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bookwyrminspiration · 3 years

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Ok so from what I've seen of my very pleasent stroll through your bountiful analyses (analysi?), I'm very much liking it (my apologies, words aren't my strong suit even though I've spoken English my whole life), I was just wondering if you have any thoughts on how the elves don't have much music from what I've heard? (It's the heathen who hasn't read the books :D) And that just... Seems unlikely to me, or boring. Music is a very important part of who I am and my daily activities and to just have a world where it.. Doesn't exist seems improbable or repressed, especially since making noise is a simple basic of social creatures (assuming that's what elves are)

heathen! hello! I started to answer this and then saved it to my drafts and forgot it existed so thank you for being patient with me--I should not be allowed to have a draft feature. and thank you! I'm glad you like the analyses because I love doing them!! and I still have almost 40 asks to answer rn (despite me answering several, I just keep getting more!! not a bad thing tho) so there's definitely a lot more to come.

I do have several thoughts on this--just to prepare you for my blog as you are new, I have thoughts about everything all of the time! it's actually been hilarious to see people switch from asking me "do you have thoughts on this" to "what are your thoughts on this" because I just have so much to say about everything.

but onto your ask: from what we've seen (based on the little info we have about the song family) is seems like all elven music is instrumental, no words at all. or if there are words (I don't remember there being words but it's not impossible), they're more soft and gentle. it's like their music is in tune with nature and the natural world and doesn't explore the possible creativity in it. Instead, it's all lumped into one category of sweet and perfect and pleasant in a way human music isn't. yes, human music can be like that, but it also has such a wide variety of sounds and ways to express yourself. I think with elven music it's less and expression of yourself and more of showing off the fact you can play music, like it's a skill to show off instead of personally meaningful outside of the attention it can get you.

looking at that brief interaction where Grady asks "is that...music?" (paraphrased from book one) when Sophie is listening to her angry playlist, we can assume that the lost cities doesn't have anything intense when it comes to songs. note: maybe the reason we haven't actually heard any elven music in the series is because it's so boring, as you put it, that no one actually listens to it often.

like you, music is a huge part of my life and I'm constantly listening to something whether it's on a speaker, earbuds, or just my phone. I have music playing as I'm answering this ask, and sometimes I even listen to music as I read. If I walk out of my room rn I can guarantee that my dad has a speaker on in the living room and is listening to the music on the radio. Music is such an integral part of the human experience--and Sophie herself listened to music frequently before coming to the Lost Cities.

It seems like one of those worldbuilding details--in this case it's an enjoyable activity/profession--that got pushed to the side to favor all the other aspects of the world and it's drama. Shannon's explanation for cutting a lot of things is that is slows down the story and draws it out (as seen in all the deleted scenes she's shared), so I wouldn't be surprised if elven music and just listening to music in general is one of the things that got cut for that very reason, if it was even added in the workplace. However, i do think it would've strengthened the world more if it had been mentioned in like a sentence or two throughout the series, just a reminder that music exists because it is so integral to so many of us. Even Shannon herself has playlists she listens to when writing the keeper books that she's shared! Or if it's not included, a brief explanation as to why music isn't important to the elves.

Off the top of my head I can theorize that maybe music is viewed as something that's only for special occasions, like dances and ceremonies. Or maybe it's seen as not special enough because it involves used of the body (to play instruments and sing) and not that of the mind. But those are just personal theories trying to explain a gap in the world.

Overall I think it was just something Shannon omitted for simplicity when writing, as music can be seen as a minor thing. it's just that it happens to be a very big thing for a lot of us, so knowing the music exists and seeing it portrayed in such a different way without explanation raises a lot of questions.

I'd personally be very interested to hear what elven music sounds like or how it's treated!! I wonder what kind of instruments they use and if elves sing. just so many questions!!

#I am always listening to music so to see Sophie go so long without it being mentioned is just like damn. how #we could also assume that she does listen to music and it's just not mentioned. but it would need to be mentioned once or twice to build #up that familiarity so we could go 'oh she's probably listening to music while she does that'#which we haven't seen yet #or at least I haven't #also seriously I shouldn't be allowed to have drafts #the number of times I save things to my drafts and just. forget they exist. makes me feel so bad #because all your ideas excite me and I want to talk about them!! and I don't mean to forget!!#brain remember things challenge #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc music #quil's queries #heathen nonsie #i love that name btw

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arofili · 6 years

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Aro Kel Masterpost

ETA: I wrote a fic about aro!Kel/Dom, read that if you want ;)

After Tamora Pierce revealed that Kel is aro, I was elated. To finally have representation of any kind, especially from an author and a character I really love, felt so good. Now, it’s not really good representation - I would have preferred to have it explicit and there from the beginning, but this is still incredible for me. So, naturally, this new information spurred me to reread the Protector of the Small series with Kel’s aromanticism in mind, and I unearthed a whole lot of interesting things.

A lot of this was fairly obvious, but much of it was subtext, and there’s still a lot of parts of Kel’s love life that required a bit of effort to see as part of her arospec experience, but I would say that she reads as pretty darn aromantic to me now. In this post, I’ve compiled a bunch of quotes/scenes (mostly paraphrased, sorry) and thoughts about Kel’s aromanticism and how it was portrayed in the books.

This post has been more than a year in the making, mostly because I’m lazy as fuck, but I finally managed to finish it up for @aggressivelyarospec week 2018! Also, the wonderful podcast @tortallrecall is coming up on Kel’s arc soon, and I hope they’ll discuss Kel’s aromanticism, so I wanted to provide an aro person’s opinion on Kel being aro for them to have as a resource if they want to use it :)

Overall: I don't think Tamora Pierce wrote the series meaning for Kel to be aro, because I doubt she would have included the “romance” with Neal, Cleon, or Dom, though that is still justifiable with her being aro [see my explanations below], but I think that she did write it with her being less interested in romance than her peers and Pierce’s other heroines and I think she very intentionally gave Kel a happy ending without romance. And so looking back, the aro label fits. She is definitely arospec, and I am delighted to read about an aromantic character.

