Such a dilemma. [stunt

I've got another Big Huge Essay due on Friday. Naturally, I haven't started, but I think I've found a likely topic. Which is good, since it looks like this likely topic will require proper research and things, and that's much harder to BS the night before.

Only trouble is, I've already done one paper relating to gender issues for this class (the one on one of Donne's Holy Sonnets), and I'm fairly certain that, if I go with this topic, I'll end up writing about gender issues again. Not as extensively as last time, but the topic I had in mind was the idea of comitatus/brotherhood among the characters of Beowulf, specifically how it's used to characterize Grendel and his mother. Given that Grendel's mother is pretty much the only female character of any relevance in Beowulf, and how her bond with her son is mentioned where almost no other character makes mention of their mother ever....at some point, I get the feeling this will veer into gender-issue territory, and I don't want to run that point into the ground. Specifically, I don't want to get graded down for being a one-trick pony, since my last essay was all about male and female gender roles.

Of course, I have written about seven papers about Poe and Hawthorne for Dr. N, and he's not yet graded me down for that yet (though I've a feeling I should steer clear of them for this next essay). More to the point, I suppose I could bring up the gender point so long as I don't harp on it, even though it's the most interesting part of my topic to me (and, um, the only way I could approach it without regurgitating class notes).

I don't know. I suppose I could choose another narrative poem and look for topics there, but it seems a bit late for that. Besides, I don't want to have to read The Faerie Queene again.

I suppose I could do my Chem or Bio homework instead. Or drop off my dry cleaning. Or, um, sit here and eat Goldfish. Or watch TV.

Oh, the decisions.

Thoughts?

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In what awesome class are you reading Beowulf and Donne (and The Faerie Queene?), again? Because I think I'm slightly jealous. Pretty sure those are vast improvements over 21st century novels about religious fundamentalism and cracked-out psychological experiments.

Anyway, was not aware you could get marked down for being a one-trick pony*. Newfangled literary theory is all about reading books through various filters, and I'm sure there's one in there covering gender roles. If you've found a niche, I say embrace it like a budding grad student. ;)

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It's English 220, I think; English Literature pre-18th century. It's a requirement for my English major, and while I'm enjoying it for the most part because it means we get lots of Shakespeare and Donne, I...very much did not enjoy The Faerie Queene. I found it to be infuriatingly obtuse and well aware that it was infuriatingly obtuse. But then I'm more of a Romanticism kind of girl, so *shrug*.

Good point - I hadn't thought about grad study and the greater focus that goes with it, so I suppose tackling a similar topic for two papers wouldn't be too excessive. Thanks for your advice!

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Ask your professor if s/he'd prefer you to focus on a different theme. Pretty much like you just did with us, except their input would give you some definites and therefore possibly some peace of mind.

I'm sure whoever it is is under no impression that everyone in class diligently completed their papers last week. What's more, it being [that particular small school I don't know if I can mention out loud or not on your journal] and all, they'd probably be only too interested in discussing your paper with you.

Caveat: this offer only good if you carry through like, tomorrow. If you do need to find a new topic, best to do before the last second.

I'm sure whoever it is is under no impression that everyone in class diligently completed their papers last week.

She certainly isn't. She even reminded us last class about it, in case we'd forgotten. Which, by the looks of it, several people had.

Anyway, I have her class tomorrow, so that'll give me time to ask her. Either way, I'll try to get some outlining and drafting done. Thanks for the advice!

Holy Sonnets, Batman! Which one(s) did you focus on? I have a HUGE love of 17th century poetry.

I have a top-secret project I've been working on on-and-off for almost four years now which has to do with this topic-- but if I told you what, I think I'd have to kill you. (Actually, I'd be ok with e-mail as I doubt you'd tell or steal the plot. Mostly I just don't want it out there on the interwebs.)

I agree

rainbowstevie that focusing on similar topics should be ok, especially if you think you might want to do more stuff in that field.

The essay I wrote was on Holy Sonnet 14, and on the very gendered/sexualized imagery Donne used to refer to the reception of grace, specifically how said images seemed to equate grace with forced feminization and sexual violence. I tried to examine how this played into the idea of the Church and its members as the "bride" of Christ, as they were referred to in literature of the era.

Um...yeah. It was kind of a weird paper. But my teacher liked it! So that makes it okay! Right?

I'll not tell a soul, of course! I'm sending you a PM now with my e-mail address, but it's been a bit wonky lately, so if I don't say anything about it within a day or so, I might not have received it. In which case you can feel free to poke at me a bit.

Thing is, I'm not sure I do want to follow that particular course of study. I've never really thought of myself as a feminist scholar, or even as particularly interested in gender studies. Except that's what I end up picking up on in whatever I read. Hm.

But I'm going to talk to my teacher about my topic tomorrow, so thank you for your advice!

"Gender issues" is a pretty big interpretive lens. You're not going to look like a one-trick pony unless you say the same things you said last time, or use basically the same sources (if you're expected to draw on criticism/theory).

And the topic you've mentioned is highly specific, is clearly grounded in the poem itself (rather than the sort of bad "gender issues" papers that profs see all the time, which are basically "and now I will perform A Feminist Reading of This Text"), and sounds like the kind of paper I'd be glad to read if I were your professor.

Thank you for your advice. I know that "gender issues" is a broad topic, but I was worried that I might seem repetitive if I approached the text that way again. But I think my topic is sufficiently different than what I wrote about on my last paper that I won't be making the same points over again.

Thanks again.

Do it

Thank you!

I'd go with the goldfish. They usually don't talk back.

If you're looking for another narrative poem, you might try one of these:

1. The Highwayman (Alfred Noyes)
2. Horatius (Thomas Babbington Macaulay)
3. Evangeline (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
4. Paul Revere's Ride (duh)

Not that I've read much of Evangeline, but I WILL SOMEDAY! It seems pretty, anyway. Also then you can get into the history of the Acadians.

We actually have to pick a narrative poem that we've read in class, and we haven't done any of those. I've read bits and pieces of Evangeline, I think, and I've liked it so far, so I'll see if I can pick that up at some point outside of class.

Oh, that's too bad. :/

WHOA. I'm with you, The Faerie Queen sounds horrible. *has just googled it*

It was. I mean, the language was very pretty, but you had to read every stanza five times to figure out what was going on. And even then sometimes it wouldn't make sense, because the whole thing was so steeped in allegory that events seemed completely inexplicable unless you picked them apart in the context of the entire poem. And the worst part is, Spenser was doing it on purpose. *sulks*

I say shoot 'im with a pistol.

He's already dead, so that presents some difficulty. Plus I don't know where he's buried.

stunt_muppet

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