Mountain Roosters

<p>Men have a peculiar way of teaching young boys how to be men. The peculiarity of it is in those men’s relationship with their emotions. Especially in Appalachia, boys are encouraged to “be a man” and not to “cry like a girl.” They are encouraged to suppress their emotions, to solve problems with violence, and to dismiss the feelings of others. The irony of this collection is that poetry is an emotional artform, exploring with complex language the feelings an interaction or object can invoke. However, the directness of the language is meant to highlight the storytelling I learned from my poppy, Sidney Floyd Moye. It’s a voice that men from Appalachia know well and can relate to. This is a collection about men and is meant, primarily, for men. </p> <p>Each poem is in a loosely formed section of pieces leading up to a character sketch of an influential male figure I have known. Some of these men are friends and some are family, but they all share ubiquitous and subtle traits of the masculine ideal. The poems in this collection are meant to subvert the expectation of what is truly masculine. It is meant to give a man a chance to cry, and anyone else an opportunity to understand it. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English and Theatre

Grantor dc:publisher

Eastern Kentucky University

Year

2019

Author dc:creator

• Parsons, Matthew

• Appalachia
• Masculinity
• Men
• Mountains
• Poetry
• Poverty

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2019 Matthew Parsons

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/639

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1637