First Test

There’s a part where Neal is being all dramatic and talking about the glory of knighthood, but Kel says something along the lines of “Well, sure, but being sung about will take a lot of hard work”. Neal responds, “You aren’t a bit romantic, are you?” and I know that it’s a different kind of “romantic” in this context but also PUNS!

“she'd had experiences with crushes—none her own, of course”

I know Kel is 10 at this point, but also, that is exactly what I was thinking at age 10.

Whenever Cleon fake flirts with her, she's so exasperated and amused. At one part he says he'll pine for her until she returns and she thinks “He'll pine and I'm a holly bush”.

And she's always so sympathetic about Roald's arranged marriage. And sure, anyone could be because they’re not ~in love~ but Kel just seems really sympathetic about marriage in general.

Neal has a crush on Daine in this book, which I had forgotten about, and Kel is so exasperated every time he talks about it. She consoles him, but she's so confused and amused by his feelings.

Page

So here we get to the part where 11-year-old Kel thinks she likes Neal. It’s funny, because it happens at the same time when Neal has a crush on Uline of Hannalof, so I think there’s definitely an argument for her reacting of jealousy. She definitely has some feelings for him, but I don’t think they’re quite romantic, and she doesn’t understand them. At least, that’s how I’m choosing to read it.

And she keeps making fun of him about his feelings, and the part where she and her friends all get together to sing him a sappy love song is really funny.

Also, she keeps complaining to Lalasa that he won’t actually do anything about his feelings. Even when she thinks she has a crush on him, she’s annoyed by romance.

@buffintruda and I were talking about this, and I wondered how we hadn’t thought of Kel being aro before the announcement, and they said something I think is very true:

Too be fair, for me at least, the last time I read her books was before I knew I was aro, and her relationships and crushes deterred me from considering it, even though now that you point them out, they're pretty weak and aro-y

At some point in the story, Cleon’s fake flirting becomes real, but Kel doesn’t realize it. She still thinks he’s joking up until halfway through Squire. Even when he’s being really obvious and blushing and commenting on her appearance, she’s just confused as to why he keeps doing this and doesn’t even consider the idea that he could be sincere.

Honestly this is such a GEM of a quote. Like, same:

“I can flirt just as well as my gelding can dance”

When Kel is talking to Joren about how he’s “changed”, and he tells her that she should get married and her immediate response is “I don’t want to be married”. She does think of Neal, but it’s an afterthought. When I used to force myself to pretend to like someone, before I knew I was aro, I would do the same sort of thing - “I don’t want to marry anyone, ew! Wait, no, I would totally marry [insert fake crush here]...” It’s something she feels like she’s supposed to think, not something she actually feels.

Honestly, Kel’s whole crush on Neal is not really a big deal, even to her. She’ll pine over him when a situation comes up that makes her think about romance, and she’ll occasionally have that “heart flutter” thing, but it’s mostly them being great friends and she seems to forget she’s supposed to have a crush on him while she’s hanging out with him. This seems a lot more like a squish than a crush, at least to me.

So this isn’t technically related to Kel’s aromanticism, but I couldn’t leave it out. Before their third examinations, Kel and Neal talk about their friends and Neal says something like “I wouldn’t trade your friendship for anything”. Ahhh I was so emotional when I read that!! Their friendship is so good and heartwarming and beautiful that I wanted to cry!

Kel made a joke out of it, but it was really sweet and that moment was truly beautiful and relateable. It’s great to see strong friendships shown in books, even if one of the people thinks that they’re in love with the other one.

And in this scene, Kel didn’t think about her “crush” even once, even though it was a pretty intense moment for both of them.

Squire

When Kel finds out that Alanna wants Neal for her squire, she has this silly line about “I can’t not be his friend even if I can’t be his love” and Kel, please. That is far too melodramatic for you! This is so out of character it feels forced, which, if we view it through an aromantic lens, it probably is.

Aw yeah, Raoul is back! I love him. Another aro icon! @buffintruda and I couldn’t believe that we could imagine him as arospec, but totally overlook Kel!

When Kel joins the Own, she meets Dom! She’s wondering why Dom makes her feel all weird and “romantic” moreso than she ever felt for Neal, and I’m like... It’s because you’re making this all up! It’s amatonormativity and heteronormativity! Once you’re not around Neal, you forget you’re supposed to like him, so you find someone else to project your confusion and insecurity onto! You’re not “fickle”, you’re just a confused aromantic.

Kel wonders why “Lalasa never mentioned this”, and that’s pretty obvious. Lalasa is canonically in a relationship with her friend Tian...this girl is a lesbian.

“Who falls in and out of love in a summer?”

Probably someone who was never in love in the first place, Kel. This quote comes the next time that Kel sees Neal, and she realizes her romantic feelings are gone like they never were there in the first place.

“Were her feelings even real?”

Ding ding! Now you’re starting to get it!

Cleon is ridiculously awkward around Kel, and she is just as ridiculously oblivious of his feelings and exasperated by his flirting. (Relatable.) When he kisses her for the first time, she’s so shocked that she doesn’t know how to react which is a mood.

“They won’t be able to talk sense for weeks!”

When Yuki comes to Tortall, Kel makes fun of all the pages and squires for “falling in love” with her. She thinks “her messmates were romantic” in a way that totally excludes herself from that line of thought, because obviously she’s not romantic! That would be ridiculous!

“She hadn’t seen Cleon privately since that astonishing kiss. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to see him or never to see him again. She didn’t know which would be worse, finding that he’d done it on a dare or that he’d done it because he wanted to. Either meant a rat’s nest of problems.”

She liked the kiss, so we know she likes kissing, but that does not mean she isn’t aro. She doesn’t really want to like Cleon romantically. Unlike with Neal and Dom, she isn’t tricking herself into feeling something for Cleon; his feelings surprised her. “A rat’s nest of problems” is true not only politically, but also very much personally.

Tamora Pierce has also called Kel asexual at different times; this post is about her being aro, but there was one little ace thing I wanted to mention. When Kel meets George Cooper, she cannot figure out why Alanna is attracted to him; she only finds his eyes attractive. Kel is struggling to find anything attractive about him, and when has she ever before focused on the physical side of things when she’s forcing herself into liking someone? It isn’t something she even considers.

