A solution to writer's block...

[DarkTirade]

Be yourself and have fun.

I've been stuck on how to even get STARTED on my final lit paper for the last few days. Finally I said screw it. The teacher is giving us leeway in this paper. We're allowed to use first person, we're allowed to pretty much do what we want within the guidelines.

He knows I'm a smart-ass. So I'm gonna make my paper fun, smart-assy and funny.

And voila, just decided that gave me a springboard to start with.

My lit class is Science Fiction, and this last paper is supposed to be us defining what we think Science Fiction is, and then relating at least three of the books/short stories we've read in class to that. So I'm going to be a bit goofy. Here's what I have so far.




English 223

Final Paper

5/15/08

The Paper in Which We Discuss The Qualities and Attributes that Classify a Form of Media, be it on Paper or on Screen, as Science Fiction Hey, he wanted us to come up with an original title for it... :evilgrin:


By (name changed to protect the not-so-innocent)


Section 1 – In which we ask the question, “What makes a work of literature fit into the sub-genre of Science Fiction?”
To first classify a work of literature as Science Fiction, we must be able to classify and perhaps even quantify what Science Fiction is. To do so, we must whittle down literature as a whole until we reach the creamy center that is Science Fiction. The statue of David was once a giant rock, but when the detritus was chipped away a work of art was revealed inside.








And I'm just gonna go from there.

[crimsonblue]

1. hehe, jackass...

I TA'd a lit class my frosh year (long story) and I had a student like you. I read the first paragraph and gave him an A for being a dick. lol

[DarkTirade]

2. Oh, I'm like that in class too.

:P

[crimsonblue]

3. pretty much, he answered the whole topic in about 100 words and then

went off on a crazy tangent dealing with the possibility that Hemenway was a reincarnation of Shakespeare.. I couldn't be mad, I was impressed. it took definite balls. After reading so many boring, bullshit boilerplate essays (many of which I suspect were written by friends or failed lit majors) it was refreshing to get a paper that actually made me want to read all the way through (you'd be surprised how many times papers aren't read through-- we were told by our supervisor that it wasn't necessary. lol).

[DarkTirade]

4. I suspected my teacher may not have read through my last one...

but that's just because I got a better grade on that one than I did on my previous essay. And my last essay was written at the last minute, while under the influence of being extremely sick and more than a bit loopy on decongestants. :P

[crimsonblue]

5. One thing I found helpful whenever I got a bad grade

was to ask the teacher to re-read it.... I got bumped up a full letter grade once by simply asking that..

[DarkTirade]

6. Hmm... what do you think of the title for my section 2 of the paper...

Section 2 – In which we shall peruse some Science Fiction stories and nitpick until the truth of their genre is revealed.

(the two sections we were supposed to do were 1) define sci-fi, 2) use examples to demonstrate their sci-fi-ness.)

[crimsonblue]

7. haha sounds good.

I think you should throw in a random section about what science fiction means to you, or your own nutshell explanation thereof. "the genre" would be better me thinks.

[DarkTirade]

8. Hmm...

he wants us to define what we think sci-fi means. I suppose I could get a little more personal... :P

[crimsonblue]

9. the meaning of something is more than its definition...

it's the context we see it in, and the personal significance it has and the emotions and images it stirs up. (you can steal those lines if ya want.. :P)

[DarkTirade]

10. Unfortunately we have an upper limit for pages... and I'm gettin' close to that.

I actually had to go back and delete some unnecessary fluff to fit in the important stuff. :P Which sucks, because I'm a MASTER at unnecessary fluff.

[The Straight Story]

11. Just post a pic of some boobs and tell him it is science fiction that he will ever touch em

:rofl:

[DarkTirade]

12. Actually he's married with a couple of kids.

And I'd like to pass my class. :P

[DarkTirade]

13. Phew. Paper's DONE.

Now I only have one decision left to make... brandy or scotch before I head off to bed? :P

[DarkTirade]

14. Brandy.

Very smooth. Bit of a vanilla-ish scent to it once I let it breathe a bit.

And now that I'm done being a snob... *glug glug glug*... :P

I keed. I just got a little sample bottle. Barely a shot's worth and I'm sippin' it slowly.

[Catsbrains]

15. Are you going to let us read your paper?