Personal Blogs

3 January 2026

Happy new year!

My previous TMA result has finally come in. I’ve had a look through the comments, and they are helpful. The big takeaway point is to work harder to integrate everything together – secondary sources, the text that is the focus of the analysis, and my opinions about everything. Also, it is important to make my opinions clear – do I agree or disagree with other critics? All this is good academic practice which I was never formally taught in my study of computing. With this in mind, I do feel as if I’m getting some useful additional academic training from studying English.

I’m looking forward to the next TMA. Over the winter break, I had a short break of a couple of days. During that time, I managed to choose and then read three articles for next TMA. When I got back, I’ve had a go to summarise them for when the TMA 3 discussion forum opens. What I need to do is to go through my chosen set text with a fine toothed comb, whilst thinking about the main essay question.

I managed to get a bit of extra ‘study’ done first thing this morning. Whilst lying in bed, I listed to a podcast by Emma Smith, a fabulous Shakespeare scholar from Oxford University I thought there might be a connection between a topic she raised and the forthcoming EMA question. Without too much messing about, I managed to track down the source, which I’ve now sent to my Kindle.

My final action of this morning is to eyeball the TMA 4 question, which is due in April. I have two immediate thoughts. The first is that it appears to be quite open, i.e. for a couple of the options we get to choose our own texts (if we wish to do so). The second is that there’s a group of texts that I’ve not yet read. I need to restart reading Salih and then move onto Calvino, but I’m a bit intimidated by its length. I have, however, booked time off in leave for the beginning of March, so I might be okay.

5 January 2026

I tried to download a version of the Salih text, but it isn’t available on the Kindle, so I downloaded a copy of Cosmicomics. I have a paper version, but I don’t have it with me at the moment. I don’t like it. I’m nearly through the first 12 stories. I’m not, yet, at the point of wanting to throw it across the room (which I wanted to do with a Woolf text), but I’m not too far from it. I appreciate what it’s trying to do, but from my reading, I don’t think it works. It feels overly contrived. This is the extent of my literary analysis.

The TMA 3 wiki should open soon. I’ve asked my tutor a question, and has kindly responded. My next task is to read over what I’ve prepared and then post my text to the collaborative area. I then have a couple of weeks until I need to put my thoughts in order for the penultimate TMA. In the meantime, my day job is going to dominate.

This is my first day back. I think I need another holiday.

13 January 2026

My contribution to the collaborative literature review has been done. I’m quite pleased when what I managed to put together.

Over the last week or so I’ve been jumping around between different texts. I’ve abandoned Cosmicomics. I really don’t like it. This said, I have got part way through an audiobook version of Between the Acts, which isn’t as bad as I remembered. I got through a few chapters whilst on a long drive. I’ll try to start it again when I have another long drive in a couple of weeks.

After seeing a fabulous play, I was inspired to read Stuff Happens by Hare, another of our set texts. I tore through it in under a day and found it thoroughly enjoyable. Given all the current political insanity, it came across as being unexpectedly quaint.

I’ve just finished listening to a cluster tutorial that was about another drama, The Playboy of the Western World. The tutor was fabulous, and packed in a whole lot of detail that either had passed me by, or I hadn’t known about. I might well go back and give it another listen. We were also given a link to a video recording of the play which I’m going to watch. I’ve already listened to an audio recording of it, which I found through Drama Online, but I haven’t (yet) got the entire sense of the play. I’ll really know what is what when I get to see it at The National at the end of next month – I just wish that I had booked in to see it earlier.

My next steps: I’ve downloaded another secondary source – a paper about modernism, and The Aran Islands by Synge and have sent these to my Kindle. I’m going to take myself off to a coffee shop, get out my virtual highlighter, and perform the role of an English student. (I would enjoy it more if I wasn’t so stressed about editing and writing materials for my day job!)

14 January 2026

I’ve started the modernism paper, but I got distracted. I recently found a copy of Reading and Criticism by Raymond Williams, published in 1955. Williams is mentioned in the module materials.

