Dr. Old Bill

Two weeks from today!

No word from them, but in light of their past malfeasance in that regard, I'm just assuming rejection.

One of them is indeed! Very glad to hear she's fantastic! Honestly, since I made my last post, I've been talking with a good friend who is a recent grad student, and I'm coming to realize that it might be best if I go down the early modern road regardless. There are some good reasons for it -- too complex to get into here -- but I'm getting the distinct feeling that everything is working out for the best.

I just received the itinerary for the UMD open house, and they have scheduled me for meetings with three faculty members. Much to my surprise (but not disappointment), all three are firmly Renaissance scholars, as opposed to poetry / poetics faculty. I'm trying not to read into this too much, but I'm guessing this reflects their interest in me as an early modernist (generally), as opposed to a prosodist specifically. I don't think I'm going to go against any particular "flow" to reorient myself firmly as a prosodist in the program, though I wonder how much leeway one has in this regard. I'm certain I would be happy doing work that is less focused on transhistorical poetics and more focused on Renaissance literature, yet it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter?

Oh, that's definitely the thrust of the show as well. Don't get me wrong -- zombies eating people is part of the show's appeal -- but it is definitely more about the inevitable societal shifts that come in the face of an apocalypse. I'm not saying it's high art (it's not), but it does have some intellectual value amidst the admittedly enjoyable gore-fest.

It's SO TRUE. One week ago today, it was 20 degrees here, and there was half a foot of snow on the ground. Yesterday it was in the high 60s, and the long-term forecast shows nothing below 50. While I can't rightly say I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, I also can't deny that I am typically in far better spirits when the weather is warm and the days are longer. It also means that I can get back into my post-class-day-commute routine of smoking a cigar with my windows down on the drive home while I listen to music. It combines literally four things that I love: driving, listening to music, smoking cigars, and feeling the warm breeze in my hair. Heaven.

I'm...uh...catching up on The Walking Dead. I watched the first season when it was on, and was underwhelmed toward the end, and never bothered with the following few seasons. My wife started rewatching it about a year ago, and I caught an episode or too before actively watching the second half of last season...and getting hooked. So I've gone back to watch season 2, 3, and the first half of 4...and I'm wondering why I lost interest in the first place. It's definitely a guilty pleasure, but then I've always been a closet horror fan.

Yes, I'm weaning myself off of GC too. Slowly. But I do check in a few times per day! I still have moments of abject despondency over not getting into a Ph.D. program, but most of me is just glad to be wrapping up my final semester of undergrad, and looking forward to moving to Maryland, starting the next phase of my journey etc. I've had the week off (spring break), but have been trying to get ahead a little bit with my reading and writing. Just wrapped up a paper taking a critic to task (via Aristotle) for his dismissal of Fletcher's contributions to The Two Noble Kinsmen. I'm also catching up on previous seasons of The Walking Dead and am currently in the process of doing a bit of spring cleaning at home. Oh, and trying to get on track with my diet after a couple of relapses that involved ice cream, sushi, and may or may not have included a meal of chicken and waffles at IHOP... All in all, I think I'm doing well though. It will take awhile for the disappointment to dissipate, and given that I still haven't 100% gotten over getting laid off at a mediocre job in 2009, I may never truly be able to think about this application season without a tinge of sadness. But onward and upward...and go Terps!

Just thought I'd mention that I got a very kind, personal email from Nathan Mead at Northwestern in response to a query I made a few weeks ago about possible reasons for not getting accepted etc. While he couldn't give me any specifics, it was still nice and thorough...and it's truly amazing how good it feels to receive any sort of personal contact from a program. It's the kind of thing that can certainly sway me into reapplying for a program.

Thanks folks. This has all (literally) been helpful. Nothing reads as harsh, I promise! My only wish -- and it is a fervent one -- is that I'd known this back in August or September. It's funny, because I read books on SOPs, had several people look at it,* and instinctively felt it was strong. In fact, I worried (and one of my LOR writers also worried) that it was too specific. So as with most aspects of this cycle, it has just been an expensive, time-consuming, heart-wrenching lesson...but it is a lesson. Hopefully I'll be able to put the experience to good use in my next application cycle. *And like Jhefflol says, that's certainly not a knock on anyone who did take the time to look it over and comment at length!

No no, not at all. This is all very helpful, trust me. I'm grateful for the insight.

Sure. My SOP starts by discussing how an interest in writing poetry in traditional forms (and getting good enough to garner a lot of publication etc.) led to an interest in studying prosody. It then goes into specific study interests that were fostered in undergrad, before getting to the meat and potatoes of my focus: "As a sonneteer myself, this has sparked an intense desire to study the form in greater detail. In this regard, my ideal course of graduate study would involve a close examination of sonnet origins, beginning with Giacomo da Lentini, who is often credited with “inventing” the sonnet, and proceeding through Petrarch and other Italian lyric poets before arriving at Wyatt’s anglicization of the form. To do this, I will start by learning Italian prior to matriculation, which should not be difficult given my current reading knowledge of Spanish. The transition of the sonnet from Italian to English will warrant significant study, particularly in determining the difficulties associated with going from a “rhyme-rich” language into one that is comparatively “rhyme-poor.” This element, more than any other, prompted the change in form from the classic Italian/Petrarchan sonnet into the far more forgiving English/Shakespearean construct and its increased number of rhyme pairings. From there, I am most interested in tracing the evolution of sonnet form, as well as its associated themes and tropes, through to present day, and I anticipate fielding a wide range of opinions and perspectives on precisely how that evolution progressed. My hope is to gather enough insights on this subject to develop a unifying theory that can be used to not only explain the endurance of the form, but also project where it might be heading in the future." In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have opened my SOP by talking about my own poetic background, regardless of its legitimacy. I did get a lot of feedback from current and former grad students on my SOP (as well as my WS), and it seemed to pass muster for everyone, but now that I've gone through the cycle, I have to give some harder thought to what I should improve. This is obviously rather premature, given that I'll be spending the next two years going through an M.A. program, meaning that it will be a year and a half before I need to revisit this...but it can't hurt (much) to start thinking about it now, while it's still fresh (and a little painful).

