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Monday, June 29th, 2009
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1:10 pm
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_modelbehavior
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I feel like poetry doesn't get a whole lot of attention in this community. Why is that? I know a lot Literature majors just don't like poetry as much as fiction - is this true for you? Why? Do/did you take less poetry courses than others in your major? Do you find studying/analysing poetry more difficult or less enjoyable than fiction or drama?
Also, favourite poets and poems?
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(32 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, June 27th, 2009
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2:32 pm - Science Fiction
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appleautumn
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I'm taking a science fiction course this summer (it starts in two weeks) and I know absolutely nothing about the genre. I'd like to get some opinions about the readings because I don't know what to expect.
We have been assigned the following novels for the course: H.G. Wells - War of the Worlds
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five
William Gibson - Neuromancer
Margaret Atwood - Handmaid's Tale
Have you read any of the four novels? Did you like the book? Why or why not? Does anyone have any general tips for a beginning reader of science fiction?
Thanks for any information you can provide me with!
current mood:  curious
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(27 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, June 21st, 2009
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10:04 am - OBAMA vs A FLY (the conspiracy) pretty funny haha.
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| Thursday, June 18th, 2009
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7:15 pm - APA Citation Help
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manderleys
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Hey everyone, I'm working on a paper for a class and the professor requires APA formatting. I've only ever done MLA and I'm completely lost - I've tried googling a few times and I feel that each example is slightly different from the others. It's an online course and we don't have a book so he hasn't provided an example of what he's looking for. Is anyone here knowledgeable of APA or know of a credited website? I tried easybib.com at someone's recommendation but you have to pay to use the APA citation generator and I really don't want to do that.
Help please? :(
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
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2:08 am - writing samples
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shewasred
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As you might have guessed, I'm an English major. I'm trying to put together my applications for grad school this summer to save some stress once I start into my last year of undergrad. This will actually be my fifth year, since I suffered a major identity crisis and dropped my second major halfway through it. Anyway. I'm applying to several MA programs with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition. My problem that I'd like some help from this community with is figuring out which writing sample to use. I only need one of about ten pages for most programs, and only a few of them give any specifics about what those ten pages should contain (a critical analysis of some text, any text). Here are my top two contenders.
1) A paper written in a sophomore level class in which we had to analysis a text using Kenneth Burke's pentad. I chose Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I think with some work this paper would be a good choice because it would show my ability to work with rhetoric and theory.
2) A paper written last fall in a class on Latin American lit, in which I looked at Kafka's influence on a handful of Latin American magical realist authors. I think the writing is a bit better in this one and the topic pretty obscure (although I did communicate with a professor at another university who had done his dissertation on roughly the same thing), but I feel like this one won't demonstrate my possible contributions to a Rhet & Comp program as well. Still, it would require a lot less editing to be presentable...
I feel like the choice is pretty obvious here, yet I keep wavering. Opinions? Did I even need to ask?
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(18 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, June 7th, 2009
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2:48 am - Pi-Delta-Pie(tray)...
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emotivating
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This is an odd one. I'm writing an article on Jeff Kanew's directorial magnum opus, Revenge of the Nerds, and am working with the scene in which the nerds sell pornographic images of Betty Childs as printed and concealed within whipped-cream pies.
My question is this: what is the technical term for the silver plate/tray thing in which most pies are served?
(see what these are served in, to hold their mushy crusts together: http://www.emmakrumbeespies.com/images/pies.jpg)
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
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1:57 pm - Literature
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kitchit
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I have been doing a first year literature course for about six months and it is coming up to exam time. I am failing to grasp two concepts, which I have asked my tutor about and looked up online. This may sound stupid and simple but I have no idea what a "semantic paradigm" is. Is a semantic paradigm a sort of theme running through the paragraph or text? Any clarification of this would be great. Also, what is "feedback"? When one is asked "what feedback from the rest of the text helps the reader to understand this paragraph/scene/etc", what are they asking for? I am not trying to get answers for my exam but I am trying to gain an understanding of concepts that potentially will be on the exam. Any help would be great.
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(15 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, June 1st, 2009
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8:45 pm - Summer Reading Lists?
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12:45 am - What can I do with my English degree?
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opentoideasgirl
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I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English - with a concentration in Business Communications. I am also fluent in French and Vietnamese.
What kind of jobs are available to me? Especially, with the current recession...
Thanks for your help :)
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, May 29th, 2009
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3:04 pm - Calling all Dickinson aficionados!
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mm511
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This is a long shot, but here it goes, anyway.
In one of my idea notebooks from many years ago, through which I am browsing now in hopes of sparking some creative juices, I have written the following:TITLE: "Knots of Eternities," cf. Dickinson poem Unfortunately, I have no idea what poem I'm telling myself to confer, and a quick Google search or two has brought up nothing. Does anyone have any idea what I may have meant by this? Or to what poem I am trying to refer myself?
(It seems inconsequential, but I'm writing a series of fantasy stories whose titles have the word 'Eternity' in them and generally come from lines of poetry, so I'm very curious. Also, any other lines of poetry that have the word 'eternity,' or some variation of it... feel free to send my way!)
Sorry for the x-posting!
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, May 21st, 2009
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9:08 pm - Creative Writing/English- Canada
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manderleys
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A friend of mine is doing a study abroad program through our college (undergraduate studies) and she's an English major looking for a school in either the Nova Scotia or Quebec area with good English literature and creative writing courses. I tried googling but I couldn't come up with anything exact. Any advice or input? Also, if anyone has studied in Canada or visited those areas in particular feedback on that would be great too:) It's an exchange program setup so it has to be a school within those two provinces of Canada.
Thanks for any and all help!
