Dylan's Writing Self Assessment

In this class, one of the most important things that I have learned, in my opinion, is the ability to properly plan out and write an essay. For me, this means setting apart a certain window of time for me to write and then just writing. Too often I spend way more time than I need to working on my rough draft. In this class I learned how to simply write and worry about fixing all of the little things afterward. I honestly believe that this has not only helped me write faster, but better as I left behind my worries about what was on the paper at the beginning of the process and instead just writing at first.
In my research process, I've enjoyed learning so much more about how to do research well. Before this class, my research was mostly just searching through the main database and choosing what looked good. Not only have I learned how to find sources more efficiently, but I've learned what sources are actually valuable sources for my research. Just gaining that useful knowledge has been fun for me and I know that makes me sound like a nerd, but I made it to college somehow.
Looking back on where I was at the beginning of the semester, I've already improved greatly at my skill to write rough drafts and research more effectively. Even just my skill at writing has improved overall just from writing so much. I still need to work on my ability to stay on task in a longer paper though. For example in a long paper I have a tendency to go off on tangents in order to fill in all of the space that I need to fill in. I could see myself doing this in my last paper as well. Even when I recognize it, I still struggle because I can't tell when I am going off on a tangent or just expanding on my argument. I have gotten better at balancing context and analysis though.
Through the semester, I have really enjoyed some of the aspects of our social writing process. Sharing my rough draft has been extremely helpful in my writing process and has made sure that my final drafts actually sound like final drafts. Mostly the rest of the social writing processes have helped me stay on schedule with the essays. It was difficult sometimes to benefit from looking at other people's processes because oftentimes we all approached things very differently. Although I still learned things through this, in my opinion it wasn't very significant. With online or informal sources I found it very difficult to use this in my essays. I could use them, a lot of times with a lot of effort, as a jumping point for other more formal research or topics, but for me it was very difficult to use them for brainstorming.

Dylan's current research questions

Through Dilsey’s interactions with the Compson family in The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner communicates both the lack of change in the South and in how this lack of change leads to their eventual destruction.

•  How can I find articles using critical race theory on my novel or on others?
•  Is there a good method to find the information I need in a large research paper?
•  How do I know if I have enough sources?

Dylan's Annotated Bibliography on The Sound and the Fury and Race

As I researched I was encouraged to follow the a few veins on which I had been considering. This novel provides an insightful glance into the South and their relationship with their roots and I hope to continue researching how this relationship has changed with time and how certain characters have tried to stop that change.

1. [online excerpt of paper found on JSTOR]

Castille, Philip D. "Dilsey's Easter Conversion in Faulkner's "the Sound and the Fury"." Studies in the Novel, vol. 24, no. 4, 1992, pp. 423-433. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29532897.

This source included some interesting ideas that follow a similar pattern to where my thoughts on this book had originally travelled. I can use this source to support some of the key points in the novel where the Easter weekend comes into play, but then angle it towards a more broad idea in race relations during the period.

2. [online excerpt from an old newspaper found on JSTOR]

Coindreau, Maurice, and George M. Reeves. "Preface to "the Sound and the Fury"." The Mississippi Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 3, 1966, pp. 107-115. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26473548.

This source provides important insight into the organization of the novel itself from a reputable source. I can use this source both as an aid for myself in organizing the novel within my own mind as a secondary source to help explain the overall layout of the novel.

3. [online dissertation found on ProQuest]

Gleason, Kevin D. “Not Gone Or Vanished either”: William Faulkner's use of Memory and Imagination. Edited by Christopher Stuart., The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, United States -- Tennessee, 2011. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://search-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/878894646?accountid=4488.

This source adds an interesting perspective on the novel and its use of certain techniques, particularly memories in the realm of stream-of-consciousness. I think it will provide an interesting avenue to further explore the relationship between Dilsey's family and the Compsons.

4. [online encyclopedia found on the BYU library site]

Hamblin, Robert W., and Charles A. Peek. A William Faulkner Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, Conn, 1999, https://www.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=77744&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

This source provides a lot of background information on Faulkner's life and a lot of interesting facts about his life being tied into his work. I think this will help me get inside of Faulkner's own mind even better. Already I have found a lot of evidence that he did not agree with the South's overall treatment of African Americans.

5. [online paper found on MUSE]

John Earl Bassett. Family Conflict in the Sound and the Fury. vol. 9, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/440598.

