Revising and an Update

I am up to my head in personal essays needing serious, surgical, life-threatening revision.  I was hoping to get around to more of that this weekend, but after pumping out a new draft, "Snot and Stories" that looks at the Tibetan situation, my thoughts on America, etc, I was short on time.  I'm glad to have a new essay out, but I'm noticing a few themes I need to work on.

First, as Professor Bennion said, I need to work on being more objective in my essays.

Second, at Professor Burton's advice, I need to include a lot more setting detail.  India is sensory overload, and I need to portray that.  I want to.  I can see it quite clearly still.  I just have to go back and fill it all in.  Hopefully that brings it to life a bit better.

And third, at my own personal critique, I want to have a nicer form for my next essay.  I've been poking around in The Art of the Personal Essay, an anthology I reviewed here, trying to find a potential form I could imitate.  Reviewing the intro was also helpful.  It confirmed what I have already discovered.  Personal essay writing is downright vulnerable!  I keep coming back to Virginia Woolf.  Even though I know I'm never going to be as cool as her, and that her style just doesn't fit my voice as well as I'd always hoped it would, I want to try it for at least one.  Just to see...

Another large, overriding issue I need to work out is the honors requirements for a creative thesis.  I thought I was on top of it, but after checking out two previous students theses from the library (Emily Davis "To England and Back" and Elizabeth K.M. Busby "Life Expectant") I think I'm supposed to be working more on a fancy intro and abstract than on a more research looking paper.  Hmm...

Reading these theses was a great experience though.  Both were former students of my honors advisor, Professor Bennion.  I identified more with Emily's work and themes, but in each it was nice to see just what kind of subjects I can take up and play with in a personal essay.  It's also fun to turn the pages between the blue covers, knowing that if I finish this and do it well, maybe some kid in the future will do the same with my thesis someday.