Saturday, March 19, 2016
Tell me about.....
Give me and your classmates a little inight into your literary specialist. What findings or interesting things have you discovered so far on your journey? What books are you reading? What resources have you tossed aside and why? Where are you in terms of the project? What is your plan? Are you behind? If so, what are you going to do to get caught up?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Since these past few week have been so intense for me, I really didn't do too much work on my project at all. I wouldn't say that I'm behind, because I have a good idea of where my project is going and what I need to do. It's just the getting started part that I'm struggling with. Basically my original plan was to discuss romance in literature. And I knew I wanted to read Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights. But I didn't know where I'd go beyond that. However, I just recently had the idea that I could somehow include classic fairy tales and compare them to romance in classic literature, because I know that's something I would enjoy. I don't think that I can really come up with a thesis until I read the books, however, so I know that needs to be my next step. I think part of the reason I've been putting it off is because my books aren't insanely long, so I should be able to read them rather quickly. I'm definitely going to be doing a lot of work over Easter.
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression that our preliminary works cited was supposed to include only the works we were going to be discussing. But I was pretty wrong. I didn't realize we were supposed to have gathered criticisms etc. already because I didn't know what sources to include since I don't have a thesis yet. Obviously, a lot of it is going to depend on my impressions of the books. I did start reading Pride and Prejudice, though. I'm three chapters in and I already love it. Austen has just started to introduce the main characters and I can tell it's going to be one of those "I can't believe I got this attached to a fictional character" type of book. It's also not a very hard read, which is always a plus. I'm a bit more wary about Wuthering Heights due to the fact that it was published almost a century prior to the release of Pride and Prejudice. And I don't always do well with older reads, as I painfully discovered though reading A Tale of Two Cities (ha ha ha).
Overall, I'm really happy with the topic I picked because I definitely think it's one I'm going to enjoy. I just need to keep in mind my grandma's line "any job - once begun - is half done." It's all in getting started. Once I get all of my Brideshead stuff out of the way, I'm excited to focus on this project. I just hope my recent diagnosis of senioritis doesn't impede my progress.
I know how you feel, Mary. The senioritis is real. I love what your grandma said and I'm using that as my own inspiration. Brideshead will be hard to tackle at the same time as this, but the previous classes came out alive. I keep telling myself that God doesn't put us in situations we can't handle and that I need to "just do it" because it won't write itself. I love your fairytale idea though and I am excited to see where you go with this topic. I am a sucker for love stories as well and I am excited to read Pride and Prejudice over the summer as well.
DeleteUgh...Mary I feel ya. I just desperately want to be done and go off to a land far far away. Unfortunately, we have two and half months to go. It's too early to let up. I know that you can read those two books because that's just what you have to do. I'm really interested to hear what you have to say on your topic. By the way, your grandma sounds very wise. Maybe she can come on our trip to the Hill District so we won't die.
DeleteMy literary specialist will focus on the similarities between literary criminals with real criminals. So overall my project will most likely include a lot of psychology and weird facts about some of America's most famous murders and serial killers. I was thinking about doing something with a crime theme, and then I opened my IBooks app to read this book, and I saw the book The Stranger Beside me which I had already read. It is a book about Ted Bundy by someone who was very close to him before and during his trials. It is by far one of the most interesting books I have ever read because the author divulges information about Ted Bundy that most people would not assume. Most people would not assume he was the intelligent, friendly person he was to the people he knew. I started to think how weird it was that Ted and Raskolnikov were both interested in law school and how both showed signs of split personalities and that's how I decided my topic. My thesis is not completely composed yet because I have a lot more reading to do. So my works besides The Stranger Beside Me and Crime and Punishment will include Catcher in the Rye because it inspired the murder of Lennon along with The Collector. The Collector shares a lot of similarities with this man who kidnapped these women and kept them in his basement and skinned them. Along with this I also will be using a book called Rage by Stephen King, which was actually discontinued after it allegedly inspired a teenage boy to hold his algebra class hostage. Another book I have collected for my research project is The Black Dahlia. The Black Dahlia is the name given to Elizabeth Short who had a highly publisized murder in 1947. The details of her murder are rather gory so I'll save everyone the details. Right now I am working on reading The Collector, and I really enjoy it. His stalker habits are creepy, but the author portrays his obsession with Miranda in a very interesting and twisted way. My biggest obstacle has been my mom. I think she wants to take me to a psychiatrist and make sure I'm not harboring some weird sadistic tendencies because my desire to be a criminal lawyer and the ease in which I can handle the details of crimes is really creeping her out. I do not find my obsession with criminals unhealthy. I'm not really obsessed with the criminals. I'm obsessed with the psychology behind their twisted state of mind. Psychology is something I really enjoy, and that is why I love reading books that really challenge someone to think deeper about individual's psychology. I'm sure my thesis will be interesting when I come up with it, but I already have commitment issues so I feel coming up with a thesis so early would just freak me out.
