Award Date

1-1-2005

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

First Committee Member

Richard Wiley

Number of Pages

236

Abstract

My MFA thesis, entitled MISSING LETTERS, consists of seven short stories and one novella. These pieces are arranged to reflect a variety of tone and style; The first story, "Tale of the Ill Ook Ook," is strictly comedic and serves as a parody of adult book stores. The emphasis is on humor rather than eroticism; The second story is "Trouble on the Farm," which is intense in its treatment of a troubled runaway teen with murder and vengeance on his mind; Story number three, "The Romans," is a children's story, featuring Scotty, the protagonist who headlines my first published novel, SCOTTY AND THE GYPSY BANDIT. A sense of morality motors through this and story number seven, "The Lemonade Stand.". Both are constructed in a sparse, lean style that reflects the simplistic yet morally compromised world of childhood; "Wanda Waits" is a dark, tightly structured tale concerning a hit man who would prefer a different line of work, but the money is too good for him to quit; "Joie de Vivre" tells the story of a strained father/daughter relationship with a dead mother as its centerpiece; "Are We There Yet?" is a light-hearted satire of the Book of Exodus, with a considerable amount of wordplay and puns, featuring a Las Vegas setting; The operative theme of my novella, "Odd Bodkins," is the dissipation of a marriage brought on by a third party. It strives for a more literary-like style.

Keywords

Letters; Missing; Novella; One; Original writing; Seven; Stories

Controlled Subject

American literature; Literature, Modern

File Format

pdf

File Size

5509.12 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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