Graduation Term
2017
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
School of Communication
Committee Chair
Joseph P. Zompetti
Abstract
This thesis examines how Cornelius Eady’s book of poetry, Brutal Imagination, rhetorically serves as a counter-narrative to the fictional construction of Black characters blamed for committing crimes. Brutal Imagination gives voice to Mr. Zero, Eady’s name for the fictional character Susan Smith created in 1994, whom Smith blamed for kidnapping her children. Thus, by using a counter-narrative lens, this thesis analyzes how fictional creations can alter the socially constructed identity of the “angry” Black man.
Access Type
Thesis-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Ocasio, Junior, "Mythology of the Angry Black Man: an Analysis of Cornelius Eady’s Brutal Imagination as a Rhetorical Counter-Narrative" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 768.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/768
DOI
http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2017.Ocasio.J