“Nice eyes hardly seemed to Kel like grounds for marriage.”

Yeah, well, for you it would be hard to find anything that would be grounds for marriage!

When Kel and Cleon (finally) talk about their first kiss, Cleon is trying to convince her that they should be in a relationship and Kel says something along the lines of “If people knew, they might not know it was friendly” and that’s literally the most aromantic thing I’ve ever heard. She is literally incapable of forming a reason why she would kiss someone outside of being friends. She likes kissing but doesn’t have romantic feelings.

In the same scene, she wants so badly to be interrupted by someone so she doesn’t have to deal with Cleon’s romantic advances. In the end they do get together, and some of this conversation was in jest, but Kel is truly terrified of romance and uncomfortable with her situation no matter how much she is genuinely fond of Cleon.

During the Progress, she talks to her mom about sex and Cleon. Her mom says, “you can choose if you want to have sex”, and Kel’s immediate response is “I don’t want to choose that!” Her reasoning is “I don’t want to be distracted”, “I just want my shield”, “I certainly don’t want babies” and if that ain’t the most aroace thing then I don’t know what is.

Shortly after this scene, Kel talks to Cleon, which goes something like this...

Cleon: Come down and let me hold you! Kel: No, you come up, and no holding.

Kel is terrified of sex but simultaneously struggling with her self-worth and wanting to be fuckable.

Once Kel and Cleon are officially together, their relationship is pretty romantic, which explains why I didn’t consider she could be aro at first. But even then, I see it as more that she enjoys Cleon’s company and the physical side of their relationship even though they never actually have sex. And the whole time, Cleon is so much more scared than Kel of the inevitable end of their relationship. Kel is much more practical and sees their relationship as doomed from the beginning.

Not related, but I love how Raoul and Buri’s relationship develops. They’re basically mutual beards and best friends. Buri’s such a lesbian, and Raoul is so aro!

When Kel first suggests that Raoul should ask Buri to go to his party with his aunt, she says that Buri “won’t get any romantic notions” which 1) shows how gay Buri is and 2) shows how Kel’s thought process about romance works.

This speaks for itself:

“She had decided years before that she was no prize on the romance market.”

There’s this lovely conversation while the Own is helping some town...

Kel: Why don’t people talk about hard work when it comes to war? All I hear about is glory. Dom: Pretty girls want to hear about glory, not work.

Kel wasn’t thinking about romance as a factor; she didn’t even consider it. While the Own is at Giantkiller, Kel completely forgets about her crush on Dom and it’s pretty much never brought up again.

Another gem of a quote:

“Kel thought asking her for wedding ideas was like asking a cat how to raise a horse, but she did her best.”

Kel and Cleon’s forbidden words are “love” and “marriage” and oh my god that is the most aro thing ever.

Lady Knight

There is so much less romance in this book! That’s great it in general, but it also really establishes Kel as aromantic because this is the book in which she becomes more sure of herself. She thinks about romance much less, which means there’s less things to specify how her reaction to romance proves her aro. I think it was at this point that Tamora Pierce decided that Kel wasn’t going to end up with a romantic partner at the end of her series.

On the way to the Scanran border, Neal and Roald are complaining about being separated from their fiancees, and Kel is so exasperated with them. She feels sorrier for Roald, but she approaches the whole subject with way too critical an eye to be alloromantic.

“She wanted love and children, too—someday.”

She thinks about Cleon, but it’s so distant. She’s imagining that she’ll feel different in the future, because that’s what’s supposed to happen to people, right? But she doesn’t really want love and children.

Kel’s thought of “romance was more pleasant than reality” proves that she doesn’t believe that finding romance is realistic. And as we know, Kel is practical above all.

“Friendship was there, but passion was gone.”

When Kel sees Cleon again after a few years of separation, everything she thought she had felt for him has disappeared. And multiple times she feels bad about not loving him anymore; that’s textbook aro guilt. She emphasizes that “she could still be his friend even if she couldn’t be his lover.” She isn’t at all surprised that she doesn’t love Cleon anymore. She expected this, and she’s relieved that she was right.

“She wanted no lovers until she had settled the Nothing Man’s account.”

Kel will look for any excuse to not have to deal with romance, and everything that justifies her lack of love will do.

“Beyond kisses, Cleon was her friend.”

This proves that she always saw Cleon mostly as a friend, just a friend she also liked to kiss. To aro people things like that aren’t always cut and dry; she likes to kiss but to her kissing is not a romantic action.

She’s relieved that Cleon isn’t trying to keep things going, because it would hurt too much for both of them and because she didn’t want to have to keep faking romantic love. She’s upset about the end of their relationship because change is hard, not because she wants Cleon. She understands that now and talks to Tobe about it. I’m so proud of her!! She’s coming to terms with herself.

At Haven, Kel sees Dom again and remembers that she had a crush on him, but it’s a minor afterthought after a paragraph of her considering their friendship. When he leaves, she misses his friendship and support and doesn’t even think about romance.

And finally, the second to last paragraph in the whole series all but makes aro Kel explicit representation:

“Lovers, Kel thought, rolling her eyes. At least there was one headache she didn’t have. She was about to tell her friend [Neal] he could wait when she remembered that she’d get to see Dom at Steadfast. It would be nice to able to sit and chat for a while without kidnapping, flight, and war to distract them.”

Sure, that could (and has been) interpreted as Kel’s crush on Dom continuing to manifest, but to me it shows her value of friendship, especially as it immediately follows her declaration that lovers are a headache.

In conclusion, my point at the beginning still stands: this is not necessarily good representation. Kel’s story was written without authorial consideration of her aromanticism. But it is representation. And to me, a queer who grew up reading Kel and identifying more with her than with any of Tamora Pierce’s other heroines, even post-canonical, Word of God revelations of Kel being aro matters a lot. This is especially relevant because of the void that is aro rep—I can only name one or two canon aromantic characters from popular media, and Kel is one of them.

An aromantic lens is required to see Kel’s aromanticism, but it is there. It means something. And even though this post has been like two years in the making, Kel still means a lot to me.

