University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2015-01-01 El Paso Odyessy Tafari Amin Nugent University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the American Literature Commons, and the Literature in English, North America Commons Recommended Citation Nugent, Tafari Amin, "El Paso Odyessy" (2015). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 1113. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/1113 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. El Paso Odyssey TAFARI NUGENT Department of Creative Writing APPROVED: Lex Williford Chair Jeffery Sirkin Ph.D. Esther Al-Tabaa MA Charles Amber, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School COPYRIGHT © by T.A. Nugent 2015 An El Paso Odyssey by TAFARI A. N UGENT, BA Creative Writing Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS Department of Creative Writing THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO MAY 2015 Table of Contents Introduction ...........................................................................................................................vi Section I- In the Absence of Narration ............................................................................vii Section II- Polyptych Literature .......................................................................................ix A. Timeframe ................................................................................................x B. Mapping ...................................................................................................xi Literatures Guidance .......................................................................................................xii A. Hills Like White Elephants .......................................................................xiii B. Winesburg, Ohio .......................................................................................xv C. Dubliners ...................................................................................................xvi D. The Sound and the Fury ....................................................................................................xvii Culmination.....................................................................................................................xix El Paso Odyssey .....................................................................................................................1 I. The Northeast .....................................................................................................................2 2 Traditions ...............................................................................................................................3 Flood Gates ............................................................................................................................5 Waiting ...................................................................................................................................7 Amped Up ..............................................................................................................................9 Solo ........................................................................................................................................11 Need .......................................................................................................................................13 Chico’s Tacos Forever ...........................................................................................................15 Beautician ..............................................................................................................................18 Leaving ..................................................................................................................................20 Fine Dining ............................................................................................................................22 II. The East .............................................................................................................................23 Mailboxes ...............................................................................................................................24 Falsetto ...................................................................................................................................26 Ignitions .................................................................................................................................28 Wrap .......................................................................................................................................30 Tour ........................................................................................................................................32 Picking ...................................................................................................................................34 Speakeasy ...............................................................................................................................36 Ghost Story ............................................................................................................................38 Citizenship .............................................................................................................................41 Left Out ..................................................................................................................................43 iv III. Central ..............................................................................................................................45 Ritual ......................................................................................................................................46 Tease ......................................................................................................................................48 B-Side ....................................................................................................................................50 Educated .................................................................................................................................52 Wardrobe ................................................................................................................................54 WIFI .......................................................................................................................................56 Last Shoes ..............................................................................................................................57 Sidetracked .............................................................................................................................59 Detour ....................................................................................................................................61 Remains ..................................................................................................................................63 IV. The Bridge .......................................................................................................................65 The Bridge .............................................................................................................................I66 The Bridge II ..........................................................................................................................68 The Bridge III ........................................................................................................................70 The Bridge IV ........................................................................................................................72 The Bridge V ..........................................................................................................................74 The Bridge VI ........................................................................................................................76 V. South .................................................................................................................................78 Diversion ................................................................................................................................79 Poison .....................................................................................................................................82 Hang-ups ................................................................................................................................84 Offbeat ...................................................................................................................................86 Tyrant .....................................................................................................................................88 Hooked ...................................................................................................................................90 Mining ....................................................................................................................................92 Ep-Con ...................................................................................................................................94