Last night, A Midsummer Night's Dream closed at the Shakespeare Institute. We had curtain call at 10:00 pm, and the entire set, lights, and sound for the show was struck 30 minutes later. I have to hand it to the cast and crew for that, as they all participated and it was an incredible group effort to strike the show (so that I and others would not have to return today, Sunday, and strike.) It was impressive. I also learned that the tree, built for the show, was to be saved as the Players would like to revive the show for the Stratford-upon-Avon Fringe Festival at the end of May. I'd have really liked to have just gotten rid of it (via a sledgehammer and a few makeshift flamethrowers), but as it happens I was overruled.
Besides kick-starting the writer's juices with a blog entry, today is all about the essays and the mountain of research I must conquer to gain perspective on my topics. I have sought out a great deal of advice on what to do, and it seems that the professors can help clarify the approach and what directions my research should take, they seem to be reticent to tell me exactly what they expect when it comes to the writing itself. I am meeting with the head of the Institute tomorrow (as I am writing an essay for him this term as well), and hopefully I can come out with a few more hints as to what kind of writing I should be looking at to help find a format that works for both me and the Institute.
What I have heard from other students, is that every one of them has bailed on at least one essay. All of the PhD students have gotten that one incredibly low grade that made them feel as if they should probably pursue a career in the fine art of petrol dispensation rather than continue trying to be an academic. So, in that respect, I seem to be right on course. It also means that I've used up my one get-out-of-hell-free card. It's step up or go home time.
Here is a little piece of how I am going to work out these essays:
1. Research the topics by approaching the question in as many ways as possible. So, if the research question is "How did gas lighting impact Shakespearean acting?", I'm going to be researching not only when gas lighting was invented and the actors who were around at the time, but also any critical opinions of the shows that were going on at the time gas lighting was invented and when gas lighting was on its way out to see if there were any critical thoughts on the differences in lighting that came before as well as after that period in history.
2. Write down all the pertinent quotes I have highlighted in the research in one Microsoft Word document. So far, on Gas Lighting, I have more words in quotes than is necessary for the entire paper. Overkill, I know. However, from all these quotes I can then pick and choose to help form the discussion, not an argument, that will then make up my paper.
3. Repeat that process over for each side of the argument.
4. Repeat the entire process over for each topic.
5. Then sit down and write each paper as it can be shaped from the research and quotes I have assembled.
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Five weeks from now, this part of my life will be over. Ten weeks from now, I will know how I did on those essays. By then, I'll be hip deep in writing my Master's Dissertation which is a prelude to writing my PhD Thesis.
I've already had moments of panic. I've thought about everything I have to do, and it seems impossible. However, if I take this moment and write, read, or investigate just one thing that I'm supposed to do in that process, I get further along in the process than I was a minute ago. I can only hope I have enough minutes from now until the end of April to get it all done.
So, back to step one. I gotta go and read something now.
Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. -- Henry V, Act II, Sc. i.
Year 1, Day 175 -- Words Written: 0... Words Stolen From Other Writers via Quotes: 4,524.
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