Absolute zero, 2017

Item — Call Number: MU Thesis Hol

Identifier: b7669058

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of theses written by students enrolled in the Monmouth University graduate English program. The holdings are primarily bound print documents that were submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Arts or Master of Fine Arts degrees.

From the Collection:

Students become eligible to pursue the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree if they have obtained a Master of Arts (M.A.) in English from Monmouth University and demonstrate a proficiency for creative writing through a thesis or equivalent work.

From the Collection:

After completing their 30-credit M.A. in English with a Creative Writing concentration, Monmouth’s M.F.A. students take an additional 18 credits of intensive creative writing study that includes the completion of a book-length Creative Thesis.

From the Collection:

During the fall 2022 semester (in instances where the requisite waivers were received from consenting student authors), the Monmouth University Library, together with the University's Graduate School and Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences, began providing open access to select full-text digital versions of current theses and dissertations through links to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global website in the Library's Online Public Access Catalog. Links to these open access digital publications can also be found in the "External Documents" section under any conforming titles that are listed among the holdings itemized in the collection inventory for this finding aid.

Dates

Creation: 2017

Creator

Holton, Kevin J. (1992- ) (Author, Person)
Graedon, Alena (Thesis advisor, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Access is by appointment only.

Access to the collection is confined to the Monmouth University Library and is subject to patron policies approved by the Monmouth University Library.

Collection holdings may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Research appointments are scheduled by the Monmouth University Library Archives Collections Manager (723-923-4526). A minimum of three days advance notice is required to arrange a research appointment for access to the collection.

Patrons must complete a Researcher Registration Form and provide appropriate identification to gain access to the collection holdings. Copies of these documents will be kept on file at the Monmouth University Library.

Extent

1 Items (print book) : 75 pages ; 8.5 x 11.0 inches (28 cm).

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Introduction [excerpts]

My manuscript, Absolute Zero, is a work of wholly original science fiction, though some faculty mambers will recognize it as based in part off The Zero Complex, my undergraduate thesis. This version rethinks the socio-political structure, emphasizing the rampant commercialism and inescapable poverty of the Lower class, while also slowing the pacing to approach Anna, the protagonist, with more detail and interiority to her Zero status and father's imprisonment....

I took a variety of sources into consideration. From the critical side, I read several books on critical theory, such as Critical Theory and Science Fiction by Carl Freedman, as well as writing "manuals" like James Woods's How Fiction Works and The Horror Writer's Association's On Writing Horror. My non-fiction reading included several articles on neurology, since the brain, its anatomy, and its function are all major concerns in my manuscript. I also incorporated a book examining quantum physics and the idea of a holographic universe, which posits that each piece of the universe, no matter how small, includes the same patterns and information as its entirety (so, impacting one person impacts all of reality)....

Aesthetically, my manuscript was very much inspired by the world building found in William Gibson's Neuromancer and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, while the social criticism of my manuscript is inspired by that of 1984, Brave New World, and Necrotech. My story is set at a time roughly one hundred and fifty years from today, after war and overpopulation have led the remaining members of humankind to build a country in the sky ....

Overarchingly, my manuscript combines satire, psychological horror, and cyberpunk science-fiction. My novel is a contribution to a little-explored niche that combines technology and psychic powers. I like to call this sub-subgenre psybernetic or psyberpunk fiction (a portmanteau of psychic and cyberpunk)....

My manuscript is unique in several ways. Foremost, I don't know of any other works of fiction that combine advanced cybernetics and transhumanist ideas with psychic powers and eastern philosophical ideas, such as enlightenment or reincarnation....