Abstracts Language, Literature, and Linguistic

Nothing More Common Than Strangenes

by Andrew Kaufman

This thesis is an investigation of the intersection between biography and fiction. Specifically, it seeks to use the creative-writing techniques and strategies of metaphoric and allegorical devices in order to tell a story in a manner that resonates with more emotionally resonance than a pure factual or realistic approach. Within the text a narrative approach is utilized to explore the question of which approach creates a narrative that is more real or true: a purely factual, almost journalistic portray of a life, a purely allegorical or metaphorical depiction of that life or whether a complication of the two is in fact the most successful at a full and resonate description. It is the author’s submission and conclusion that the final approach, a combination of both factual and metaphoric techniques, a merging of both subjective and objective experience, that provides the fullest text. Advisors/Committee Members: Bush, Catherine (advisor).