#aggressivelyarospecweek #aaw #tortallrecall #keladry of mindelan #aromantic #my meta #tefain nin #tortall #i wanted to write some fic for this week but i.....didnt rip

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geniuslab · 7 years

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college writing advice

Hi, everyone. It’s nearing finals time for a lot of people and I thought I’d share some of the tips that my undergrad students find helpful, and also things that helped me when I was in school and writing essays. Don’t sue me if this doesn’t help, though. This is mostly for your typical research/argumentative/analytical essays.

read your assignment/essay prompt as soon as you get it

Even if your essay isn’t due for a month, take a look at the assignment. You don’t have to outline or do anything for it yet, but knowing what the requirements are will help you prepare. You can start looking for inspiration in class readings or lectures, and you might find yourself outlining it without even realizing it. At the very least, it can’t hurt to know what you’ll need to do, even if you’re not starting yet.

Plus, if something is confusing, you have time to ask your professor. Emailing your professor the night before your essay is due with a basic question doesn’t make you look good, and you might not get an answer back in time.

Sometimes professors give hints to what materials will be helpful for your essays (particularly analytical essays!), so if you already know the prompt then you can be on the lookout for these. I frequently starred my notes when I knew certain information would be helpful in an upcoming essay.

don’t wait until the last minute

It sounds pretty self-explanatory, but seriously. Don’t. Don’t wait until the night before your 15 page research paper is due to start actually doing research. Even if you know you write better under stress (like me) still plan out enough time to get it done. A 2,000 word essay written in less than 3 hours is going to be crap. A 2,000 word essay in 2 days is manageable.

okay, shit. you waited until the last minute

Ask your professor for an extension. Just don’t do it at 2am.

If you can’t get an extension, then get some caffeine and snacks and buckle up, kiddo. Submitting something is better than submitting nothing. Start with whatever part is easiest, and just run with it. Just don’t work yourself to the point of exhaustion.

talk to someone about your ideas

Whether it be with your professor, a tutor, or your best friend, don’t be afraid to talk through your ideas with someone. Sometimes brainstorming with someone for even 10 minutes is all you need to get the jumbled mess of ideas in your head into something concrete.

find a productive space to do your work (this counts for studying in general)

By this point in the semester you’ve probably figured out what environments are most helpful to you, so make sure that’s where you’re doing your work. Some people can only work in a quiet space like their room/library, while others need some background noise and find places like coffee shops most helpful.

If you like listening to something while working, there’s lots of different playlists you can listen to, like this one. If you listened to a specific playlist while studying, try listening to the same one while writing, since it can help bring previous knowledge back to the forefront. And there’s always the classic Rainy Mood.

create a rough outline

Whether you write one out or do it in your head, try planning something out. For example, if you’re writing a research paper on the benefits of therapy, start deciding what supporting points you’d like to talk about. I wouldn’t recommend waiting until halfway through your paper to figure out all of your points.

write, write, write

If you don’t like outlining then just start writing. Work through your ideas, and you’ll get somewhere eventually. You might have to scrap a lot of what you’ve written, but you’ll have something to go off of.

Once into the actual writing process, feel free to jump around with what sections you’re writing. If you get stuck on a certain paragraph, move onto the next one. If you can’t figure out how to write a hook for your intro, start on something that you do know how to do. If your third main point is the most interesting to you, try starting there. Getting some writing done is better than getting frustrated at line one and not getting anything done. Which brings me to my next point:

skip your introduction

For most undergrad papers, your intro is essentially just a summary of what your paper is going to be about. If you get stuck on intros often, just skip it and write it last, since by the end you’ll know exactly how to summarize your paper.

however, always know your thesis before writing anything substantial

Your thesis = main point/argument. You need to know this before you start filling in all of your support (this is assuming your paper requires a thesis...which it probably does). After all, what are you trying to support if you don’t even know what you’re arguing? Make sure that each paragraph ties back to the thesis. If it doesn’t, there’s probably an issue (background information or references to existing research won’t exactly support your thesis, but you’ll know if they fit within the context of your argument).

As far as wording your thesis, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. As long as you’re not planning on changing what your thesis is, you can worry about how to perfectly word it later.

use your library’s database

Provided that your school has a database (which is probably does), check it out. Pro-tip: If you’re crunched on time/not able to go to your library, make sure to check the “full text only” option to get articles that are 100% free and available to download right away. I did this for every paper.

Of course, there’s always google scholar if you’re still not finding what you’re looking for, but results can be limited or behind a paywall.

If you find an article excerpt that’s helpful but can’t access the rest of the article...you can probably still use it. But you didn’t hear that from me.

still stuck on research?

Wikipedia can help. But please, don’t use it as a source unless you want your professor to light your essay on fire. You can gain some background knowledge on your topic to help in the research process, and a lot of times wikipedia cites legitimate sources that you can check out and maybe even use for yourself.

Also, sources from .gov and .edu websites are pretty safe to use.

Don’t use someone’s blog as a source please please please (unless your paper is about blog culture or something. But we both know it’s not).

have a super long source?

You don’t have to read the entire thing. This is probably contradictory to what your professors always tell you, but really. Don’t spend hours reading a 100+ page article or book to only end up using one sentence from it. In my four years of college, I never once read an entire book just to use it as my source (however, I DID read the required books for class...don’t skip out on that). And if an article was more than, say, 25 pages, I skimmed it. You know how much reading you can handle and fit in. Find whatever paragraphs have the information that you need, and use it. As long as you’re not misinterpreting the information, it probably doesn’t really matter.

don’t just throw a quote in your paper

It might be tempting to do this to fill up space or fulfill the required amount of sources, but don’t do it. Make sure that whatever quote you’re using actually supports whatever you’re trying to say. A simple tip that you can use most of the time is thinking of it as a sandwich: introduce your source (ex. John Smith, Professor of Bullshitting at Blah University, states, ”QUOTE”), put in the quote, and then talk about the quote. Don’t just plop it in there with no explanation as to why it’s important.

