Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Major/Program
Creative Writing
First Advisor's Name
Denise Duhamel
First Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Chair
Second Advisor's Name
Campbell McGrath
Second Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Member
Third Advisor's Name
Dr. Vernon Dickson
Third Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Member
Keywords
free verse, 21st century lingo, poetry, pop culture, familial relationships
Date of Defense
3-11-2021
Abstract
GIRL WITH BROKEN CAR SINGS is a full-length collection of free verse poems that explore an obsession with celebrity status, culture, and power; the speaker longs for and imagines new lives for herself, all the while examining the wickedness of American commercialism and capitalism through a reality TV lens.
Pop culture is also used as a vehicle to discuss familial trauma. The gaps in the speaker’s life are filled with mainstream media references. GIRL WITH BROKEN CAR SINGS considers how people engage with media to understand or “see” themselves in the world.
While there are no sections in GIRL WITH BROKEN CAR SINGS, the poems at the beginning mirror the poems at the end, leading readers to the middle poem: “4th Grade Reflections Awards, South Allegheny Elementary School, 2005.” The ordering of the poems makes space for imaginative leaps—movement between the real and surreal.
Identifier
FIDC009585
Recommended Citation
Griffith, Brianne M., "Girl with Broken Car Sings" (2021). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4665.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4665
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