The Five Stages of Paperwriting (And a Few Challenges Along the Way...)

The idea for this came up while I was (and still potentially am) in a particular stage:

1. Procrastination: "I have plenty of time for this paper!  No need to write it now!" See also: denial.
2. Panic: "Crap, I have no idea what I'm doing!"
3. Insanity: *searches frantically for anything possible to use for this paper*
4. Adrenaline:  The real productivity, usually the night before the paper is due
5. Crash: The loopiness once the paper is submitted.

As I suspect you can tell, I'm still in the second (and third) stage of paper writing.  I am really nervous about this paper.  I have a compulsive need to finish papers early... except that I haven't even started writing this one yet.  Sure, I have some ideas, but I have no tangible proof that I've done anything.  No drafts, no outlines, not even any documents of cohesive notes.  (I know what you're all going to say - that it's only Sunday night, and I have another five days to write this paper.)

Let's start with the rant of primary sources.  I don't hate primary sources - they are crucial for our own interpretation.  What I don't like, however, is that the nine volume series of letters HAS NO INDEX.  None whatsoever.  Gordon S. Haight, do you honestly expect me to read through the entire volume of letters to come up with anything (actually, not that much...)?  Apparently.  Do you realize that I'm a college student trying to write a paper in five days along with other life events, like classes, work, and sleep?  Apparently not.

Also frustrating is the lack of relevant information in my primary sources at all.  I can't find any mention of her and Isaac as children in any letters.  I also can't find much pertaining to their relationship at all.

Finally, more of a question than a rant or grumble: is there a "right" combination of sources (primary and secondary), text, and our own interpretation for this paper?  I don't expect anything along the lines of a magic formula, but I'm not entirely sure how to put this paper together.  

Okay, I'm done ranting.  I'll try to be less obnoxious in the future.  Have a lovely few days before class, and good luck to you all.

Researching Discoveries

I could really use a thesis carrel for this class...

1. So many books!  I came to the realization that if I don't take the book in question out of the library, I'll never look at it again, since I'll have to put in all of the effort to find it again.  So I checked a bunch of books out.  My arms are starting to hurt.  I'll be happy to lend a few of them out, as long as I get what I need out of them too (and that they don't get lost or returned late).
2. I'm really going to need to figure out a "research spot" since I have so many books and eventually will have enough paper sources to wallpaper my room.  Too bad that's a fire hazard.  I have no idea where all of my paper is going to go.  
3. I definitely need more time working on articles. I'm still working on my narrowing-down skills.  Going through the Wellesley catalog alone was a pain, despite my exclusion of dissertations, language selection, subject selection, and other things.  Any interesting articles, anyone?
4. I'm learning how to use Zotero, but it's still a bit wonky.  I'm not entirely sure how the citation aspect works, since it keeps asking me silly questions.  I think it's aimed towards compiling articles and online sources more than paper ones.  I'm sure it'll get easier.
5. The realization that adding chocolate soy milk to hot chocolate is delicious.  Tea is also a good choice, but that is not a realization, that is a fact.

Why "The Mill on the Floss?"

Well, several reasons, actually.  The most important being that I wanted to read a new book.  I thought that should I choose a book I already read, I would come into this class with preconceived notions about the book, and I would not be able to take the time to fall in love with it.  I have already read a number of books on the list (all of the ENG272 books and Great Expectations).  To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Dickens, so that crossed a number of books of the list.  I really like George Eliot; I fell in love with the 1994 BBC "Middlemarch" as a kid (my parents are really into period dramas - it's a pretty fun way to grow up when you are pre-English major).  But, I've already read Middlemarch, so that was out.  Then I tried to read Adam Bede and Daniel Deronda and didn't get through enough to enjoy them.  So Mill on the Floss it is.

And now (spoiler alerts), here are the literary reasons I chose this novel.  You may want to look at a summary - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/millonthefloss/summary.html

I really like that I'm not dealing with a serious romance.  Don't get me wrong, I adore love stories, but I don't think I could have committed to a semester with a love story.  I would probably get bored quickly and start cursing at the characters for being stupid.  Maggie and Tom are a love story in a sense, an unrequited, naive kind of love on Maggie's part, and a conditional, idiotic kind on Tom's.  Tom has a distinct sense of right and wrong and only loves Maggie if she's doing the right thing.  Otherwise, he is incredibly cruel to her, and not in the "I'm-only-doing-this-because-I-love-you" kind of way.  Personally, I think Tom is an idiot, but that's besides the point.

Secondly, I like having an intelligent female protagonist.  Maggie is known not for her beauty, but for her brain.  Our first encounter with her occurs when she is talking to Mr. Riley about the book she is reading... a book about the devil.  As she grows up, Eliot describes her as "brown" skinned.  So we actually associate Maggie and her "brown" (according to her aunt, Mrs. Pullet) atypical beauty (according to her cousin's suitor - though later Maggie's - Steven Guest) with the devil, thus intelligence and the devil - but does Eliot want us to do that?  Would Eliot rather make us redefine intelligence?  Hmm... questions... though I'd like to think that Eliot was portraying a hormonal teenager.

Okay, that was long and a bit too profound for an introductory post.  Now to stop procrastinating on my Latin homework.  As much as I love the internet, Horace is calling.