A New Hope

Today, I had a meeting with my professor to work out a plan where I could finish up work that I had not completed during last term. I think that everything may be able to work out after all, but I have to admit that I was really worried about it. In a lot of ways, I think that the worry about it made it more difficult to actually buckle down and get what I needed to done. However, even though it was somewhat embarrassing to try and explain why I haven't been able to turn things in on time, I feel a little better. It's not everyday that someone's car is stolen. That can really put a damper on your ability to concentrate and get things done.


The quad 

As far as a status report goes, I am nearly finished with the first major paper that needs to be completed. I have chosen a particular short story by Tim O'Brien, and I want to argue that his desire to create a "story-truth"--something that is achieved by the story "feeling" true, rather than actually "seeming" true--is an attempt to control how the reader responds to his text. While this is not necessarily bad, it is reflection of Bakhtin's description of the centripetal and centrifugal forces in the text. On the one hand, O'Brien tries to assert a particular meaning, on the other hand, the text itself tries to spin that meaning beyond what he intends. It is a little convoluted right now, but I think that with a little more work over the weekend, I will have a decent enough paper to turn in be acceptable.