'By myself': Rural girls' narratives of identity and relationships in school

This dissertation privileges the voices of rural girls, presenting an analysis of eight rural girls' narratives of identity and relationships at a rural middle school in central New Hampshire. I initiated my research by conducting a twelve week ethnographic study, in which I taught an arts-based literacy course to all of the eighth graders and observed the eighth grade students throughout their school day. Following my ethnography, I interviewed eight eighth grade girls in a series of three interviews.; In this thesis I articulate girls' complex understandings of how growing up in a rural community shapes their sense of self and their close relationships. A central finding of my research revealed that close relationships within the community gave the girls a feeling of protection and simultaneously endangered the girls when they were prejudged by others or experienced violations in close relationships.; The girls I interviewed faced multiple challenges to crafting coherent and constructive self-identities, including poverty, racial prejudice, sexism, violence, and conflicting messages about sexuality and femininity. The largest threat to the girls' healthy development was the pervasive bullying and male sexual abuse that existed within the girls' school and community. I also document the way in which the girls resisted these stressors and stereotypes to craft a sense of self with grace and courage.; I discuss the complex role of teachers in rural girls' lives. Listening carefully to the girls, I discovered how deeply they desired authentic connections with adults in their school. Cultivated in a rural community where girls needed to develop a strong sense of self-reliance, such courage challenges the way in which girls might seek out and respond to supportive relationships with adults. The implications of this research speak to the challenges of supporting rural girls in schools and simultaneously recognizing their independence and self-reliance as hallmarks of courage.