Research/Writing 5

I’m done. I’m done with school. I’ve finished my project, and I’m most likely going to graduate from high school. The feeling is incredible. I feel on top of the world. I put on sunglasses to block out all the haters and I started to dance. How am I supposed to put in any effort for the rest of the year? Doesn’t matter to me because I’ve just finished my AP Lit Critical Research Project. Oh wait, I’m not done. I still need to post my blogs. Even when the project is done, it’s not. It’ll follow you everywhere, forever. Some may call it a curse, others a blessing. I’d like to think of this project as my Guardian Angel, always looking after me.

Research #6/ DONE

I'M SO HAPPY I'M FINALLY DONE! I JUST FINISHED MY WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED AND COVER PAGE AND COULDN'T BE HAPPIER. NOW JUST PUT IT IN A BINDER AND ALL DONEEEE!!!

Here's a picture of me at the OU library. And no I'm not winking at the camera, it was just very bright out

General Introduction

If I did this right, and I pray I did, then I’ve gotta say it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It was easier talking about my experience with the book than anything else. There were also a lot of parts of my criticism I wanted to comment on so I was glad I got a chance to do that. The biggest struggle for me was connecting all the different points I made. 

Research 2

All posts have been queued for 12:00A.M. on Friday, April 24th, 2015.

Apparently they are making a movie version of Madame Bovary with Mia Wasikowska in it.  The trailer is out, but as of now the US release date is June 12, 2015.  I’d be interested in seeing this adaptation of the novel.  Here’s the trailer.

In other news, I have been to the library, but I am unable to check out the books because I do not have a Rochester Hills Library card.  But the research librarian, Rachel, was amazingly helpful.  She gave me the call numbers for the books and showed me where they were on the 3rd floor, so I can come back and get some work done.  This is a slight obstacle, but I might be able to find some ways around this.  Since it’s a holiday this weekend, the library should be very empty, so I can drop in, take some photos of the books (because I can’t make copies apparently), and then type up the pages I need to annotate.  This will be tedious, but seeing as these books are not bestsellers, I might not be able to access them in another format.  I have to go to work today, but seeing as Sunday is Easter, and I have nothing planned, I’ll update with my progress. Yay for paganism.

Research 4

I’m done!!! i just need to hole punch my general intro and put in the binder.  I am so relieved!!! 

Research 5

I am officially done!!! This is the most amazing feeling ever just saying!!!!!

Researching the Work part 4

Status update: all I have left to do is the introduction the annotations, the general intro, and two more background resources. This sounds like more than I've mentally conceptualized but I do have a page and a half of my general intro started as well as a strong idea of where I want it to go so that's a pretty good chunk out of there. Yea writing all my annotations in one day did not work out, they took wayyy longer than I imagined; I could only really crank out one a day. But that's also because I thought they had to be 2-3 pages when really that was just the intro to the annotations. That honestly cost me more time than you would imagine. Hopefully it'll add a little positive weight to my project, though. Writing the intro to the annotations actually scares me more than the general introduction because I'm worried about just repeating stuff from my individual annotations. ((If anyone has a finished and approved copy of their that I can't take a quick peak at then I would be soooo grateful.))

Post 2: The Struggles of Writing It Late

Tuesday night check in at the Den and working out my favorite parts of my critical research paper: the abstracts and annotations. I regret putting this off for so long, but now that I’m doing it, I am pushing through just fine. My whole week has been spent at The Den finishing this stuff up. Both Lex and Andrew G have joined me to do the same.

This seriously is the hardest and coolest part of the project because I love interpreting critics opinions on Toni Morrison’s work and also getting a deeper look at the craft and complexity of the story. Before, I didn’t really appreciate Pilate’s character and through the 60 pages of criticisms i’ve read, I have found she is my favorite character for being such a strong confident woman. I suppose I have found that even the simple things, like random character Lena stepping up to talk to Milkman about treating others poorly, are still placed in the story for good reason. Going this in depth with the passages and Morrison’s style of writing has made me appreciate this book so much more. I enjoy that she doesn’t reveal what really does happen to Milkman in the end because it shows that she wanted the reader to feel like the story continues, just like life is continuous. I will finish this project without an issue! I really am enjoying learn about Morrison so much!

Research/Writing 4

I’m starting to come to the conclusion of my paper but I still need to write my general introduction. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to write. I was actually pretty lost when it came to starting my general introduction but I found that when I actually started and got to writing this part, it was actually pretty easy. Out of seemingly nowhere I suddenly knew what I wanted to say, how I felt about this book and why other people really should read it, and the ideas just flowed. I believe it came so easily because of how much I had actually invested into this book and project. I knew so much about this book and author now that I felt like I had a personal connection to it, so finding a way to share my connection with others only seemed natural.

Research #5

Going to Chicago was a big distraction for me and I didn't work on it at all Friday. But today I got up early and was able to finish my general intro! After hours of distractions and procrastination I can say I'm finally done with that part. Now I just need to finish works cited and consulted and make a nice little title page! I can't wait to be fully done. 

MY RAD RESEARCH 3

As suggested by alyssaklaresmith I looked up some 1984 imagery. I found these to best reflect a lot of the themes I found myself focusing on while writing this project.

Research 5

Writing the intro to annotations was probably the hardest part of the project for me. I sat at my computer for hours, just staring at a blank page, because I didn’t even know where to start. Finally I just started writing anything that came to my mind down, and then went back and tried to piece it all together after. My biggest problem is that I feel like I keep repeating the same phrases over and over again. My annotations and intro to annotations are very similar and I hope thats the way everybody else’s turned out too. 

Research 1

All posts have been queued for 12:00A.M. Friday, April 24th, 2015.

I have not gone to the library yet, partially out of not having any time, and also partially out of fear.  Because I fear being under-prepared, I've taken some time to browse the Kresge Library online database to see what criticisms they might be able to offer me.  So far I've found:

The Madame Bovary Blues by Stirling Haig

Flaubert: The Uses of Uncertainty by Margaret Culler

The Mystery Play in Madame Bovary: Moeurs de Province by Peter Rogers

Towards the Real Flaubert by Margaret Lowe

I’m really interested in the concept of a mystery play.  According to the novel description, Rogers attempts to reveal a three act play based on the bible and it’s stock characters hidden in Madame Bovary.  I can see where he’s getting the three act play from, as the book is already split into three fairly equal parts. But it also seems like half of his work has already been done for him.  Anyway, once I get to the library, and read the criticisms, I’ll decide which three will be best.

Research and Writing: Background Sources

With my criticisms it was fairly easy to pinpoint influences on the novel. And being that my author is extremely allusive I can extract those parts from Invisible Man as well. I have chosen to include; T.S. Eliot, Herman Melville, and Frederick Douglass as my background sources and I have a work from each.