Graduate Program

English

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2008

Thesis Director

Robin Murray

Thesis Committee Member

Fern Kory

Thesis Committee Member

Carol Stevens

Abstract

The works of Carl Sandburg and Edgar Lee Masters have been largely overlooked by critics in spite of their initial popular success .• However, these authors dt serve further study, especially· in light of the growing popularity of regional writing. When studied in a biographical context, the works of Sandburg and Masters illustrate that thJ. most profound influence on their lives and works was that of their early lives in entral Illinois. It was there that they found their most fertile subject matter, developed their political beliefs, and established their connection to nature. Studying the 4 in tandem can form the foundation of a school of Illinois poetry that takes the area and its everyday citizens as its subject matter, uses Midwestern language and nature imageryj and addresses local legends like Abraham Lincoln.

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