This website can be helpful for incorporating sources.

confused by citations? use an online citation maker

When you’re stressed and under a time limit, it’s probably not the time to learn MLA. Pop those sources into a website like easybib or citationmachine. Don’t pay, though. There’s tons out there, so find one that works for free (easybib doesn’t do APA for free, but I believe citationmachine does). Just make sure that you’re filling out all necessary info. Sometimes the websites can’t find the author’s name or publication date, but you can. These websites serve as a good template, just don’t expect them to do all the work for you.

Also, if you’re using an online database, it might have already created the citation for you, so look for that.

If you’re not sure whether to use MLA, APA, etc. then check your assignment or syllabus. If it’s still not there then your prof did a shitty job email your professor. Typically, English papers will use MLA and science-related classes will use APA.

For help on in-text citations, I suggest googling “whatever type of source you’re using + purdueowl + in-text + citation type (mla, apa, etc.)”

Don’t worry about in-text citations as you’re writing. If my citation was any more complicated than (75-78) then I just put something like [INSERT CITATION] and did it last. But make sure you know exactly how to find the source again, otherwise you’ll have to take it out. Don’t depend on bookmarking a database article either, they never saved for me. Make sure you can find it again, and know exactly what part of the source you used.

don’t plagiarize (even by accident)

Knowing the difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing is imperative.

When in doubt, cite.

annotated bibliographies

They look scarier than they are. Your prof probably gave you guidelines for one if they’re expecting you to write one, but if not, this is a helpful guide. Rule of thumb: give background information of the source and author (why should the reader care about this source? is it legit? give them receipts), give a summary of the main points, and explain how you’re planning on using the source in your essay. You probably want to do this before you write your paper, but hey, who am I to judge?

transitions

I hate transitions and I hate explaining them. But this website has some great transition words if you’re tired of using “furthermore.”

worry about spelling/grammar last

Unless your professor is a real hardass on these things, they’re most likely the least important. Your grammar could be flawless, but if your organization is a mess then your whole paper has fallen apart. This is particularly important for ESL students. Have a friend read your paper, if this is an option available to you. As long as they understand what you’re trying to say, that’s the most important part. Work on bigger issues first (thesis, support, organization) and then worry about whether a comma needs to go there.

but you should definitely still proofread

Spellcheck can only go so far. Make sure you read over your paper before you submit it. Professors can tell when you haven’t even looked over your own paper, and they get pretty heated about it.

If you know you’ve read your paper countless times and are still missing things, try reading it backwards. Going backwards line by line makes you focus on the content of each sentence. This is only helpful for spelling, grammar, and syntax.

last but not least, give yourself breaks/incentives

Ideally, you’re not going to write your paper in less than 12 hours. I highly recommend planning as much time as possible to write your paper, and give yourself a DAY break between finishing your writing and proofreading it. That day gives you enough space to clear your head and look at it with a new perspective.

If you’re planning on banging out your whole paper in one sitting, still give yourself breaks. Have a delicious snack after each new paragraph, or watch a funny youtube video after each main point. Obviously, if you’re on a roll then don’t interrupt yourself. But if you’re struggling with each sentence, try to give yourself incentives to keep going.

That’s about all I can think of right now. I’m sorry if this wasn’t helpful or if you knew all of this already (look at me, assuming someone’s going to read this). This is mostly just beginner’s tips, but they might still help. Believe it or not, these are some of the biggest problems I see students run into, even at the end of the semester. If you picked up at least one thing from this, then I did what I sought out to do!

Have a question that I didn’t answer or explain fully? Feel free to send me an ask. I’ll answer pretty much anything. But I won’t proofread your paper.

Please let me know if any of the links aren’t working. You can always add stuff to this list as well!

Good luck!

#writing help #writing tips #college writing #essay writing #studyblr #good luck on your essays my friends #i wrote this at 2am so i'm sorry if this is crap #i'm sure i'm forgetting things too but this is all i can think of atm #i would have rather not put this under a read more but it's long and i didn't want to kill everyone's dash

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studying-inwonderland · 7 years

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How to Research in College

Note that I am not talking about doing a research study but how to find them, how to read them, and what to do with them.

Step one: Identify your criteria.

Often professors have a set of criteria for articles they’ll consider acceptable. Generally that means less than 5-10 years old depending on the topic lately my profs want less than 5 but swk is constantly changing and keeping up to date is critical, someones interpretation of shake spear will be relevant always etc. And almost invariably they want a peer reviewed journal article. I’m sorry psychology weekly or that weird html website you found on the 10th page of google just don’t make the cut. And for that matter, neither do a lot of genuine research articles done by legitimate researchers. Peer Reviewed is exactly what it sounds like. In order to get into a reputable journal a researcher/experimenter/writer needs to have their article read and approved by a few of their peers. After that it’s about finding something related to your topic. Sometime you can find a journal article on exactly your topic (like your thesis is their hypothesis), other times it’s more of a stretch. It’s also important to use critical thinking when reading an article, you don’t want to choose something and then realize the conclusion doesn’t add up right for your paper.

Step two: Find an article.

You can go onto your school library website and find your databases. Mine is called AllKnight Search (go golden knights!) and when I go to my library’s webpage and it’s smack in the center of the screen as a search bar, and along one side there’s a list of databases that are searched with the AllKnight Search. I generally just use my schools and recommend you do too, it’s simpler and since I don’t usually need to use a specific journal it works just fine for me. Another good database most schools have is JStore you’re school probably has a bunch for each major. These Databases have a search function to type in a query and then narrow your results with a year published range, and make sure to select peer reviewed articles only, you can further narrow your search by country published, topic area (child abuse from a medical or social perspective etc.) and a few other criteria. If you don’t know what to do you can always ask your librarian or whatever for help.

Step three: Reading the Article!

I have a method that works pretty well for me and I’ll explain why and what each part is. So, a research study has roughly 7 parts (it depends how you break it down but generally its 5 basic parts broken into 7.

Abstract, All articles have an abstract. This is sort of like the bit on the back of a book it tells you what the article explores.

Introduction, this part sometimes runs in with part 3. The introduction is some general information about the issue. This may include definitions of terms used throughout the rest of the paper.

