Author Archive | abby tierney

Ah, 299. What a whirlwind, right?. When the class first started off in January, I’ll be honest and say that I thought I was going to be in way over my head. I had just declared my English major at that point, and my mindset was something like, finally, I’ll just get to write some poems and […]

Since its publication in 1970, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has long been considered a modern classic of American literature. The book, unique in it’s autobiographical nature and novelistic form, tells the story of Angelou’s early childhood in Stamps, Arkansas at the height of the Jim Crow South. Touching on issues […]

The second round of Prof Talks included Professor Chris Warnick of Writing Studies and Professor Emily Roscko of Poetry/Creative Writing. Warnick’s talk was interesting in that I was not previously aware that “writing studies” even existed. According to the professor, he studies writing itself, characteristics of it as well as processes, within all disciplines. He […]

I Know Why: Exploring Maya Angelou’s Role in the Birth of the Literary Autobiographical Genre Since its publication in 1970, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has been considered a modern classic of American literature. The book, unique in it’s autobiographical nature and novelistic form, tells the story of Angelou’s early childhood in Stamps, […]

While much of Tropic of Orange deals in elements of fantasy, the overarching themes of the book are very much real and readily relatable. One reoccurring theme that caught my attention was the idea of cultural identity that proves to be a source of personal conflict, to some degree or another, for almost every character in […]

As I’ve continued reading Tropic of Orange, I’ve found Bobby Ngu to be more and more fascinating. I was in the group that analyzed his character on Monday, and as we’ve gone deeper into the text, new layers to him continue to emerge; every time you think you have a grip on his character, another detail blows your original […]

I am at risk of sounding a little geeky here, but as soon as I read the “Agency” chapter in the Theory Toolbox, I was immediately reminded of the story of Alexander Hamilton. I guess I have Mr. Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator/writer/composer/star of the Broadway show Hamilton, to thank for that. Before you make any assumptions or read […]

Space and time. These concepts sound so concrete, do they not? Space is where you are, it’s what’s around you. Time is, well, does it really need an explanation? It is passing even as I type these words, as the sun sets outside and the day melts into night. We rely on it to orient […]

As a recently declared English major still adjusting to the type of out-of-class work I will be frequently drowning in from here on, I have taken to spending great amounts of time at coffee shop tables next to a tedious stack of books. Today, as I cracked the Theory Toolbox, the friend across from me […]