Having the writing process of this paper be so public was incredibly helpful to me. I knew, basically from the beginning, the topic that I wanted to write my final paper on but I didn't know my thesis statement or what exactly I would be arguing in my paper. I just knew that I wanted to choose a play to direct for TMA 436 and that I'd write a paper one whichever one I chose. After I had written up a blog post about my initial learning plan, Dr. Burton said in class that it was a great idea! I was so pumped!
So I read a total of eight plays that I had narrowed down from a list of over thirty (I had compiled a list of every play I heard anyone talk about in my 457 class last semester). It was interesting when I listed them out in a blog post and gave each a short description, the one that I was leaning towards was 'Night Mother, but no one seemed as interested in that one as me. I was okay with that! It gave me a little motivation for what my paper could be when I thought I might have to defend that choice.
Eventually that was the play I chose. I spoke with Dr. Burton during the midterm interviews and told him a few ideas I had for directing it, and I mentioned that I might want to write my paper on my choice. He said to "make sure that it would be something I could argue."
This, and the actual choice to direct 'Night Mother gave birth to my writing about Dark Themes in Drama. I think that it is an arguable idea... not everyone thinks that it is okay to show on stage for a general audience.
We then talked in class about different kinds of thesis statements, I got a little concerned. This was the first thing that seemed difficult about writing this paper. I knew what I wanted to say, I just had a hard time wording it so that it was a GOOD thesis statement. Luckily I received quite a few comments on this post and it was incredibly helpful.
Next we had to share out modified thesis statement on a social media website. I chose facebook... mostly because I don't have twitter or google+. My "tweethis" statement: Dark themes in theatre. Appropriate or no? I got SO many responses. Honestly, I was glad to be forced to do that, I would never have otherwise. It was helpful to my paper. Most everyone agreed with my stance on the matter but having them explain their reasoning helped me to flesh out my own.
To help get other ideas for my paper, I did a blog post that outlined a plot summary of the play I chose and I listed the reasons that I wanted to 1. direct it and 2. write a paper about it. The feedback I got on both of these was, again, helpful to me in the writing process.
The next step was to write a draft. This particular draft was about as rough as they come, considering I was writing it on less than four hours asleep and while on an airplane. Still, people were helpful and supportive in their comments and I felt good about where the paper was going. Because I got some good feedback, I posted another when it was more completed and got two more positive/constructive comments!
Once we had brought a completed draft to class, I felt VERY good about my paper. I still do! Danielle was my partner when we were peer-editing and I found what she suggested to be very helpful. I made a few changes where I felt that I needed to - but to be honest... I didn't change much. I was happy with it as a whole. I was grateful for her feedback and I made the corrections, but I love MY PAPER!
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