Keywords

essay, creative nonfiction, vietnamese, american, identity

Abstract

Nailed It is a collection of personal essays that follow the life of the narrator as an unlovable outsider raised by parents who are Vietnam War refugees. This collection is made up of seven essays, each focusing on the relationships that have shaped the speaker's identity and ideas about how love works. “Lost in Translation” opens the collection and explores the narrator's attempts to make sense of parental relationships defined by communication errors. The next several essays consider the father and mother as both parents and business owners, as well as relationships with people beyond the immediate household and family. The collection closes with “Glossary of a Daughter Trying to Understand Her Mother,” a hermit crab essay in which the narrator discovers that even if she has all the words to describe and understand her relationship with her mother, that understanding is one-sided and allows for peace only in accepting the relationship as it exists.

Completion Date

2024

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Bartkevicius, Jocelyn

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

English

Degree Program

Creative Writing

Format

application/pdf

Language

English

Rights

In copyright

Release Date

November 2024

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

Accessibility Status

Meets minimum standards for ETDs/HUTs

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