My program is twenty months and for the first eight I will be taking classes, for the last twelve I will be working on my thesis: a 90-100 page research paper. Once it has written approval from my thesis adviser and a Departmental reviewer, I'll have to defend my thesis orally. The oral examination board is comprised of my thesis advisor, an internal examiner, and an external examiner.
Now, I don't want to make this post too boring so I am going to try my best to explain my thesis proposal as simply and quickly as possible.
The working title of my thesis is "Jane Austen's Heroines: Why We Still Love Them Two-Hundred Years Later" that will look at Austen's heroines individually and collectively and explore the numerous ways their characters can be interpreted. These interpretations will lead to a conclusion that explains the popularity of the Austen heroines in the "post-feminist" 21st century.
Clear as mud??
I'm sure most of it likely is quite clear except, perhaps, for the post-feminist part. I will admit, I didn't even know what post-feminism was when one of my professors suggested I propose a thesis that incorporated it. I had to do a substantial amount of research in order to write my own research proposal. In brief, post-feminism means after-feminism implying that feminism no longer exists in our society which may or may not be the case depending on who you ask/read. Do I think we live in a post-feminist society? Maybe. Will I have a more solid response to that question once I do significantly more research on the topic? Definitely. Enter graduate school and spending the better part of those twenty months in the University of New Brunswick library.
I thought arguing Austen's popularity from a feminist stand point was difficult; what am I thinking trying to argue her popularity from a post-feminist perspective?!
Wow ... how cool. Don't know how else to say it but directly -- it sounds grueling and wonderful all at once.
ReplyDeleteSilvia @ Silvia Writes
Guess, it's so much of work. But will be fun too.
ReplyDeleteLovely post Brandy thank you so much! It's really interesting how Jane Austen has grabbed our attention in the last few years. What is it about her writings that grab us? She was a very intelligent writer, not only for her time but also for contemporary life. May those light bulb moments continue!
ReplyDeleteSusan Scott's Soul Stuff
and p.s. thank you so much for topping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a lot of hard work but fun as well. I will look forward to hearing more about it.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow Austen-lover, I find your topic intriguing!
ReplyDeleteI still have flashbacks to my thesis days (although that was a biology thesis--maybe I would have enjoyed an English one more?). Anyways, best of luck to you. It's a lot of work, but it's absolutely worth it in the end!
So, how’s your thesis paper? I hope everything went accordingly to what you have planned. It would certainly hard at first from thinking a good thesis idea to writing the first part of the paper, but as time goes by, you can feel comfortable at it. It is true that thesis writing can be hard and tedious, but it should also be fun at the same time.
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