Edited by Christopher Douce, Tuesday, 1 Apr 2025, 11:39
2 March 2025
I’ve been busy over the last few days.
I’ve been reading about 18th century travel
writings, and doing my best to remember everything that I’ve been reading and
listening to about Aphra Behn.
Towards the end of last week, I decided that I needed to
proactively manage my time, so I managed to get my act together to have a go to
write TMA 4 almost 3 weeks in advance of the submission date. The reason for
this is that I’m editing module materials, I have an exam to try to edit, and a
whole TMA to write. I’ve been working to gain time in my schedule. I don’t
think the TMA is the best thing that I’ve ever written, but it is the best
thing I’m going to write at this point in time.
I do feel conflicted about the subject of restoration
comedy. I’m really not much of a fan of Wycherley, but I did like the other
play I’ve studied. I feel as if I need to read, listen to, or even perhaps
watch a little more. I’ve downloaded more plays than I have time to read.
There is a bit of reading that I would like to do over the
summer, which is reading Janet Todd’s biography about Behn. How did she
allegedly get to Surinam? What does Todd say about the staging of her plays?
I’ll be thinking about Behn when I next wander around Lincoln’s Inn Fields,
which was where her first play was staged.
I’ve started to read through the third book which takes us
all to Jane Austin. I’ve got to the point where we have to read book one of
Confessions by Rousseau. I have no idea when I’ll be able to find the time to
read it, but thankfully it isn’t the whole of Confessions. I might well have to
continue to be strategic.
5 March 2025
Last night was a tutorial about the romantics that also
covered Rousseau. I liked the tutorial, and although I’m going to be listening
to an audio book over the next 2 hours, I’m pretty sure that I won’t be using
Confessions in the next TMA. I read the start of the poetry section whilst
sitting in a hospital waiting room (not my appointment this time), after the tutor
mentioned that this might be a good option. I might well go that way.
A quick update. I did manage to spend two hours in
Rousseau’s company on a drive between London to Milton Keynes. Picture the
scene. You’ve giving someone a lift; someone who you’ve never met before.
Knowing a little bit about him, you ask the question: ‘so, I hear your from
Geneva?. I really didn’t want to hear about his ‘exquisite enjoyments’ whilst I
was going through the Blackwall Tunnel. He just wouldn’t stop; it was all about
‘me, me, me!’ He never asked me any questions.
9 March 2025
I’ve got my TMA result back. I didn’t do as well as I had
thought I hoped I had done. My tutor has left some nice comments, but given
they were so nice, I would have expected my overall score to be a bit higher. I
had a quick look at the module results calculator, and I do feel as if I need
to keep my scores high to make sure I have a chance with a grade 2. This has
led me to reflect on my TMA 4. I’ve still got time, so I might have another
look at it. I do feel as if I could write a bit more about The Country Wife.
I’ve been reading (and listening) to some of the poetry in
chapters 2 and 3 of block 3. I’ve got one more to go in chapter 2. To be
honest, they make me feel cold. It’s the depictions of death and battle which
just turn me off. Antiquarianism might well have been a bit of a craze, but
it’s not a craze that I find remotely interesting. I quite like Austen, but I
don’t like the question that is being asked. That leaves Rousseau.
I need to get the next TMA in by 1 May, and then a month
later there’s the EMA. Whilst there is a bit of time, I need to get TMA 5 in
earlier, to give me more time for the TMA.
I’m going to see how I feel after attending some of the
tutorials.
10 March 2025
First thing this morning, I found a couple of Rousseau
papers in the library, which I’ve downloaded and have sent to my Kindle, along
with Confessions from Project Gutenberg. I’ve also noticed a couple of podcasts
on BBC Sounds. I’ve tried twice to listen to an In Our Time episode about the
romantics just before going to bed, but I’ve fallen asleep on both occasions.
Interestingly, one of the articles I found was written in
French. Unfortunately, I don’t know any French. So, I’ve put it through Google
Translate, which I’ve found has a limit of five thousand characters. I have no
idea what it has translated will make any sense.
I have a simple plan today: listen to (and read) two poems
from chapter 2 of the book, and then maybe have a read of one of the papers.
One other thing I did today was to have a quick read of my
TMA 4. I quite liked it, and other than a couple of small typographical changes
and moving a paragraph about, I felt that there wasn’t anything that I wanted
to change. I think my tutor is going to comment on my lack of close reading.
This said, I’m happy with the structure of my argument. I do feel that bits of
all this is getting a little easier.
11 March 2025
I’m gradually making my way through Confessions. Every hour
of driving means an hour of Rousseau’s reflections. What I’ve learnt is that
he likes his dinners.
On a more serious note, I’ve just come out of a talk that
was facilitated by one of the module team. The tutorial was about the romantics
and antiquarianism. I thought it was a very good session. We were directed to
Edmund Burke’s Philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the
sublime and beautiful, which can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg. Something else to read! Thankfully,
this looks pretty interesting.
