Countdown continues

Only four class days left! But... lots to do still.

The best news is that all those critical theory readings are DONE! Now I just have to get through the test (which we have not been given any details on yet - yikes!) and the essay. Other than that, a bit of thesis proposal updates and the small presentation for that and the second draft of my play are the only things left on the list. Too bad they are all rather large things. 

Here's hoping...

The Countdown!

14 days left of classes!!!! I'm counting down.

What still needs to get done you ask? A bucket full!

1) 15 articles to read for critical theory - I'm a bit behind :(
2) 1 critical theory test
3) 1 critical theory essay 10-12 pages long
4) the second draft of my play
5) Present my thesis proposal

Plus all the work for my research position assignment that I've been putting aside to get my homework done.

I have plenty of time to get this all done... right?

Surviving grad school

Grad school is intense and most days I end up in tears over some stressful event or another. But I think I have found the way to survive. Almost like a security blanket, these pajama's just feel like you are wrapped in happy things all day long, and yes, I wear them as much of the day as I can. Reading critical theory never felt better than while snuggled into these big red things. Writing thesis proposals and planning hour long presentations on a topic I don't understand are now cozy events rather than nervous breakdown triggers. Who knew something this simply could change my whole outlook on life? Well, I guess feeling like you are being constantly hugged would do that.

I've got that and I've got that... but now what?

So, here I am attempting to enjoy some nice suffrage drama and relate it to some good old fashioned feminist theory while revealing the contemporary relevancy of these plays, when out of the blue the biggest road block hits me over the head. I literally cannot put all the pieces together and I'm running out of time. I feel like I'm working on a jigsaw puzzle but made of theory and history and theatre and crazy ladies who got thrown in jail every other day! A very intriguing  puzzle but I'm not sure if I can put it together by Tuesday. Maybe if I had a couple months to sift through everything that has been written on them and by them, but not by Tuesday.

One's one body and the one body of the body of one? Critical Theory crazy sentences!

Here's another crazy sentence I came across in a critical theory reading. It's from Judith Butler's Performative Acts and Gender Constitution An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory.


"One is not simply a body, but, in some very key sense, one does one's body and, indeed, one does one's body differently from one's contemporaries and from one's embodied predecessors and successors as well."

And again I say "What?!"

"Our daughters daughters will adore us..."

"...and they'll sing in grateful chorus. Well done, sister suffragette." Remember that? It's from Mary Poppins! But we don't sing in grateful chorus for the suffragettes, actually we rarely even mention them anymore.

This is a little thesis update. This week I wrote a preliminary thesis proposal. Here's the short version:

Taking the plays of Cicely Hamilton (popular playwright of suffrage propaganda plays) and her collaborations with the Pioneer Players (a women's theatre company from London who produced suffrage propaganda plays) I will apply first-wave feminist theory and contemporary feminist theory to them through detailed dramaturgical analysis in order to discover their contemporary relevancy.

But, in the meantime, Mrs. Banks says it better.

Getting caught up

Wow, so busy! But, now I am in full swing catch up mode. This week I had the first draft of my play due (minimum 40 pages - so quite a big piece), an essay outline, a mid-term, and my thesis proposal. Phew. Thank goodness it's all over. Now I am trying to catch up with everything that I neglected for the past couple weeks, like critical theory (yikes!).

But, on better news, the weather has gone back up to 15 degrees and sunny, no more snow for us, and even though the sun doesn't rise until about 8:30 these days, every night I get to see beautiful sunsets! Great facing west and on the top floor!