ReplyDeleteLauren, I think the fact that your mom is concerned is hilarious! I totally understand your interest in the psychology behind it all, but there's no way I could handle any of that. That stuff just creeps me out. It sounds like your project is going to be super interesting though, and I'm glad you found a topic that interests you! I think that's the most important thing with these projects because if the topic isn't enjoyable, the readings and the 10-page paper will most likely be a form of torture. Good luck! This sounds awesome.
DeleteI am so excited for you! I'm sure this paper will be great, but I'm so happy that you found something you love so much and are about to make an excellent career out of it. That is so important and I'm sure that you will be able to recycle this paper and reuse it sometime in college.
DeleteLauren I think this will be a very cool project once you are finished. I am excited to see how we take Catcher in the Rue and relate it to our projects. Currently, I am trying to decipher the character of Holden. I can't decide if he's just going through those awkward transition years in life or is truly mentally disturbed. This is something I plan to work in my project because The Perks of Being a Wallflower can relate to this as well. In the end, I think there may be some themes that will relate between our projects.
DeleteI have found out some interesting things about children's books while reading articles for my literary specialist project. There are books that help with the basic phonics, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, basic vocabulary, and fluency, which is reading out loud without sounding out every word. These books are usually commercialized by making toothbrushes and t shirts out of the characters and get children interested in reading. After these basics are learned, however, children should move into a more challenging series of books that allow them to imagine their own settings and form their own messages from what they read to instruct their morals and attitudes. This is a critical period of time in a child's life and the books they read should be monitored as they are beginning to immerse themselves into the life of a made up character who can either set a wonderful or nasty message for the child to follow.
ReplyDeleteI am going to read "Through the Eyes of a Child" when it comes in the mail, and I also ordered another book that came in that I might read it I'm not sure if it is relevant to what I'm trying to do. But those are my two adult books to base my argument off of. I am also going to read "Little House In the Big Woods," "Diary of a Whimpy Kid," and "Charlottes Web" to begin, and I might add some more later on if I find one that will support my work. I haven't tossed anything away yet in terms of resources, but I might later when I get more specific about my topic.
I am not very far in terms of my project but my plan is to begin reading my major works tomorrow. I read and took notes on a lot of articles from professors and nurses that are interesting, so I did start, I just need to find my thesis. There are many directions I could take with this, but I need to find an argument that is not completely opinion based, which is what I'm nervous about. I am behind, but to get caught up, I am going to spend Easter break in a room with no distractions reading and taking notes. I have been a horrible student for a good month now, but I am ready to stop that pretty soon here and go out with a bang.
It's true that it's very important to monitor what kids are reading. At the library where I work, my boss in the children's room is always trying to purchase new books that will intrigue kids to read more. However, some of these books are probably not very "beneficial" per se. Some people get very worried about what kids are reading at a young age. But I think that I partially agree with the people who say that as long as they're reading, it's okay. This is mostly because I think that kids tend to graduate from reading pointless little stories into reading classic literature as time goes on. The most important thing, in my opinion, is getting kids initially interested in reading, because this is ultimately what is going to decide whether or not they read when they're older. When my brothers were younger, they never found a book that enchanted them, and as a result, they hate reading now. I wish that they would have been allowed to be more explorative with their reading choices, because I think that if they found just one book they loved, they'd have a happier memory of reading, and they would be more apt to explore other reading genres.
DeleteGrace I agree with you, I feel like I'm hopelessly falling into senioritis as well. But anyways I think you're project is going to be really interesting. Children's literature has definitely changed drastically in the past several years. I think that it might be hard for you to find research to support your points but I think you will end up with a great project.
DeleteI love Diary of a Whimoy Kid so much. Those books got me through middle school haha. So just because of that, I'm excited to hear what you have to say. But I also read lots of little kids literature and I feel like I've been deprived of reading like real books. I mean, I don't know if I was just a terrible child or what. I just never actually read like real books until like a few years ago. So anyway, your project sounds really interesting and I can't wait to hear your conclusion.
DeleteRight now with my project, I have read Catcher in the Rye and have gone over Perks of Being a Wallflower because it is still fresh in my mind because I read it just a few months ago. I still have to read the Outsiders which should not take me very long and review a Separate Peace. I have also found some really good cites which discuss male stereotypes and coming of age themes in these novels.
