English Honors Papers

Document Type

Honors Paper

Advisor

Summar West

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

This thesis contains a completed story about navigating how to continue loving someone after one’s understanding of their being has changed in a way that makes them suddenly unfamiliar. It is a story that asks its characters if they are willing to adjust their perceptions of one another in order to remain connected or if they would rather sacrifice that growth in favor of chasing prior ideals. It is a story about seeking affection but no longer feeling certain of where to find it.

My goal for this thesis was to focus on fragmentation within a family dynamic, specifically during the transitional period after a significant change to the unit has occurred. I wanted to explore the feelings that spawn during the awkward and uncertain navigation into a new “normal” way of living together. In order to develop the tension, misunderstandings, and reorientation experienced by both members of the family, I aimed to manifest their passions and self-perceptions on a tangible level. To do this, I experimented with recurring visuals and an embedded narrative with which both characters directly interact and shape.

The Love We Draw follows Devon, a transgender high school senior, as he tries convincing his mother to allow him to attend an exclusive convention instead of the prom he promised her. The story oscillates between real-life interactions and the embedded Cauldron’s Courage sessions, a fictional tabletop role-playing game that serves as a medium for the characters’ internal identities to manifest externally and engage unmasked.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.