Emily Sledge ’22 | Women’s Memoir Post the #MeToo Movement

Major: English (Literature, Creative Writing)
Mentor: Dr. Cassie Kircher

Emily’s research centered on how women authors of creative nonfiction depict female identity and define their relationships with place after the #MeToo movement. Using New Critical Theory, she analyzed the linguistic choices made by three authors (Carmen Machado, Tara Westover, and Chanel Miller) to compare and contrast word choice, literary devices, and themes, taking into account how other identities such as race, sexuality, and socioeconomic status affected their writing. Using feminist theory, she also analyzed the differences between depictions of male characters and female characters by these authors. Additionally, she completed a synthesis component using these literary analyses to inform her own creative writing, creating a collection of essays which explored her identity as a woman writer post #MeToo.