Words to Music: Transforming A Separate Peace Into Song — An Honors Creative Thesis by Nat Shunk

As part of the Fall 2025 Honors Lecture Series: Spaces & Places, the MTSU Honors College proudly features Nat Shunk, a Commercial Songwriting major with minors in Honors and Music Industry, presenting her creative thesis: “Words to Music: A Separate Peace.”

Nat’s project reimagines John Knowles’ classic novel A Separate Peace as a fully original concept album. Blending literary interpretation with songwriting craft, she explores how themes of jealousy, identity, guilt, and coming‑of‑age can be translated from page to melody.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROJECT
Nat composed an eight‑song album — seven tracks inspired directly by the novel and one original piece reflecting on book banning. Her presentation highlights:
How prosody shapes emotional storytelling in music
The challenge of shifting between past and present perspectives
Using first‑person direct address to mirror Gene’s internal voice
Musical techniques such as chord instability, relative minor, and melodic emphasis
Why she chose to record the album live to preserve the raw, vulnerable tone of the book
How themes of censorship and historical erasure informed her final track, “Ash”

Nat also performs excerpts from several songs, offering insight into her creative decisions and the process of adapting literature into a new artistic medium.

ABOUT THE HONORS THESIS
The Honors thesis allows students to complete a major research or creative project under faculty mentorship. Nat’s work demonstrates the depth, originality, and interdisciplinary thinking that the Honors College encourages.

🎓 Presented by: The University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University