These informal sources helped me out a lot more than I originally thought they were going to. Mostly, they just gave me good ideas to roll with the writing my paper. For example, I was curious what other people thought a specific element of the setting meant in the book I wrote about. After some searching, I found some awesome discussions on GoodReads that really got my thinking and I ended up incorporating them into my final paper.
Literary theory
This was difficult for me to incorporate into my formal analysis. After reading my paper I saw the value it brought to the paper, but it was difficult to know how much to put into the paper to make sure it was not the main focus of attention. I feel that I forced some parts into the paper that did not flow well that I felt I just had to put in to satisfy that part of the assignment. It was difficult, but I hope it aided the paper in the end.
Writing Process
I think I need to do more prewriting for my paper. When I got stuck, I did not have anything to look at the get my juices flowing again. But if I did better prewriting then I feel like I would have more to talk about when I am actually writing the paper. I also feel that my revision process could be better. Sometimes though, I am so tired of reading the same paper over and over again that I get burnt out while doing the final revisions. I feel to strengthen myself as a writer I need to do more prewriting and do more focused revisions.
I completely understand the fact that revisions can burn you out. Normally I would say take a break from looking at it for a few days and then revise again, but since deadlines are a factor, that's not a very good option. I would recommend looking at the overall ideas and flow of the paper first, then narrowing it down to the nitty gritty of the paper later.
ReplyDeleteI also had a tough time blending my literary theory and my formal analysis. I felt like I was walking on the edge of a knife. But hopefully both of us learned something in this exercise!
ReplyDeleteI would love to see how you incorporated the Goodread discussions! I found one that influenced my approach to the text, but I wasn't sure how to incorporate it, and ultimately scratched it. The revision process got exhausting for me too. It wasn't until we shared and discussed our draft with our peers in class that I felt a drive to keep revising-- outside validation and suggestions really helped me! I would highly recommend getting a second look, and coming in with an idea of the help you want.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things that I've found helps me with my prewriting is thinking about the paper conversationally. Allowing myself to think and talk through concepts I'm working with with someone else, or even just in a journal or something, really helps me informally get excited about my topic and brainstorm ideas to talk about. I've also found that sometimes I do my best writing after I've written my conclusion and actually figured out what I want to say. I've been wondering if I should do that more in the future-just write a conclusion to see if what I have is what I want to write about.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't say which literary theory you chose, but it sounds like it was hard to incorporate into your paper. I'm sure you made it work-- sometimes it's actually really fun to fit things together that don't want to fit together. It probably made your paper very unique and creative.
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