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, May 18th, 2009
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2:53 pm - MA/MFA programs
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manderleys
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Hey everyone, I'm currently working on my undergraduate English degree (with a Writing concentration) and I'm just curious about what grad programs people have experienced/are knowledgeable about. Right now I'm mostly interested in pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing with a Fiction focus, but as far as MAs go I'm interested in Publishing. I'm not particularly focused on a PhD right now but I am considering joint programs.
I live in the Boston (MA) area and am mostly looking into schools in the area - Emerson College, Boston College, Boston University, Simmons College, and Brandeis University. I'm also considering Brown, Cornell, and UPenn. Does anyone have any experience with any of these colleges? Pros/cons? I've looked on all of their websites and I have a good general feel for all of them but I don't know anyone who's attend them for anything English related. I'm really open to schools anywhere in the US but I'm tight financially right now so traveling to visit schools far from New England may be difficult.
Also, for those of you who have taken the GRE, what's considered a "good" score? All of the schools I'm looking at so far require it but none seem to list their average/minimum scores.
Thanks for any/all help :)
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(14 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, May 16th, 2009
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9:50 pm - Please let me know if I should delete. I would just like an English major's perspective...
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heart_over_head
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These grammar questions have been bothering me for a while, but I never explored it until now. My grammar questions are the following:
1. Do you ALWAYS have to put a comma before an independent clause after one of the coordinating conjunctions? For instance, I just read this: "When you have a malleable view of intelligence, you believe in learning and you believe in effort." This did not have a comma before the word and.
2. When is it okay to put a comma before because? I see this happening a lot, but ialways thought that you were not suppose to put a comma before that word.
3. When is it okay to put a comma before as if it comes before an independent clause? I always assumed you were supposed to put a comma only before one of the coordinating conjunctions before an independent clause. This is a sentence my English professor wrote: "If you take your time over a month, there won't be a need for me to write a later letter, as you'll have chosen the right ones over a longer period of time."
4. When is it okay to put a comma before whereas if it comes before an independent clause? I always assumed you were suppose to put a comma only before one of the coordinating conjunctions before an independent clause.
5. This is more of a style question: I heard that it's best to avoid using the word that as much as possible. Why?
I thank you for your time and help.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, May 11th, 2009
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2:00 am - citing movies, MLA style
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seanseansean
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I'm currently writing my last research paper ever (yay!!!), but I am having a problem figuring out some citations and Google is being extremely unhelpful. Basically, how do I cite snippets of dialog from a movie in the text? What I have right now is something like "Shortly after this thing happened, one characters says to another 'Hurrr durrr hurrdurr" (Movie title)." Am I doing it right?
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(12 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, May 10th, 2009
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10:59 am - Indian Literature
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toujours_nigel
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) indianlit is a forum (co-modded by myself and fireshowers) for all kinds of discussion on Indian literature. You don't have to be Indian to join. If you like reading books about India and/or by Indian authors and want to talk about them, this is your place.
We'd like members to share their favourite books/authors, write reviews, previews and opinions, ask for and give suggestions, engage in discussion about literary trends and issues in India, and make and share icons, of authors, books, and all things literary.
Discussion about authors and literature from other South Asian countries is also encouraged.
So come converse with us, at and about
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
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4:28 pm - Animals
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kitchit
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I am doing research on human-animal dualism and need to find books which have an animal protagonist or an animal that is abused/exploited by humans. I have got a few already but it is really hard to write about how a book reinforces human-animal dualism when you know very few books which have an animal protagonist. So my question is, what books have you read (excluding animal farm, and metamorphosis) that you liked/loved/hated that also involve animals?
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(19 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, May 4th, 2009
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2:32 pm - Masters students?
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sarahspock
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Hello, all. Is anyone in here an MA or currently a Masters student in English? I have several questions to ask you, if you are. I'm in a program right now and I'm not sure it's the best, for me at least. I'd like to see what your experiences were like. Thanks.
Thanks.
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(10 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
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7:24 pm - College
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melodic_soul
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So I'm looking to get a B.A. in english, or something similar. My ideal job would be something in the book publishing area.
My problem is pinning down where to go. I have many options obviously.
My question is, how did you narrow down your choice of where to go? What things did you look for?
It's been a couple years since I applied to universities, so I'm not sure what I should look for compared to other places. Please help?
Thanks so much,
-Bree
current mood:  content
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
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7:42 pm - choosing a course
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_modelbehavior
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So I'm just about to finish my 2nd year of a English Lit/Philosophy degree, and am currently choosing courses for next year. We take two mandatory year-long courses (Shakespeare and Modernism) and then have to choose either a third year-long course or two 1 semester courses.
I'm finding it difficult to choose between 1 long or 2 short courses, particularly as this is the first year our calender is semesterised, so it's all a bit foreign. What would you do - 1 long, or 2 short courses?
(Disregard the courses themselves - I'm torn too on this front too, but so torn that I'm deciding to let the length determine which I'll do. JYSK it's a year of American poetry, or a semester of Beckett's prose and semester of David Foster Wallace)
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, April 17th, 2009
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11:28 am - Questions!
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haruha
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I'm a sophomore English major (sophomore in hours, not years) concentrating in American Literature (or I guess just "literature" since that's the most specific my school gets). I have two years left, and right now I'm weighing the option of going to graduate school immediately after undergrad, or entering the workforce for a while.
My main questions are:
1. Are there any good books/web sites on career paths/careers for English majors?
2. Are there any good books/web sites for graduate school English programs? I have no idea where to "look" for good graduate schools, partly because I haven't decided quite yet what I want to do with my major, if that makes any sense. And I realize that some graduate schools would be better for me / worse for me not because of their prestige, but because of their strengths in particular types of literature. But it would certainly be helpful to know who is good for what programs. This may be a really general question though!
Thanks :]
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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