Modlin, Brad 06-27-16
We Walk and Say, “Oh” A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Brad A. Modlin August 2016 © 2016 Brad A. Modlin. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled We Walk and Say, “Oh” by BRAD A. MODLIN has been approved for the Department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences by Dinty W. Moore Professor of English Robert Frank Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT MODLIN, BRAD A., Ph.D, August 2016, English We Walk and Say, “Oh” Director of Dissertation: Dinty W. Moore “To Cleave Means to Separate and to Join: A Look at Interstice in Prose” examines the use of interstice—the interlude between sections within segmented prose structures. The essay explores the benefits and risks of writing segmented structures and how gaps create meaning in the work of authors such as Roger Rosenblatt, Lia Purpura, and Maggie Nelson. In additional to structural interludes, interstice in content—the unsaid—is also explored through the works of Debra Marquart, Jenny Boully, Joy Castro, and others. The creative component, We Walk and Say, “Oh”, is a segmented creative nonfiction manuscript about a long walk. Collaging narrative and reflection, it explores questions of pilgrimage, stories & legends, and providence & accident. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract……………………………………………………….……………….….….….…3 Chapter 1: Critical Introduction: To Cleave Means to Separate and to Join: A Look at Interstice in Prose…………………………………………………………………….……5 Chapter 2: Creative Nonfiction Manuscript: We Walk and Say, “Oh…………….….….….27 Works Cited……………………………...………………………………………………136 5 CHAPTER 1: CRITICAL INTRODUCTION: TO CLEAVE MEANS TO SEPARATE AND TO JOIN: A LOOK AT INTERSTICE IN PROSE The nearer the peregrini are brought to the Holy Land, the more their progress is slowed by the increasing number of shrines and holy places lying in their way.
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