Literature Review, In this portion the writer examines and summarizes past research and writing. It uses this as an opportunity to explain in depth the issue that the paper will examine. It also convinces the reader why this is important, maybe by citing an article on the effects of the disorder you’ll be researching a treatment for. This section is a gold mine for other articles. You might be reading something and find that last source that you need for your paper. I was doing a mock research proposal on reducing violence in inmate populations and found the bulk of my argument referenced in another article.

Methods. Okay this is where it can get blurry. The methods section describes what is done in the study and if it’s not a field you understand and you don’t know research lingo it can get kinda crazy. Just remember Google is your friend. Don’t know what GB-CBT-IM is? Google. What the hell a p-value is? Google. Just remember unless your taking a research class or doing a lit review for a higher level class you don’t need to understand the difference between cluster and systemic sampling. Just that if was random sampling or not etc which is a much easier thing to understand believe me.

Results, Again this is a really important part of the study. That you don’t need to understand every single word of. This is where their going to throw those words like p-value and so and so’s number at you. You don’t need to understand every word just the gist. And remember that google is your friend. This is the part with all the charts and stuff, and while those are great for understanding the content it’s weirdly hard to put it into words.

Discussion. This is a good place to have all of part 5 broken down. This is where it says, since we know this, the field can start doing this. Its important to paraphrase this section into a sentence or two. Its what says this is why this matters, as well as explains what all those weird numbers and italicized letters mean. The last thing that it does is to examine any possible faults with the methods. So it’ll say “due to a small mostly male college student sample, the results may not be generalizable” etc. basically its a space to examine the faults of the study and to leave suggestions for future researchers.

Conclusion. This wraps everything up. It also usually calls for future research on the topic. I used to be very disheartened by the phrase “further research is needed” but really it seems most articles close that way because there’s no such thing as definite answers in a lot of feilds.

I like to read an article in the order 1,2,3,6,7,4 I usually only just skim part 5 results are really hard to get through and unless you understand them its a frustrating waste of time.

Step Four: Writing about the article.

Writing about an article is hard if you didn’t read it SO READ IT. Don’t try to skim through it while you write do it separately. If your really jammed for time annotate on the article and then write directly from your annotations. Start with a single sentence for the abstract, and one for the introduction. A 2-3 sentences for methods and then 1-2 for the discussion. That puts you at a 5-7 sentence paragraph. Repeat for each source you need for the paper and your good! If you need to do a full page do one paragraph for Intro and Lit review, and then a bulkier paragraph for methods, results, and discussions. After that finish off with a paragraph critically analyzing the article (small sample size? is there a lack of explanation?) this is the space to argue with some points or to talk about what you would have done differently. Remember even though this is your thoughts it’s important to stay out of the first person.

#research #student #college #social work major #Dear Freshmen Series

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telltaleclerk · 3 years

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Book Review - One Last Stop

I would like to start this review by saying this: these words are entirely my opinion. This is a review of a piece of writing that is based on my opinions and experiences and feelings. That being said, if this book made you feel represented, if you related to the characters, if you loved this book my opinions do not invalidate any of that. We are looking at this from different minds and different perspectives and different life experiences. Which is one of the most wonderful things about art: the interpretation. So, you are still represented and relatable and loved no matter how I feel or what I have to say.

On to the review. I'm going to put it below the cut, because it is CHOCK FULL of spoilers. So if you don't want to be spoiled do not continue.

I will also say, this is not a super positive review. I didn't love this book. I didn't even really like it very much.

I'm going to divide this into talking points.

1. The New York Trope

I hate hate HATE the New York Trope. Again, this is a personal thing that's specific to me. It's not to say it's a bad trope, it's just one that I'm SO SO SOOOOO tired of. I hate the idea of someone who could never find a place ANYWHERE else no matter where they've tried to go, making their way to New York where they believe they will finally belong. And then magically, even though they're a loser or an outcast or whatever... they do! They awkwardly stumble into the perfect little found family of weird people that so perfectly suits them it's like where they were made to be. I hate it. Again, this is personal. And it may just be lingering bitterness, but I moved from a small town to the big city and found it almost IMPOSSIBLE to make friends. Those cool people that you wish you were friends with, already have their own groups of friends and they don't often just adopt random new people that they don't really know and make them "part of the family." Yes, I know... I'm bitter. It's fine. See? This is the personal experience swaying my opinions that I was talking about. In addition to having that personal opinion of the trope, I'm just kind of tired of it. I feel like the New York Trope has been very overdone.

2. Forced Trans Rep

I was excited for the trans rep in this book. Afterall, it starts at the very beginning of the very first chapter when August answers a roommate ad that states: "Must be queer & trans friendly." I was like: awesome! I am so on board for this! LET'S GO!

I feel the need to break here to say that I love Niko. He is amazing. And I love his character.

Ok... so, the ad specifically states trans friendly. It breaks trans out from queer, which suggests that someone within the apartment is trans. We meet the three roommates: Niko, Myla and Wes... and nobody mentions the trans thing again. Which is awesome. I'm still on board this rep train. We are led to believe one of the roommates is trans. And we don't need to know which one. Why do we need to know? It doesn't matter. The representation is there, in my opinion.

And then the awkward scene I didn't like. There are baby/kids pictures of all the roommates all over the fridge. August recognizes everyone except a little girl who only looks a little familiar, wearing a princess dress at Disneyland and making a grumpy face. August asks who it is. Niko, very casually goes: "Oh, that's me." At which point August has some internal dialogue that felt very much to me like: Ok, I thought there was something off about him, he's not really a normal guy. That's a paraphrase... but that was the vibe I got. I sent it to a few other people who confirmed that I'm not crazy, it vibes that way. So... in addition to this scene feeling forced to "out" the trans person in the apartment (which felt SOOO unnecessary since the ad let us know there was a trans person in residence), August's reaction came across as accepting, but not feeling like Niko was a normal guy. Which... I really didn't like. It made me not like August at ALL, who is the main character.

The whole thing just felt really unnecessary to me. Especially when there's a scene later on that does it better! There's a scene later where August is asking Niko about his psychic abilities and she goes: when did you know?... and Niko replies: "That I was trans?"... and August waves it off and goes: "No, that you were psychic." That in my opinion would have been a way better reveal moment. It doesn't seem forced, and August waves it off like it's no big deal.

