Gauche

I still have one year left of undergrad left, but I could use some books on New Historicism. I meant to focus on it in my theory class this past semester, but Psychoanalysis occupied my attention instead.

Go with funding. If you think your funded MA program won't push you intellectually as you presume the unfunded MA would, it's your responsibility to set the stakes higher for yourself. Sure rankings matter to an extent, but at the end of the day, it's you who determine how much you grow as an individual, not your program. If you make the effort to challenge yourself, you'll be better off.

Applying to: 1) Stanford University 2) University of Pennsylvania 3) Washington University in St. Louis 4) Johns Hopkins University 5) Emory University 6) University of Kansas 7) Vanderbilt University ? Boston University 9) University of Iowa Considering: 1) University of Texas at Austin 2) University of Maryland 3) University of Connecticut 4) Washington State University 5) UCLA 6) University of Oregon 7) UC Santa Cruz My research interest is 19th-century American literature, and I'm also considering on expanding out to the long 19th century so I can play with the early 20th century and the late 18th century. I'm mostly interested in the way racial hybrids are represented in literature and how whiteness, masculinity, and national identity each play a role in determining how racial hybrids are portrayed in literature.

What the two above said: Submit your best work. I can understand why you would be worried, but just think if the faculty member you contradicted was on the admission's committee and they read your work. They might be interested to read your take on the concept you're arguing and might in fact be impressed by how you managed to articulate your argument. I'll share a story with you that is somewhat related, but a little different. One of my professors told me about a great experience she had when she was working on her MA. To keep it short, she had one particular professor she admired, but she never earned an A in any of his classes, so she was determined to change that fact one semester. When she told her professor an idea she had for her final paper, it turned out he had written on the same exact idea and just got it published, and he showed her a copy of the article. By then you can imagine how she felt. She didn't know how she could manage to top his article, but she decided to pursue the same idea anyway. When she finally got her paper back, her professor gave her a page of notes that told her how much he had learned from her paper. So the lesson I'm trying to teach here is there is always a chance to amaze professors. If you can teach them something new, not only would it make you feel good, but it makes their job feel worthwhile (although in your case, you've never met this faculty member, I assume). But anyway, if you can somehow impress the faculty member with your paper even if it contradicts the his or hers, maybe you'll have an even better chance of getting admitted. You never know.

Thanks for your feedback!

I'm just curious, but did you send your scores to the schools that you got accepted to? I just want to know because if I get abysmally low scores on the lit section, I wonder if I should submit them to schools that just recommend the test just to show that I took it.

I'm reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (which I tend to pick up when I should be writing. Hmm...).

It's perfectly normal for conferences to ask for registration fees if your paper is accepted. I'm also an undergrad, and I presented at two conferences this year, and while one asked for a registration fee, the other one didn't. Plus, I've attended one of the regional conferences in my field last year, and I had to pay a fee (even though I didn't present), so it's perfectly normal. If you're still feeling unsure, I've been looking at different organizations in my field that have their annual conferences, and I noticed that their fees can add up to $100+ so if you're attending a conference where mostly undergrads are presenting and you have to pay something like that, I would be a little hesitant too.

I was checking through some of the programs listed so far, and Binghamton University no longer funds MAs.

I wouldn't discard your friend's advice especially since you already seem to have a solid topic in mind, but also you seem unsure about how you should approach your topic seeing as your adviser told you to be more focused. I don't know what kind of scholarship is offered in your area, so I can't be the judge of how focused or broad your topic is, but if your adviser wants to see some writing from you first, the best way to get that writing done is by finding some recent scholarship and responding to it. Sometimes you can't generate questions on a topic until you see what other people have said about it. Then you can fill in the gap. In response to your comment about your lack of motivation, it might be a good idea to change your topic if you don't have any real interest in it anymore. I know you're running out of time, but it might be an option and it's possible that you can get a lot more done if you're really passionate about the new topic you decide to take on. On the other hand, if you're really that short on time, take the topic you're already working on and find some way to rekindle your interest in it so you're not stuck in trying to force yourself to write crap just so you can be done and turn it in.

I don't know much about popular culture, but one of the things that my professors tell me when I'm stuck in the process of constructing a thesis statement is to do as much research as I can in whatever area I'm planning to write about. In your case, you will be writing about superheroes and their connection to modern superheroes like Harry Potter. I don't know how much research on your topic is out there, but try to find as much as you can. Read up on what scholars have said about that topic and something should eventually arrest your attention whether someone says something that you don't agree with or none of the research touches on certain ideas that you think are important. Basically, let others do the work for you. You're not there to create the wheel, you're just there to add on to it. Hope that helps.

In my field, you typically are invited to chair a conference, but it probably doesn't hurt to express interest so they can invite you. I know at the end of one of the regional conferences I attended, the chair passed around a paper where people could leave their contact info if they are interested in chairing a panel next year.

I'm also applying for the fall, and I see many people advising others not to worry too much about the GREs, but I feel like it will be the most challenging section of the application process for me. I took a practice GRE recently and received abysmal scores, and I'm trying to prepare for the real test in August. Does anyone know if certain programs look over the GRE scores first and weed out the majority of the applications accordingly? I just don't want to apply to certain programs if my whole application isn't reviewed because my scores are too low. If application fees didn't cost so much, I wouldn't worry about it, but sadly I have to.

Finally made my first post here. Thought some of you might like this one: "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau, Walden