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    Bell_ku_0099D_10599_DATA_1.pdf (512.0Kb)
    Issue Date
    2009-11-09
    Author
    Bell, Samantha J.
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    236 pages
    Type
    Dissertation
    Degree Level
    Ph.D.
    Discipline
    English
    Rights
    This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
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    Abstract
    This dissertation is a collection of creative nonfiction essays to include emotional, lyrical moments that evoke my personal history. The essays focus on my developing identity in conjunction with external influences, namely the impact of people and places. I have written essays and other short prose pieces that describe who I am in the wake of living with a very ill and addicted father; the essays circle a theme of recovery. I experienced a childhood marred by alcoholism and abuse that caused my struggles with anorexia, perfectionism, and an abusive romantic relationship in my early twenties that nearly claimed my life. Having recovered from these circumstances, I wrote about them. Memories of trauma can be painful, so I moved cautiously as I worked to describe in full detail the series of struggles I endured. My recovery from trauma was accomplished with the help of Ralph Waldo Emerson. People and texts that were disconnected from my family system became instrumental to the development of these essays. Emerson's essays, and my connections to them, are identified as a productive method for accepting my family's fate. I connected with Emerson's deep affiliation with the New England landscape, and geographical places in New England and in Kansas are also influences upon my maturation in the essays as they move forward.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/5968
    Collections
    • Dissertations [3958]
    • English Dissertations and Theses [294]

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
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    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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