Black hill castle : an ordinary hero
department or school: Creative and Critical Studies, Faculty of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Woods, Samantha
issued: 2021-11-19T21:37:29Z
issued: 2021
related degree: Master of Fine Arts - MFA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: My thesis novel, Black Hill Castle, is a tale of friendship, exploration, and survival in the contemporary, climate-change-affected landscape of the Cariboo in BC’s Interior. The story works with the methodology of re-mapping classic adventure novels, such as Treasure Island, or epic fantasy, such as Lord of the Rings, and the “hero’s journey” (Campbell) onto a contemporary plot. I also use the tools of “fantasy and magic” to transpose fantastical/mystical elements of storytelling onto the realistic setting of my multi-generational cabin. My setting mirrors the young protagonist’s fearful perception of the radically altering woods. My work inspires a different perception of “the hero,” as I believe the origin story to have toxic connotations, especially for young adult women. My work sees heroic characters through an “environmental steward” lens and understands “the importance of youth agency to early adolescence (being able to ‘take a stance’) …[because] the environment [is] widely neglected in literature-based approaches to…education” (Bigger and Webb 402). The story follows 16-year-old Andy as she returns to her summer cabin—once owned by her grandpa—after he passed away that prior year. Here she finds her traditional paradise to be plagued with fear, sadness, and change. She re-unites with her best friend Lizard, an Indigenous to the region. Soon she begins work at his family-run fishing resort. Later on, a massive storm causes a chain-reaction of wildfires that threaten their community. Andy discovers a map that her grandpa left behind, a map to a scavenger hunt he designed through the forests around the cabin with the promise of a treasure and the title of a hero at the end if she completes the expedition. She decides to go on this journey with her best friend and a newfound friend, a city-comer, Yaz. Through this journey she discovers the real, truer story of her idolized grandpa and learns to become her own type of hero and steward of her own natural environ…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/80236
note: BLACK HILL CASTLE: AN ORDINARY HERO A Novel by Samantha Woods B.A., University of British Columbia, 2018 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS in The College of Graduate Studies (Creative Writing) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) November 2021 © Samantha Woods, 2021 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Black Hill Castle: An Ordinary Hero submitted by Samantha Woods in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Fine Arts . Anne Fleming, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisor Dr. Margaret Reeves, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisory Committee Member Michael V. Smith, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Lisa Grekul, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies University Examiner iii Abstract My thesis novel, Black Hill Castle, is a tale of friendship, exploration, and survival in the contemporary, climate-change-affected landscape of the Cariboo in BC’s Interior. The story works with the methodology of re-mapping classic adventure novels, such as Treasure Island, or epic fantasy, such as Lord of the Rings, and the “hero’s journey” (Campbell) onto a contemporary plot. I also use the tools of “fantasy and magic” to transpose fantastical/mystical elements of storytelling onto the realistic setting of my multi-generational cabin. My setting mirrors the young protagonist’s fearful perception of the radically altering woods. My work inspires a different perception of “the hero,” as I believe the origin story to have toxic connotations, especially for young adult women. My work sees heroic characters through an “environmental steward” lens and understands “the importance of youth agency to early adolescence (being able to ‘take a stance’) …[because] the environment [is] widely neglected in literatur…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-02
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0403790
language: eng
degree discipline: Creative Writing
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Fleming, Anne, 1964-
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/80236