Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 The Eight of Swords Sandra L. Giles Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE EIGHT OF SWORDS By SANDRA L. GILES A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008 The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Sandra L. Giles on 6 February 2008. _________________________ Virgil Suarez Professor Directing Dissertation _________________________ Susan Nelson Wood Outside Committee Member _________________________ R. M. Berry Committee Member _________________________ Deborah Coxwell-Teague Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Deep and sincere thanks go to my committee members: Virgil Suarez, R.M. Berry, Deborah Coxwell-Teague, Susan Nelson Wood. Thanks also go to the members of Mark Winegardner’s Fiction Writing Workshop in Fall of 2002, in which this novel began as a short story and received thoughtful critique. I received valuable advice and information from Mavis LaBounty, Sissy Taylor-Maloy, and other members of the “Goddess Group” in Tallahassee, Florida, as well as from Officer Tom King of the Tifton Police Department, the Tiftarea Writers Haven writing group, and my sister, Debra