In Which Jenn Concludes Her Semester

I just got back from turning in my final paper for 18th Century Novel (about the Arabian Nights' Entertainments). I was reluctant to let it go--I had fun writing it, and I really am interested in the ideas I had. As I was revising it, I thought about how the reader's relationship to Scheherazade is similar to the sultan's. As readers, we find the stories so compelling that we are reluctant to close the book; in effect, we are reluctant to cause the 'death' of the story, just as the sultan does not want to kill Scheherazade because the stories bring him pleasure and delight. Isn't that a cool idea? But I didn't have time to flesh it out--it became relegated to a sentence tacked on to a paragraph about the interaction between reader-audience, textual-audience, and the frame tale.

I think I'm going to keep working on that paper. It was so much fun.

Now for a bit of listiness--Things I learned this semester

• I really shouldn't put off doing a paper. It turns out that I really hate rushing through writing and wish I could spend weeks working on a topic that I'm really excited about.
• Procrastination only leads to my grief.
• I eat a lot more when I'm working hard on something.
• Exercise clears my brain to concentrate harder.
• Sleep is not overrated, and coffee should not be consumed past 8pm if I want to sleep.
• I have the ability to read and write a lot in one night, but it is an unsustainable ability
• The Marquis de Sade makes me want to puke. But he's actually pretty interesting in his own right. (Damn my academic brain)
• 30 Rock is a really funny show--and good procrastination/reward fodder. (It was actually a good reward once I stopped watching several shows in a row.)
• I love the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.
• Being in grad school means you can drink with (some of) your professors.

I've obviously learned much more, but I think it's time to go do some work...(job work, not school work--I'm taking a break!)