I have about 3 chapters to go: a chapter on reading drama, a chapter on bringing criticism all together, and a chapter about the role of literature in society. I read one first thing this morning. I’m hoping to get another one read by the end of the day.

16 January 2026

I’ve been to a few more tutorials. I was at the guest lecture about Ford last night, and ended up getting a bit confused. A lot of words were used. Just when I think I’m ‘getting’ modernism, a whole bunch of other ideas about it are thrown my way. I now have the job of picking through them all, and figuring out how the relate to my chosen text.

I’ve downloaded a bunch of papers from a Cambridge Companion, and have downloaded a couple of papers recommended by students. What I’ve got to do now is to read (and understand) everything, which is a whole lot easier said than done.

I keep thinking about the final TMA. I would like to pair Rhys with another text. That text must have been published between the years of 1932 and 1946, but I have no idea which text to choose. I have, however, found two useful resources (albeit a resource that is also trying to sell us books). Both are lists from Penguin. The first is 20 books that defined the 1930s. The second is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Books that shaped the 1940s. There are quite a few I’ve not heard of, and there are quite a few that I fancy reading. I’m sure we’ll be offered quite a bit of guidance when it comes to TMA 4.

19 January 2026

I think I’ve decided what to pair the Rhys text with (spoiler alert: it isn’t Woolf). I’ve ordered a cheap second hand copy of my chosen text from a popular second hand marketplace. If I hate the text, I have a lot of time to choose something else. I hope to have a good look at it next week.

I’m continuing with my reading of criticism of The Playboy of the Western World. To try to make more sense of it, I managed to spend a couple of hours watching something called the Druid production. I watched it whilst reading the Project Gutenberg edition on my Kindle whilst making the occasional set of notes. I now have a lot more of a sense of the play. It is a curious piece. It is completely over the top, and patently ridiculous, but I quite like it.

I have two other things to do. Look up both Synge and modernism in two reference books I have at home. There’s also a tutorial about Synge this evening. I’ll then consolidate my secondary reading. I should be able to start writing either at the end of this week, or the start of next week.

Something else. My tutor has shared an additional resource which relates to modernism and a bit of the forthcoming TMA. I’ve downloaded it and have sent it to my Kindle.

There’s always more stuff to read.

22 January 2026

I’m very nearly ready to get stuck in with my essay. I thought I would have a good old go at it this morning. Before I got cracking, I noticed that a tutor had shared some slides from their Synge tutorial. I downloaded them, opened them, and had a quick browse through. I don’t (yet) think my critical eye is as refined as it could be. I need to sit down with the text, and the PowerPoint slides, and go through them both carefully.

Whilst on a break, I jumped ahead to a bit of the final TMA; I started to re-read the opening of Good morning, Midnight. I really like this text. In the same morning, I received delivery of a text that I think I might pair it with. I’ll have to see if it’ll work.

Here’s my plan: quickly review the additional resource (which I said I would do) that tutors have been sharing, eyeball all the critical articles I’ve downloaded, and then start to pick apart passages from Playboy.

27 January 2026

This TMA 3 essay is doing my head in. I’m finding it really slippery. I’ve finished making loads of notes, but I’m worried that in the process of trying to distil everything down, my chosen argument might be way too complicated. There is a simple reason for this: the more that I have read, the more I see the different ways that the play can be understood. I have some thoughts about the passages that I’ve chosen, but I feel I need to write them down to see if they may any sense. I’m at a point where I feel I need to get this done.

I also feel as if I’m at a similar point in the module as I was last year with A334 - feeling a bit tired and confused. I’ll be really glad when this one is out of the way. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with all the sources I’ve tried to make sense of.

30 January 2026

My TMA has gone in. I think it is as best as it can be. It has gone in way early, simply because I need to manage my workload.

