Good Girls Don't Shout

Authors

Madari Pendas, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Major/Program

Creative Writing

First Advisor's Name

Lynne Barrett

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Les Standiford

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Heather Blatt

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

creative writing, arts and humanities

Date of Defense

3-6-2023

Abstract

GOOD GIRLS DON’T SHOUT is a collection of thirteen short stories that explore exile and trauma.

“In Rooms with Boys” presents a mother who must confront a son who she is certain has sexually assaulted his classmate and then reckon with the fact that he may do it again. In "Say Anything," two girls are psychically linked after being victimized by the same man. The use of second-person narration, as in Junot Díaz's story "Miss Lora," highlights the dissociative effects of trauma.

Opportunities test allegiances. A Cuban-American producer of Late Night with David Letterman must decide whether he'll allow a Cuban comic to perform. In "Possession" a woman left behind in Cuba learns when she gets to Florida that her lover didn't wait for her.

Whether struggling to craft a new identity or seeking to understand their pasts, these characters are driven to survive and to give their suffering meaning.

Identifier

FIDC011030

Recommended Citation

Pendas, Madari, "Good Girls Don't Shout" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5293.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5293