1 January 2025
It’s been a lazy day today. 2024 has been thoroughly rubbish, so I went to bed early, and I woke up with a clear head.
I’ve worked through all the audio and visual resources for Week 14, which relates to the Arabian Nights’. It was interesting to hear that there were also some references to Montague, which I think is the next week.
I’ve been busy reading Aladdin, and I think I’m nearly through to the end. There’s a lot going on. The more that I read, the more uncertain I am about the direction my TMA 3 is going to take.
13 January 2025
I’m in my second week after getting back to work, and I feel as if I’m getting behind again. Last Tuesday there was an interesting tutorial about the poetry section, which I quite enjoyed. A bit of the tutorial introduced us all to the TMA questions. I’m now increasingly certain about which option I’m going to choose.
There’s a couple of things I need to do. I need to finish Aladdin (I took it to a medical appointment, but I ended up reading Grazia magazine), watch Tartuffe on iPlayer (as recommended by my tutor), and start to read The Turkish Embassy Letters. There has been some interesting chat in the WhatsApp group about this text.
One other thing I’ve done is begin to listen to Gulliver’s Travels whilst on a long drive (which is available on BBC Sounds). I did try to begin to listen to Sense and Sensibility on the same journey, but I had paused my Audible subscription. Even if you’ve downloaded an audio book, you can only play if back if you have life subscription. An annoying ‘feature’.
It looks like the BBC iPlayer version of Tartuffe lasts for about two hours. I’m going to put the kettle on and give that a go.
18 January 2025
There have been a round of tutorials over the last couple of days. There were three tutorials, back to back, with a break for lunch. I’m guessing that the structure reflects what would have taken place had there been a face-to-face day school. I’ve also noticed that there’s another tutorial that has been recorded, which I need to listen to.
The tutorials have covered some of the texts that are the focus of TMA 3. I’m still not sure exactly sure which direction I’ll jump. My tutor shared a point that had already occurred to me, that some of the texts more directly align to one of the questions rather than the other. I’m waiting until I’ve got to the later texts that are in the current part of block 2.
One bit of the tutorial that was especially helpful was the section on independent study, which relates to TMA 4. My working assumption is that we pick up on some of the texts that we haven’t chosen for TMA 3. A range of different independent study options were highlighted to us: some further stories from the Arabian nights, or some more plays by Moliere. I’m far from close to deciding which way to go, in part since I’ve not done very much this month; I’ve been really busy in my day job.
The other night I got back to Aladdin, but didn’t get very far. What I did discover was that I only have ten pages to go, which admittedly isn’t too many pages. After I’ve got to the end, I’m going to jump to The Turkish Embassy Letters, after making sure I know what bit of the text to focus on. I’m not sure whether jumping about is the best strategy, but I do feel that I need to study strategically.
19 January 2025
I’ve finally finished Aladdin! In the end, I quite liked the story, but I did raise a critical modern eyebrow about how some of the characters were depicted. The whole text has got me thinking about the role of stories, and how similar stories appear in different contexts and cultures.
After Aladdin, I went to the module materials and briefly read up to chapter 6, which was about Gulliver’s Travels, which I read over the summer. I do need to reread what I’ve gone through today, since there’s a lot in the detail that I need to properly take in. The material about the political situation in the 18th century is interesting.
A couple of notes to self: I need to have a good look at the audio and video materials that relate to Gulliver’s Travels. I might even get onto doing that today if I get through a bit of ‘day job’ work. I also need to look at the suggested independent study options, to see what I want to do.
23 January 2025
I’ve been to another tutorial which focussed on the independent study materials. I need to have a good look through all the different options and figure out what I want to do, since that will make up an important part of TMA 4. I need to refer to my notes - there is also a question of figuring out what bit of independent study may have changed my perspective.
I had a good listen to the Gulliver’s Travels audio book whilst doing a lot of driving. Maybe I’ve mentioned it before; this was one of the few texts I managed to read over the summer. I’m finding that I’m really starting to enjoy the text (if you can call an audio book a text). Reflecting on the previous module, there’s clearly a link between Gulliver’s Travels and Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. By the time I get home from my own travels, I might be able to navigate myself across Gulliver’s.
Whilst chatting on WhatsApp, a fellow student mentioned something called York Notes. Although I had never heard of them before, I recognised some of the book covers from my times browsing bookstores. Knowing that I’m going to struggle with TMA 5, I ordered a couple of second hand copies from eBay. I know this is taking me away from my course texts, but I do feel as if I need as much help as I can get.
When I’ve finished reading the module materials about Gulliver’s Travels, it is then onto the bit about The Turkish Embassy Letters. I’ve got a load of reading to do.
30 January 2025
I’ve still not finished reading the module materials about Gulliver’s Travels, or have started The Turkish Embassy letters. I have, however, read a set of York notes. Reading these notes took me back to a time when I was studying from my literature GCSE. It was a curious time, where I had an increasing realisation that I enjoyed studying English lit. It was also a time when I didn’t really know what was going to do for the rest of my life. The notes took me to quite a reflective place.
A couple of nights ago, I went to a tutorial about the Arabian Nights, which was facilitated by a member of the module team. We focussed on literary technique, and had a look at a couple of passages, practicing our close reading skills. I quite enjoyed the tutorial, but it did help me to make my mind up that I’m probably not going to use that text for either my TMA 3 or TMA 4.
I also spent a bit of time going through the TMA feedback I received. There were some really helpful points, particularly about where to focus my writing.
I now have more of a sense of what it means to be an English Literature student, but I still feel I have quite a restricted way of thinking about the texts we’re studying. I feel as if need to begin to look at the texts in a different or more creative way; in a way that I’m not yet doing. I feel as if I need to get away from an ‘engineering’ way of looking at what we’re studying. I feel that I’m doing okay, but not as well as I feel I could be. I’m hoping for a ‘penny drop’ moment, but I’m unsure about how to speed that up.
To procrastinate a bit more, I’m going to see if there are any audio or video materials about Gulliver’s Travels and the letters on the module website, and then I’m going to go back to my day job. I’ve a lot to do.