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Title
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Heaven's fertile soil: baseball, gender, and the natural American heartland in W.P. Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa".
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Creator
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Santy, Ashley., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
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Abstract/Description
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This thesis explores W.P. Kinsella's emphasis on love for land, family, and baseball in discussing relationships between characters in his short story "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa". Chapter I introduces the characters, their role in establishing this as a tale of conservation through agrarianism, and how Kinsella's choice to write a positive story creates unique potential for healing. Chapter II establishes similarities between the father's war experiences and Jackson's exile from...
Show moreThis thesis explores W.P. Kinsella's emphasis on love for land, family, and baseball in discussing relationships between characters in his short story "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa". Chapter I introduces the characters, their role in establishing this as a tale of conservation through agrarianism, and how Kinsella's choice to write a positive story creates unique potential for healing. Chapter II establishes similarities between the father's war experiences and Jackson's exile from baseball, underscoring its mythic importance. Chapter III examines the relationship between the protagonist and his wife, and how their relationship symbolically fosters love for nature through farming, and can be used to reconcile modern agrarianism with ecocriticism. Chapter IV discusses how connection with the earth brings healing. The final chapter underscores the worthiness of this work to be a cherished part of the American literary canon.
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Date Issued
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2012
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355876
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Baseball, Criticism and interpretation, Environmental ethics, National characteristics, American, Farm life in literature
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Format
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Document (PDF)