Growing Up With Literature

Well, we have almost come to the end of this course “Readings And Project Work For Teaching Literature in ESL Contexts” (EDU 3234). In this course, we are required to do a position paper and a research paper. Also, we have to write a journal to reflect on what we have learnt in the process of our writing. This journal can be a traditional or an electronic one.

All of my coursemates choose to write an electronic journal or blog. This is because we have been exposed to this technique when we did our course in “Teaching The Language of Drama” by the same lecturer. Also, writing journal on a diary may be tedious, we use a lot of paper and it needs a space to keep.

For the first time when I did my blogging, I feel that it is a new experience and enjoy doing it. I remember I chose “Prying Into The Heart of Drama” as my topic for blogging. I thought that this journal is my own diary and it is personal, I can write anything as I like as my heart feels. So I complained a lot of the assignment load and others without realising this is a public space that my journal will be read by many.

This time, I know how to write a blog properly. It must be related with our experience in learning during the course. My topic this time is “Growing Up With Literature”, I think I have progressed from an ignorant person who knows nothing of literature to a person who is knowledgable. Though there are still many things that I have yet to learn, I can proudly say that I know more than others.

Knowledge is useless if we do not share it with others and apply its principles in life. Therefore, when I go back to school, I would like to share my knowledge with the teachers and students. I would also encourage them in blogging too.

In this blogging, it helps me to reflect on my works of position paper and research paper. I find that blogging is a useful tool to help us become a person who is creative and critical in thinking. I think if I go back to my teaching career to school next time, I will encourage my students to do blogging too.

Unfortunately, many people have misused it for unwanted purposes without aware that it is an electronic journal that is exposed to the public. Thus, there is a need of etiquette for both teachers and students. Here I would like to share my ten etiquette of blogging. I think my ten etiquette for teachers does not only apply to blogging, it can be useful for classroom use. As in my ten etiquette for students, I would prefer to change it to the ten commandments. This is because in a commandment, students must follow strictly to the rules and obey them. If they break the rules, they will be punished.

Ten etiquette for teachers in Blogging:
1. Be constructive and not destructive.
2. Be mindful and not minding.
3. Be motivating and not demotivating.
4. Be commenting and not condemning.
5. Be critical and not criticise.
6. Be showing and not showful.
7. Be open-minded and not close-minded.
8. Be acceptable and not expectable.
9. Be accessing and not assessing.
10. Be restrictive and not restrained.

The Ten Commandments for Students in Blogging:
1. Thou shalt not have strange or vulgar words.
2. Thou shalt not take it for granted for expressing your anger.
3. Remember thou keep it educational-oriented.
4. Honour thy teachers and thy friends.
5. Thou shalt not indulge in name-calling.
6. Thou shalt not dwell on immoral thoughts.
7. Thou shalt not plagiarise.
8. Thou shalt not slander.
9. Thou shalt not discuss sensitive or taboo issues.
10. Thou shalt not reveal thy friend's secret.

Today, Suzy, Zurina and I go to the campus to meet Puan Juridah to discuss our first draft for research paper. She comments that I have to write more on feminism and relate educational implication to our National Educational Philosphy with literature. She wants to see our second drafts next Monday. So we have to work hard in these three days for research paper.

I think that writing research paper not only sharpen my writing skills, it also enhance my thinking and my ability in the interpretation of literary texts. I feel that my love for literature is growing and I hope that I will continue to foster it in the future.

Writing research paper becomes easier after we have done our position paper. I get my ideas and start writing for it during the semester break.

After a week’s holidays, it is time for us to come back. As my husband is sick with Dengue fever, I can’t go to class for a week. I have missed a few valuable lessons but my obligation ties me down. Looking after my husband has become my first and foremost duty at that time.

I pass my first draft to Puan Juridah a bit later than two of my friends. I apologise for handing in late but she replies that it is all right and I should be with my hsuband at that critical time. I am touched and happy to have such an understanding lecturer.

After I start to write a few paragraphs for the research paper, I find that the thesis statement I have copied is difficult for me to develop my ideas. Then, I have an idea that I better concentrate on the common themes of Chopin’s works. I brainstrom for a few thesis statement, then I decide to change my thesis statement to ‘Women’s Search For Independence and Freedom Despite Social Constraints’. I feel satisfied as it is better to have my own thesis statement than copying others' works.

