Date of Award
2018
Degree Name
English
College
College of Liberal Arts
Type of Degree
M.A.
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Kelli Prejean
Second Advisor
Margaret Sullivan
Third Advisor
Mitchell Lilly
Abstract
The following thesis presents strategies for reading ethically across a series of texts while discussing the emotional labor writers endure throughout their writing processes. By examining the current pedagogical approaches in composition studies, readers of writing can interpret the use of emotion in texts as a rhetorical strategy, while also recognizing instances of its social construction beyond the classroom. Once providing evidence for how writers execute emotion in their work, the thesis continues by discussing how J. Hillis Miller’s theory of ethics is applied to the narrative structure of stories and texts, and how readers can recognize the emotional strategies demonstrated by writers. Finally, after reviewing texts that explore different genres of stories including fiction, fiction based on true events, and nonfiction, the thesis concludes by assessing how effective Suzanne Keen’s theory of narrative empathy is in all three texts. The thesis seeks to scaffold how writers and readers can become mindful toward approaching texts and writing while simultaneously acknowledging how both parties work in tandem to create a combined and individualistic experience for every reader.
Subject(s)
English language -- Writing.
Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research.
Recommended Citation
Simms, Christian Alexander, "The Truth About Literature: An Examination of Emotion and Ethics Across Genre" (2018). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 1159.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1159
