Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Bradley, William

Abstract

Consistent with Vivian Gornick's "idea of self," Work In Progress is, in many ways, a classic coming-of-age story in which the boy, Nicky, along his life-journey, struggles to discover who he is. If Work In Progress is unusual, it is in the degree and the detail that it delves into its major themes, which I discuss below. Second, Work in Progress is unusual in the number of purposeful stylistic variations employed across the project's books. Nicky's story is told in seven books, each of which is a standalone, personal essay. Through the books the reader is provided an episodic snapshot of Nicky's life. Each of the snapshots facilitate a particular view of Nicky, each is a jigsaw-puzzle-piece that, when snapped together with the other puzzle pieces, form a single, holistic image of the boy and his search for self I provide an overview of each of the seven books below. I am also endeavoring to write Work in Progress on three levels: The first level is the compelling, personal level that draws the reader to the individual, Nicky, and the group of supporting characters. The story has to be compelling enough to pull the reader through the various stylistic iterations of each of the different books. Second, through the exploration of the major themes of institutionalization, abuse, religion, and racism (including the offshoots: race-based self-hatred and the discrimination within races that Alice Walker cans colorism), I attempt to raise the story up to another level, a level of universal applicability. Specifically, I want the everyday reader, the reader who has not suffered these circumstances to know them through the reading experience, and, consequently, to relate to and with Nicky. Toward this end, I use every narrative tool and technique at my disposal including utilizing reflection in the form of stream of consciousness and dreams, for example, to put the reader into the experience instead of telling the reader what the protagonist is thinking. I also maximize the use of scene, imagery, metaphor, and dialogue, to show the reader, and to allow the reader to come to their own conclusions.

Extent

210 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FA00000958

Format

pdf

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