I may be crazy... but that drove me a little nuts. And really made me dislike August. I understand it's important to point out that everyone could have a little bias buried in them still, and it's important to overcome that... but I really didn't need anything to make me dislike August more... which leads into my next point.

3. August Is An Asshole

Yes, I understand there are assholes in the world.

Yes, I understand that they are redeemable.

But I did not like August for most of this book.

I understand that part of it is supposed to be her defensiveness... and her want to be a loner.

But August is an unapologetic asshole and says dickhead things to the people who are trying to help her or care about her. And I just didn't like that.

Again, I understand she's had a shitty life... but there just wasn't a lot in this book to redeem August for me and make me like her. I spent a lot of the book being like: I hope this nice girl doesn't fall for her because she's a bit of a dickhead.

4. August's Self Hate

In addition to being a bit of a dick... August has so much self-hate I found this book hard to read at times. Every time there is a description of her doing ANYTHING it is tinged with self-hatred to the point that the book was frustrating to read. There is a scene where she's been out in the rain and she's wearing sneakers. She gets on the train and her "sneakers squelched unattractively." So even when things are out of her control she projects self-hate onto them. And I HATED IT SO MUCH. It was infuriating. Even after Jane starts to like her and tells her that she's attractive and that her body is attractive the narrative is still very much "why does she like me though?"

I've had this conversation/rant with a few other people... and I understand that self-hate is very engrained in our society. I understand that girls, especially chubby girls, have this on their mind a lot of the time. One friend said that it would be unrealistic to have a book where the chubby girl doesn't hate herself, the suspension of disbelief of that would not be possible. (I feel I should point out this friend is chubby also).

But as a fat girl I need to say: I'M FUCKING TIRED OF THIS. I HATE IT SO MUCH. I want a main character like Lizzo, walking around with her skin on display and being confidant. I know that's a leap, honestly, but I would even go for someone acknowledging their body but not in a hateful way. Or having a little bit of a confidence issue but nothing like what was in this book. August hates herself so much that honestly... I was kind of mad about it.

One of the best fictional fat girls of all time is Suki from Gilmore Girls. You know why I loved her? Growing up and now? Because her weight is NEVER brought up. It's never the point of any of her jokes. It's never suggested she should lose weight. She never has any plotlines around dieting for her wedding or trying to fit into an old dress. Her weight is NEVER AN ISSUE. THIS IS WHAT I WANT IN FAT GIRL REP!!!!

Sorry... this point in particular is very close to home for me. As someone who's recently found her confidence it was very hard for me to read an entire book where everyone around the chubby girl is being nice to her but she's rude to them and self hating to herself.

Do girls like this exist? Of course! I was one of these girls! But it's frustrating to read sometimes.

5. Jane's Promiscuity

I found this was a sloppy way of getting them to kiss. And I'm not a HUGE fan of the slut and virgin trope. I don't mind someone having experience. But it seemed like Jane slept with half the women in the US before she was 24. And the only reason there was for her to have SO many partners was for August to kiss her more.

Quick explanation if you haven't read the book: Jane starts getting her memories back via sensory experiences. So they decide she'll remember her partners better if August kisses her to help her remember kissing other girls.

So in the end it just felt like a REALLY lame excuse for them to kiss.

At this point, I feel you being like: did you like ANYTHING about the book at all?

I did!

6. Wes and Isiah and Maya and Niko

I loved pretty much every character BUT August.

Wes and Isiah's love story was much more interesting to me than August and Jane's. Wes had the self-hate going on too... but Wes' was related to being a disappointment to everyone in his past and not feeling like he could be anything else. And he didn't want to burden Isiah with a disappointment. But they were cute as HELL and I loved the development of their relationship.

Maya and Niko are just perfect, and wacky and wonderful and were adorable from the start.

7. Jane

I loved Jane's character (other than the previously mentioned promiscuity). She was fun and happy-go-lucky and had an interesting problem and an interesting history (again, aside from the promiscuity).

8. Queer History

It was only touched on briefly in the book, but I loved the idea that Jane was front and centre for a lot of events in queer history. I liked what it brought up. I liked the way it made August want to learn more about her community. I honestly wish there had been a little more. Especially since Jane lived through it all.

I loved loved LOVED Red White and Royal Blue.

One of the things I loved most about that book was the way she broke down walls and stereotypes. The way that Pez is so effeminate, but only shows interest in women throughout the book, and NEVER labels himself. Having queer rep throughout politics. Having a divorced woman as president. There was so much representation in that book, but it didn't feel forced the way it did in this one. One Last Stop seemed very centred around these tropes and stereotypes... and that drove me a little crazy. I expected more from Casey McQuiston after reading Red White and Royal Blue.

In conclusion. I will not be keeping this book. I will not be rereading it. I did not care for it much at all.

Ok. Rant over.

I WILL SAY IT AGAIN: if you disagree with me. If you felt something because of this book. If this book spoke to you and made you feel seen and represented. None of my bullshit opinion changes that. FEEL THOSE THINGS! Take the art that means something to you and keep it close.

#one last stop #casey mcquiston #book review #1/5 stars #one last stop spoilers

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sunflowertr · 7 years

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When at a loss for what to do…

1. Do what you know HOW to DO. 2. Remember what you KNOW to be TRUE. 3. Find something NEW for YOU.

I like to explore ALL my options. So much so, that it has become a joke in our family. If you want something researched like a dog with a bone, than I am your go-to-gal for turning what could simply fit onto a 3 x 5 card into a 16-page official document.

Ideas are my hobby. And fleshing out new options is my-kinda-fun.

But unfortunately, all this “what if?” or “maybe this!” ends up being time-consuming. And confusing. And life-sucking.

So after spending months and months and months, exploring (and testing) all possible courses that my career/life could take, I recently came to a few conclusions.

1. Do what you know HOW to do.

Why is it that often the most logical, suitable solution is sitting there right beneath our nose?

The thing I know best HOW to do is capture and spread beauty. This has been my official mission statement since 2001. How did I lose sight of my passion?

I was so busy looking for that new “thing” I was supposed to do, that it drew my away from the real thing I already KNOW how to do.

