Strides

This week I made some small movements in the development of my argument, but I have made pretty big strides in clarity. I feel I have been trying to anticipate Dickinson's intentions. Even the former title of my paper suggests it: "Traversing Spiritual Space in Emily Dickinson's Prayer Poems" I feel as thought that is something I have tried to do as well as explain... act as a sort of guide through ED's poems, in order to elucidate an aspect of them I feel has been largely overlooked. So I've put some distance between myself and my subject. The new title is "Spatiality in Emily Dickinson's Prayer Poems." So with my new approach, I've tried to explain what I mean by spatiality, and demonstrate how ED establishes it. That's it. I have a bit more of a "so what" paragraph towards the end of my introduction, but this is essentially what I'm going to argue. I think I was overreaching before. So I'm seeing a direct relationship between the size of my claim and the amount of stress I feel. When I step back and try to accomplish less (not be less awesome, just more controlled), I feel more confident that I can make it happen. Sounds like common sense, but it's been a lesson I've struggled to learn since the 4th grade, and will continue to struggle with for the rest of my life, I'm sure.

Right now I'm in the middle of getting my PhD applications together. I plan on submitting an excerpt of what will become my thesis as my writing sample. I'm interested in the different approach I feel I would take towards the paper, depending on my end goal. When I was working on my conference presentation, I was less formal and less concerned with engaging secondary sources. This writing sample is more polished, more professional, and slightly more academic. When I finally put my thesis into full gear, I'm going to need more engagement with secondary sources. But I think I will also have a little more room to explore. I don't know if that's true or not. Whatever, I'm writing this at 11:30 PM.