Chairwork
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Lowder, Josh
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Abstract
This is a poetry collection by Josh Lowder that represents the culmination of work he performed toward the Masters of Fine Arts degree at The Graduate School of the University of Charleston, South Carolina at the College of Charleston. There are references to family, lovers, blood, a wolf, cows, pigs, airplanes, farms, math, nightclubs, Russia, car accidents, mental health disorders, education, hotels, chairs, dentistry, alcoholic beverages, a knife, drugs, sex, rock music, movies, smoke, fire, death, and Mao Zedong. There is at least one true sonnet and all else is free verse with varying elements of pastoral, aubade, and autobiographic content. Prosodic elements such as alliteration, end rhyme, in rhyme, and slant rhyme work with stanzas and enjambment to form what are predominantly personal lyrics: ekphrastic observation of history and tragedy comprises what remains. Stanzas are either couplets, tercets, quatrains, cinquains, or the number of lines varies. Rhythms vary, but scansion analysis reveals many hendecasyllabic lines. There are references to poets that influenced or inspired this collection such as James Dickey and Jack Gilbert. The formatting aesthetic selected for the presentation of this work is a requirement of The Graduate School.