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beccaelizabethI went to college. Got there an hour early, got on the computer and worked on my bibliography. I realised it's not as close to done as I had thought, because I need to write each and all Doctor Who episodes I mention individually in proper format in the bibliography. I can't just say a season and year, it has to look like this:
'A Day in the Death' (2008) Torchwood, Series 2, episode 10. BBC Two Television, 5 March.
'Genesis of the Daleks' (2006) Doctor Who, episode 1. Directed by David Maloney. Written by Terry Nation. First broadcast 1975 [DVD]. London: BBC DVD.
... those are the exact examples in Cite it Right, the how to book.
I must use the full title of an episode the first time it is mentioned but after that I can use 6.7 or whatever, the episode numbers.
But teacher explained the really good trick that will get the words down to count and leave me plenty room to actually write a blooming introduction and do some close textual reading on River Song's clothes and other such things I knew from the start I needed to do but have not, in fact, done. ANYway, good trick is: Every word in the main document counts (whereas previously indented quotes of 40 or more words did not count towards the word limit), but appendices do not count. Therefore, according to this teacher and in writing, I need to take every quote that I would before have only indented and stick it in an appendix. Then I only need 'See Appendix A' or whichever instead of 40+ words. And, also, I do not need the River Song summary I wrote to try and make her timeline make any sense at all. Apparently even for twisty epics of that nature I can just assume familiarity with the text. So I'm going to shove that in an appendix too. Also also my pretty graph of Companion's genders goes in an appendix. I think I'm going to put in the full list of Companions and how they left as well. Because it doesn't count towards word limits and I may as well.
Also, he advised me again to have a look at the feminist stuff he sent me. I did look, and I have read other definitions of postfeminism, and I can see it is relevant but it seems to me Doctor Who isn't doing the stuff in the article so I don't know what to say about it. Well, we're supposed to critically evaluate texts, I can say what the thing he sent says and say Doctor Who isn't doing that and that'll help? I don't know. But he's said that same thing for two sets of feedback in a row so he'd really quite definitely suggest my work could be improved by including some reference to postfeminism. Particularly in the section about River Song.
Even with getting about 2000 words back I'm not confident I'll be able to think of anything useful to say with them.
Introduction means introduce each chapter and say what the debates are in it.
... I'm not great at summarising. And it's not exactly summarising, you're supposed to mention the arguments, not how they work out.
I hate getting feedback in person because my first reaction is always on the pout/whine/flail spectrum. It takes me a while to hear what is actually said rather than what the inside of my head tells me, which is always versions of how I'm a big stupidhead who will fail fail fail.
I asked specifically and he said you have to really work at it to fail. I will not fail. I do like he said and stick things in an appendix and I will pass. But it is not up to 64% yet, for that I have to follow his advice and do close reading like we're supposed to and I know we're supposed to. Which was why I was going to focus on only one episode.
How do you focus on only one episode of Doctor Who? Especially Moffat's. It's all twisty and interlinked! Themes carry across whole seasons! How can I pick... well no, I did pick, and I sat down with every intention of writing about A Good Man Goes to War, but...
Writing is haaaaaarrrrrrrd.
And I hate it that I'm getting to the end of this course and I won't be able to hand in my best work.
I'm very frustrated at how much time I lost to illness this year, but I'm stuck with it.
So now I have two weeks to... I was going to say 'write what I was actually supposed to and make the thing any good at all', but when he said More Close Reading I said I was hearing start over and do it properly and he said no no, he mentioned a bunch of bits that are good bits, I just need to find one particular example of things and do close focused reading about that.
It's so frustrating, I know these things are required to make good essays, I have in the past made good essays, but I think I would need more time to turn this into a good essay.
I have two weeks and some bits.
*really big sigh*
My brain is just not up to speed. I had to be told to go read the instructions. I was asking things that are in the instructions. The thing is, I have read the instructions, and I'm still forgetting things like I need to write an Abstract and stuff to go with this stupid thing. It's embarrassing, I'm usually better student than this.
The important thing I should take from this day is, if I get the citations right and the word count rearranged, I will pass and get my degree. That should really relieve the pressure.
... it doesn't, but it obviously should.
Now I need to actually sleep since I haven't for more than a couple hours in a couple days and my eyes are all blurs.
'A Day in the Death' (2008) Torchwood, Series 2, episode 10. BBC Two Television, 5 March.
