Date of Award

Spring 5-2012

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

English

School

Humanities

Committee Chair

Angela Ball

Committee Chair Department

English

Committee Member 2

Julia Johnson

Committee Member 2 Department

English

Committee Member 3

Kenneth Watson

Committee Member 3 Department

English

Committee Member 4

Linda Allen

Committee Member 4 Department

English

Committee Member 5

Charles Sumner

Committee Member 5 Department

English

Abstract

Robert Frost Blues collectively argues, stylistically and thematically, that apprehending the world is difficult. If one is able to know the world to some degree, the efficacy of that knowledge will be significantly affected by whether other people agree that that apprehension of the world is correct. But beyond that, Robert Frost Blues, with its casual sestinas and villanelles, colloquial language, found language, prose poems, dialogues, and iambic narratives, implicitly argues that the most important aspect of knowing the world is not the form that knowledge fits into or the literary devices it employs. Instead apprehending the world requires both solitary reflection and human interaction, with human interaction outweighing solitary reflection.

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