A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a video worth? As I've stated previously, my final paper draws comparisons between Alice and Wonderland and Dracula. So, without further ado, here is my final paper trailer:

The Mo(u)rning Has Come

“No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.”

This is my favorite quote from Dracula and I think it's entirely applicable to this paper as well. (I used it in a previous blog post, so I might as well come full-circle by using it again.) This has been a long semester, but it's been a good semester. While at times things seemed dark, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we are almost through!

This paper has been a bittersweet experience for me. As an English major, I love to write... but I hate being given parameters for a paper. I hate it so much that I can have the whole paper basically written but then I refuse to do the final page or two. I don't know why, but I guess it's just my protest against authority. (Like when your mom told you to clean your room as a kid and you knew you needed to but you wouldn't because someone else told you to.)

With this procrastination habit in mind, I was afraid of writing this paper. I knew from the beginning that I just wouldn't want to do it and that I would be pulling an all-nighter just to finish it in time. Luckily, Professor Burton is a little smarter than I am when it comes to writing papers and he had us do annoying little tasks and blog posts. Or at least that's what I saw them as in the beginning.

I hate when teachers give me busywork and that's what I thought Professor Burton was doing to us. I was sick and I didn't want to do more than I had to on this assignment. But, I had to do all of the little blog posts and research and thankfully I did. If it hadn't been for those seemingly annoying tasks then I would have been up at all hours of the night in an attempt to finish my paper. Because of these tasks, I got to sleep (Unheard of for a college student, right?) and I was actually happy to finish the semester. My paper wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but that's just that for me.

Now that I'm finished with the paper and this class, I have that bittersweet taste in my mouth. I'm happy to be done, but I feel a little sad that I don't have a project to work on. I like keeping busy and this paper, and all of the buildup to the paper, kept me more or less on top of things and that was nice. Now I don't have that anymore and it's a little disappointing, although relieving.

Basically what I learned from this assignment is:

1. The best papers are hard work. Sure, papers can be easy to write if you have a knack for writing, but that doesn't mean it's a quality paper.
2. The best papers take a lot of research. Before this paper, I always skimped on my research. I didn't know how to research as well as I would have liked, but I also just hated the task of researching. But, this class taught me that researching can be interesting, especially when you find that perfect piece of evidence to support your claim.
3. The best papers take time. Where you spend your time shows where your dedications are. This paper became a big deal for me because I spent so much time on it. Because I spent so much time on it, I grew to love it and you should always love what you're writing.
4. The best papers make you step out of your comfort zone. I was not excited to write a comparison paper. That's my weakest form of writing and I didn't think I could do it because I had never tried it. But, I managed EIGHT pages of comparisons. And I now have something to be proud of.

This assignment was hard and I can't pretend to be sad that it's over. However, I will miss certain things about it, especially my growth process. I'm a different person than I was when I entered the class. I'm a better writer and I'm more excited to write and to take pride in my work.

(I'll post a link to my paper later tonight; I just wanted to get this up asap.)

Progress Reports

I understand the importance of progress reports but for some reason the idea of elementary school progress reports still sticks in my head. So, here's my progress report.

As for creativity, Kristen is getting a B+. She's doing well with coming up with creative ideas, but she needs to put more effort into those ideas. She comes up with a new ideas but she can't seem to stick with just one idea. As of right now, she likes the idea of comparing themes in Victorian literature. Both Dracula and Alice in Wonderland play with the ideas of reality, identity, knowledge, and memory. They also use similar tactics such as symbolism and foreshadowing. With these in mind, Kristen can write a good paper comparing and contrasting the two texts.

As for application, Kristen is getting a B-. She's got the ideas but she has a hard time applying the knowledge she has. When she does apply the knowledge, she does a pretty good job although sometimes connections can be lost. She just needs to make sure that all of her ideas tie back into her thesis.

As for research and preparation, Kristen has a solid B. She has done a lot of research but several of her sources lack substance. The idea of the source is nice, but there's not necessarily a way to apply the source to her current paper.