So in the process of deconstructing what went wrong for me this application season, I suspect it might have had a lot to do with my choice of specialization. I focused on "transhistorical prosody," with a particular interest in the evolution of sonnet form, grounded in the early modern era. The problem, I think, is that because it was only tenuously rooted in the early modern era, it may have turned off a lot of the "pure" early modernist POIs I mentioned in my SOPs. Likewise, some of the prosodists may have been turned off by my interest in the early modern era... Ultimately, while I can't say for certain, I have a feeling that for some programs at least, my specialization was too broad. My WS was an analysis of intentionality in perceived errors in three of Shakespeare's sonnets...so it seemed to work well with what I was selling in my SOP, but it's hard to say... Anyhow, I suppose my question for the rest of you recent acceptances is fairly basic, but...what brought you to your specialization, and how did you arrive there? Also, how did you frame that interest in your SOPs? I am, by nature, more of a generalist. I legitimately enjoy a wide range of literature from diverse time periods. A specialization in prosody was basically because it's something I can specialize in, simply because I already have a lot of specialized knowledge (which I was able to demonstrate in my SOPs by being a widely published formal poet). Nevertheless, I certainly feel comfortable with a few other periods and subgenres...it's just a case of finding out what is appealing to a wide range of programs and certain POIs etc. And as more than one professor has told me, it doesn't really matter what you state as your interest to get into your program, so long as it gets you in to the program... I wouldn't go that far, of course. My integrity wouldn't let me. But the point is well-taken -- a lot of the process is about looking as appealing as possible, regardless of what your ultimate focus of study happens to be. In any event, I'll cut this off here, but I'm legitimately curious about the question of specialization and how it is arrived at...

I actually preferred Designing Women to Golden Girls, though my wife was definitely a Golden Girls fan. She's still close friends with a few of her high school classmates, and they have a whole host of Golden Girls in-jokes that I only half understand...

Great to hear, Megeen! We should definitely exchange PMs / emails etc. over the spring and summer. I'm not in the Comp Lit realm, but I'm sure we'll have some classes together at some point, plus I'm guessing the cohort will be fairly close, judging by what I've heard.

Bumping this up because it has been a couple of weeks and I'm still curious.

Yeah, I got an email last night (also at 6:20) telling me I was officially rejected. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I can't imagine how drawn out this process would have been if I were not on GC -- I would have been waiting until just yesterday to hear from Vanderbilt, with no idea of my chances...

Y'all are making me feel old. I used to watch both Designing Women and Golden Girls when they were originally on air...

...is this news? I don't mean to sound snarky, but there's really nothing about these charts that hasn't been stated (seemingly ad nauseum) elsewhere here in recent weeks. And I think that's the third time I've seen that Slate article as well. I just don't understand why this needs yet another thread.

Yeah, I'm right there with you, my friend. I had the opportunity to write a paper on Auden the other day, and it felt good to get back to the kind of writing I love to do most -- analytical, comparative writing. It's not the modern vogue in academia, but it's what I do best, and what I enjoy. Writing it reminded me that I am a strong and engaging writer, and that I do have a passion for this field. I had a couple of "chore" papers last month that had me doubting myself, but getting back to the kind of work I love convinced me otherwise. It's a path worth pursuing as long as I can.

So I figured it was time to email my LOR writers today to let them know that a.) I struck out of Ph.D. programs, and b.) I'll be pursuing an M.A. at UMD. It actually makes things tough again, because all of them were certain I would have received multiple offers. "I'm frankly much surprised that programs did not gobble you up" wrote one, and confirmed that his letter "strongly and sincerely recommended you for admission." I'm realizing that that's the most difficult part of all of this. I can deal with my own disappointment easily enough. I can put it in its place and bring it out to scare me if I start getting lazy about things. But the disappointment of others makes me feel an inch tall. It's actually quite amazing how I've generally made my peace with the situation, only to have these little reminders crop up, and carry with them the incredulity of my not getting in anywhere.

Yeah, it's been five years, so it's probably time for me to do a Buffy rewatch at some point as well. There are some legitimately awful episodes ("Beer Bad" sticks out...), but the good ones and even the average ones make it worthwhile. If I remember correctly, Hypervodka has done some academic work involving Buffy... Incidentally, Nicholas Brendon (Xander) was just in an enjoyable indie sci-fi / thriller / horror film called Coherence. Definitely worth watching if you like mind-bending...er...sci-fi / thriller / horrors.

One of the shitty things about GC being totally an online community is that we can't all go out for a nice big blow-off-some-steam night of drinking and camaraderie! I would gladly buy all of you a round or two of the drink of your choice. For all the talk about how GC could be a bad influence, I really don't know what I would have done without it. Rejectees and acceptees alike, you've all been splendid, and deserve hugs, chocolate, and booze galore.