Date

4-18-2025

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA)

Chair

Angela Crea O'Neal

Keywords

Poetry, Appalachian poetry, Place poetry, Imagery, Rural, Appalachia

Disciplines

Creative Writing

Abstract

This paper is concerned with grounding poems about Middle Appalachia. The region more plainly focused is Southwest Virginia, where I have lived for 25 years. Through the collection of poems, it is apparent how the culture, history, and nature of Appalachia have informed my poems. My goal for the collection is for someone who has never been to Appalachia to see the beauty of the region and its people. For those who are from the region, I desire that they develop a deeper appreciation for our home.

The critical paper posits that the best way for someone to experience this region in poetic form must be through imagery. While other poetic techniques, such as lineation and enjambment, help emphasize the poetic diction, they are simply the packaging imagery. To give others an experience of Appalachia, imagery must be used to construct narratives and scenes in which the reader can be fully immersed. Imagery, place, Appalachian culture, and Appalachian literary history all form a framework for the poems and the discussion of Appalachian poets. Through highlighting poets from Appalachia, this paper shows that imagery is the strongest element in their work on the region.

The poems about Appalachia are linked to the region through culture, history, and nature. While I considered splitting the creative portion into these three sections, I have decided against it. To divide these sections from one another is to lose the interconnectedness between the people and the land. Therefore, they are arranged in the most natural order for a deeper experience of my Appalachia.

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