As we should compare some works from the same author, I have to do my research on Chopin's other texts. I read the book we bought from Puan Juridah and find that most of Chopin’s works are quite short. Some short stories consist of just three or four pages. Knowing that my friend will do her research on the same author, I think I better drop the two most popular short stories “The Storm” and “The Story of An Hour”. At last, I choose to compare “The Awakening” with two short stories “Athenaise” and “A Point At Issue”.

The reason why I choose the above two texts is I find that the protagonists in the three texts are seeking for their independence and freedom from their husband and family obligation. In “The Awakening”, Edna leaves her husband to pursue her dream of being an artist and lives her own way of life, Athenaise in “Athenaise” runs away from her husband a few weeks after her marriage as she can’t bear to live with a man. As for Eleanor in “A Point At Issue”, she wants to further her studies in learning French, so she leaves her husband for Paris after his consent.

It seems that all the three women leave their husbands to pursue their own freedom. However, at the end of the stories, two of them, Athenaise and Eleanor come back to their husbands and accept their roles as wives. As for Edna, she commits suicide as she can’t conform herself to the social constraints. I think the texts I have chosen go well with my thesis statement and I can start to write for my research paper.

After finished reading, I have to crack my head to think of the thesis statement again. I think I will do my research on feminism as Kate Chopin’s work concerned with women’s liberation or freedom from social constraints.

With a lot of internet resources in front of me, I am lazy to think of any thesis statement. So I just copy one. It is ‘“The Awakening” helps to define women’s sexuality of 21st century while also making a statement about human’s natural tendency towards sexual passion.’

After I have shown my thesis statement to Puan Juridah in class, she agrees and tells me to start working on the research paper. Then, my friend, Suzy, approaches her and expresses that she also wants to do “The Awakening”. I am a bit worried for being afraid that we might have the same ideas. However, Puan Juridah says that we might have different viewpoints and opinions. So I carry on with my research.

It is time for me to sit down and read all the materials I have collected from the library and internet. As I read about the author, Kate Chopin, I pity her for having born at a time when women are not given recognition and right to write as they wish. Women are oppressed and considered inferior than men in her time. When she published her novel “The Awakening” in 1899, her novels received unfavourable critics and in some cities was banned from library shelves. Even Chopin herself was cut by friends and refused membership in a local fine arts club. We could imagine how sad and depress she felt at that time.

It is not easy when a woman tries to come out of the social bondage on them. I admire Kate Chopin for her courage for writing boldly about the freedom of women.

“The Awakening” explores feminine consciousness. It is about a married woman, Edna, her self-assertion stifled in a conventional marriage, is awakened to the sensuous and erotic life. She rejects her socially prescribed role as a wife and mother but involved herself in painting and extra-marital affair. After I have read the novel, I feel that though what Edna did in her time is against the social stigma, but today it is acceptable.

As I have decided my text for research paper, I go to the library to find more information about the author, Kate Chopin. There is a section in the library where we can find a lot of information about literature but we can’t borrow the books. So I have to photostate the necessary stuff I want. I spend almost three hours there just for looking the books on the biography of Kate Chopin and feminism. As the novel we bought from Puan Juridah will be used for open-book test, we can’t do any annotation in it and I have to photostate the whole book so that I can write my notes and highlight some important points I found.

It is a relief after we have completed our position paper. However, there is another paper awaits us. We have to do a research paper under the supervision of different lecturers. Three persons are assigned to discuss their research paper with one lecturer. I am glad to be supervised by Puan Juridah. She has taught us almost every semester and I know what she wants from us and what interests her the most.

Choosing text is the first step I need to work on for my research paper. This time, I will choose a novel. There are a few reasons I choose the novel. In this semester, we are studying five novels. They are “Great Expectation” by Charles Dickens, “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen, “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte and “A Room With A View” by E.M. Forster. I feel that if I do my research paper on one of the novels, I can know in details its content and analysis and at the same time it will help me in my final examination. At least I can study with ease for the examination. As the first two novels have already been discussed in class and were used for the mid-term test. I decide to choose my text from the other three texts. “The Awakening” is the thinnest book from the other three, so I decide to work on it for my research paper. I hope it will benefit me a lot.

