Date of Award
Spring 12-10-2012
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Shirley Shultz Myers
Second Advisor
Pia Taavila
Third Advisor
Christopher Heuer
Abstract
Griffin O'Hara's critical introduction to two of his original stories discusses the author’s merger of two genres, popular science fiction and literary fiction. Previous experiments with this combination appear in the novels of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest and Samuel Delany’s Dhalgren. O’Hara’s analysis of Foster’s and Delany’s influences on his stories delineates the strengths of both science fiction and literary fiction and explains how the merger results in expanded communication between author and reader. The two original stories resulting from his experimentation and illustrating these ideas are “Caffeination” and “Loop.” “Caffeination” is a work of fiction that follows the imagined history and the imagined future of the humble coffee bean. “Loop” is a short story that focuses on the interplay between making memories and recollecting them.
Recommended Citation
O'Hara, Griffin, "Caffeination and Loop: Approaches to Literary and Science Fiction" (2012). Undergraduate University Honors Capstones. 21.
https://ida.gallaudet.edu/honors_capstones/21
Comments
This student did not graduate with University Honors. However, their capstone was accepted by the Honors Council, so it is included in this collection.