The following thesis is a creative work that explores the intersection of pop culture criticism and personal identity. This is a work of creative nonfiction, comprised of formally experimental essays, accompanied by a critical introduction which interrogates what it means, in this context, for a piece of writing to be creative nonfiction, as well as what it means for a piece of writing to be an essay. The essays within engage music from the perspective of a listener, and turn that same perspective on its thematic concerns, such as queerness, love, heartache, depression, alcoholism, and creativity. Throughout this work, the essays are presented in segmented forms that challenge the typical constraints of the prose essay.
","abstract_html":"<p>The following thesis is a creative work that explores the intersection of pop culture criticism and personal identity. This is a work of creative nonfiction, comprised of formally experimental essays, accompanied by a critical introduction which interrogates what it means, in this context, for a piece of writing to be creative nonfiction, as well as what it means for a piece of writing to be an essay. The essays within engage music from the perspective of a listener, and turn that same perspective on its thematic concerns, such as queerness, love, heartache, depression, alcoholism, and creativity. Throughout this work, the essays are presented in segmented forms that challenge the typical constraints of the prose essay.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Howard, Matthew R"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Matthew Gavin Frank"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:24Z","subjects":["music","COVID","alcoholism","queer","depression","love","Nonfiction"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/750","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Matthew Gavin Frank"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Howard, Matthew R"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2028-04-20T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["music","COVID","alcoholism","queer","depression","love","Nonfiction"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/750"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The following thesis is a creative work that explores the intersection of pop culture criticism and personal identity. This is a work of creative nonfiction, comprised of formally experimental essays, accompanied by a critical introduction which interrogates what it means, in this context, for a piece of writing to be creative nonfiction, as well as what it means for a piece of writing to be an essay. The essays within engage music from the perspective of a listener, and turn that same perspective on its thematic concerns, such as queerness, love, heartache, depression, alcoholism, and creativity. Throughout this work, the essays are presented in segmented forms that challenge the typical constraints of the prose essay.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["I Made You this Playlist because I Don't Know How to Say \"I Love You\""]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Matthew Gavin Frank"],"dc:creator":["Howard, Matthew R"],"dc:date.available":["2028-04-20T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The following thesis is a creative work that explores the intersection of pop culture criticism and personal identity. This is a work of creative nonfiction, comprised of formally experimental essays, accompanied by a critical introduction which interrogates what it means, in this context, for a piece of writing to be creative nonfiction, as well as what it means for a piece of writing to be an essay. The essays within engage music from the perspective of a listener, and turn that same perspective on its thematic concerns, such as queerness, love, heartache, depression, alcoholism, and creativity. Throughout this work, the essays are presented in segmented forms that challenge the typical constraints of the prose essay.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/750"],"dc:subject":["music","COVID","alcoholism","queer","depression","love","Nonfiction"],"dc:title":["I Made You this Playlist because I Don't Know How to Say \"I Love You\""],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:24Z"}