Last night I started to listen to the Rhys audio materials, which I really liked and finished listening to them this morning. I tried to find a recording of the BBC radio play that was mentioned. I wasn’t successful, but I did find a radio programme about Good Morning, Midnight by comedian Josie Long. Her episode of The Exploding Library is really worth a listen. I even found a few minutes to look in the library, and have already downloaded a couple of critical articles which might be useful later. My next step is to go back to re-reading Good Morning, Midnight.

3 February 2025

I’ve been to a couple of tutorials recently.

Continuing the notion of the ‘penny drop’ from the previous post, my tutor shared a tip that stayed with me. Reflecting that in some of the other tutorials, tutors had been going on about themes and narrative structure of texts, I asked a searching question of how they related to the assessment. He gave an answer that made a lot of sense: all the literary techniques that we’ve been taught about are tools that we can draw upon to form our essays. We don’t have to use all of them, but we do need to know about them. The skill lies with making decisions about what tools to use, and when.

There’s another element to all this study: it all comes back to knowing how to express yourself, and to develop an argument (which is acceptable for the discipline). I don’t think I’m there yet, in terms of being able to do this was well as I would like, but I feel as if I’m getting better.

I have also ‘starred’ some independent study option that look interesting. These are: read book 4 of Gulliver’s Travels (which I’ve already done), read an essay the making of Gulliver's Travels, look into 21st century responses to Gulliver’s travels (which means essays and articles), and explore a couple of topics in the MLA database (whatever that is). All these options seem to follow a particular theme, which doesn’t set me up too well for TMA 4.

I’m nearly through to the end of the Turkish Embassy Letters, which I’m quite liking. I have about ten more letters to go.

Outside of the official independent study options, I’ve found the following The Reasons that Induced Dr. S. to Write a Poem Call'd the Lady's Dressing Room. This begs a whole other set of questions.

Looking towards TMA 4, out of all the remaining texts, I’m drawn to The Country Wife. The repetition within Arabian Nights annoys me, but I can appreciate why it is an interesting text.

My next steps: finish The Turkish Embassy Letters, choose three letters, search for some secondary sources, and then go through Gulliver’s Travels again to figure out connections between them all, and then write the essay. I have some ideas, but they’re very sketchy.

4 February 2025

Yesterday afternoon I tried to do a bit of searching, trying to find articles about Gulliver’s Travels and colonialism, which I take to be a significant theme (especially in the closing chapters). I didn’t get very far, but I did find a couple of articles. I found a book length biography about Swift, and a short biographic article about Lady Mary Wortley Motagu. I also found a Cambridge companion about Gulliver’s travels.

This morning, I dug in the Cambridge companion, downloading a set of chapters. My next step was to send them to my Kindle, ready for reading.

I feel as if I need to get an angle; I don’t feel as if I have one yet.

9 February 2025

I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading over the last couple of days. I almost feel as if I’ve been having a well needed relax. I’ve been reading all these secondary sources that I’ve downloaded from the library, and I’ve re-read the introduction to one of the set texts. I have two things to do before I really begin to figure out my essay: I need to read the introduction to the other text, and then begin to choose some passages to write about. If all goes to plan, I should start to iteratively figure everything out in about two days’ time.

TMA 4 is starting to be a bit of a worry. I might have a look on Drama Online to see if there are any Moliere resources that jump out at me. TMA 5 and the EMA are also worries too, but I’ll try not to worry about them.

In the middle of all this, I need to get my elbow x-rayed, but that is probably over sharing.

10 February 2025

Well, I didn’t get too much reading done whilst sat in the waiting room; I was called in for my x-ray really quickly. “Are you complaining about the lack of the wait?” the radiologist asked.

I did, however, discover that my set text of Travels contains a whole set of critical essays, which I had never seen before. There’s a couple of interesting articles. I read a short excerpt from Dampier’s travels, a bit of a commentary by Scott. 

