One paper down...

two more and a final exam to go.

I'm finished with my first real graduate school paper. It's a 12-pager for my 17th Century/Age of Milton class entitled "Heart Strings, Purse Strings: Longing, Landscape, and the Problem of Patronage in Aemilia Lanyer's "The Description of Cookham." And you know what, I don't think it's half bad. Tomorrow morning I'm going to finish up the works cited page and give it a final read through, so I hope I still feel it's a strong paper after that. I think I will.

I took some chances with this paper. I wrote about a relatively unknown female poet who doesn't have a large critical tradition. I argued that she flexes a subversive muscle and uses the country-house poem, normally a place where aristocratic patronage is celebrated, to critique the system. And I think my reading is insightful, intelligent, and textually sound. Let's hope my teacher thinks so, too.

Now, I'm moving on to the essay situating my poems within the lyric tradition, then finishing up the 15-20 pager on the witches in Macbeth. It's going to be a busy week, but I'm ready for it. As lame as this might sound, I'm actually excited to write these essays, show what I know, test out some new ideas.

Good luck to all you students, teachers, and student-teachers out there!