And for me, that real thing is to shoot not-so-good photos of beauty. NOT for Instagram or Facebook — but rather — with the express purpose of turning that snapshot of time into a painting.

A painting which documents the fact that there is still a lot of good in this world. A painting which can breathe a feeling of hope, peace, and happiness into a room.

Simple for me. Life-giving to my soul. And often a way to inspire others.

YOUR real thing probably won’t be painting. If it were — you probably would not be reading this blog — you probably wouldn’t even be on the internet because you would be blissfully lost in the chaos of your work right now. Not even knowing what day or time it was. Or when you had last eaten.

YOUR real thing… might be embracing the messy season of parenting life. With the express purpose of turning 2, or 3, or 4 (or more!) little pliable souls into first little —and then later — bigger little-people. Real people who grow up to be kind, and compassionate, and capable adults. People who do things that the world needs done. People who reflect all the good things they learned from you while they were growing up.

YOUR real thing… might be driving a truck across town, or across the country. Driving important things, to the places they need to be. On time. And without incident. Because that is what YOU know, and that is how you support your family. And along the way you have time to think and dream and listen. And SEE so many things that nobody else will ever have the chance to even know about.

YOUR real thing… might be hard, and boring, and thankless, but also RIGHT for this season of life.

Aren’t most REAL things basically just that? Full of lots of effort that feels hard, and boring, and thankless. But at the end of the day, isn’t it the REAL thing that we are intentionally doing (and viewing for what it is — the RIGHT thing) the ONE thing that best makes us sleep soundly, with a satisfied heart?

2. Remember what you KNOW to be TRUE.

Why does this sound so easy to do, yet so often the last thing we fall back on?

This year, at the suggestion of a dear friend, I have been writing down a sentence or two every morning. A thought or verse that has caught my heart from the devotional reading that I begin my day with.

WOW.

This one small practice, which only consumes about 10 minutes of my time, has been a game-changer for me the past two months. Who would have thought?!!

Here is what I wrote down last week. On Wednesday. In very messy, almost illegible handwriting…

*Isaiah 38* Hezekiah was going to die. He prayed to God to remember his faithfulness and “WEPT BITTERLY.” God heard him & said “I will add 15 years to your life. As a SIGN — I will turn back THE SHADOWS & make them go back the 10 steps they have already gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.” So HE did! God made shadows go backwards! “I have heard your prayers and seen your tears…”

[That was just my unedited paraphrase. For the actual verses, check out Isaiah 38 which talks about how God heard the bitter weeping of a man and then answered his cries.]

I am not sure this story has such a happy ending, but I was reminded of something I already know to be TRUE, but need to be reminded of. Through it ALL, the God who was powerful enough to reverse the shadows, was WITH Hezekiah.

In regards to all the soul-searching and angst that seems to have made up the better part of my adult life — and besides the part about God reversing the literal shadows on the ground— here was my other favorite thought from that chapter.

Isaiah 38:17 “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.

Since I DO believe the Bible to be a true document, with the power to change lives (sorry if that totally weirds you out!) I need to figure out a way to pour more of this TRUTH into my life. Period.

So. To both you AND to me, I say this…

Remember what you KNOW to be true; remember what you know to be good. And STOP listening to the distractions which are so strong and so everywhere that they are almost impossible to block out!

Phillipians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

3. Find something NEW for YOU.

I did something crazy a few months ago. I joined a class in which I am the only white person. And also, the only person below the age of 60 (65+???) I am not sure why I did this, but I felt a voice inside me was saying I should go. And do something different. Because it was an opportunity that so few will ever get the chance to experience.

At first, it was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever done. But at the very same time — the most eye-opening, interesting, love-filled place I have been in years.

In my often too-driven mind, “I do not have time…” for a weekly, noon-day class. That being said, this crazy NEW thing has been the oasis for my parched, dry soul.

The class asks nothing of me, other than to show up for an hour. And be loved. I am not even sure why.

Except, I DO know why. In my head, I know there is a LOVE that can transcend race and age and gender. But until I jumped into this crazy new thing, I have never experienced it so deeply before. A love and unity that has no other explanation than this one true thing. We are all part of the same spiritual family.

Only YOU can find your NEW good thing. And if you can’t figure it out yourself, find some idea-factory like myself and ask them for a thought or two. There has got to be at least one something-simple you can squeeze into your week, or month, or year that is a good NEW thing for you.

Maybe a book club?

Taking an online class in something that has always interested you?

Hanging out at the dog park on Sunday afternoons to meet people who you would never otherwise cross paths with?

Walking with a neighbor?

Volunteering?

Making a concerted, documented effort to eat one new kind of food every week?

No matter what it is for YOU, I can attest that this crazy good NEW thing I am in the middle of, has been life-giving to my soul. It has taken me out of my sometimes dreary but still comfortable safety zone and dumped a clean, cold bucket of refreshing perspective into my week.

Bam. Done. There you go. Three easy steps to solving ALL of Life’s problems. In a nutshell. (Ha-ha! If ONLY life were so easy…)

“May we all listen closely for direction — but never let the weight of the wait, become that which we allow to crush us.”

— Ancient Proverb

[ Just kidding. I totally made that quote up! (See… I gotta stick to my Real Thing.) ]

MY “Real Thing” is painting.

Which is what I did last week. And THAT, is when and WHY, the painting at the top of this post was created.

So at least for now, I am getting back to painting in a more focussed way. Taking something seriously that I am ALREADY good at. And even though I have no plan (yuck) for what purpose this continued effort of love may have, I will continue to do what I know how to do. At least until somebody tells me otherwise.

If you would like to have a copy of my painting “True”— to remind you to think about what is TRUE for you — feel free to download my March desktop calendar by clicking on the image above.

Warmly,

Marie Scott Painter of beauty. Even if it is just for me; for now.

www.remembergoodness.com

A new painting for March. And a few ideas on “what to do when you don’t know what to do.” When at a loss for what to do... 1. Do what you know HOW to DO.

#Art #blog #business #Christianity #creativity #design #faith #inspiration #Life #lifestyle #miscellaneous #Personal #pictures #reflections #relationships #religion #thoughts #Women

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