—to a young boy who drowns in silence, these poems are expressions of the speaker’s search for intimacy in language:

Set in South Texas, the poems of “Before the Body” address the border, not of place, but in between people. Following a narrative arc from a grandfather who spoke another language—silence—to a young boy who drowns in silence, these poems are expressions of the speaker’s search for intimacy in language: what words intend themselves to be, what language means to be.
ContributorsEspinoza, Lauren (Author) / Rios, Alberto A (Thesis advisor) / Ball, Sally (Committee member) / Hogue, Cynthia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Raised on card-catalogues, then expected to save the world with microchips, there is a generation that was left straddling two millennia. Often lumped in with the X’ers or Millennials, this generation didn’t grow up with or without technology, technology grew up with them. The poems in The Aerodynamics of Hunger

Raised on card-catalogues, then expected to save the world with microchips, there is a generation that was left straddling two millennia. Often lumped in with the X’ers or Millennials, this generation didn’t grow up with or without technology, technology grew up with them. The poems in The Aerodynamics of Hunger strike a balance between the easy-going materialism of the 90’s and our current culture of instant gratification, between the tendency to treat science like a God and prescribe God like science. These poems see straight through the world of hypersex and click-bait, yet they admit their complicity in its creation and distribution. They watch the world become connected on a new level, but testify to the resulting struggle of place one’s self in relation to something, anything. The burden is great, but journeying through it is an undeniable pleasure.
ContributorsBassett, Kyle (Author) / Rios, Alberto A (Thesis advisor) / Dubie, Norman (Committee member) / Bell, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016