[English Literature Ph.D Program Recommendations – Modern American Fiction]

somewhere in the midwest was big on Vonnegut. nebraska maybe? can't remember but if you look up the Vonnegut society that might guide your search. Brian McHale at ohio state has written a lot on Pynchon and postmodernism

[Groceries! Dish it out...]

i spend about 200 a month on food. i try to make one or two big dishes and have them last for the week--things you ca eat with rice or quinoa. apparently grad students can get food stamps in wisconsin if you're working at least 20 hours a week.

[Grad student bloggers]

not really about school but: autonomyandsolidarity.wordpress.com

[Avoiding Drama?]

anyone else planning on being the Puck of their campus?

[$$$$$ how much money have you spent on supplies/moving in/getting ready? $$$$$$$]

800 rent and deposit. 500 moving. found a desk and dresser. 300 bed. 1-200 stocking apartment

[Dress code for grad courses?]

i wouldn't let a cat into a lab either....damage itself and the equipment.

[Dress code for grad courses?]

I'm sure its discipline specific, but one of the girls in my program has a full scene tattoo from one arm around the back across the shoulders to the other... And several other on her arms, and wears tank tops most of the time. No one seems to have an issue with it.

I wasn't too worried about my others; some are even literary. It might be a little different about All Cops Are Bastards, though...

[Incoming PhD Students: What Books are You Bringing?]

that book How to Read Like a Professor....about all you need, right?

[Fall 2012ers: How are y'all feeling?]

tomorrow i start my 15 hour drive to a city i've never been to to live with people i've never met in person. it didn't even hit me until maybe a week ago that i was moving

[Dress code for grad courses?]

would it be advisable to cover my ACAB hand tattoo, if not always then when meeting professors for the first time?

[Incoming PhD Students: What Books are You Bringing?]

trying to keep my books to less than 50, which sounds like more than it is.

[Fall 2012ers: How are y'all feeling?]

i say we make a betting pool to see whose long distance relationship lasts the longest and/or ends first.

[Fall 2012ers: How are y'all feeling?]

getting ready to move. parents just told me they'll no longer be driving me and my stuff across the country so having to re-think what i can take

[good introduction to literary theory text?]

The only thing is (and I know this is really shallow) his voice gets on my nerves for some reason. I can only take an hour at a time, and that's already pushing it.

Plus it is mastered horribly. I have listen to it with my headphones all the way up. It's Yale; you think they'd hire a decent sound guy to edit it.

[good introduction to literary theory text?]

http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300

fuck reading. TV! TV! TV! TV!

[9 months of funding- what about summer?]

If you're in the right area, work a fireworks stand. Managers get paid $2500+ and you get to hire your friends and drink all day. Then spend the rest of your summer researching and doing everything to get ahead you wouldn't have been able to had you a real job.

[Favorite movie based on literature?]

does Tank Girl count?

[Paul Ryan]

just saying... http://heygirlitspaulryan.tumblr.com/

[All frequenters of this forum: some want to be profs, but most want to be authors. Discuss.]

I concentrated in Creative Writing for my undergrad and thought about going back for an MFA for a while. I think there are things you can learn from it, and improvements you could make. (The only place I thought of applying was Syracuse, at that was because I thought George Saunder's philosophy on writing would strengthen where I know my fiction is weak.)

That said, MFAs can (this was at least true about my undergrad) kill creativity and get people to write to a very strict formula where you end up writing things that no one but MFA students enjoy that has nothing substantial. Of course this isn't true for all programs, though.

I still like to imagine myself being a (fiction) writer someday, and might take a workshop on the side, but most of what writing is about is hard to teach. The main benefit I see is the time and guidance for working on something that's already in you.

[MLA]

I'm in the same boat, wreckorthehope. What panel?

[What literary device is this?]

One of my favorite Cortazar stories. Actually, all of them are.

[Penn State (not acceptance post)]

has anyone thought of asking for your fee back, not for the money but out of principle?

[MLA]

I'll be presenting at the special forum on Occupy....never done a conference before, so yeah...

[Negotiating for Higher Offer?]

Say I've already accepted a program but just got a fully-funded offer with a baller-ass stipend from another. Thing is, the program I accepted (more than half tuition) is a much better fit. Any chance of me using it as leverage?

[Wait listing is NOT the end!]

I've got the muted horn of trystero on my arm. Only literary one so far...