Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Major/Program

Creative Writing

First Advisor's Name

Julie Marie Wade

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Denise Duhamel

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Nathaniel Cadle

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

nonfiction

Date of Defense

3-21-2023

Abstract

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN(OTHER) ORDINARY LIFE is a memoir arranged within the adopted form, or hermit crab shell, of an encyclopedia. Written in the fragmented Japanese style of zuihitsu, this project explores the speaker’s life history, personal reflections, and subjunctive reveries through a series of alphabetically arranged entries. Autobiographical details are not presented all at once, but in bite-sized literary morsels that are easily read and digested. The speaker contemplates varying topics from the mundane—like ladybugs and memory foam pillows—to the more serious and solemn—like mental illness and emergency rooms. Though the entries appear to stand alone, various thematic through-lines and narrative recursions unite them, weaving these short-form essays into an artfully braided and cohesive memoir.

Identifier

FIDC011071

Included in

Nonfiction Commons

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