Sub Rosa

When I did my Victorian modules last year, I really wanted to tackle Dracula and compare it with the earlier Frankenstein and use other comparatives. I was persuaded to study either/or A Dolls House/The Yellow Wallpaper and compare it with The Bell Jar.  Basically, because of prolonged absences re Hubby's illness, it was better to tackle something I had read and use the feminist theory module to work on.  I did it pretty well, but felt sad that I couldn't put my reading of Dracula to good use.

( Books for Monsters/Madness major dissertation )

I can see another psychoanalytical/feminist theory stance here, possibly even post colonial - there is also something called 'Queer Theory' too - though I haven't really got any knowledge of it.

Onward to tomorrow - am not going to uni as I have been a bit poorly over the weekend and need to catch up :-/

I am done with The Yellow Wallpaper for now - I just want to get advice and shelve it until I have started the next subject.  I am college tomorrow and need to chat to principle lecturer and the other lecturer and gen up on Post Modernism sooner rather than later.

I need a break - less than six weeks left now to complete it all.

00:07 (Monday Morning)
I had a sudden flush of inspiration and really manage to pull most of it together.  Feeling TONS better, because it is more like the essay that I know I am capable of.

Now it's time for bed, said Zebedee

* ba-doiiing! *

19:38
Managed to do a staggering 1,049 words and a further 2,000 plus of my running commentary of understanding. I am hoping to mesh some of it into the essay. We then went out for an Italian (rather than staying in and watching one - I taped Inspector Montalbano instead. Wonder if I would ever get into Scandi Noir in the same capacity?).

After watching A Doll's House, I decided that I couldn't write an assignment on it.  Possibly because I was drawing too many uncomfortable parallels. I may compare A Doll's House as a secondary reading; it just made me unexpectedly unhappy very deep down. So Instead, I am doing the Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. I find the narrative voice less irritating, even though the script is more harrowing in places.  For those not familiar with this story, it is about a woman mental decline from post natal depression, made ten times worse by her husband and supporting family.  In short she is imprisoned in a bedroom allegedly for her own good.

Story is HERE

I have also changed my Romantics choice - I did Blake over two years ago and I think I will just regurgitate the stuff I did from Access and I don't really want to do this.  So, I have gone for Anna Barbauld and her poems on autumn and spring. Still working on film script and I have to prepare my ILS rough draft for the lecturer, who is coming down from Plymouth (she will be assessing and recommending what I do for the major dissertation for the third).

It's a bit Ren and Stimpy, but it's a quirky angle that I appreciate.  I have been digging through Youtube and found music that may go with my script.

( Kevin MacLeod Music Score )

21:​12
I have edited the words I need to use, tomorrow I am going to story board it and then consider the script directions.

This meant to be at the planning stage, so it is indeed still messy. However, I am finding that I want to fill the gaps, whereas I need to find pithy quotes and build arguments out of that.  Every quote needs to mean something more profound and as a general rule, your response is meant to be far in excess of the original quote. I am also consciously aware that I have to not just write in the third person, guessing what the author wanted.  Keep to genre/character etc.

This is going to be a long weekend, but I need to get at least 2/3rds of it done, with a planner evidently in place.  We are not meant to submit traditional rough drafts anymore - the Mothership wants the lecturers to have the synopsis only, not a well-as-can-be-expected finished product.

17:25
I have nearly done a third of the essay, but I have been stuck rearranging the same 400 words - how can that be? Sometimes it is about compounding and meshing sentences, as I have been guilty of repeating myself. It is almost like my observations are singing together, except they are not harmonising; they are in tune but not in time with each other.  Deeply frustrating.  I want to get this emailed to HP on Monday morning, so she can see which track I am heading down.

21:23
My entire essay is only just over 900 words, which means I have only written 300 since yesterday - what is WRONG with me??? I really can't concentrate at the moment.  Other than LJ, I have largely stayed off of social media.  I haven't even broken the 1,000 word/33.3 percent barrier. Arrrggggghhhhh!  Back to work!!!!

22:40
Well, I got as far as 1,021 which is marginally better than a couple of hours back. I am not sure quite where I am going with this. Turned Classic FM back on, because I became too distractable and started to play games on my phone instead.