When I got home, I continued to read a bit more, before remembering that I was leant a book called Critical Practice. I had once tried to read it a few years back, but didn’t understand a word of it. The first ten or so pages are starting to make a bit of sense. I also went to look up a definition in a Companion to English Literature. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but the page fell open on a definition of a critical approach I had just been reading.

Before returning to my day job, I returned to a question I’ve considered before: how transferrable are the ideas of criticism to software, given that they are al, in part, human artifacts that offer a representation of reality in some way or another? I can’t answer this question yet; I need to do some reading.

My final note of the morning. I’ve discovered there’s a journal called Swift Studies which is published by the Ehrenpreis Centre for Swift studies. Ehrenpreis is the name of one of Swift’s biographers. Last night, I started to read the biography by Damrosch, which was very readable. Damrosch has some interesting (and scathing) comments about Ehrenpreis.

I need to do my day job and get back to editing TM354.

11 February 2025

I’ve found a few more articles. These are about Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. I read one before going to sleep, and one before I got up.

Following on from the topic of Swift Studies, I was asked the question: 'is that about Taylor Swift?' Then I asked myself the question: how about writing an essay that compares Jonathan Swift and Taylor Swift? Turns out there's no such thing as an original thought, and someone has done it before: Jonathan and Taylor: The Two Swifts.

It's pretty good! It gets into a lot of detail about Gulliver's Travels, and I really like its structure. I don’t agree with its final conclusion, but it’s important to bear in mind that it is satire. I think both Swifts would have approved.

14 February 2025

I had a good old go at writing my TMA 3 yesterday. Although unnerving, I did find it a whole lot easier to write than the one about Hamlet. I think this was down to spending more time thinking about the essay structure. When I sat down to write, I had much more of an idea where I was going, although I felt as if I did more planning when I prepared the last TMA.

This morning, I did a quick edit, and submitted it. This means I’ve now got back a bit more time to work on my TMA 4, although what time I do have is going to be spent on editing module materials and also marking TMAs. I’m relieved it has gone in.

A few years ago, I was lent a short book that had the title Critical Practice. This, apparently, links to the ideas of post-structuralism.  Anyway, I’ve had a go to read Critical Practice, and I barely understand a word of it. There were, however, bits that I did grasp, which in turn, has helped me to realise the significance of the EMA question. I think this is progress. I guess this all reflects a slight change in my thinking.

I’m really curious about what result I’m going to get for my TMA 3.

16 February 2025

I’m continuing to listen to an audiobook of Persuasion. At times, I’m completely lost. I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone is going to get married.

I’ve just had a quick look at the independent study options again. For TMA 4, we have to do two of them.

I’ve made my choices. I’m going to read up about Aphra Behn; there’s a bunch of papers I will probably be able to download and send to my Kindle. I’ll also do the option about travel writing, which remains a persistent interest.

I did consider comparing the notion of dystopias in Swift to a novel called Neuromancer, but then I decided to be sensible.

22 February 2025

Over the last few days, I’ve been listening to a couple of podcasts from BBC Sounds: an episode of In Our Time, which was all about Aphra Behn, and a similar podcast called Arts and Ideas. The In Our Time episode featured Behn’s biographer, Janet Todd.

I’ve started the read the first section of Todd’s biograph, and it appears to be a lovely read. She begin by writing about the context that Behn was born into. I’m looking forward to reading more when I have the chance.

My tutor says that it’s okay to draw on one of Behn’s plays for the TMA 4 question. Just before heading out, I’ve managed to download a copy of The Rover from Project Guttenberg, and have transferred it to my Kindle. The text has nice, but quite densely written summary, which I’m going to read carefully before diving into the text.

Becoming a literature geek, I’ve also discovered that she is buried in Westminster Abby, which I don’t think I’ve ever been to before (or, at least, I can’t remember going). I have recently discovered something else. A bronze statue of Behn is due to be unveiled in Canterbury over the next couple of days.

In addition to all this, there’s two papers about her that I need to get read. 

Book 3 has already started. I need to get going. I also need to get my head around Wycherley again.

