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Colorado State University. Libraries

What we can't avoid

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

What We Can't Avoid is a memoir that explores the narrator's excavation of family dynamics, and who her parents are and grow to become as she comes into adulthood. This memoir is a collection of personal essays that come together to create four chapters. The first is a focus on the narrator's mother, and her journey through infidelity, divorce, and an emotionally abusive relationship. The second chapter looks at the father, his affair, the effect of his career as a doctor in the Army, and the tension between his ego and his love for his family. The third chapter breaks away from the parents and zeroes in on the narrator and her older sister, exploring how girlhood and family trauma inform the coming into adulthood, and how these sisters may break away from the roles they were assigned in their family unit. The fourth and final chapter offers a brief look at how each member of this family might move forward from the fracturing that has occurred over several years, and how they might each achieve self-actualization and empathetic perseverance.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
Level thesis:degree_level
Masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
English
Grantor dc:publisher
Colorado State University. Libraries
Year dc:date.issued
2022

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Authors dc:creator
  • Oshiki, Julia, author
  • Levy, EJ, advisor
  • Candelaria Fletcher, Harrison, committee member
  • Harman, Jennifer, committee member

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
Language dc:language.iso
eng, English

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/235238

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Colorado State University
Base URL
api.mountainscholar.org/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-27
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Oshiki, Julia, author; Levy, EJ, advisor; Candelaria Fletcher, Harrison, committee member; Harman, Jennifer, committee member. What we can't avoid. Masters thesis, Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/10217/235238