Kam

Red Bull

UFO sighting

screw rejection

after dark

This is definitely true. (Though, actually, I'm hoping to try to bridge that gap a bit by publishing fiction and being an academic...but we'll see how that goes haha) I guess this makes sense, as sad as it is. It's sad because I feel like it could be considered a kind of prejudice, to assume that someone is a certain way because they went to a certain school. But I guess for every person that (however irrationally) hates an Ivy, there's an Ivy student/grad who is the stereotype.

baked potato

yerba infusion

It seems kind of silly to me to despise any school, including those with the best reputations. I don't have anything against Salinger (and The Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books, fwiw), but I do think that's a very opinionated statement that really doesn't make much sense (at least to me, at this moment). As for most of the great writers not attending Ivy League schools...that's all well and good, but since most of us here are looking to be scholars... And, personally, I know novelists (published and soon-to-be published) who enjoyed their schooling, and others who haven't had schooling past high school. I know some who had schooling, but don't use anything they learned for their writing, and I know others who didn't have the higher education, but are self-taught. It's all very personal, and I think the desire to be an academic is also personal. If an Ivy League school happens to be where someone believes they could receive the best training to become a novelist, poet, scholar, artist, or whatever, I don't see why anyone else should feel the need, or think they have the right, to judge that. Actually, if I'm going to be completely honest here, I just want to know why a large percentage of people on this board are so anti-Ivy League. It's as if half the people here have been personally wronged by all the students at all 8 schools or something. I just don't get it. And sorry about this post. I'm sure it makes no sense. My confusion regarding the Ivy League thing has been building up for a couple weeks, and I guess Salinger got me all worked up. haha

(Sometimes criticism moves me to tears, but not in the good way. lol) It's always great to re-read something and to remember just why you love literature as much as you do, why you want to work with it in a professional manner, and (maybe most importantly) why you're going through this whole process. I haven't read anything that has evoked a strong emotion in me lately, but your post reminded me that it does happen. P.S. Have you read Jonson's Eastward Hoe? Some parts of it are actually laugh-out-loud funny haha

There's still time! Don't give up yet. Even if it doesn't work out this year, you can try again next year with a bit more experience. I do hope things work out for you this year, though.

child's play

career fair

weird science

quantum leap

frog toes

poison apple

Halloween candy

last night

This is the copy I have: http://www.amazon.com/Gawain-Green-Knight-Broadview-Literary/dp/0921149921/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266867501&sr=8-9 It's the original text with a facing translation. Both versions were very clear, imho.

Oooh, okay, I understand the dilemma now. (I had thought that you were reading the children's literature from a medieval angle and could still call it a medieval paper.) I'd say that expanding a shorter paper into a longer 15-25 page one would be your best bet. For one thing, you've already had some feedback from a professor (I assume), so you might know what worked and what didn't. Also, considering your situation and difficulty accessing materials you'd want to use, expanding a paper would cut down on the amount of extra research you'd need to do in order to get produce something really great. And, of course, Gawain is awesome (the poem and the knight) and I automatically support any and all writing about it/him. lol

(First: Thanks to everyone for all the ideas/thoughts so far! I'm definitely creating a just-in-case mental list.) @ Branwen: I kind of wonder how much completely changing a writing sample really helps. I think that improving the one you have is good, but I would assume that schools don't expect your writing sample to match exactly to what you want to study in graduate school. That's what you SoP describes. My thesis advisor stressed the importance of a well-written, and highly-polished writing sample (he actually said that between poorly written writing samples and unclear SoP, a LOT of applications get rejected each year. My school gets a lot of applications and I'd assume they're from people who are/believe to be well qualified otherwise. But, from what he told me, the writing samples tend to be lacking.) but never implied that the subject of my writing sample has to match that of my intended graduate focus. Subfield match is important, of course, but other than that I think they assume you might want to do something slightly different.

That makes complete sense. I applied to a variety of programs this year, based on different factors. I guess whether or not a Medieval Studies program would be good depends on what you want to do after receiving a degree. (I'd think Comp Lit would be much more forgiving because you usually have a primary literature focus and depending on your background it in you could probably get positions in the related department.)

Is anyone else applying to any Medieval Studies programs this year?? There are lots of Medievalists on the board, but they seem to be concentrated in English Lit.

night light

credit card