23 February 2025

I’ve managed to read through The Rover whilst listening to an Audible audiobook production, which left me being very confused. I was using the Project Guttenberg version of the text. It sounded like bit had been moved about (or sections added), and other bits changed. I wasn’t sure whether this was a due to a difference in the version that I was reading, or whether he Audible production had been edited to make it work better as an audio only production.

I did a bit of research. I went looking for the complete works in the OU library, hoping to download a version to my Kindle. I found Janet Todd’s edited works, but I could only download individual pages. Forced to eyeball things off the screen, a small sample suggests that Todd’s edit and the Guttenberg edits are pretty similar (all I saw were some differences in some of the spelling).

I’ve also noticed that an OU colleague, who has edited one our blocks, has written a couple of papers about Behn. I’ll try to look these up.

25 February 2025

I had a good listen to a production of The Country Wife whilst on a long drive. I recognised quite a bit of the play from a video version that I saw a few months ago. There are, however, bits of it that I don’t quite understand what is going on. I need to have another look at the text. I get a bit lost approximately half-way in.

I also need to have a good listen to The Rover too, since I’m in a similar position. I follow it up to a point, but then I get lost at the darker, more shocking sections. I also remain a bit baffled about the versions. I read something on a famous online encyclopaedia that bits of Killigrew’s earlier version has found its way into modern performances. I need to give the play another listen.

I do need to complete another independent study activity. I think I’ll have a read of the travel writing papers that I’ve downloaded. Maybe I’ll have a go this weekend to start TMA 4.

6 December 2024

My deadlines are getting out of hand; not only do I have to write a TMA, I also have to mark up to 20 TMAs. I’m obviously going to prioritise the marking and returning of TMAs for the students that I support over writing my own TMA. There are other things that I have to do, which is writing of exam questions and TMA scenarios for the module that I’m supporting. Plus, there is other life stuff going on too.

My tutor has been really generous with an extension, which I really appreciate. This said, I continue to feel as if I’m getting behind. I also feel that I’m not going to have much time to get any reading done, due to the importance of doing my best to support others.

Part-time study is hard. I always knew this.

What am I going to do?

I’m going to double down on my marking; I’m going to work hard to get some time back.

14 December 2024

I’ve turned my marking around, I’ve got stuck into editing some module materials, and have been supporting those who are around me.

All this has taken me away from the module materials for over a week, and I need to get my head back into the Hamlet space. This weekend is TMA writing, which I’m going to mix up with a bit of cycling, and also a bit of TMA marking (two more scripts have come in over the last couple of days).

I’m beginning the day by making notes, and remembering where I was. By the end of the day, I hope to have identified a number of passages to draw on. If all goes well, I hope to submit in 4 days’ time, which is a lot earlier than my extension.

I have a vague plan over Christmas, which is to try and begin to read the Turkish Ambassador’s letters, but there’s a possibility I might well get distracted by cooking and mince pies.

17 December 2024

Well, my TMA 2 has gone in. I don’t think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written, and there’s a part of me that feels that it isn’t really what the module team was looking for. This said, I think I’ve done a fair job at answering the question.

I’m troubled by two things. The first is that I don’t think I’ve analysed the text as closely as I feel I ought to have done. I have picked out various key bits, and related these to comments from critics, but I don’t think I’ve gone into enough detail about the literary forms and structures. On the subject of critics, I don’t feel as if I’ve got them talking to each other as I would have liked. What I mean is that I don’t feel like I’m positioning myself in the middle of a debate. Perhaps this is something that comes with practice.

I have a vague plan for this morning; to have a quick look at the module website to find out where I supposed to be, and then to look at what I ought to be reading over the Xmas break. I know there are two sections that have passed me by: Donne and Spencer. When I’ve done this, it is back to my day job: editing TMAs and module materials.