We were also introduced to the graveyard poets. I’ve never
heard of them before.
I still need to find the time to have a listen to and read
of the rest of the poetry in chapters 2 and 3.
I think I need a lie down.
16 March 2025
As well as a lie down, I need a holiday. Over the last few
days, I’ve been dividing my time between doing my day job in the morning and
visiting a care home in the afternoon, which means little study. Rousseau has,
however, been keeping me company on some very long drives. I’m now ten hours
into listening to his pontifications. I’m now committed to listening to the
rest. I want to know what he says about leaving his five children in an
orphanage.
I’m logged in and I’m ready to go. It’s back to the antiquarianism
poetry, and then it’s a cycle to Tower Bridge to get a bit of exercise.
25 March 2025
This morning, I got stuck into a couple of sections of the
Norton compendium of criticism, which was recommended to me by fellow students
on the WhatApp group. There were bits of text from Kant and Burke. I already
had downloaded copies of works by those two, but I appreciated the short
introductory essays, and that some of the key concepts were highlighted. I
underlined a couple of bits with the idea of getting back to it all a bit later
on.
A fell into a bit of an independent study ‘rabbit hole’ the
other day, which was quite interesting. I learnt about the playwright John
Fletcher, who was a contemporary of Shakespeare. After looking up to see
whether there were any recorded performances of Fletcher plays, I discovered
that he co-wrote Two Noble Kinsmen with Shakespeare, which is apparently
based on a Chaucer tale.
Going back a couple of days, I went to the online day
school, which was very good. I’m now increasingly certain on my TMA 5 topic
choice. I also picked up that there is an In Our Time episode about The
Sublime (which I have to listen to again, since I fell asleep when I
listened to it). This will complement the one that was entitled Rousseau and
Education.
I’m gradually chipping away at listening to Rousseau. I have
15 hours to go, so I’m halfway there.
30 March 2025
Last night I registered for A335. I tried a few days
earlier, but I thought I would have another go and get it done. I immediately
became interested in the reading list, and have partially written a blog about
this, with reference to Project Gutenberg.
I have ten hours of Rousseau to go. I had an hour of him
today. I got to the bit where he is waxing lyrical all about someone who he
claims to be in love with, despite his advancing years. I expect to have
another hour of him tomorrow. I’m starting to feel sorry for the voice artist.
When looking for something entirely different, I discovered
there was a really recent In Our Time episode about playwright Thomas Middleton. I was interested to learn about collaboration with Shakespeare. How come I’ve
never heard of him? I had a look at Drama Online to see whether there were any
performances of his play I could view, and there were none.
If I were ever to do a MA in literature, I think I would
like to study Jacobean or Restoration drama.
A334 Journal - March 2025
2 March 2025
I’ve been busy over the last few days.
I’ve been reading about 18th century travel writings, and doing my best to remember everything that I’ve been reading and listening to about Aphra Behn.
Towards the end of last week, I decided that I needed to proactively manage my time, so I managed to get my act together to have a go to write TMA 4 almost 3 weeks in advance of the submission date. The reason for this is that I’m editing module materials, I have an exam to try to edit, and a whole TMA to write. I’ve been working to gain time in my schedule. I don’t think the TMA is the best thing that I’ve ever written, but it is the best thing I’m going to write at this point in time.
I do feel conflicted about the subject of restoration comedy. I’m really not much of a fan of Wycherley, but I did like the other play I’ve studied. I feel as if I need to read, listen to, or even perhaps watch a little more. I’ve downloaded more plays than I have time to read.
There is a bit of reading that I would like to do over the summer, which is reading Janet Todd’s biography about Behn. How did she allegedly get to Surinam? What does Todd say about the staging of her plays? I’ll be thinking about Behn when I next wander around Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which was where her first play was staged.
I’ve started to read through the third book which takes us all to Jane Austin. I’ve got to the point where we have to read book one of Confessions by Rousseau. I have no idea when I’ll be able to find the time to read it, but thankfully it isn’t the whole of Confessions. I might well have to continue to be strategic.
5 March 2025
Last night was a tutorial about the romantics that also covered Rousseau. I liked the tutorial, and although I’m going to be listening to an audio book over the next 2 hours, I’m pretty sure that I won’t be using Confessions in the next TMA. I read the start of the poetry section whilst sitting in a hospital waiting room (not my appointment this time), after the tutor mentioned that this might be a good option. I might well go that way.
A quick update. I did manage to spend two hours in Rousseau’s company on a drive between London to Milton Keynes. Picture the scene. You’ve giving someone a lift; someone who you’ve never met before. Knowing a little bit about him, you ask the question: ‘so, I hear your from Geneva?. I really didn’t want to hear about his ‘exquisite enjoyments’ whilst I was going through the Blackwall Tunnel. He just wouldn’t stop; it was all about ‘me, me, me!’ He never asked me any questions.