Today is my defense day for my position paper. I have to present my position in relation to the text I have selected. Yesterday, some of my friends have already presented their position paper. I found that my friend’s transparencies are full of texts and it made us boring. So I try not to put too many words on my transparency and use a few pictures and graphic organiser. I think my one transparency speak more words than those who have three or four transparencies but full of small printed texts. I feel that I am quite confident when I delivere my oral presentation as I am very familiar with my text. Some of my friends ask for my transparency for photocopy and I happily agree so. I think I have done a great job on my position paper but the grading depends on the lecturer and tutor. Sometimes, I have to accept the fact that though my friends enjoy my presentation, this does not mean that the lecturer will enjoy it too. So, it is better not to expect too high for grade, right?

Finally, I got back my fourth draft from Ms Dzeelfa’s comment with a “Do!”. This meant that my draft was accepted. However, I felt unsatisfied with my arguments. I think I wanted to add a line from the play “Oedipus the King” to support my argument on the Greek term hubris, that is, man’s arrogance. So I take out the old notes for the play and read the play all over again. At last, I found the lines on page 1406 and I added it to my position paper.

After showing my third draft, Ms. Dzeelfa rephrased my thesis statement to “Man’s Arrogance is the Cause of His Own Tragic Fall” Then, she cancelled a few paragraphs that are irrelevant to my issue. Originally, my paper got 1120 words, after the ommission, I got only 920 words. This time, I think I want to comment more about the Greek term hubris which is related to man’s arrogance, so I surfed internet for more information.

I showed my second draft to Ms. Dzeelfa, again she wanted me to discuss more on my issue and just focus on three supporting details. So, I have decided to relate man’s arrogance to human resource, knowledge and wisdom. I rewrite my draft, cancel unnecessary details and arrange my thesis statement around the three points. I rephrase my thesis statement to “Man’s Arrogance is His Own Tragic Fall for Disregarding God in ‘The Convergence of the Twain’ by Thomas Hardy”.

Since I have completed my first draft, I felt satisfied for finishing an assignment. Today, I showed it to Ms. Dzeelfa, I think I was the first person who have completed the first draft for position paper. Many of my classmates were still on the stage of writing thesis statement and supporting details.

When Ms. Dzeelfa read my draft, she commented I should not employ the point of view of Hardy for the whole paper. I should not say, “Hardy wrote…”, “Hardy suggests…”, “Hardy uses…” etc in my position paper. She said I should not analyse the poem per se but I should dwell on the issue I wanted to focus on.

Today, we also discussed a sample position paper written by our senior, Kastoori Bai. In her paper, she did comment on one issue in the short story “The Storm”, then eshe centered her points around that issue.

I think I have done wrong for my position paper. I should address my issue of man’s arrogance instead of analysing the poem stanza by stanza. Well, I have to redo my work!

Since I know the purpose of a position paper and I have got all the necessary references, it is time I should start drafting my work. Just to think of the thesis statement is a headache. As the poem “The Convergence of the Twain” contains a lot of ironies, I tend to focus on it. First, I start with a title, it is “Man’s Arrogance Versus God’s Greatness: Ironies in ‘The Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy”. But, I think it is not good to use the phrase ‘God’s Greatness’ so I change it to ‘Nature and Supernatural Forces’. Then, I write my thesis statement as “Throughout the poem, Hardy uses ironies to portray man’s arrogance that become vanity in the face of nature and supernatural forces.” As I have done earlier for my theme paper for “Soliloquy of a Spanish Cloister”, I write my position paper according to the same pattern. I comment and do an analysis on the poem.stanza by stanza for “The Convergence of the Twain”.

Today, Miss Dzeelfa, our tutor has given us a handout on writing a position paper. In that handout, I learnt “a position paper presents an arguable opinion about an issue. The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that your opinion is valid and worth listening to.” (Handouts of Courtesy of UHWO Writing Center, 1998)

Ms Dzeelfa stressed that a position paper must deal with an issue rahter than theme or central ideas. Then, she wanted us to list down three supporting details or topic sentences to support our thesis statement. Since some of us were still on the stage of writing thesis statement, so we continued with our work. Some of my friends were still undecided as to which text to do, so they spent more time for choosing text.