Final comment of the day: I’ve looked at the module materials, and I’ve eyeballed the all the remaining TMA questions, as well as the EMA. I think I’m going to quite like TMA 3. TMA 4 looks worrying, but TMA 5, which is about Austen looks like a nightmare. I quite like the EMA, though. I need to choose some texts to base it on.

I’ve got such a lot to do. I need to sort myself out.

18 December 2024

I’ve just watched Simon Schama’s John Donne. A fabulous documentary. I really appreciated the setting; the scenes of trapped office workers, working in offices that were said to be close by the former site of the Fleet Prison. I feel another field trip coming on. This time, a trip to Bread Street, which I might have visited once before. My Kindle is charged, ready for a trip to a hospital reception area, to pick up my reading when I get there.

Back from my visit. It’s been quite a productive day in terms of reading. I’ve been through all the poems in Chapter 8, and it looks like I have two tutorials to catch up on; one that was about Petrarchan poetry, and another about TMA writing (which I missed).

In terms of what I’ve been through today, I recognised one of Donne’s poems, but I have no idea when I first came across it – it might have been a tutor development event; I honestly can’t remember. I quite like the sonnets of Samuel Daniel, but there’s a part of me that want to tell him to ‘get a grip’ and stop being so dramatic.

Looking ahead, to book 2, there’s a lot more poetry to get through. The next section is going to be pretty racy.

19 December 2024

I’ve listened to the tutorial recording about Petrarchan poetry, and I’ve sped through the Write Now tutorial. I feel as if I’ve now caught up a bit, but Spencer remains a bit of a mystery. I’m making a practical decision to not spend any more time looking at The Faerie Queene – it really doesn’t appeal.

The Write Now tutorial was useful, even though I listened to it after having written everything. A worry that I do have is that my essay might have a structure that is over complicated, and I may have covered too much of Hamlet. After having a quick look at it, I’ve decided not to worry. I think it’s okay. I think I know what mark I would give myself, and I would be really pleased if it was higher.

I’ve not got the racy block 2. Instead, I’ve got to return to the marking of TMAs, which is an occupational hazard. I then need to write a few more blog posts to share a bit more material for a project that relates to TM470.

I also need to do a bit of Xmas shopping.

I haven’t done any more Xmas shopping, but I have been listening to (and reading) some of the poems in chapter 1, book 2. Oh, my days…

23 December 2024

My TMA results came back in super quick time. Kudos to my tutor for turning the results around just before the Christmas break. I’m happy with my score (although obviously I would have liked to get a few more marks).

I’m managing to find a few hours here and there. I’ve not been specifically studying the module materials, but I’ve been finding resources that connect to the module materials.

Last night I watched a production to the bawdy play The Country Wife (YouTube). I remember reading a very short discussion in the text notes which considers its genre. It’s certainly a comedy! The characters are ridiculous. This summary I tried to read the play without either listening to or watching a production, or having the useful notes from the start of the set text. My imagination just wasn’t up to it.

In the early hours of one morning, trying to get to sleep, I discovered an In Our Time episode that was about the life of Thomas Wyatt who was covered towards the end of block 1. I listened to quite a bit of it before dropping off. I’ve noted it here, so I know to go back to it. Another poet that I’ve found from Block 1 is Lady Mary Wroth; another programme which is worth listening to.

Turning to the early chapters of Block 2, to complement Simon Schama’s documentary, there’s also this programme about John Donne, which I need to listen to.

Continuing my searching, I’ve discovered a programme about the life of Aphra Behn, a poet, playwright, novelist and spy. I really want to read her biography. There’s hasn’t been a biopic made about her. I feel there should be. The podcast mentions actress Nell Gwyn. I’ve heard of Gwyn, but I don’t know anything about her. There is an episode about Gwynfrom a series called You’re Dead to Me.

Reading through the list of poets in books 2, there are programmes about Thomas Campion (The Early Music Show); Campion being a composer as well as a poet. There’s also a programme on Richard Herrick (Omnibus). There is, of course, an episode of In Our Time about Christopher Marlowe.

