“the good student:” cognitivism in the campus novel

Abstract

This master's thesis in creative writing combines a critical introduction informed by cognitive cultural studies with a short story-length excerpt from an ongoing novel project that follows a group of students at an American college for individuals with rare, fantastic cognitive abilities. The major narrator is Ji-woo Oh, an international student from South Korea who has one of the more curse-like gifts--she can hear others' thoughts without even trying. As she struggles with how to manage her ability and maintain her friendships accordingly, a threat emerges from outside the classroom that encroaches upon Ji-woo's access to the college's resources and her understanding of her gift, raising questions of a larger campus conspiracy and the ethics surrounding extraordinary cognition. In the novel-length version of the project, Ji-woo's central group of friends and classmates work together to expose the conspiracy and protest the administrative censorship of certain “cognibility theoria.” The project is inspired by the author's own previous writing, including a novel that features some of the same characters in a different setting, as well as the author's experience as a student in higher education.