Robin G Becker, Thesis Supervisor Lisa Ruth Sternlieb, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
poetry poems thesis
Abstract:
These poems deal in the gender dichotomy, especially pervasive in rural America. I attempt to subvert expectations of masculinity and femininity, all while utilizing my familial narrative as a vehicle for metaphor. To give the aforementioned subversion structure, this collection implements many formal techniques and poetic forms, such as regularized stanza lengths, blank verse, haikus, sonnets, a crown of sonnets, and a pantoum. Within these poetic constructs, the poems’ contents try to jar readers into the unknown, though always firmly rooted in familiar forms.
Patriarchal violence also finds consideration in this collection. My poems examine power, and how said power can be reclaimed. While composing this collection, I realized the reclamation came about through the writing process. If nothing else, these poems aim to empower my readers, whose power (in some regard or another) has been striped from them.