The Astonishing Phantom and Other Works

<p>My thesis is a collection of fiction and creative nonfiction works that explore the theme of grief—how it manifests, how it informs identity, and the relationships that can emerge therefrom. In this thesis, I use fiction as a medium through which to investigate how grief affects people of various ages and backgrounds. As with all fictional characters, mine are to an extent reflections of my own experiences with trauma and loss, but they also serve as a vessel to explore the differing ways grief presents itself with changes in place, historical setting, and the type of loss witnessed. The personal essays included in this thesis center around the death of my mom, and are my attempts to situate my own grief in a context larger than my immediate reality. Even in experiences that are deeply personal, there are always connections that can be drawn to the wider world—links that can be made between the intimate and universal. Whether it be by addressing a stranger, contemplating the nature of remembrance and legacy, or paralleling my story to those of figures like Auguste Piccard and Laika the Soviet space dog, these essays try to uncover such links.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Fine Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.available

2022

Author dc:creator

• Solberg, Sara E

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Rachel May

• Creative writing
• grief
• comic books
• superheroes
• creative nonfiction
• trauma
• death
• Fiction
• Nonfiction

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/714

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.nmu.edu:theses-1745