Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The poet Czeslaw Milosz said that "The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person." My thesis introduction explores the use of personae, and how a creative persona can help a poet or writer say things that they either couldn't say or wouldn't have been able to say. The thesis introduction also contends that through the use of personae a writer can, as Brian Brodeur writes, "enlarge their concerns," and that a poet can use personae to find their truer, authentic voice. The creative section of the thesis, "Trying You," includes a selection of poems in which I've employed a number of personae strategies in order to expand my concerns and so reach places where I am more than just one person.

Year manuscript completed

2018

Year degree awarded

2018

Author's Keywords

persona, using personae creatively, persona poems, creative masks, T.S Eliot, "The Three Voices of Poetry"

Thesis Advisor

Blas Falconer

Committee Member

Christina Olson

Committee Member

Jeffrey Skinner

Document Type

Thesis - Murray State Access only

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