Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts in Writing

Department

Creative Writing

First Advisor

Michael Castro

Second Advisor

Peter Carlos

Abstract

This thesis consists of two parts that show the diversity and flexibility of the student as a writer.

The original story was drafted, originally culled from a vast array of childhood memories, albeit alone it was too short to fulfill the requirements for a culminating project. The richness of the characters as well as the story itself called out for additional attention. An attempt to develop the story into a larger project proved an exercise in futility, as I felt it could not survive enough additions to increase the success of the project. An attempt to do so found the story mired in mindless bulk and boring dialogue. After developing and sketching the key characters, I decided to adapt the story into a movie screenplay.

Based predominantly on a series of non-fiction events from my childhood years spent in attendance at Corpus Christi Catholic Elementary School, the story concerns a young boy who suffers at the hands of a group of bullies who plague him for several years. Reaching a near breaking point and in the depths of despair, he is befriended by an old nun who teaches at the adjoining high school. Through a series of twists and turns, the young boy eventually meets his attackers head-on, growing up in the process and learning invaluable life-lessons from his new and unusual teacher along the way.

The adaptation to screenplay provided the opportunity to add some comedic relief to an otherwise dark piece of non-fiction while retaining the original storyline and its message of hope. It also allowed additional depth of the characters to shine through as well as allowed some of the characters to move to the forefront who had, in the story version, been vague and transparent.

The end result is the submitted screenplay based on the original short story. The inclusion of the story in the appendix will allow the comparison of the two, hopefully entertaining each in its own form.

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