i'm sporting a large, foot-shaped bruise from where this class continually kicks my ass.
no really. things are supposed to slow down now that we're about half way through, because the class was purposely front-loaded. and yet, here i am, still waiting for sources for an annotative bib due tomorrow at noon.
i'd understand if i'd delayed in requesting these articles and books. i did not delay. it's just that about five libraries have now turned me down. while i obtained about half of my requests, the others are looking distinctly unlikely in the next 15 hours or so.
to top that, the sources i was able to find that did the job for this assignment don't add up to 30. so nearly a third of my sources are fluff and i know them to be fluff. i hate fluff. i'm pretty sure the prof will hate fluff too.
it's just that we don't know much of anything about this book, and therefore, there isn't so much one can write about it. there is only space for so many articles out in publishing land that say 'gosh, we really don't know, but maybe it could have been x?'
so i'll end up turning this in late, i think. it's really the only way i can get a chance at things going well here. and this will be the second time. so that's automatically 10% off the grade. which bites, of course.
but i've resigned myself to a b in this class long since, and i've done fairly well on everything else... except that one where half the class failed and had to redo the assignment. this isn't to say i'm not going to try. i'm working my boot-dented ass off on this class, so it isn't slacking. in fact, this class is the one in my whole schooling where there's been the least procrastination. i get on things right away because everything takes something akin to 3 times longer than i think it will. there's really no time to put stuff off.
which is why it's a tad annoying that things still end up getting finished as the clock ticks nearer and nearer to the deadlines. i mean, doesn't it seem fair that there should be some form of positive reinforcement here? you know, i get on things right away, good things happen, and therefore i'm more likely to repeat that prompt behavior. here, i get on things right away, there's still barely enough time, and once the stress of finishing it is off my shoulders it's time to get on the next thing right away. there's no letup. and no carrot. this class seems to be all stick, and i don't know about other folks, but i need a bit of carrot somewhere.
this week, there's the presentation to give that i had ready last week, and a mini presentation on an article that isn't online yet (so is it really my fault there that it's not done yet?), and a big old lesson on some completely new and utterly challenging learning task.
to be honest, if i'd taken three classes this semester, i'd be a grad school dropout at this point. the beowulf is completely doable. hard, fun, incredibly challenging. i could handle two courses like that, or three. this other one, though... it alone would have been plenty challenge for the semester. one of my classmates is done with coursework save this class. it's kicking his ass too, and it's his only class. so i'm not completely off my rocker here.
in happy news, i've finally managed to get things set up such that i can take a class i've been trying to take for three years. i'm quite thrilled. one really can't graduate without taking a class from one's dissertation director. it's just not right.
and now i'm off to complete entry number 20 on the bib. yikes. i'm down to fluff. maybe those other books and articles will come in. keep fingers crossed.
love and peace.
no really. things are supposed to slow down now that we're about half way through, because the class was purposely front-loaded. and yet, here i am, still waiting for sources for an annotative bib due tomorrow at noon.
i'd understand if i'd delayed in requesting these articles and books. i did not delay. it's just that about five libraries have now turned me down. while i obtained about half of my requests, the others are looking distinctly unlikely in the next 15 hours or so.
to top that, the sources i was able to find that did the job for this assignment don't add up to 30. so nearly a third of my sources are fluff and i know them to be fluff. i hate fluff. i'm pretty sure the prof will hate fluff too.
it's just that we don't know much of anything about this book, and therefore, there isn't so much one can write about it. there is only space for so many articles out in publishing land that say 'gosh, we really don't know, but maybe it could have been x?'
so i'll end up turning this in late, i think. it's really the only way i can get a chance at things going well here. and this will be the second time. so that's automatically 10% off the grade. which bites, of course.
but i've resigned myself to a b in this class long since, and i've done fairly well on everything else... except that one where half the class failed and had to redo the assignment. this isn't to say i'm not going to try. i'm working my boot-dented ass off on this class, so it isn't slacking. in fact, this class is the one in my whole schooling where there's been the least procrastination. i get on things right away because everything takes something akin to 3 times longer than i think it will. there's really no time to put stuff off.
which is why it's a tad annoying that things still end up getting finished as the clock ticks nearer and nearer to the deadlines. i mean, doesn't it seem fair that there should be some form of positive reinforcement here? you know, i get on things right away, good things happen, and therefore i'm more likely to repeat that prompt behavior. here, i get on things right away, there's still barely enough time, and once the stress of finishing it is off my shoulders it's time to get on the next thing right away. there's no letup. and no carrot. this class seems to be all stick, and i don't know about other folks, but i need a bit of carrot somewhere.
this week, there's the presentation to give that i had ready last week, and a mini presentation on an article that isn't online yet (so is it really my fault there that it's not done yet?), and a big old lesson on some completely new and utterly challenging learning task.
to be honest, if i'd taken three classes this semester, i'd be a grad school dropout at this point. the beowulf is completely doable. hard, fun, incredibly challenging. i could handle two courses like that, or three. this other one, though... it alone would have been plenty challenge for the semester. one of my classmates is done with coursework save this class. it's kicking his ass too, and it's his only class. so i'm not completely off my rocker here.
in happy news, i've finally managed to get things set up such that i can take a class i've been trying to take for three years. i'm quite thrilled. one really can't graduate without taking a class from one's dissertation director. it's just not right.
and now i'm off to complete entry number 20 on the bib. yikes. i'm down to fluff. maybe those other books and articles will come in. keep fingers crossed.
love and peace.
posted by Rehkmira @ 11:30
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