Date of Award
12-7-2017
Document Type
Capstone
Department
English
First Advisor
Maureen Gibbon
Second Advisor
Season Ellison
Third Advisor
Mark Christensen
Abstract
This thesis features ten creative works, depicting a nonfictional account of life with various disabilities. Six of these are creative nonfiction prose stories, and four of them are Tordsen 4 poems. By writing these stories and poems, I write for consolation and to console those who harbor their traumas within themselves. I follow the stories of my own life, starting and ending chronologically, with the poems that follow each theme working as a retrospective reflection.
The first prose story begins during the middle of high school with the theme following through the stories until the end of college, or currently. Some scenes of the middle pieces—the flashforwards and flashbacks—are not necessarily in chronological order, but neither are our thoughts. Because these conditions are chronic—meaning they persist for a long time or are constantly reoccurring—some of the stories overlap. The project ends with a nontraumatic story to illustrate the concept that, while disabilities do impact you, often for your entire life, they do not define or control you. While the events are nonfictional, some names have been changed.
This is a content and trigger warning for the following prose and poetry pieces. The content contains, but is not limited to, depictions or mentions of hospitalization, depression, blood, menstruation, needles, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, sexuality, disordered eating, addiction, self-destructive tendencies, and alcohol.
Recommended Citation
Tordsen, Cheyenne, "Affliction" (2017). Honors Capstones. 8.
https://pines.bemidjistate.edu/honors-cap/8
