Day Nine and Ten
Day 09 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
The Mists of Avalon by Marrion Zimmer Bradley. I was sure that her style was antiquated and not at all in line with my own imaginings of Arthurian Legend. But she’s wonderful, and I’ve evolved to even enjoy the novels co-written later on in her career, though they are inferior to her original works.
Day 10 - Favorite classic book
This may earn some groans, but I adore Jane Austen and my favorite is Sense and Sensibility. EVEN THOUGH I’ve always felt that it ended with completely the wrong pairings! I’ve always felt that Marianne is a conniving, weakling, worthless slip of a girl who doesn’t deserve someone as honorable and good-hearted as Colonel Brandon. And I’ve always felt that Elinor’s heart has already been broken by Edward and she needs herself some delicious, reliable, best-friend-like Colonel Brandon. … But then my fantasies have almost always been the stuff of fanfic.
Other news:
Recently finished Egalia's Daughters. Astounded is a way to describe how I felt. I almost couldn't handle the thoughts it provoked, considering all the gender studies I'm doing in relation to my senior thesis. I'm left wondering if I liked it or not, trying to analyze it and running into the brick wall that is my realization of gender inequality. Just haven't processed it yet.
Things have been escalating with the senior thesis. I had a meeting with my prof today, in which he handed back my ridiculously long prospectus with the comment that my literature review is good enough to be transplanted right into the final paper, but that I'm going in five different directions, and I need to choose one. When I asked if I could answer all of them under the umbrella of education in the 19th century in Britian, he responded that it would take a book. BUT I WANT TO WRITE THAT BOOK. *sigh* one bit at a time, I suppose. So I went and had a meeting with the reference librarian for history and she proved to be very kind, interested, and unhelpful. Full of enthusiasm for my topic but knowing nothing in particular that was of use for me, she sent me off to look up stuff on google of all things.
But while I did a bit of research, wrote my bi-weekly response (5pgs) on this half of the week's readings, and LOST my graded prospectus in the library, eventually finding it in the recycle bin where someone threw it, I now have to focus on writing a brief (~7pg) synthesis/analysis of the last five week's of class readings that is due tomorrow...and I haven't even started.
I'm a bit frustrated because I feel like I've been constantly working between two different levels of academia: Senior-thesis/publication work and daily classwork readings/ responses/ busy work. Both are equally important for me to graduate in June, both have to be done, but changing from one mentality or process to another is leaving me frustrated and feeling like I'm not doing either thing as properly as I could, if I were given the time to devote to one thing at a time.