Jump to content

mnemosyne

Members
  • Posts

    12
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Not Telling
  • Program
    English Literature PhD

mnemosyne's Achievements

Decaf

Decaf (2/10)

2

Reputation

  1. Same here, mine is still pending.Cripes, how are the decisions being entered? Alphabetically by last name of applicants? Well then, I have some time to wait--my last name begins with an S! Why must UW-Madison play with our hearts?
  2. I feel your pain! My perception may be a bit skewed, but I walked out of the room with the distinct feeling that I had taken an exam on early modern British poetry and grammar. My biggest surprise was at the amount of Old English translation required. The same goes for Middle English, but I am much more comfortable with it than Old English. As for the grammar component, I mostly had to answer questions pertaining to poetry with heinous, tortuous lines.
  3. I took the GRE Lit test today myself. To describe my day, I turn to netspeak for its concision: FML. The biggest FML moment today was when my glasses broke five minutes before I had to leave for my test. I'm blind as a bat: I can't see the big E on the vision chart. I also have nasty astigmatism. Needless to say, driving and testing with broken glasses was great fun. Does anyone else have any stories they would like to share?
  4. I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to provide such thoughtful and thorough responses. I shall try my best to address them all without rambling verbiage. I realize that my inquiry may have been posed unprofessionally. My intent was never to diminish the writing sample to a demonstration of supposed ability. I never considered graduate school until this past year. Considering that, I didn't have any clear path of future study when I wrote the paper I wish to use. Looking back on it, I do see some threads that unite to what has finally taken shape as my proposed studies. While it focused on gender subjectivity in a sonnet, part of it dealt with how a poet-speaker constructed their identity in relation to their creative act. I wish to study manuscript/print cultures and identity construction, so that portion can serve as a springboard. I believe I will present myself as early modern so I can straddle the line between Renaissance and 18th Century. I have been exceedingly lucky to have a research assistant position, and that has been the biggest impetus for the questions I wish to pursue. This is also why I feel I shouldn't agonize more than necessary over my writing sample because I also have that important experience to describe in the SoP. Once again, thank you for all of the advice, enouragement, and caution.
  5. How condemning is it to submit a writing sample that is not in your proposed field of study? I’m suddenly wavering between two fields. The only paper that I would consider submitting as my writing sample is a Renaissance piece, yet I’ve suddenly realized my research interests may be better applied/explored in the 18th century. I ask because the revelation is sudden, I’m applying this fall, and I doubt I have the time to write something completely different that will achieve the same quality—I am working three jobs, studying for and taking my GRE and subject test, and finishing up my undergraduate degree with a full course load. Perhaps I’m just being naive about this whole situation. I feel it would be of more benefit to spend time studying for GREs and writing my SoP than writing a lackluster paper. My writing sample does what it should do—demonstrates that I can write, engage with theory, and am capable of complex thinking. Has anyone done this and been successful? Or is it equivalent to death?
  6. If I pursue this, I believe I would do it from the slant of History of the Book. I'm interested in the preservation and digitization of texts. Of course this process can provide fantastic opportunities for scholarship, but I'm interested in a limitation, namely the interaction between OCR and typeface. I spend a ridiculous amount of time in ECCO, and I've discovered ways to manipulate searches to produce/augment results when the typeface is problematic. I believe I would be focusing on the evolution of typography and print production. I'm not sure if this is an acceptable thing to pursue. It may be considered old news. But at least I figure it is a starting point, and it allows me to research across multiple literary periods, such as Medieval up through the 18th century. Digital editing is also an interest. I figure it fits well. I think overall I am interested in exposure to older texts through digital medias and their adaptation to such media. I'm enamored with old texts.
  7. My professor wasn't dismissing me for graduate school. He was only offering advice. I do understand that it is extremely hard to catch up. I never thought I would study Literature so I never made a point of reading widely. I fell prey to the adolescent belief that reading wasn't cool. My core literature classes at my university are broad surveys. I'm taking the final course now, the capstone, which is all theory and thesis. My professor is very supportive, and he said I should consider a Masters at least. But, listening between the lines, I know that he would prefer I attempt a PhD. Honestly, I don't think anyone ever achieves a point where they feel they have comfortably read enough. Oh my goodness... I think this program practically has me sold on the idea. I need to go and now. What I like about a program like textual studies, history of texts and technology, whatever you want to call it, is that it is interdisciplinary and it allows one so much room. I feel like I can really take control of my studies. And, the best part, for me at least, is that I won't have to necessarily pigeonhole myself into a literary time period. I could justify the study of my beloved Chaucer and Shakespeare if I wished to study manuscript and book publication history and the problems of adapting such texts to digital media.
  8. Is anyone doing textual studies? In my current crisis I found myself researching broadly for programs that incorporate digital editing. I stumbled across textual studies, and I am very curious. Does anyone have any advice to offer, any programs to suggest, or any insight? Is anyone else considering this? I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask; my impression is that textual studies is highly interdisciplinary, and I wanted to see if there are any who focus on English literature within the field with advice to offer. I am weighing options. My one professor, while telling me that I was incredibly brilliant and more than capable of pursuing a PhD in literature, said that my weakness is that I am not well read at all. Bless that man for gently handling my ego. But his assertment is true. I’ve come late to the English field, and it is impossible to make up for my deficit. I am a research assistant for the same professor, and under his tutelage he has brought me into the fantastic world of databases. I am in love with ECCO and EEBO. I think that my literary interests of preservation and digitzation, coupled with my database experience, might be properly explored here. Not to mention it allows me to explore editing and the historical aspect of texts, from manuscripts to digital publication.
