Sophie's Reflection on Literary Analysis 2

• Informal, online, or multimedia sources

Informal sources gave me the original idea for my entire paper. I found the idea about climate change and The Handmaid's Tale in a blog post, and I was able to build on that through using other sources and critical approaches. In my paper, I used a lot of different blogs about The Handmaid's Tale and environmentalism; they had some great quotes and ideas that I really built my paper around. Additionally, I used the idea of the Hulu series about The Handmaid's Tale to gain a different/illustrated perspective than I had just from reading the book. 

• Literary theory

I did not know that ecocriticism was a critical theory, but when I found out about it, I immediately knew that I wanted to learn more. As a political science major, I'm super interested in environmental issues, and I think that viewing a text through an ecocritical lens can reveal some important insights that would not be obvious otherwise. On the other hand, though, ecocriticism was not the easiest theory to blend with formal analysis since it does not exactly lend itself to form, at least in The Handmaid's Tale. Once you start looking at a text through an ecocritical lens, though, environmental ideas seem to appear everywhere.

• Writing Process

I found reading my draft out loud to be very helpful in catching errors, restructuring organization, and aiding flow. I also thought that this time, I was a lot stronger in my drafting process than I usually am. Usually, I just write a draft and make minimal changes before submitting. This time, I reorganized my paper many times before submitting, trying to make sure it was the best possible organization. I feel that I could get stronger in knowing exactly what I am trying to argue and being more focused rather than using all of the information available. 

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.

Annie's Reflection on Literary Analysis 2

• Informal, online, or multimedia sources 
• Exploring these sources helped me to see what kind of influence the poem Deathfugue has had on other artists. Artwork, music, and books can all be traced back in one way or another to this poem. Looking at the works that have come out of it helped me to better develop what I wanted to say in my paper. They helped me to connect some of the dots in my thinking. I incorporated a painting from Anslem Keifer and analysis on the painting into my paper because it strengthened the connections I was making between the literary allusions in the poem and their relation to Germany and each other. I also listened to Paul Celan, the author, read the poem in German on youtube, and it helped me to get a better sense of the cadence of the poem--I could better understand why it was called Death "Fugue."
• Literary Theory 
• I focused on source studies which was first of all, I just enjoyed this approach because the research on the sources I used was really interesting to me. I think that source studies is valuable in examining how literature influences literature, how things can be recycled and rebranded in different time periods. Being able to look at Goethe's Faust through the eyes of the concentration camp prisoner's POV--there was just so much to explore there and I think that it deepened my understanding of the text and what Celan was trying to draw out for readers. I think that it was an easy enough bridge into formal analysis, especially because the two sources where very explicitly juxtaposed with each other in the poem. 
• Writing Process
• I spent a lot of time on the research process. I initially struggled with what I was trying to say and so after class on Monday I went back and rewrote everything I had written up until that point. Something that I realized is really important in my initial drafting stage is getting an outline, or just some kind of organization out on paper. Typing an outline is helpful but it wasn't until I got out a pen and organized myself on paper that everything really came together. I also spent a lot more time in revision and I think that helped me to feel more confident in the final paper I turned in. I enjoyed being accountable to others during this writing process--both to classmates and friends through different stages of my writing. I think that using the social aspect and relying on others to help me polish and work through what I am trying to say is something that I want to continue to work on because I haven't utilized it in the past and it was really helpful this time and I know I can do more with it. 

Matt's Reflection on Literary Analysis 2

Informal, online, or multimedia sources
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. 

Savannah's Reflection on Literary Analysis 2

• Informal, online, or multimedia sources
• In my second literary essay I used a variety of informal sources. My most used sources were a variety of online news articles like New York Times and The Daily Beast. I also went to Pinterest to look for images of flappers in the 1920's, for images of Zelda Fitzgerald, and for famous New York architecture that was in the Art Deco form. I also went to the New York Public Library Digital Collections to look at images of French fashion in the 1920's. These sources were useful to my paper because they provided a lot more cultural insight to me than a formal scholarly resource would have provided. The images were helpful to me to visualize what exactly I was describing when I wrote about the various types of architecture and fashion. 
• Literary Theory
• I used mainly the post-colonialism theory but also a little bit of the sources theory as I discussed Fitzgerald's motives for writing what he did and for his descriptions throughout the novel. For my essay it was particularly easy to blend with my topic as I was discussing the architectural and fashion impacts of those times across cultures so it was a natural thing to discuss the culture and changes of those times. I think this was effective in my essay because it gave more insight to my topic and more background to the architectural descriptions given in Great Gatsby. 
• Writing Process
• This last essay I really tried to space out my writing which is fairly new for me. I usually power it all out the last day but it was super nice to be able to actually spend time editing and revising before I submitted a draft and to not have to stress the last day about writing five pages. I also tried to do most of my research before I began drafting which was very convenient because as I was writing I could just scroll down on my draft to grab the piece of evidence I needed instead of spending excessive amounts of time browsing for sources. I still think that I could do better in blocking out my paper by subject before actually drafting but that is something I can continue to work on. 

Magda's Reflection on Literary Analysis 2

- I looked through a lot of different sources but the ones that ended up being the most helpful for me were discussions. I ended up on reddit and started reading through discussions on A Midsummer Night's Dream. I found one that discussed why the ending to A Midsummer Night's Dream was troubling, which is something that I had thought about before. It brought up the idea about how the ending is not quite honest, and how the characters actually reveal who they truly are within the forest. That idea made me think about the id and how, according to Freud, the id is what reveals our true emotions and desires. The discussion thread made me want to dive deeper into a psychoanalytic analysis of the text.

- It was actually quite easy to look at this text through a psychoanalytic lens because of the reoccurring theme of dreams throughout the play. It was easy to connect the forest to the id because of the dreamlike qualities that the forest possesses. It was hard to find a balance between formal analysis and the theoretical approach, though. I tended to lean more towards just applying the theoretical approach rather than analyzing form. I really had to search for ways to incorporate both.

- This time through I really took to heart my classmate's advice and took a lot of time to write and rewrite instead of trying to get it all right the first time. I went through several drafting phases. However, I wish I had spent more time finding interesting internet sources and really finding ways to incorporate them into the paper. I used my one source to inspire my paper, but I think my paper would have been more concrete and interesting if perhaps I had found pictures of Athens and the forest in a performance of the play and done more of an analysis on setting. I think that would have helped me to find a balance between analysis and theoretical approach. 

James' Reflection on Literary Analysis 2

Informal, Online, or Multimedia Sources
My informal sources didn't have a lot of presence in my paper, but they largely contributed to the ideas behind my paper. Specifically I found a lot of informal online sources (a pictograph was what I ended up using in my paper) that identified Frankenstein as the world's first science fiction book, which was interesting because I had always thought of it as a Romantic novel. This duality of the genre of the book fueled my paper and the idea of Frankenstein striding the line between science and nature.
Literary Theory
I ended up using Ecocriticism, which fits very nicely into Frankenstein. The idea of ecocriticism was easy to apply to the book, but I had trouble actually working it into my paper. I wasn't really sure how to apply the theory to my paper and how to work it in. I think what I ended up with worked nicely, but I really had to think about it to get there.
Writing Process
This paper was really different for me. I spent a lot more time on this one considering the length that it ended up being. I spent a lot more time doing prewriting (doing research on my theory, brainstorming about my claim, and finding in-text evidence). I also ended up spending a lot more time editing, because I realized afterwards that there was some major problems in the paper. So I spent more time on both ends of the first draft. The result is that the paper took me a lot longer than a 1000 word paper normally would take me, but hopefully the paper was better as a result. I suppose we'll see!