Before I start any writing, it is essential I do some research about the poem. Firstly, I went to the library to look for books on the biography of Thomas Hardy. I read about his details and found out the reason he wrote the poem. It was first printed in the Programme of Covent Garden Charity Concert in aid of the disaster fund, after the sinking of Titanic on 15 April 1912.

After that, I surfed the internet for more information. Sometimes we will get some analysis ever ready for the poem we want. I did find one website that contained an analysis on the poem “Convergence” stanza by stanza and there was a lot of pictures attached. I found the information very useful, I downloaded it and printed it out for reading.

I have finally decided knowledge is more important than grade, thus I choose to do the poem “The Convergence of the Twain”. Though it would mean I have to spend more time in looking for information and reading, I think it worth me to do so. As I like the movie ‘Titanic” and it is the first movie I went to watch with my husband when we were courting, it would be a meaningful poem for me.

Once I have decided which text to do, I felt relief. I can start going with my position paper now. I play the song “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Deon and the soundtrack of the movie “Titanic”, I could feel the anguish and the suffering people go through when trying to get out of the ship. I feel that with the song on, I might get more inspiration for my writing in position paper.

I’ ve chosen the poem “The Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy as my text for position paper. However, I am still undecisive as I think the poem ‘Soliloquy of a Spanish Cloister” by Robert Browning will be easy for me. As I have done my theme paper for it last semester and got an A for it. I am confident if I use this text for my position paper I might get a better grade. It is an interesting poem and I have analysed very detail on the contrast of a monk’s social roles and his private personality. And also if I choose it for my position paper, I can save a lot of time and energy as I have already its source.

On the other hand, I feel that my purpose for studying degree courses is to gain more knowledge. Once I leave the campus, I may not be able to read and do more about literature. So why not I take this opportunity to get to know more about other poem? I feel that the more text I know, the better I will be in my knowledge of literature.

The reason I choose the poem “The Convergence of the Twain” is because it is a text about the loss of Titanic. It is about history and a calamity that have affected many people’s lives. On the first day of this new semester, Dr. Edwin mentioned this poem. I found it interesting and went back to check from the book “Now Read On”. I was happy to find it but when I read it, I found it difficult to understand. I am rather afraid if I choose it for my position paper, I may not get a good grade from it.

I am rather confused now, which text should I choose? “Soliloquy” or “Convergence”? or Grade or Knowledge?

It is rather bored to start the lesson with the definition of thesis statement. However, as we are going to write a position paper and a research paper on literature, we have to learn how to write a good and strong thesis statement.

A thesis statement is a sentence that explicitly identifies the purpose of the paper or previews its main ideas. There are six guidelines we need to bear in mind in writing a thesis statement. They are:

a. a thesis statement is an assertion,
b. a thesis statement takes a stand,
c. a thesis statement is the main idea,
d. a thesis statement is narrow,
e. a thesis statement is specific and
f. a thesis statement has one main point.

It is easier to remember these six guidelines than to put them into practice. I have chosen the poem “Soliloquy of a Spanish Cloister” by Robert Browning as my choice of literary text for position paper. Though I have done a theme paper on it during the course “Teaching of Poetry”, I still find it difficult to write a thesis statement on it for the second time.

At present, my topic and thesis statement for the poem above are as follow:

Topic:
Social Roles Versus Private Personality: Hypocripsy in “Soliloquy of a Spanish Cloister”’

Thesis statement:
Though a monk is supposed to practice his faith by being a good and moral person, Robert Browning has exposed his religious hypocripsy by contracting his social roles and his private personality in the poem “Soliloquy of a Spanish Cloister”

However, I don't like to do something I have done before. I am a person who likes to do unfamiliar texts because I want to learn extra things from them. Maybe I will think of using another text which I have or have not learnt during lecture but I have not done any assignment on it. I think that by doing so I can learn more knowledge and improve myself more in writing.