There’s a programme about Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress; one from a programme called Free Thinking.  .

Looking a bit further ahead, there’s an episode of In Our Time that relates to The Arabian Nights'. There’s also an audio book version of Gulliver’s Travels. Although there isn’t an audio clip that covers the life of Swift, there is a different episode of In Our Time that explores Swift’s A Modest Proposal .

29 December 2024

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been reading Tartuffe. I quite liked it. I found it an easier read than the block text which summarised the different acts. I found another summary online, and listened a couple of podcasts about it. I guess this all counts as independent study, right?

A couple of days earlier, I had a quick look at the next TMA; there has also been a bit of chat on the WhatApp group about it. I’m not quite sure what option I’m going to do, or what texts I’m going to draw on, but it is really early days.

My objective for today is to get an overview of the online module materials to see what texts might be useful. I’ll also have a delve into any accompanying audio or video recordings.

I had a look through the independent study options for week 12. It looks like that in quite an unstructured way I’ve already done bits and pieces: I’ve listened to an audio recording, have read the introduction to the set text, read a biography of Molière and have read a review of a contemporary (2018) production. I looked for a video of a production through Drama Online, but I couldn’t find anything. Instead, I found a 1983 RSC production on a popular video streaming site, and I was immediately struck by the difference in the translation between the text and the play.

I realised I hadn’t looked at the week 11 independent study options. The suggestions were to look at the poetry of Suckling and Lovelace, find out more about Hobbes and Leviathan, read more about Aphra Behn (from where I discovered a summary of her works) and to practice one’s close readings skills.

Looking forward, there’s audio recordings for The Country Wife (which I need to have a listen to), the chapters on the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, Gulliver’s Travels, and The Turkish Embassy Letters all before the next TMA. Remembering the TMA question, I think I already know what direction I’m going to move to, but everything will depend on the tutorials.

Back to my proper study (rather than this ‘messing about’) I need to go through the Wycherley chapter pretty sharpish.

30 December 2024

I’ve read the chapter about Wycherley, but I need to go over it again.

I’ve realised that I don’t have the set text for the Arabian Nights, so I’ve downloaded a copy for my Kindle (since the chapter suggested that I should read the introduction of the set text). I hate ordering things from Amazon.

Talking of Amazon, I’ve noticed something weird about the OU ePubs that I’m using on my Kindle Scribe. I can add handwritten notes to my ePub version of books 1 and 3, but I can only save ‘text notes’ (by using a virtual keyboard) in book 2. It must be something to do with the format that is used.

Here’s a summary of the independent study options for Wycherley: read the introduction of the set text (which I’ve partially done), read two articles about restoration theatre, read another libertine play (which looks like an interesting option), and read some criticism. Although I shouldn’t really jump ahead too far, my task for today is to read the introduction of the Arabian Nights, and to go through the accompanying material that is on the module website.

6 May 2024

I’ve been in a bit of a marking hole for a while.

The last thing I did before taking a bit of work-imposed break from study was watch a production of The Tempest that was staged at The Globe. I turns out that I have lost my copy of the text; it is either hidden amongst a pile of books, or it is at my parents place; I don’t know which. To get around this, I’ve been following a version of the text with a Project Guttenberg version that I have downloaded onto my Kindle.

I recently found out that the version of the text I had wasn’t the one that was recommended by the module team, which has now been delivered. It is the introduction to the set text that I have ordered, and it is that text that I’ve been reading today.

I’ve also emailed a bunch of additional reading to my Kindle, which I hope to go through over the next couple of days. I feel I’m building up towards the writing of the EMA. Another step towards it will be a Shakespeare lecture that takes place tomorrow. In between my day job and study, I’ll also be marking some project assignments. I have a lot to be getting on with.

10 May 2024

I’m finally doing a bit of proper study. Two days ago I went to an online tutorial that was about TMA 5 preparation, which I found quite helpful. Yesterday I listened to the remainder of a module team tutorial that was about how to go about reading Shakespeare. This morning, and also for a part of yesterday, I’ve been skim reading a bunch of additional readings I’ve found from both the module website and the OU library. I feel I’m getting there.

