Abstract: Waiting for a ‘Yes’: An Examination of Marriage Proposals in...
One of my favourite novels is Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I love all of Austen’s work, but Pride and Prejudice is particularly close to my heart because it is the first Austen novel I read....
View ArticleWelcome to Jinotega: Summer Camp, Nicaraguan Style
Two flights, a couple delays, and a three-hour bus ride later, I finally arrived in Jinotega, Nicaragua last Saturday evening. Per usual, I was greeted with a misty rain-shower and some traditional...
View Article“Dare to Dream:” Focusing on the Future in Jinotega
Another week has come and gone in a flash of new volunteers, lesson planning, and various cultural excursions. Instead of day camp at the primary school, we were back at the German Pomares learning...
View ArticleAbstract: The Evolution of the Epic
The epic is a classic literary genre that usually takes the form of a long narrative poem involving heroic deeds that take place on a grand scale. The epic is one of the earliest types of written...
View ArticleBlog Post #1: Beginning My Research, An Epic Endeavor
As the first official week of my research comes to a close, I want to reflect on a few of the obstacles that have come up already. One of the main difficulties that I’ve come across even before...
View ArticleBlot Post #3: Destroying Definitions
In my last post, I talked a bit about some of the ideas I had about writing my paper. Well now I’ve been involved in the writing process for over a week, and I’ve written about 16 ½ pages of my actual...
View ArticleThe Evolution of the Epic: A Summary
This summer I have spent my time exploring the history of the Western epic tradition. My goal was to gain an understanding of the genre and how it has changed, as well as its significance in relation...
View ArticleAbstract: National Myth in Fantasy Literature
In a letter to a publisher in 1956, J.J.R. Tolkien claims that in writing The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion he hoped to create a national mythology for England, rooted in Anglo-Saxon and Norse...
View ArticleA Start: Sherwood Anderson, Sinclair Lewis, and Feeling Overwhelmed
“In the beginning when the world was young there were a great many thoughts but no such thing as a truth.” Sherwood Anderson starts off Winesburg, Ohio with this grand thesis of human existence. I...
View ArticleUpdate: The UVA Collection of Old Things
Since my last update I’ve learned that some biographers are better than others, and it is important to know the difference. I’ve been reading Walter Rideout’s multi-volume biography on Anderson, which...
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