Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Abstract
It is not often that extended, authorial remarks introduce an individual volume of fiction. When they do they are more often self-serving than illuminative; inappreciable than noteworthy. As such they occasion no particular response in the reader save for a scant sense of relief once the obligation to read them is met, an unhappy situation: one is not obligated to read fiction, but once the book is opened, there they can be, the prolegomenous remarks, menacingly tucked between cover and content, piquing. These will not be protracted. If one feels obligated to read them, one should also know that the author was obligated to write them, a small price, really; but in this regard his situation is not much different from the reader's. So, this is a master's thesis. It contains four short stories and a play, thus the title. They were written over a period of about eighteen months and were selected from a somewhat larger group written during the same time span. They are distinctly Midwestern in flavor, although it is widely accepted that Midwesterners have no tight lock on pride and fear and love and loneliness. Sometimes these emotions can cause ripples in otherwise calm, out-of-the-way places, thus the title. And while the protesters, pilferers, innocents and traditionalists in the upcoming pages might wish to argue the point, and while the author might wish to never have made the point, they are now, all of them, properly and obligatorily introduced.
Year of Submission
1979
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of English Language and Literature
First Advisor
Robert Gish
Second Advisor
Keith McKean
Third Advisor
Kenneth Lash
Date Original
1979
Copyright
©1979 Gregory Paul Gerjerts
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Gerjerts, Gregory Paul, "Backwaters: Four Stories and a Play" (1979). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2743.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2743
Comments
The creative works referenced in this graduate thesis, consisting of pages 1-130, currently are not being made available in electronic format through UNI ScholarWorks.
If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.