sweet tea poetics

Hey, everybody! I’m in the midst of thinking about possible writing samples, and was just curious what everyone’s topics are. Is your writing on something that you think you might like to pursue further in grad school, or just something you think really shows your abilities as a critic? Hearing people talk about their own work is great (and a good distraction from focusing on mine), so I’d love to hear from y’all!

Thanks! I’m hoping some more work on the writing samples might help me figure out the direction in general.

Thanks so much! I figured it was probably fine, but since I’m in my head about it and overthinking, thought I might get a few more opinions.

Hi, all! To preface, sorry if a similar question has been answered, first time posting here. I’m a rising Senior in undergrad planning to apply to English Lit PhD programs this fall, and am a little stuck when it comes to presenting a specialization and addressing program fit. A lot of the research I have been doing has focused on 19th c. British lit, with a grant and several conference presentations in that area. However, my thesis this upcoming year is focusing on Early Modern poetry, and I’d like to primarily work on Early Modern poetics, philosophy, and classical reception in graduate school. So my question is, do you all think it would be harmful to my applications to focus on Early Modern interests/research questions while still acknowledging my work in Victorian studies and that secondary interest, or would this just come off as unfocused and confusing? I’ll most likely have possible writing samples in either subfield, but am just a little lost on where to focus in general, since I know “fit” is quite important. Any help or advice is really appreciated!