Honors Program
Date of this Version
2-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
Sides, M. 2023. Deciduous Teeth: A Poetry Collection. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Abstract
My thesis, Deciduous Teeth, is a collection of poems that I’ve been working on since my freshman year of college. The poems center around themes of nostalgia, girlhood, motherhood, the natural world, and how all of these elements intertwine. I explore what it means to remember my childhood, and which, if any, of my childhood memories are true. I think about what it means to be a daughter, particularly a daughter of two people who love me very much and would give anything to see me be happy. The collection includes poems that explore my sexuality as well, and some of these poems touch on what it means to lose someone you love, and what it means to remember the love you have lost. I view poetry as a celebration and remembrance, and this collection is an ode to my love of poetry.
While the project portion of this thesis is my poems, I also wrote a critical introduction to my poetry. For this process, I went back to when I first became interested in poetry, and worked my way through my development as a poet. In this introduction I discuss my own influences and my own beliefs in regards to what poetry is and what it can do. The critical introduction precedes the poem in order to provide the reader with valuable thematic and academic context for the poems to follow.
Comments
Copyright Madison Sides 2023.