As for in-text examples for her paper, Kristen gets an A-. She knows both of the texts very well and she has enough examples to compare and contrast Dracula and Alice in Wonderland.

As for the actual paper, Kristen hasn't received a grade. She's got many of her ideas figured out, but she hasn't actually written more than two and a half pages. She is working on it and her outline appears to be helping her. We'll see what the final grade will actually be though.

Lost in Translation

I've always found it interesting to see how an author's explanation of a text is different from the way he or she writes. This was definitely the case for the English Symposium session I attended.

I chose to attend a session on Puritan Society because of the student journal (Criterion) that I volunteer on. This semester, I have been working to help publish a paper and I was fortunate enough to attend the author's presentation at the symposium. His topic was about the Trial of Anne Hutchinson.

The paper argued that Anne Hutchinson was convicted because she was seen as a threat, rather than the fact that she was a woman who advised men. The paper took a bit of work, but by the end of the editing process it was so much clearer and there was one central idea. By working with this author, I realized that many writers have the same problem I do: they know what they want to say but it becomes muddled when being turned into a paper.

Sources are the hardest thing for me to choose

Well, I said it. I actually enjoy writing papers and I enjoy using sources to establish a paper. However, I have a very passionate dislike for finding the sources. I like sending the time searching for a source, but I hate feeling let down when a source isn't what I originally thought or if a source that I desperately need is unavailable in one form or another. That being said, here is my working annotated bibliography.

So Many Words, So Little Time

Question: Do you think I can actually compare these two novels or are they two different that I appear to be grasping at straws? What are some other connections that I can draw between the two stories? Also, this obviously only scratches the surface of the first two ideas; I have many sources and actual evidence that I will be putting in the formal paper when I actually get to writing it.

            Dracula and Alice in Wonderland: two stories from Victorian English literature that are very different. Dracula is a gothic tale that questions what is real and what is not. The book plays with the psychological idea of memory versus knowledge—which is stronger and which will ultimately prevail. Alice in Wonderland is a fantasy that also questions reality. Both of these stories have symbolism embedded throughout. However, Dracula is fueled by the symbolism embedded throughout the story. The symbolism is an effective foreshadowing tool that helps to drive the plot along. On the contrary, Alice in Wonderland uses the symbolism to draw mental connections, just as the mind would do, and the symbolism isn’t an integral part but rather enhances the storyline. Despite how these stories are different, they each play with similar ideas and use the same tools, although they both come to different conclusions.

To Publish or Not to Publish: That is the Question

                I’ve been discussing my paper idea with a good friend of mine who also happens to be an English major. She’s read Dracula and is familiar enough with Alice in Wonderland that I think she has some good insight as to some of the things I could talk about. I’ve also bounced the symbolic ideas off of my roommates and they think it sounds interesting, even though they haven’t actually read the books.

                I definitely think that I want to compare the symbolism in Dracula to that in Alice, but I also want to talk about what the symbolism does to the plot. For Dracula, I think the symbolism is a foreshadowing tool, while in Alice I think that the symbolism is used to draw more connections in the way our minds draw connections. I’m still a little iffy about whether or not I can find evidence about the last part. Who knows though, maybe the research will help me come up with even more ideas?

Knowledge is Stronger Than Memory

            During my senior year of high school, my English teacher told us that we would be reading Dracula. I rolled my eyes at the thought of reading yet another required book. Why?  I had only truly enjoyed one book that any of my high school English teachers assigned and that was The Count of Monte Cristo. And, being the stubborn young woman that I am, I was decided that this was to be yet another one of those boring books they called classics.

            I knew I wasn’t going to like this book. I could feel it deep in my gut. In fact, I had seen the old movie adaptations of Dracula and I knew I wasn’t interested. The whole vampire thing just didn’t get me. I didn’t care how eloquent, attractive, or powerful vampires are; they are still dead. I was also a little afraid to read the book. Vampires—and Dracula in particular—are so sexual and I wasn’t comfortable reading those sorts of novels. But, I had faith in my teacher so I began to read.