  9. You are correct, and I would not take any such declaration about my character as an insult. I am encountering difficulty with a certain professor over my adamant desire not to teach. Often they will highlight my various habits/skills and proclaim, "See, this is why you need to teach." Just because I enjoy reading and correcting papers and am rather efficient at it does not mean that I "need" to teach. The professor has allowed me to mock grade some of their other students' papers.... Quite frankly, if I had to read those poorly written papers year after year, I would kill myself. I'm not saying that teaching isn't rewarding. It must be unbelievably satisfying to watch students develop and to spur that growth, but that is not my vocation. Also, I would like to add that I'm not declaring my writing to be superior. Those are some interesting suggestions. I doubt that law is the right place for me. Not too sure about linguistics, or at least any useful application of my specific interest areas. I'm not sure how useful the study of Middle English would be, heh. I'm just so picky, I know. But I do appreciate reading the feedback because it gives me other avenues to explore and consider. I know I'm going to have to sit down with a professor and have the dreaded graduate school talk. It won't be the one who is pushing me to pursue a PhD just to teach. That professor also researches in an area I rather dislike, so I imagine, while they probably have some great suggestions of what to do/how to pursue my various interests, they may not know the full extent of what can be done with them. I need to sit down with my Medieval and Renaissance professor, who also teaches a History of the English Language course that I will be taking next fall. I imagine they will not lead me astray--I do some research for them. By keeping me happy, they ensure that I remain highly productive for them!
  10. I thank you all for your thoughtful responses. As far as taking time off between undergraduate and graduate studies, I would prefer not to. I was an adult already when I entered undergraduate—I postponed and worked fulltime to help my parents with their financial situation. When I do get my undergraduate degree, I will be 25. I understand that I do have the rest of my life to devote to a path of study after I select the correct one. I’m just feeling time’s wingéd chariot. The hiatus between high school and college was abominable. If I must take time in between, and probably should, thankfully I will have my current professors to fall back on. I imagine they’d benefit if I’d whore myself out to do their research. I know that I would like to pursue at least a Masters. I’m still trying to hone my focus too, which would benefit from time off. Lately I have been flirting with the idea of pursuing Medieval Studies or History of the English language, which I imagine if I find the right program I could focus on Middle English and Medieval literature. I haven’t had HEL class yet—I’m taking it in the fall. I am absolutely in lust with language. In my medieval literature course we read The Canterbury Tales in Middle English; I consequently fell hard for Chaucer. Going into such an area, I imagine a Masters would be attractive before starting a PhD because Medieval Literature requires some specialization beforehand. I feel this may be the right area because when I look at classes and their descriptions I geek out. The thought of learning Latin, in addition to other languages, excites me. My minor is Spanish, but I imagine French and German would be much more useful. As for what I can do with that study, I’m not too sure. I guess the thought of editing is just safe and placates my need to be practical. And to finally address the competitive issue: my goal is to enrich myself, to thoroughly explore a passion, not to allow competition to taint the study. I guess I’m afraid to be swept away in competition; I do not want to wake up one day without remembering the exact reasons I am pursuing a graduate degree. I’m a quiet person who prefers to be behind the scenes. I want to be involved in a community of individuals with whom I can speak. Perhaps this is another reason why I wish to move directly onto graduate school—I live out in the boonies where quite a few people (including friends) do not understand my drive to pursue a graduate degree. I’ve been told I’m useless because I studied “nonsense” instead of something practical that can be applied to life, like math or science.
  11. For the PhD: to apply or not to apply—that is the question. Seeing as I graduate the fall semester of 2010, I am experiencing the obligatory educational crisis. Faculty have encouraged me to consider a PhD. I shall explicate my current feelings, and I hope I receive objective responses. Surely there must be others of/who had a similar situation. For the record, I am an undergraduate. This may be a horribly reductive statement to make, but my perception, along with some of my professors’, is that graduate school in English literature generally trains one to be a teacher more than a scholar. I do understand that one must teach in graduate school, specifically the soul-sucking composition courses, and I have no problem doing that; however, teaching is not a career goal. I do not possess grandiose illusions of going off to a PhD program and revolutionizing the study. I’ve had some exposure to literary theory. I guess what I’m attempting to communicate is that I’m not idealizing the venture, or at least I perceive myself not to be. I do admit to feeling some disgust over the mental masturbation that occurs in the programs. Another thing against me is that I do not feel myself to be very competitive. I learn to enrich myself and develop my passion, not to compete with others. I’m uncertain as to how I would fit into the dynamics of graduate study. Ultimately, earning a PhD would be a personal accomplishment for me. As for career goals, I would be content editing—I’ve got the eye. I could dream and aim for a University Press. I’m also interested in archiving and digitization. Given all of this, would it be wise to pursue a PhD, especially without concrete career goals? I believe part of the process is finding your way to them. Thank you to those who actually read this far, and I extend further gratitude to those who reply. You deserve a cookie.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use