When I was first trying to find out a thesis statement or claim to make during my prewriting, I really wanted to make a positive claim for Hamlet. The internet had many different memes and blog posts and other social medias that made him selfish but relatable, his jump to conclusions funny, and showed that most people who like the play Hamlet like Hamlet more than most of the other characters. I made an attempt to mention this informally in my introduction. Then, I used a blog post about tragic heroes to explain in simple terms how a tragic hero archetype works. This helped me feel more comfortable knowing the definition was clearer and not just my own internal definition, and I was able to cover key components of the tragic hero in more of a list format – something I didn’t originally think to do.
• Literary theory
I felt like it was easier to incorporate the literary theory more than formal analysis, and I focused heavily on trying to define the genre of tragedy before diving into Archetypal theory so I could cover both. In this case, it was easy to blend the formal and theory together using genre primarily. However, I was unsure if I should have done more to explain the theory in my paper, or if my subtle references and defining of certain terms was enough. It’s easy to make a claim, but I felt like I should have added more evidence somehow. I just don’t know in what way I could have done that. It might have also been beneficial to dissect certain pieces of the play with more formal analysis, but besides getting into genre and archetypes and evidence insinuating tragic hero traits, I was unsure what else I could have done to really tie the two components together in a stronger case. Any other formal attempts felt like I was getting side tracked with words rather than the overarching of archetypes.
• Writing process
Like I usually do, I started by plotting out what I wanted to say for each paragraph. Then, I usually work on a starting thesis statement, write the intro and conclusion, then the body paragraphs. With this essay, the introduction and concluding paragraph were the last things I wrote. It was much more difficult finding a solid thesis to work with this time so I wrote the body paragraphs first, then the intro’s first few sentences and the conclusion’s last few, then reviewed what I was saying before attempting the thesis. This was beneficial because I could see what I was doing and where I was leaning toward, then I could re-tune certain sentences to fit the same case, then finally work on a thesis. I think my biggest strength is being able to find or reach conclusions/claims from evidence provided by plot and characters, but my weakness is definitely trying to analyze form and theory together to find more evidence. I can jump to conclusions but using sources to back me up is still difficult.
I wouldn't have thought that most people would like Hamlet as a character in the play, but it seems like that helped you in making your positive claim about Hamlet more viable. It would be interesting to see why Hamlet is so relatable to his audience, maybe looking through a psychoanalytical lens?
ReplyDeleteI think Memes are a great source for ideas. They really nail down a theme or even archetype that is found in a piece. That's really cool that you used it. That was also a great idea to introduce it in the introduction and make it quick, just like how a meme is read.
ReplyDeleteYour writing process is really interesting to me. I love how you basically write your entire paper before trying to figure out your thesis. For me, the thesis is usually something that I struggle to write. But I feel like your way of writing frees the body of the paper to be written outside the limitations of a thesis. I'll have to try that next time, that's a really neat idea!
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