'Genesis of the Daleks' (2006) Doctor Who, episode 1. Directed by David Maloney. Written by Terry Nation. First broadcast 1975 [DVD]. London: BBC DVD.
... those are the exact examples in Cite it Right, the how to book.
I must use the full title of an episode the first time it is mentioned but after that I can use 6.7 or whatever, the episode numbers.
But teacher explained the really good trick that will get the words down to count and leave me plenty room to actually write a blooming introduction and do some close textual reading on River Song's clothes and other such things I knew from the start I needed to do but have not, in fact, done. ANYway, good trick is: Every word in the main document counts (whereas previously indented quotes of 40 or more words did not count towards the word limit), but appendices do not count. Therefore, according to this teacher and in writing, I need to take every quote that I would before have only indented and stick it in an appendix. Then I only need 'See Appendix A' or whichever instead of 40+ words. And, also, I do not need the River Song summary I wrote to try and make her timeline make any sense at all. Apparently even for twisty epics of that nature I can just assume familiarity with the text. So I'm going to shove that in an appendix too. Also also my pretty graph of Companion's genders goes in an appendix. I think I'm going to put in the full list of Companions and how they left as well. Because it doesn't count towards word limits and I may as well.
Also, he advised me again to have a look at the feminist stuff he sent me. I did look, and I have read other definitions of postfeminism, and I can see it is relevant but it seems to me Doctor Who isn't doing the stuff in the article so I don't know what to say about it. Well, we're supposed to critically evaluate texts, I can say what the thing he sent says and say Doctor Who isn't doing that and that'll help? I don't know. But he's said that same thing for two sets of feedback in a row so he'd really quite definitely suggest my work could be improved by including some reference to postfeminism. Particularly in the section about River Song.
Even with getting about 2000 words back I'm not confident I'll be able to think of anything useful to say with them.
Introduction means introduce each chapter and say what the debates are in it.
... I'm not great at summarising. And it's not exactly summarising, you're supposed to mention the arguments, not how they work out.
I hate getting feedback in person because my first reaction is always on the pout/whine/flail spectrum. It takes me a while to hear what is actually said rather than what the inside of my head tells me, which is always versions of how I'm a big stupidhead who will fail fail fail.
I asked specifically and he said you have to really work at it to fail. I will not fail. I do like he said and stick things in an appendix and I will pass. But it is not up to 64% yet, for that I have to follow his advice and do close reading like we're supposed to and I know we're supposed to. Which was why I was going to focus on only one episode.
How do you focus on only one episode of Doctor Who? Especially Moffat's. It's all twisty and interlinked! Themes carry across whole seasons! How can I pick... well no, I did pick, and I sat down with every intention of writing about A Good Man Goes to War, but...
Writing is haaaaaarrrrrrrd.
And I hate it that I'm getting to the end of this course and I won't be able to hand in my best work.
I'm very frustrated at how much time I lost to illness this year, but I'm stuck with it.
So now I have two weeks to... I was going to say 'write what I was actually supposed to and make the thing any good at all', but when he said More Close Reading I said I was hearing start over and do it properly and he said no no, he mentioned a bunch of bits that are good bits, I just need to find one particular example of things and do close focused reading about that.
It's so frustrating, I know these things are required to make good essays, I have in the past made good essays, but I think I would need more time to turn this into a good essay.
I have two weeks and some bits.
*really big sigh*
My brain is just not up to speed. I had to be told to go read the instructions. I was asking things that are in the instructions. The thing is, I have read the instructions, and I'm still forgetting things like I need to write an Abstract and stuff to go with this stupid thing. It's embarrassing, I'm usually better student than this.
The important thing I should take from this day is, if I get the citations right and the word count rearranged, I will pass and get my degree. That should really relieve the pressure.
... it doesn't, but it obviously should.
Now I need to actually sleep since I haven't for more than a couple hours in a couple days and my eyes are all blurs.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-28 12:32 pm (UTC)By the way, why are the two citation formats different? Only one has the director and screenwriter names and only one has the series/episode distinction.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-28 04:32 pm (UTC)this was a bad year to be having a bad year. *sigh*
working bit by bit is helpful. the next bit shall be River Song's clothes.
Two citation formats: The first one is for TV on the TV and the second is for TV on DVD.
I don't know the why of things, I just try and copy the big book of bibliography.
The wiki list of Doctor Who serials provides what I need either way, thankfully.