Personal Blogs

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.