Graduate Program

English

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

Spring 2019

Thesis Director

Daiva Markelis

Thesis Committee Member

Bess Winter

Thesis Committee Member

Olga Abella

Abstract

This creative thesis is a memoir dedicated to a close examination of a childhood taking place in a meth ridden midwestern town, under the supervision of meth addicted parents. Using both prose and poetry to explore small excerpts of memory in a sequential vignette form, this memoir follows the author through early adolescents to middle school, tackling issues such as addiction in the home, prostitution, homelessness, and incarceration as well as more domestic points of interest like sibling bonds, childhood roleplay, and parent/child relationships.

At its core, this narrative looks at the home and the family from the perspective of a growing young girl who is faced with learning about the world's darker aspects from an early age, who navigates and balances sisterhood, parenthood, school, and a home life steeped in the criminal world in constantly changing venues.

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