Date of Award

5-2022

Degree Type

Creative Project

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

English

Committee Chair(s)

Michael Sowder

Committee

Michael Sowder

Committee

Benjamin Gunsberg

Committee

John McLaughlin

Abstract

This poetry thesis is a collection of poems thematically linked together. Each poem revolves around characters from fairy tales and children’s books who are stuck in situations with abusive or harmful family members and crave an escape. In Part One of this collection, the poems take place in what readers might identify as the real world. In Part One, the poems have elements of fairy tales in them, and the speaker, or narrator of the poems, uses fairy tales to understand and relate the relationship between her parents and brother in a way that she can understand. The speaker of these poems understands her relationship with her brother and parents through relating to Cinderella and Snow White. It is important to note that the poet is not necessarily also considered the same as the speaker or narrator in poetry. In Part Two of this collection the poems shift to talking about Peter Pan and characters from J.M. Barrie’s book Peter Pan. In Peter Pan, fairies are made the first time each baby cries, which is a lovely idea, but there is no mention whatsoever of what happens the first time a baby cries. In the original book, Wendy returns to London, along with her younger brothers. The three children grow up, and Wendy keeps the story of Peter Pan alive by telling her daughter, Jane, about Peter Pan. In my poems concerning Peter and Wendy, the two marry and have a daughter named Jane together. The family is also followed by Belle, the fairy created from Jane’s first tears.

Download

Included in

Poetry Commons

Share

COinS

Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .