Publication Date

2015

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Peters, Bradley

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of English

LCSH

Oliver; Mary; 1935- Poems Selections; Literature; Rhetoric; Poetry--Women authors

Abstract

This master's thesis examines the poetry of Mary Oliver in the light of rhetorical deliberation as sketched out by Bryan Garsten. Oliver's work exemplifies what a private, instead of public, deliberative process could look like. The methodology used is that set forth by Jacqueline Jones Royster and Gesa E. Kirsch whose feminist approach uses four different deliberative strategies---globalization, social circulation, strategic contemplation, and critical imagination---that encourage looking at women's work as broadly as possible. Applied together to Oliver's work, Garsten's theory of rhetorical deliberation and Royster and Kirsch's methodology reveal that Oliver's poetry encourages readers to engage in close observations of their surroundings as a means of deliberating about the relationship between nature and humanity and how they can expand their cultural perspectives.

Comments

Advisors: Bradley Peters.||Committee members: Timothy Crowley; Mark Van Wienen.

Extent

47 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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