This source primarily focuses on the Compson family but, Dilsey and her family are integral to their plight. This source does not neglect them and I believe I can use it to examine more closely the relationship between the two groups.

Dylan's Reflection on Literary Analysis 2

• Informal, online, or multimedia sources: I ended up using a picture in my final paper as a reference of sorts. As I talked about how the character Dilsey is viewed by the rest of the family, I wanted to incorporate how Dilsey was represented in film and media as a means of looking at how a large majority of the population interpreted her.
• Literary Theory: Using a specific literary theory helped me to look at a more specific interpretation of the novel. Not only this, but it almost forced me to look at everything under a different light than I would normally do. Blending it with formal analysis was also not difficult as the text blended quite well with the analysis I was trying to do.
• Writing Process: In my writing process I tried to create more of an outline for my essay before I began writing. It wasn't exactly a very formal one, but more of a diagram for the flow of ideas in my essay. I found this helped me greatly with the structure of the essay as it grew longer. In the end, though, just sitting down and writing is the most helpful part of my writing process and I have gotten better at just writing what comes to mind and then editing it later. I feel I still need to improve at incorporating more formal analysis in my writing.

Critical Approaches to The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner

The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner was published in 1929. The story centers around the Compson family as it begins to deteriorate and fall into obscurity. The family follows three members of the family and their housekeeper as the family slowly implodes on itself until they are left penniless and devoid of any good reputation.

• (biographical) An easy connection to make is to Faulkner's own life. He grew up in the South in the late 19th century and also attended Oxford, settings appear frequently in his novels. This idea of the Old South aristocracy and the reverberations of the Civil War on the Old South are largely explored in the novel and played out in real time in his own life.
• (feminist) One of the central characters to the book is Caddy Compson, the sister and mother figure for most of the family. She is integral to the decay of the family's reputation and both her and her daughter are both key players in the family's fall. They are portrayed as promiscuous and irresponsible. Quentin, her brother, also attempts to take it upon himself to protect her, for which he fails.
• (source studies) The title of the book is derived from the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. When one looks at the actual soliloquy from which the title comes from, you can see that many of the themes in the novel are also reflected in the passage. More themes can be explored when the piece is seen in conjunction with the novel.
• (critical race theory) One of Faulkner's most interesting characters is Dilsey, the black housekeeper for the Compson family. Her perspective comes last and is perhaps the clearest of them all. Her position in a Southern family should lend her very little respect in the family, and yet she is the primary caregiver for most of the children and is respected by nearly all of the characters. This inversion of the expectation for her position and race can serve as an interesting perspective and launching point.

Dylan's Exploration Report

The Sound and the Fury

I found sources on a movie that had been made starring James Franco and the idea of a film adaptation of such a convoluted and often confusing book seemed very interesting to me. The book also relies heavily on symbolism and the application of that in film would be very curious. (image.google.com)

 I found sources that The Sound and the Fury is also a very common name or title for other media. From graphic novels, to TV, it appears the title itself, even if nothing else resembles it, has inspired many other genres. Perhaps only because the name itself sounds cool. (pinterest.com)

I discovered when looking at school syllabi that the book, The Sound and the Fury, was being used in a course that taught about modern love. The teacher cited this source as a source from Modern literature that displayed how love was depicted during this era. I thought this was a very interesting way to look at any book, including this one. (collab.its.virginia.edu/syllabi/auth)

Dylan's Reflection on Literary Analysis 1

When working on my prewriting, I found what was very helpful was the organization of my research and sources. I was able to categorize them in an effective manner so that when I was writing, I could reference them easily. Learning to better develop and recognize a thesis statement also helped me to organize my essay better once I began writing it. After I had finished writing I found that reading it aloud helped me immensely and it was something I had never really tried before.

General Literary Resources - Literary Histories or Periods - Dylan Stuflick

My assignment is to find resources for the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Specifically I will be looking into the literary history or period surrounding the creation of this poem. This can provide me with some context regarding influences on the creation of the poem and perhaps the popular type of literature being created at the time.

