The Books/Reading Thread

[Zephyrus]

I'm going to marathon through all of Herodotus in English over the next few days. Will probably lose steam but fuck, I might as well try.






(It's funny because I said "marathon" and the battle of Marathon is in Herodotus)

 

[skeptik]

Excellent; we're also reading Joseph Andrews in a week or two. I'm excited, since I've never read Fielding before.

I can hardly remember anything about this book, but I know I've read it, and apparently wrote a paper on it called "Of High and Low Peoples and of Universal Truths".

 

[Cronopio]

Currently reading Gebr. by Ted van Lieshout. This is a Dutch book for teenagers. I am reading it for the literature part of the Dutch course I am taking.

 

[Zephyrus]

Doing my research on Euripides accidentally led me to start reading Die Geburt der Tragödie. This will take a while...

 

[monoxide_child]

One-hundred pages into Samuel Richardson's Pamela; this book makes me feel dirty.

i didn't like Pamela
the begining is all about how she hates this one guy and then at the end she ends up "happily married" to the guy she so hated in the begining

it not only had the plot stolen and used for a million different quickly-written cheezy-romance novels

it was a plot that is both semi-unbelieve-able and also scary, if the plot actually happened in real life, a psychologist/pychoanylist would consider the pamela character to either be the victim of "battered wife syndrome" or the victim of "brain-washing" or both

it was for me, a very disturbing novel
at least much more so than Ice Haven

 

[Einherjar86]

Well, both stories are essentially about kidnapped children. Equally disturbing, in my opinion.

 

[monoxide_child]

i just re-read ghostworld
not because it was by the same author as icehaven, but because ghostworld had been made into a movie

i'm sitting here thinking that because ghostworld had been made into a movie, it had to be sort of awesome to begin with, right?

surely only the best books get turned into movies, is what i was thinking

ghostworld was very obviously the same author as icehaven, but i found it not nearly as good

icehaven was definately the better book

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yo smart dudes, help me with my thesis for my research paper. The title is going to be something like "The Pagan Hero vs the Christian Hero: Comparing Classical and Christian Heroism in John Milton’s Paradise Lost" and for the thesis statement, this is what I came up with. "John Milton identifies Satan with the qualities of Classical heroism to introduce an opposing hero with Christian virtues like temperance, patience, and 'martyrdom.'"

I don't know if I should mention Christian values in my thesis statement like that, what do you guys think?

 

[Einherjar86]

Yo smart dudes, help me with my thesis for my research paper. The title is going to be something like "The Pagan Hero vs the Christian Hero: Comparing Classical and Christian Heroism in John Milton’s Paradise Lost" and for the thesis statement, this is what I came up with. "John Milton identifies Satan with the qualities of Classical heroism to introduce an opposing hero with Christian virtues like temperance, patience, and 'martyrdom.'"

I don't know if I should mention Christian values in my thesis statement like that, what do you guys think?

You should mention the title in the opening sentence: "In Paradise Lost, John Milton identifies Satan with..." I'm not a classical scholar, nor a scholar of Reformation epic; but you want a stronger and less colloquial opening. The word "like" works negative wonders; don't use it. I'd make the association stronger if you're going to use it: "...with the Christian virtues of temperance, patience, and martyrdom."

Also, I think it needs to be a bit clearer; I'm unsure whom you're talking about. I know it might seem like a stupid suggestion, but don't take it for granted that your thought process is immediately apparent to readers. Are you saying Satan possesses Christian virtues? Or are you referring to some other character in Paradise Lost/Regained? If you're opposing Christ and Satan, then mention both of them in the thesis statement.

And this is just me; but I always like the first part of my title to cleverly refer to a line from the primary text before the explanatory portion that comes post-colon. So, for instance: "'The wide womb of uncreated Night": the Limits of Chaos in Milton's Paradise Lost".

I know that's not your topic, I'm just coming up with a completely superficial example off the top of my head. So if you can find a line that reflects or informs your topic, try and work it into your title. It's catchy.

 

[Zephyrus]

Yo smart dudes, help me with my thesis for my research paper. The title is going to be something like "The Pagan Hero vs the Christian Hero: Comparing Classical and Christian Heroism in John Milton’s Paradise Lost" and for the thesis statement, this is what I came up with. "John Milton identifies Satan with the qualities of Classical heroism to introduce an opposing hero with Christian virtues like temperance, patience, and 'martyrdom.'"

I don't know if I should mention Christian values in my thesis statement like that, what do you guys think?

The "Pretentiously Obscurantist Title: Title that is Actually Helpful to Understanding What the Paper is About" formula is so hackneyed and ill-executed, especially since in your paper it's redundant. All you need it to be is "Classical and Christian Heroism in Paradise Lost." Milton's epic, as a universally recognized classic, needs not the mention of its author.

And I agree with Pat. You need to identify in the thesis statement (which can be more than one sentence) not only what constitutes each ideal, but who embodies it in the work.

Now, are you contrasting Satan to Christ, or to Adam? I remember our discussion in which we constructed Satan as an amalgam of Achilles (rage) and of Odysseus (cunning). What virtues of a Christian hero contrast those of a Homeric hero? Is this the 4 classical virtues (Justice, Prudence, Courage, Temperance) versus the 3 Christian virtues (Faith, Hope, Love).

Also, the term "Classical" has a wide range of meanings as regards literary types. I think in keeping with the epic tradition you are more narrowly contrasting the Homeric hero with whatever this Christian hero is. The shadow of Plato looms large over Christianity and so classical elements certainly inform Christian ideals. Therefore it's safest to stick with Homer.

 

[Einherjar86]

The "Pretentiously Obscurantist Title: Title that is Actually Helpful to Understanding What the Paper is About" formula is so hackneyed and ill-executed, especially since in your paper it's redundant. All you need it to be is "Classical and Christian Heroism in Paradise Lost." Milton's epic, as a universally recognized classic, needs not the mention of its author.

Aw, you're no fun! The "obscurantist" title need not be obscurantist if it pertains to the topic.

It really comes down to your own personal aesthetic; I wouldn't say my approach is viewed as particularly pretentious or obscurantist among most academics (in English departments at least). Most scholars appreciate a catchy title; and, honestly, if you want to eventually forge a career in academia, it helps to have "sexy" papers. That said, you don't need them. The integrity and cogency of your argument is more important.

 

[Zephyrus]

Sexy titles are purely for advertisement and belong on books for popular consumption. A serious academic wants to know content. An undergraduate term paper is not a commercial commodity.

That said, I'm not against it. It's just overdone and often poorly executed and presumptuous.

 

[unknown]

I've taught all of my students about the "Something Clever: Actual title of the paper" formula, and they've started using it

 

[monoxide_child]

 

[monoxide_child]

 

[Einherjar86]

So excited to start this for next week:

 

[skeptik]

I'd like to read that as well. I'll probably ask for it for Christmas. Right now I'm working on these (you may enjoy these yourself:

 

[monoxide_child]

 

[viewerfromnihil]

I had to take a music appreciation course for an art credit this semester and opted out of writing two performance reviews to write a research paper instead. I'm writing the paper on my favorite composer, Charles Ives, and picked this up for source info:

It's been a great read so far, I would recommend it to anybody interested in modern era classical music.

 

[Einherjar86]

I'd like to read that as well. I'll probably ask for it for Christmas. Right now I'm working on these (you may enjoy these yourself:

I think I may. I'm not familiar with Klein, sounds interesting though.