So I've been reading all the posts with great pleasure -- even the ones that vividly enact your frustrations! I know I shouldn't take pleasure in your frustration, but I do, and here's why. The obsession with minor points, the changing of directions, the worrying over whether there's enough evidence for one thing or another, the panic over whether something has to be in (or left out), the sudden inspiration (hey! North and South is about consumer culture!), the desire to throw all the books out a window, irritation at a weirdly organized index, the picture of a hamster in what appears to be a bicycle helmet, the need for a bowl of noodles -- all these are tokens of genuine scholarly inquiry. When my first-year students in Writing 125 do their 'research papers,' I can tell that they aren't ready for this kind of total absorption in the research process. They can only take so much of it because so many aspects of research are truly thankless. No pay-off. I know what it's like to read 100 pages and take one phrase from it. That's a true representation of the process. And so is reading 100 pages and taking 1000 phrases from it and feeling totally overwhelmed. Worse, you are probably already thinking about this project all the time. Research does that to you. It latches on. That's why I love it so much, and appreciate your willingness to go down this road.
On a lighter note -- yesterday, while I was teaching Jane Eyre, I referred to Celine Varens (a character in the novel) as Celine Dion. Believe me when I say the class laughed at me and not with me. My heart will go on.
So finish up your papers and get on with fall break.
I want to see a movie this weekend. What should I see?
Yrs,
Researchteacher