• The Oxford Companion to English Literature: This resource provides both brief biographies of the authors, but also a reference to other occurrences during the time the author was alive. Some of the key events during Shelley's life time. A few items that I found interesting was the fact that "Ozymandias" was written in 1818, a period in which English Romanticism was alive and well. Atheism and Industrialism was also on the rise. "Ozymandias" reflects these attitudes with its rejections of power and idea of having a lasting impact on the world. This could easily be referencing the growing materialism of the time especially in regards to industrialism and the dubious, tyrannical practices common to the period. 
• The Norton Anthology World Literature: This resource provides a compilation of important pieces of world literature as well as a timeline at the end that includes all of the major works in an era as well as major events. What serves as perhaps the most relevant piece of information gained from this was the massive movement towards empire building. A few years before the creation of this poem, Napoleon had attempted to expand his own empire. The British Empire was also growing rapidly, now having gained control over central India. 

The context provided by these two sources helps to greatly expand on the meaning of the poem in my opinion. It can now be set most likely as a response to the expanding imperialistic mindset, but also can be a reflection on the pushback of older ideas of the world, both as Atheism became more prominent and as industrialism grew. The reason it is still studied however is that these same trends continue to apply today. Imperialism remains a concern and the growth of technology rapidly expands.

Write Longer Not Faster

Exploring the reasons why I write and what has inspired me.

It is perhaps impossible to determine where my love of reading has stemmed from. Some mixture of genetics and early experiences is perhaps the easiest solution. This love of reading has been an integral part of my life almost since I was born. I can vividly remember reading Green Eggs and Ham with my mom after my parents got divorced and perhaps this has something to do with it. I can remember getting in trouble in school for reading in class, only to read more during my timeouts. It could almost be called an addiction that not even high school could put a stop too. In high school though, my experience with reading changed.

Dylan's Literary Moments

• Lord of the Flies by William Golding [Reading Literature Privately]

Lord of the Flies was one of the very first books I read that had literary merit. My dad had given me the book in middle school and while I read it I suddenly found myself introduced to an entirely new type of book. One that was much deeper than what the entertaining novels I had been reading before.

• Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger [Discussing Literature]

This book was the first one I read as part of my high school AP Literature class. What really affected me in this novel was the art in which the language was employed. Things that had previously not been known to me were now explained by my teacher. Things like perspective, symbolism, and the use of passive language in an intentional manner made me see literature as much more of an art form employed by masters in the craft. The English language was introduced to me as something one could play with.

• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer [Cinematic Literary Experience]

I had read this book my junior year of high school and found extremely fascinating. The film adaptation was also excellent but like almost every film adaptation, it removed a lot of the content that was included in the novel. What this accomplished in doing though was it helped me as the reader appreciate the reasoning behind adding those sections to the book. I was able to see what had been missed by removing them. It helped me appreciate the smaller movements in novels and their real purpose.

• The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang [Sublime Literary Experience]

I had originally picked up this book because of the good reviews I had seen it getting and I was already looking for something new and interesting to discover. This book was not what I expected it to be though. You continue through the novel expecting the main character to overcome the growing conflict she has with rage and win the day, as most novels do, but instead the novel ends instead she gives in to the rage and commits the atrocity of destroying every living person that opposed them in the war. To her this was the only way the war could be won and her people be protected but it raises the question of whether or not it was worth it and did so in such a way to leave me thinking for a long time.

• The Shining by Stephen King [Reading Literature Privately]

I've always been a fan of horror movies so I decided to try out a horror book and see how I would like it. Whatever I was expecting it was not to be actually scared by the book. Somehow, through some literary masterpiece, this book was scaring me. I read it with clammy palms, something I never knew could happen from reading a book.

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley [Discussing Literature]

This was another book that I had read in my AP Literature class, but unlike the rest of the books, it didn't necessarily contain very developed characters or literature. What made this book so interesting and impactful was that it didn't need that to develop its purpose. The book introduced a concept that was interesting and relevant, and provided compelling arguments both for and against it.

Dylan's Academic Writing Self-Assessment

   When it comes to writing eloquent and persuasive essays, there's still a lot I have to improve on. A majority of the time, I can have good analysis of a piece, but as I start writing the essay, I find I have trouble balancing the various points in my essay.
   An example can be found in an essay I wrote during the previous semester in my ENGL 251 class on Nathanial Hawthorne's short story, "Young Goodman Brown." I found I had insightful analysis of the essay, in particular with a reader-response approach of the text. When writing the actual essay, it was difficult for me to maintain a good balance between analysis and summary. I tended to spend too much time explaining the context of a certain scene and not enough time explaining the effect certain literary choices had on the audience and how it accomplished that.

Dylan's Shelfies

My dorm room bookshelf

Here's the way I tried to upload my favorite books. I couldn't figure out how to format it like Professor Burton.