I have wholeheartedly decided that literary analysis papers are the epitome of written bull shit. After writing 3000 words of British literature analysis, I have shocked myself to realize that I barely believe a single word I have just written.
I’m asking myself, “Do I really think the author was considering feminist materialism when she wrote this book 150 years ago?”. Most likely not. I would guess the author was thinking, “Gee.. it’s great to write. La la la. I wonder how much my royalty check will be. La la la. This scene could certainly use a dog. La la la.”
People have made whole careers in over-analyzing ancient texts. And I’ve spent a four year college career coming to the realization that I could never do this for the rest of my life. With every essay I turn in, I feel this odd sense of “intellectual lying”. I’m pushing the boundaries of themes and assumptions to the point that, with proper quotation, they can be made believable.
And the comments I’m getting on my papers? “Good point”, “Great thesis”, “Strong argument”.
It’s obviously something I can (and must) do, but it’s proving to be mentally straining. Not because of the work load but because I have to convince myself of something I don’t believe in to begin with.
Maybe this is just further proof that I can’t write utter non-sense on someone else’s whim. I’m not a word monkey, dammit. It also proves that I’m certainly doomed when it comes to having a decent job writing for someone else. I’ll stick to creative non-fiction, thank you very much.
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2 Users Responded in " After a long weekend, just let me rant for a moment "
lol. Yup, I know what you mean.
You get this feeling in other disciplines as well. I remember whilst doing science thinking “why do we endlessly repeat old experiments that have been done a thousand times before” - especially when the outcome is always the same.
When I learnt endless rules and regulations for ATC training, it drove me mad. One time, when in field training, I had to answer a series of questions about the rules (for the umpteenth time). I Xeroxed the rules from the manual and stuck them into the paper as answers.. somehow the guy bought it!
As a musician, you get the accomplishment much in the same way as a guy who builds a house - while the music press spend endless hours dissecting music and talking bullshit, or the university lecturer waffles on to the architectural students - the muso has played his gig successfully and the builder has a finished house.
A friend of mine in ATC training once remarked “if you’re good at something, you do it - if you’re only half-good at it, you teach it”
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