9 March 2025
I’ve got my TMA result back. I didn’t do as well as I had thought I hoped I had done. My tutor has left some nice comments, but given they were so nice, I would have expected my overall score to be a bit higher. I had a quick look at the module results calculator, and I do feel as if I need to keep my scores high to make sure I have a chance with a grade 2. This has led me to reflect on my TMA 4. I’ve still got time, so I might have another look at it. I do feel as if I could write a bit more about The Country Wife.
I’ve been reading (and listening) to some of the poetry in chapters 2 and 3 of block 3. I’ve got one more to go in chapter 2. To be honest, they make me feel cold. It’s the depictions of death and battle which just turn me off. Antiquarianism might well have been a bit of a craze, but it’s not a craze that I find remotely interesting. I quite like Austen, but I don’t like the question that is being asked. That leaves Rousseau.
I need to get the next TMA in by 1 May, and then a month later there’s the EMA. Whilst there is a bit of time, I need to get TMA 5 in earlier, to give me more time for the TMA.
I’m going to see how I feel after attending some of the tutorials.
10 March 2025
First thing this morning, I found a couple of Rousseau papers in the library, which I’ve downloaded and have sent to my Kindle, along with Confessions from Project Gutenberg. I’ve also noticed a couple of podcasts on BBC Sounds. I’ve tried twice to listen to an In Our Time episode about the romantics just before going to bed, but I’ve fallen asleep on both occasions.
Interestingly, one of the articles I found was written in French. Unfortunately, I don’t know any French. So, I’ve put it through Google Translate, which I’ve found has a limit of five thousand characters. I have no idea what it has translated will make any sense.
I have a simple plan today: listen to (and read) two poems from chapter 2 of the book, and then maybe have a read of one of the papers.
One other thing I did today was to have a quick read of my TMA 4. I quite liked it, and other than a couple of small typographical changes and moving a paragraph about, I felt that there wasn’t anything that I wanted to change. I think my tutor is going to comment on my lack of close reading. This said, I’m happy with the structure of my argument. I do feel that bits of all this is getting a little easier.
11 March 2025
I’m gradually making my way through Confessions. Every hour of driving means an hour of Rousseau’s reflections. What I’ve learnt is that he likes his dinners.
On a more serious note, I’ve just come out of a talk that was facilitated by one of the module team. The tutorial was about the romantics and antiquarianism. I thought it was a very good session. We were directed to Edmund Burke’s Philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful, which can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg. Something else to read! Thankfully, this looks pretty interesting.
We were also introduced to the graveyard poets. I’ve never heard of them before.
I still need to find the time to have a listen to and read of the rest of the poetry in chapters 2 and 3.
I think I need a lie down.
16 March 2025
As well as a lie down, I need a holiday. Over the last few days, I’ve been dividing my time between doing my day job in the morning and visiting a care home in the afternoon, which means little study. Rousseau has, however, been keeping me company on some very long drives. I’m now ten hours into listening to his pontifications. I’m now committed to listening to the rest. I want to know what he says about leaving his five children in an orphanage.
I’m logged in and I’m ready to go. It’s back to the antiquarianism poetry, and then it’s a cycle to Tower Bridge to get a bit of exercise.
25 March 2025
This morning, I got stuck into a couple of sections of the Norton compendium of criticism, which was recommended to me by fellow students on the WhatApp group. There were bits of text from Kant and Burke. I already had downloaded copies of works by those two, but I appreciated the short introductory essays, and that some of the key concepts were highlighted. I underlined a couple of bits with the idea of getting back to it all a bit later on.
A fell into a bit of an independent study ‘rabbit hole’ the other day, which was quite interesting. I learnt about the playwright John Fletcher, who was a contemporary of Shakespeare. After looking up to see whether there were any recorded performances of Fletcher plays, I discovered that he co-wrote Two Noble Kinsmen with Shakespeare, which is apparently based on a Chaucer tale.
Going back a couple of days, I went to the online day school, which was very good. I’m now increasingly certain on my TMA 5 topic choice. I also picked up that there is an In Our Time episode about The Sublime (which I have to listen to again, since I fell asleep when I listened to it). This will complement the one that was entitled Rousseau and Education.
I’m gradually chipping away at listening to Rousseau. I have 15 hours to go, so I’m halfway there.
30 March 2025
Last night I registered for A335. I tried a few days earlier, but I thought I would have another go and get it done. I immediately became interested in the reading list, and have partially written a blog about this, with reference to Project Gutenberg.
I have ten hours of Rousseau to go. I had an hour of him today. I got to the bit where he is waxing lyrical all about someone who he claims to be in love with, despite his advancing years. I expect to have another hour of him tomorrow. I’m starting to feel sorry for the voice artist.
When looking for something entirely different, I discovered there was a really recent In Our Time episode about playwright Thomas Middleton. I was interested to learn about collaboration with Shakespeare. How come I’ve never heard of him? I had a look at Drama Online to see whether there were any performances of his play I could view, and there were none.
If I were ever to do a MA in literature, I think I would like to study Jacobean or Restoration drama.