2. Share an update on your final project. How is it going? What are you enjoying and/or struggling with?
At the moment, my final project is going okay - I haven't necessarily made as much progress as I would have liked, but I am not concerned about falling behind. I'm recognizing that the research process will be tedious, but I feel ready! I've decided that my topic of choice is the history of tragic love stories: where and when they originated, how this became a popular genre, and whatever else I stumble across in my research. I currently have a few primary sources that are tragedies. I'm planning to read a bit more into the plot of them to make sure they include the love story aspect which is crucial to my specific topic. Something I am still struggling a little with is figuring out how to get all the information I need out of a source without reading it entirely. I understand that the point of this project isn't to read four more books, so I'm trying to keep that in mind and am reading synopses when possible. Another challenge I am facing is finding these tragic love stories in places other than the Mediterranean and Western Europe. Authors like Shakespeare and Aeschylus are famous authors who dominate this genre, but are from England and Greece, respectively. I'm predicting that the main challenge for me during this research process will be finding these types of story from other places around the world. While this seems hard, it also seems fun because it's totally new for me! I haven't really read, or heard of, any tragic love stories from Asia, Africa, or South America. I'm excited to see where this takes me and to learn about some cool stories!
Hey Audrey! I am having similar progress with my own research. I love that idea of tragic love stories, and have similar struggles trying to get a good idea about the book without actually reading it. Sounds like you are doing great so far! I wonder if you can use the story that was alluded to in Home Fire, Layla and Majnun or if it won't count? Good luck🍀!
ReplyDeleteI am having similar progress on research—I am not as far along as I would like, but I'm sure it will come together in time. I too find it difficult/tedious to research and connect these texts without fully reading each in its entirety.
ReplyDeleteHey Audrey! I think we're all going through a lot of similar struggles! One thing I especially identified with was having trouble finding sources from outside of the Western world. I wish you luck with this, and if you have any pro tips be sure to let me know :)
ReplyDeleteHey Audrey, I'm glad that you're sharing some of your struggles! I definitely relate to some of the things you are going through with your research right now. I would definitely recommend skimming your sources if possible just to save you the headache of having to read everything! I wish you the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm also a bit confused on how big the primary sources have to be. Especially for me, as my topic involves entire plays. I'm meeting with Michelle Tuesday to get some of these questions sorted out. Good luck on the project!
ReplyDeleteHey Audrey! I have similar thoughts! I am excited to dive into literature and theatre from culture I am not as familiar with, too! I am sure this opportunity will be great for expanding our knowledge of what literature is as a whole.
ReplyDeleteHey, Audrey! I agree that it can be difficult to dissect a source without seriously diving into it. I'm definintely not as far along as I'd like to be. However, I agree that it can be exciting to look at literature that is not familiar to us because it is not necessarily Western.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I'm still a little confused as to how we are going to get the information we need from these sources without reading four more books. The process seems pretty daunting when I think about it. If you have any ideas on how to get the most out of a narrative based book without actually reading the narrative, I'm all ears!
ReplyDeleteThe challenge of finding non-Western literary sources is an example of how Eurocentric academic study and scholarship continues to be...
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