Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2020
Document Type
MFA Creative Writing Thesis
Degree Type
MFA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
English
Committee Chair
Christa Parravani
Committee Member
John Temple
Committee Member
Mary Ann Samyn
Abstract
Inside the Dollhouse is a collection of fifteen essays, many of which are nonlinear and experiment with form. The essays take place from before the author’s birth to her current age and are almost all, in one way or another, speaking to the region of Appalachia. In these essays, the author considers how the body protects itself spanning from the overdose of her friend to revisited medical diagnoses of her own eating disorder. Research acts as connective tissue throughout many of these essays; the author merges personal experience with pop culture and science to make sense of seemingly senseless events while rewriting control into narratives she feels helpless in. The collection is largely held together by the narrator’s memories of her mother and sexual assault while exploring the ways in which myth and place shape how women attempt to establish power through autonomy.
Recommended Citation
Gaines, Amanda Marie, "Inside the Dollhouse" (2020). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7630.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7630
Embargo Reason
Permanent Embargo – MFA Creative Writing