Feel free to respond to this post with complaints, observations, perplexities, or advice about the first paper assignment as you work on it over the weekend. Deadline: Tuesday (9/27), start of class. What week it counts for depends on whether you post before or after midnight on Saturday.
I am seriously disliking that we have to compare and contrast Robinson Crusoe. I consider myself a good writer, and am finding that I am going to have a verrrry difficult time with this paper. Sorry, I don't mean to complain. Well...I guess I do. :)
ReplyDeleteBut, other than that...I am looking forward to finishing this paper because I think Pamela is so complex that we can really do some things with it. I am writing about the epistolary form and the way it plays a part in the story. Exciting!!! Yes, I'm serious. :)
I'm having trouble starting my paper. I have certain passages that I want to use, but I think I'm sort of confused on how to write this paper/how formal this paper should be. I'm not really used to writing comparative, MLA formatted papers, so this is sort of challenging.
ReplyDeleteI keep starting and then stopping and then get stuck.
I am kind excited about writing a comparative piece because I feel like I have been doing this in English classes through discuss, but never in a formal paper. I am concerned about the formality of the paper too like Samantha, and don't want to go so far that is sounds like a discussion, rather than formal writing; if that makes sense at all! I am a little nervous about figuring out which passages to compare with one another because I feel like the Crusoe book was so dry and bland and boring in my opinion, and then Pamela was exciting to me. Perhaps that could make for a good paper, but I can only think of contrasts, rather than comparisons. Maybe as I begin to write I will find more things in common than I thought.
ReplyDeleteI think as far as how to structure the essay goes for people who are having trouble finding comparisons between the two novels, I've found it works well to just pick two passages that seem to have promise for the concept you've chosen to write on, identify that concept and how it's treated within each passage (independent of the other passage) and just thresh out the idea on the page, maybe you'll find more contrasts than things in common but the further you dig that problem will begin to work itself out. And don't be afraid to write too much, sometimes it's better to write too much in the rough draft to make sure you really get the good ideas out, then just edit down the arguments, tossing out the weaker ideas you have needed to have first before getting to the really good ones.
ReplyDeleteI have just finished my paper and found that, both of these novels actually have a lot more in common than I initially thought. Rather than focusing on strictly the plot and the nature of the respective stories, I focused solely on the characters and how they deal with their own circumstances. It helped to focus greatly on their writing styles. For example, "Robinson Crusoe" is a spiritual autobiography, and "Pamela" is an epistolary novel. These are actually very comparable because through both of them, we see first hand how the protagonist feels and how they deal with their own problems at hand. They are two very different novels and two very different characters, but I found that, in the end, that actually helped me to form solid arguments about how the theme of despair is exemplified in both.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little nervous about this paper because I am not an english major. In Broadcast Journalism, our writing style is very informal whereas oppositely, an english paper is very formal. I'm nervous that the style is so different. However, I've put a lot of effort into trying to make it as formal as possible. Also, I feel that I have a good topic though, so I am hoping this will be good! :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Gina. I've gotten used to the terse, informal structure of print journalism. I hope the paper is what you're looking for!
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest thing about this paper is trying to separate the 21st from the 18th century viewpoint. There are a lot of similar themes in Pamela and Robinson Crusoe that can be compared and contrasted, but it's hard to really get a handle on how the 18th century reader, and thus the author, perceived the theme within the context of the novel. Did readers find Crusoe's faith sincere and his list making tedious? Did readers appreciate Pamela's decision to stay on and finish her work at Master B's and rejoice at their eventual marriage? Do the answers to those questions have an effect on my paper? these are difficult questions to answer...
ReplyDeleteWriting the paper is kind of overwhelming at this point, but I like how it is structured. Having to focus on one theme in reference to both stories. I hope it works out and that I'll be surprised to have finished it... and if it makes sense, that'd be great. :) Good luck everybody~ :D
ReplyDeleteLike Samantha, I had lots of problems trying to figure out how to start my paper. I know what I want to say but somehow its not translating onto the paper well. I really liked Noble's idea of starting with passages. It helped me get through the writers block I was experiencing.
ReplyDeleteI chose the idea of self-determination in both novels, and although I can talk about it quite a bit, I'm worried that the concept might be too simplistic.
ReplyDeleteWhere are we supposed to put our finished papers on Google Docs? Is there a specific tab, or are we to make another one? I'm confused where to turn it in...
ReplyDeleteNathan, I am having a similar problem with my paper. I am having problems making my topic more complex. Its frustrating.
ReplyDeleteSamantha, you can upload your paper to google docs and then invite KW to view your document or make it a public document. I think she sent and email about it earlier. I don't think there's any specific place we are supposed to upload it.
I had issues starting the paper too because I couldn't narrow down my thesis, and office hours helped tremendously. Doing a comparative piece, I think it's really helpful if you have someone to discuss ideas with. If you're intertwining two texts, why not intertwine two thought processes?
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