5 February 2023
I’m getting a bit behind! I start to re-read the block materials, and return my attention back to the The Sign of Four.
8 February 2023
A trip to Milton Keynes, which mean I have a bit of time on a train. I pack The Sign of Four in a bag, but I didn’t get very far, since I was distracted by thinking about a meeting that happened when I got there.
9 February 2023
I’ve finished reading the chapter about The Sign of Four, and I’ve started reading the chapter about The Beach of Falesá.
10 February 2023
It’s tutorial time! I have to dip in and out of a tutorial, which is about the two set texts, and the concept of the thematic essay. I had planned on doing a bit more reading today, but didn’t manage it.
20 February 2023
I’m getting a bit behind with my logging, and my TMA writing. Over the last few days (except yesterday) I’ve been working through both of the set texts (or, set novellas, I should say). I went through the Sign of Four whilst listening to a fabulous audio book from BBC Sounds. This really helped me to get to grips with the detail of who was who, and what was going on. Although I had found something similar for The Beach of Falesá, it was an adaption. So, I read through the chapters a second time. There was quite a bit of detail that I had not picked up on.
Today I’m going to start writing my TMA. My approach is to begin with the references (the books and the chapters), then to review the materials from the tutorials, put in a structure into my TMA, and then write about the topics that the TMA question is asking about. I’m hoping that some of the texts, and the broad pondering about the themes have gone in.
I’ll also have a quick look through the prose tutorial, and the resource about thematic essays, pulling out some headings, which I’ll probably delete.
26 February 2023
Phew! That was a bit of a slog!
I spent the whole of yesterday trying to organise all my notes, and to listen again to a recorded tutorial. My process was to begin with a structure, move all my notes between the different sections, and then start to see whether I could form some words to link everything together. Whilst doing all this, I had to keep referring back to TMA question.
The first bit came pretty easy, but I found it quite hard work to really say what I wanted to say; the words were just not coming easily, although through the process, I found myself understanding both texts in a lot of detail.
Of course, I had too many words.
I printed everything out, did something entirely different, and then did editing with a pen and paper. What I ended up with seems to be okay, but it’s not brilliant. What it does, of course, is to show that I’ve got a good understanding of both texts that we had to look at.
Onwards.
I’ve ticked a whole load of items on the module calendar, which tells me that I’m gradually getting there. I can scarcely believe that the EMA submission date, which takes place in May, is in sight.
Next up is Dubliners and cities. Although it’s too early to say, I think this might be my favourite bit.