LAST SAY

Since my supervisor said that the earliest that she could give back our drafts is by Monday, so I decided to progress with the research paper without waiting for her. I did the editing for my paper by adding more details that I think appropriate and deleting those which are unrelated with the focus of my paper. So far, it has been a nightmare but I would not let that deter my spirit. This is probably the worse experience ever when it comes to negotiating with a lecturer. Nonetheless, I am not one who judges so I think I’ll just forgive and forget. And also to say thanks for all her help before. Hopefully, she will ‘read’ my paper and grade it professionally. I just hope that whatever grade that she will give to me is based on my writing and my ability to reflect critical thinking through my argument on an issue which is dear to me (Society values VS Individual’s self-validation), not according to her whims and fancy.

All in all, thanks for everything.

UNRETURNABLE DRAFTS

I have been sending my draft to my supervisor. As of now, I already sent 4 drafts, including the full final draft which includes Introduction, Author’s Biography, Synopsis, Analysis, and finally Implication in Education/Teaching. I don’t know whether she will read it. She hasn’t returned those previous 3 drafts that I’ve sent to her; I don’t know if she knows where she put it anyway. If I were to wait for her, I would not be able to finish my research paper in a million years. However, if I proceed without getting her feedback of where I should improve and what I should change, my research paper could be on the wrong track. But being wise (I do so hopefully think), I proceeded without waiting for her to return back my drafts which I have sent for almost a month ago. A smart or a deadly move? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

LIMERICK

Today we learn about limerick, which was really fun. We were divided into groups of 3 to 5 and in the group we were required to come up with our own limerick using either of the templates provided in the course book. As for our group, Amanda, Jessie, Sya and me, it took us a couple of tries before we got our limerick right. At first, our limerick didn’t rhyme, so we had to change the third and fourth line in order to make it rhyme. And this is our final result,

There once was a clown from China Town,
All the while he hoped to marry Chris Brown,
So he went to a fortune-teller,
And changed his name to Liv Tyler,
That bloody gay clown from China Town.

YOU'RE JUST TOO DUMB

If life is determined by how much rejection you get, my life would probably be nothing but rejection. Getting rejected feels shitty, especially when you are left in the dark of the reason why you were rejected in the first place.

Doing the research paper was probably the shittiest part of the semester this time around. I sent my second draft three weeks ago (my first was lost by my supervisor) but when I saw my supervisor this afternoon, she said “Why don’t you give me some more time to look at it?”

Unbelievable! What am I supposed to do? The research paper is due next week, and I am still stuck at the outline. I know, maybe I am wrong, but at least could my supervisor explain to me what is wrong, why my draft got rejected, and what should I do next?

Of course she can’t. Why? She does not even know where she put my draft. Unbelievable? Believe it!

MULTIPLE GENRES

I never knew that letters and diaries are considered as a literary text. However, during the previous class with Dr Edwin, we learned Franz Kafka’s and Andy Warhol’s diaries. Also, we read letters from Van Gogh to his brother Theo, and also John Keats’ letters to his fiancée, Fanny Browne.

It is interesting to know that there are other sources of literary texts aside from the usual short stories, poems, novels, and plays. I am sure that Dr Edwin promises to give us more input on other genres of literary texts. At least these fresh genres can give students a different view of literature. Hopefully, I can use this in my future classroom. God willing…

HOPELESS EFFORT

Today, I went to my supervisor’s room for the fifth time. As usual, I knocked on the door, no answer. I called her, the voicemail greeted me. I sent an SMS to her but of course, no reply. She promised to see me at 10 a.m. so at 9.50 a.m. I was already at the front door of her office, and I waited for half an hour, but to no avail.

I am at lost at the moment of how I should proceed. After much consideration, and discussion with my fellow friends, they advised me to carry on with my research paper without the supervisor’s approval. If I were to wait for her, I would miss the dateline and it is my grade on the line.

So, this is what they call independent learning, huh??

SECOND DRAFT

During the holiday, after coming to terms with the fact that my first draft is lost forever and ever, I started working on my second draft; new thesis statement and new supporting details. The only mistake that I did when submitting my first draft was that I did not keep a copy with me in case the usual happened. I guess its destiny, haha, for me to come up with new draft and new stories and new ideas.

So, instead of doing poems like I intended in the first place, I moved on by selecting short stories; 3 short stories, Boys and Girls by Alice Munro, Sara and The Wedding by Karim Raslan, and Territory by David Leavitt.

To me, all three of these stories is connected with how the individual has to submit to the bigger and more dominating force of the society around them. Although they have different perception of themselves as individuals, but due to the societal strain placed upon them, they have to re-evaluate themselves in order to fit into the society.

I will, again, dutifully, try to contact my supervisor to set up an appointment with her. And hopefully, my draft would not be lost into oblivion again. And of course, this time, I am not taking any chances, I have a back up copy of my draft in my pen drive, my external hard disk and my laptop.