ReplyDeleteSomething interesting I found while reading Cathcer in the Rye was that it was very similar to Perks of Being a Wallflower. After researching a few critiques I found that these books are often paired together because of their similar themes. I plan to read the Outsiders this week so that I can start planning my essay. I was planning to reference Huck Finn in my project but I have decided to leave that resource out because he is unlike the characters in the books that I am currently working with.
In terms of my project, I feel like I am comprehending the books well and can compare the themes and ideas within them. However, I'm not sure how to start making an essay out of this. I don't know where to start and what points to touch on. I feel like I am struggling because since there is not a prompt I can't narrow down my thoughts. I know the major thing I am going to focus on is the factors that forced the characters in the story to mature and what their coming of age journey was like. I also plan to discuss the gender stereotypes that forced these characters to do what they did. I also plan to compare the coming of age novels vs a Bildungsroman novel.
My plan is to finish reading the books and start trying to gather ideas for the essay. I feel as if gathering the ideas will be the hardest part of the assignment for me. I also am unsure about what to write on the notecards that are due soon. I know that I am on track with the project but I need to start organizing my thoughts so that I can get my plan for the paper together.
Abbey, I guess I am also confused about the notecards. I just it is hard because I never really plan my essays with outlines or notecards so I'm not exactly sure what to include on the notecards. I am also reading Catcher in the Rye for my project because Holden has an attitude that can be related to a lot of criminals. Jenna Buhite told me I'm a lot like Holden only not whiny so I do not know how to interpret that anymore.
DeleteAbbey, I have some idea of what I want to do with my notecards, but I am not sure if it is the right thing to do. When I make them, I am just going to put quotes and ideas on one side and the source it is from on the other. This should give me a visual of what supporting information I actually have. I will then be able to arrange them by topic and have a pretty good idea of what to write about. That is my plan, and I hope it's okay.
DeleteSo far, I have read Casino Royale and Moonraker. That means I still have to read two more books, Live and Let Die and From Russia, With Love. I don't think I'll have enough time to read these two books though. So I think I will have to amend my plan and just read From Russia, With Love. In that respect, I may be a little bit behind. But I'm not concerned because I can just drop one of the books without causing any real problems. I still have lots of good material with which to work, so as I said, I'm not that concerned.
ReplyDeleteSome things I found extremely interesting were how sexually explicit these novels are. I knew there was some of that stuff going on in the novels having seen the movies, but the books were written in the fifties when I thought everyone was a little modest. Turns out, I was wrong. Ian Flemming throws morality out the window when writing these books. And that is a bit refreshing to read books that combine action and a little romance. It seems that novels either have one or the other and that's frankly just disappointing.
What I'm frustrated about is the lack of a thesis. I thought as I read the books, one would just come to me. So far, that hasn't happened and I'm very worried about it. Without something to write about, I will literally fail the project and probably the class. Also, I will have read all those books for nothing. So...hopefully divine inspiration will strike me as I read From Russia, With Love.
Giz, I hope you find some inspiration. It sounds like you have a wealth of material, and that you just need to decide on how to use it. Maybe you could incorporate your ideas about the sexual explicitness given the time period in which it was written. I'm sure that you'll come up with a great thesis, you just need to spend some time thinking about it.
DeleteSo far for my literary specialist, I have read Lord of the Flies and taken notes about it. I have also found some quotes to use in my paper. I will begin reading A Clockwork Orange soon, and have picked out some articles about human nature to read as well. I do not think that it will take me very long to read and annotate these pieces.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that interested me as I read was the number of people who find humanity to be inherently broken. Many authors write about this topic, and there are psychological studies that support this idea. I thought that more people would think humanity was good. However, most people seem to agree that without society to create boundaries for behavior, most humans will act on their inherent savagery. Since this topic has been so thoroughly discussed, I think my essay would be strengthened if I talked about how society sometimes fails at controlling the darkness within people. This is why I am going to read A Clockwork Orange.
As for a thesis, I am not sure whether to focus solely on why I believe humanity to be broken or focus on how society keeps most people civilized. I will decide on which way to go after I read A Clockwork Orange. Depending on what I decide, I may need to find new resources and throw away some of my old ones.
I plan on finishing A Clockwork Orange some time this week, and then I will begin to outline my essay. I am a little behind where I should be due to swimming this past few days, but I hope to catch up soon. Easter break will provide me with a chance to really move ahead on my work.
Ashley, addressing whether society seems inherently good or bad is a wonderful topic. It will be interesting to hear what you conclude from your research when you are finished. I believe it is really easy to get so caught up with the bad in the world because usually the news just brings negative news or puts a negative spin on events that aren't really terrible. It is impossible to have a society full of good people so of course society has to have bad in it.
Delete