The Tempest is growing on me. Whilst I’ve always liked science fiction, I’ve never really liked fantasy. I found the idea of a magician creating a storm and causing mischief thoroughly boring. I can, however, see that there’s a whole lot more going on than I ever realised.

Our tutor has directed us to a site Shakespeareswords.com which looks to be pretty useful.

Next steps: finish up all my reading, and then go onto making my word processed notes from my Kindle notes and highlights, and then writing, which will hopefully take a couple of days.

15 May 2024

A couple of days ago I went to a tutorial that was run by my tutor. I think there were five of us; a lot was covered, and it was recorded. I picked up a whole load of tips on how to approach my essay.

I spent a lot of time yesterday sat in a car. I made use of over 4 or 5 hours of driving by listening to an audio book of The Dispossessed. The more I listen to it, the more there is to unpick.

To help with the unpicking, a fellow student shared the following YouTube videos, which are certainly worth a listen:

• The Dispossessed Summary: A Tale of Two Societies
• A book review (with spoilers) The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin 
• The dangerous philosophy of Ursula Le Guin

I was struck by a couple of things. I was struck by how many detailed videos the presenter of the second video had mad. I was struck by how much time and energy had been expended preparing all of these. I liked the third video; it talks about materialism vs idealism. It has helped me to reflect on the views that I previously held about science fiction. The points about roles, origins and purpose of stories are interesting too. 

19 May 2024

A busy couple of days. I managed to finish transferring all my digital e-book notes into my Word document. I had to do quite a bit of driving yesterday, so I spent 4 more hours of it listening to The Dispossessed. I think I have a few more hours of listening to go, but I know what happens, and (broadly) how the final chapters are structured.

Today has been a day of two halves. In the morning I did the bulk of my writing, building on and drawing on my notes. It turned out I was 500 words over the word count. I then went through a cycle of editing. Although I think there is still some time to go, I got to a point when I was happy with what I had written, and what I had learnt. This time I applied quite a rigorous writing process. I felt that looking for additional resources, and skim reading them was pretty helpful. I also carefully referenced every article that I downloaded. If I found I didn’t use it, I cut it from the reference list.

There is a niggling feeling that I have that I haven’t really answered the TMA question, but I really don’t think that is the case. I could have picked on more bits of realism, and more specific bits of fantasy, but underneath it all there is the need to express your understanding of the text and to express understanding of different literary terms. I’ll try not to worry. I think I’ve done this.

28 May 2024

Only two more days to go until the final TMA deadline on A233.

I’ve started to get ahead on the reading (and studying) of my next module, A334. This means working through some of the free versions of the texts that I’ve downloaded from Project Guttenberg. To conclude this A233 blog, I wanted to share two points of learning from my studies of English, and points of learning from studying this module.

The first is that I’m starting to read texts in a slightly different way. Although this sounds a bit weird, but I feel as if I’m more aware of what is written. I’m also questioning: why words were written. I found myself realising this when I was reading a popular science (or engineering) book about cloud computing; a text which relates to my day job. (Admittedly, it was a very good book).

The other bit relates to The Tempest. When I watched a production of The Tempest for the first time, I wasn’t very taken by it. I thought it was really silly; all that stuff about magic, fairies and monsters. I didn’t speak to me.

The more I read about it, not just of the module materials, but articles I found from the OU library, the more I began to appreciate it. I reflected on the characters, and the context in which it was written. Turning to an entirely different subject, I also reflected on some research presentations I had attended that were about decolonising computing, and what that meant. 

Could The Tempest be used as a lens to understand this completely different subject? Maybe software engineers could be a bit like Prospero, using all their technical books to enact digital magic. What about the other characters in the play? I will continue to mull over these idle questions.

I’m now looking forward to As you like it, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet.