Sub Rosa

I have managed to slot the 'Pleasure Principle' in (pun fully intended) and now I am trying to read up some Marxist Theory (OWL Purdue has come into its own - but I am reading Rivkin and Ryan at the moment).  I am a bit worried about the time frame; after this, I have four essays to turn round, one of them being TH2 (Jane Eyre/Feminist Theory), then IN3 which is a sticky one about politics.  Might have to totally rethink that one.  Plus the portfolio work.  Not a lot needed for Transactional Writing, minor tweaks at most.

Creative Writing is going to be tougher as although my pieces are ready, the observation writing is still in its infancy. The days left have sunk into single digits and I am worried that I won't make it. I have a LOT to do.  Anyway, onward with the Marxist Theory reading :-/

14:18
I laughingly said I wanted a simplistic version of Marx Theory, which is a bit of a joke really considering the subject.  I have found a version and it is on bloody wiki and I can't use it (academic British references only).  Try to find off shoots and you have to wade through everything.  From what I can tell, it is about analysing the base the superstructure and the power relation. Fascinating, but I have only got nine days, guys.

17:42
I have had an incredible stroke of luck, via a bone fide British AS/A2 Sociology page.  I feel truly blessed - hope it reaps the right rewards.  I must admit that this gives me a bit of a headache as I did Sociology at 'O' Level and I remember the divisions of the Proletariat and the Bourgeois etc., but this is at a far higher level than I remember.  I do understand a lot of it, because I have read up on it since, but even so - it is about whether I can do this as part of a Level 4 English essay.

*sigh* my brain hurts :-/

20:29
Ok, my aim now is to shave off 193 words without losing something critical from the essay.  Here goes :-)

22:09
I've done it !!!! Hurrah !!! No more Huxley for the foreseeable future - yeehaaa!!!

Struggling through the last of the Psychoanalytical bit - basically finding parallels with Huxley and Oedipus (not as far-fetched as one would imagine - just read the Huxley biog).  I also need to figure the psychological motives of the reader. As one who knows she will return to this story because of its dystopian leanings, I would say that maybe it is about gaining control in an out-of-control environment.  I can identify with this and all of the archetypes that this could project.  Ooer Missus! Bit deep for a Friday afternoon :-)

16:01
Found the online Huxley biography - now I understand the final chapters of Brave New World. Suddenly feel quite chastened whilst reading Trev Huxley's demise.  The pressures of being in a highly-strung intellectual family

Online Biography -------->  http://www.oneworld-publications.com/sites/default/files/books/extracts/huxley-9781851689231.pdf

19:48
I can't believe that less than a week ago, I was wrestling with the rough draft of TH3.  Once again, back to the drawing board and I have to shave off 72 words from somewhere.  Quite how I am going to do this, I do not know.  I can tell you that I have nailed the essay as best as a first year can.  If I can get rid of the surplus 70+, then I can move on to Marxist theory ( A-GAIN).

Seriously, I can't afford to let this essay run well into Sunday - I have to face down the Feminist Theory goth horror of Jane Eyre o_O

21:30
OK - part one is done and I am now beyond wanting to revisit it.  I have had a look at part two and from all the observations, the reccuring remonstration is  WHAT IS HUXLEY'S POINT? DOES IT SUPPORT THE TEXT? John Bell read my essay and he was VERY useful - makes me realise a) what a genius he is b) I might just have to take a crash-course in Marxist Theory.

Crapola - I am going to bed.

I won't be labouring with this for much longer as it is about stripping off 200 or so words from plan one and rearranging plan two so everything is cohesive...hopefully.

13:07
Goddamn it - I STILL have to shave off 72 words.  Its ok to jettison superfluous bits, but there are things that I can't reword.  It would be like cutting off a limb!

14:11
WooHoo!!! I have finished TH3!!! Aldous Huxley can kiss my ass!!!

I have printed out the Marxist Theory information from the OWL Purdue site and am ready to thrash this.  My main annoyance is that a few days ago, I had a lot of boxed stuff brought to our cottage and it is all sitting in my office straight in front of my wipe board - so planning anything will be impossible until it is shifted. To add to my annoyance, hot on the heels of the last batch of bug, I now have a throat infection.  I am swilling fruit smoothies and echinacea to combat the worst of it.  I have a feeling that most of this will shift when I finish the lot in June.

Back to the grindstone :-/

16:34
Something has cropped up and things have not gone well - cannot reveal exactly why, suffice to say that on top of everything else our finances maybe screwed.  Heart and motivation in my boots - because of other personal matters, it has been a horrible, horrible week. I need to get back on track.

20:46
Because of unforeseen setbacks, I have decided to organise a more structured plan for the latter half of this assignment.  Right now, I can't concentrate on anything else.  I think I have over done it somewhat and need to recover with an early night :-(((

I have blasted through Brave New World, annotating, theorising and now I am ready to begin. I am to use 1,000 words each theory and will start with Psychoanalytical as it will specifically feed into the Marxist.  I have already planned the first half as to why the citizens are kept in a perpetual state of pseudo happiness and link it to Freud's theories etc. I would love to say more, but as most of it should end up in my essay, I don't want the problem of having to cite my LJ account when they run my stuff through a system check.

Onward :-)

11:58
Well, I have cranked out about 362 words and unsurprisingly, I have all of my old 'A' level books in front of me (lucky really - I was going to give them to a first year BSc Psychology student, but forgot to drop them off.  Just as well, considering).  Obviously, I have to use Freud's stages of childhood development, but I think I can use Jung's archetypes which is fascinating. You can story board absolutely ALL of the figures in your own life.  I think it will be VERY interesting when I move towards creative writing full time post BA.

13:27
493 but with a lot of research going on. Desk is awash with paper and stuck on side of PC tower, the book stand is crammed with 2 books and propping up another. I am really driven to do this because it is Brave New World AND Psychoanalytical.  Later might be difficult when I tackle Marxism, but I think it will be OK if i deal with it as a social/economic project, with Marxist theory thrown in.

19:52
I have topped a thousand, but have saved off the brief Marxist observations and pasted them into Plan 2 (because when I have two parts to an essay, I couldn't see the wood for the trees).  I am not down to 748 and I am nowhere near finished entering the quotes let alone expand on them.  I have a feeling I will have to cherry-pick the best and kick the rest to the kerb.

21:54
I am stuck into Freud's Psychosexual Stages and the Id/Ego/Superego. Messy, or what?

I am back up to 898 words and I haven't touched Jung's archetypes yet (and would he complain if I did? :-P).  I think I am about 50% done on the Psychoanalytical, need to concentrate on the rest of it, then pare back to 1,000 before I move onto Plan 2 (Marxist).

Back tomorrow :-)

Well, this is the possibility - I have read most of Brave New World and I have some notes on it.  If I am to pull this off, I WILL have to lock myself in.  None of the reading list titles appealed to me (Virginia Woolf The Waves = too complicated for theory at this level; D.H Lawrence Sons and Lovers = read this back in September - interesting, but doesn't hold me; Margaret Attwood The Handmaid's Tale = want to read it, haven't had time). Nothing doing with the printer at the moment, jammed again and it needs Hubby to fix it, so this afternoon, I might just read through it and annotate as I go.  Plus I need to plunder OWL/Purdue site for Theory definitions.

Literary Theories - https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

I am concerned at this late stage that I have bitten off rather more than I can chew, however it does interest me and I like a challenge (like a hole in the head).