Another Hour of Writing: Testing at Hogwarts

I did the same type of drafting as last time but with a new subject that I want to have in my paper. I just kind of typed every thought I had about this area as soon as I had it. It will seem random and crazy and everything, but I felt like I got a lot of my brain goo into a tangible draft and it will help me organize myself this weekend! I didn't get everything I wanted, but I am getting somewhere! 

(Also, I think I spelled Weasley wrong like 8 times in here.... Please forgive me HP fanatics! I am only human!)

A Twist on Harry Potter

I actually took to social media for help deciding the book to write about. I was given a lot of great suggestions from many of my friends. (It also helped me add quite a bit to my TO READ list!) But the most significant piece of advice was "write what you know." And, if there is one thing I know a lot about, it is Harry Potter. 

Same here, buddy. Same here. 

Little Pre-Essay Thing for Wit!

Okay, so, I was always told that the start of an essay was considered 'word vomit' and, boy, did this little rough draft live up to that name.

   Vivian Bearing is an extremely focused and highly respected scholar and professor who specializes in the poetry of John Donne. All her life, Vivian has used her study of Donne to maneuver through life. With such focus on her studies, Vivian doesn’t actually have a life outside of the poetry of Donne. After finding out she is terminally ill with stage 4 ovarian cancer, she is faced with the questions about life, death, and salvation that Donne so famously attempted to tackle. Jason, the extremely driven and impersonal fellow assigned to her research driven treatment plan, was one of her students. His vivacity for the research and study of Vivian’s cancer mirrors Vivian’s own determination and focus for study of poetry. Although Vivian and Jason are both extremely educated, candid, and pretentious in every other aspect of their lives, the recurring interaction of “how are you feeling today?” illustrates the inability of the characters to cope with interpersonal connections and their struggle to escape this handicap.

Writing Plan and Record: Kayla Nelson

1/18/2016 11:57 PM:

After rereading both poems, it was clear that this essay would be brimming with comparisons between the two. I want to focus primarily on the similar language use and the different extended metaphor's that John Donne uses in both poems (the compass and the armies). I also noticed that, in different parts of the poems, there are different references to virtue. I am going to analyze how John Donne uses virtue to further his ideas and make his points.

1/18/2016 12:12 PM:

Being exposed to the aural form has offered more points to consider. Hearing it read out loud I was able to notice more of the rhymes at the end of lines and in the middle of lines as well. It also helped me to understand how smoothly the lines flow and the mastery it required to create. I was also able to recognize a few more literary elements that I had not noticed before. I will be focusing greatly on John Donne's language and the devices that he uses.

1/18/16 4:51 PM:

1/18/2016 7:45 PM:

It took me about 2.5 hours to write my essay. And, as I generally do with my writing, I am getting a good night sleep and rereading, editing, and, basically, revamping the whole entire thing tomorrow. I will update the time it took tomorrow!

1/19/2016 11:30 PM:

After editing and looking over my paper again, my greatest concerns lay with redundancy, successful analysis, and flow. I am having a hard time delving deep into a topic without feeling as though I am giving extremely redundant and shallow analysis. I did feel that I found a lot of material to work with, however! The longer I studied, the more things I found to analyze! 

Preliminary Formal Analysis AKA Reading a Poem 500 Times

    Although daunting, this is excellent practice for the literary criticisms to come. These observations about form from the close reading of John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" will aid immensely in setting the framework for a literary critique. Here are the ten observations I listed:

1. Genre/Subgenre. This is a rhymed poem with nine stanzas. It may be considered a lyrical poem due to its emotional nature, rhyming, and general musicality. The musicality is evident in the line, "if they be two, they are two so / as stiff twin compasses are two; / thy soul, the fixed foot makes no show / to move but doth, if the other do."
2. Narrator/Persona. Based on history, we can assume that the narrator of this poem was John Donne. When he wrote this poem, he was leaving to go to Europe, leaving his wife behind in England. He wrote this for her before he left, making his persona and voice far more personal and touching, as shown in the last two lines of the poem: "Thy firmness makes my circle just, / and makes me end where I begun."

It's Been A While

Kayla is an extremely particular writer. Conditions must be perfect for her creative processes to begin. And, her high school Advanced Placement Literature class has instilled in her a false sense of security. Although she did manage to learn a lot in this class about literary dialogue and criticism, it was also 4 years ago. The English classes she has taken up until this point have been “back to the basics” and, because of this, Kayla managed to excel. Now, with higher expectations, higher reading levels, and more intense grading, she feels overwhelmed by the prospects of a literary criticism. Out of practice and suffering from intense perfectionism, it is sometimes difficult for Kayla to even write a sentence because the fear of using a less than perfect word or phrase is debilitating.

Finding the Magic

I am a bit of a romantic. I tend to move through life with the intense expectation that everything will turn out beautiful, complete, and magical. And, to me, the notion of a “literary life” is romantic. A life full of literature can be nothing except beautiful, complete, and magic.

Living a literary life is one of exploration, romance, thrill, suspense, discovery, heartbreak, and laughter. It also means that each of these things can be experienced without leaving the cozy confines of your bedroom comforter.