There's this feeling that happens on three occasions.
The first is when you're at a restaurant and have just finished eating, when you discover you've left your wallet at home.
The second is when you're taking a test, remember having read about this question this morning, and still don't remember the answer.
And the third is when you are writing a paper and have written as much as you know about a subject as languidly as possible. It's still seven pages below the the required number of pages. Seven pages below!
This last situation is where I find myself now. I seriously have nothing else logical to add to the paper, and there are no extra arguments I can add either--believe me, I've looked. I've exhausted my arguments, and they're beginning to exhaust me.
I asked my teacher if the bibliography could count--well, there's no harm to try--but he said no, obviously. I've tried making it seem longer. I've added an unnecessary discussion of Edward De Vere and Christopher Marlowe. I've even decided to talk about his reputation of skipping taxes, which has got to be the most uninteresting argument I've ever heard. I may have to talk about it for another five pages. This paper's due on Wednesday. It should technically have been due last Friday, but my teacher thankfully gave me some grace (no, he's not completely heartless--though everybody feels heartless right now, even innocent little Dr. Seuss. Don't ask what Dr. Seuss has to do with this; I don't want to talk about it.)
I don't think I will ever forgive Shakespeare for this. Every time I read a Shakespeare play I'll say to myself, "Just because you can make Othello speak for two columns about nothing doesn't mean I have to praise you about it for 25 pages!"
The first is when you're at a restaurant and have just finished eating, when you discover you've left your wallet at home.
The second is when you're taking a test, remember having read about this question this morning, and still don't remember the answer.
And the third is when you are writing a paper and have written as much as you know about a subject as languidly as possible. It's still seven pages below the the required number of pages. Seven pages below!
This last situation is where I find myself now. I seriously have nothing else logical to add to the paper, and there are no extra arguments I can add either--believe me, I've looked. I've exhausted my arguments, and they're beginning to exhaust me.
I asked my teacher if the bibliography could count--well, there's no harm to try--but he said no, obviously. I've tried making it seem longer. I've added an unnecessary discussion of Edward De Vere and Christopher Marlowe. I've even decided to talk about his reputation of skipping taxes, which has got to be the most uninteresting argument I've ever heard. I may have to talk about it for another five pages. This paper's due on Wednesday. It should technically have been due last Friday, but my teacher thankfully gave me some grace (no, he's not completely heartless--though everybody feels heartless right now, even innocent little Dr. Seuss. Don't ask what Dr. Seuss has to do with this; I don't want to talk about it.)
I don't think I will ever forgive Shakespeare for this. Every time I read a Shakespeare play I'll say to myself, "Just because you can make Othello speak for two columns about nothing doesn't mean I have to praise you about it for 25 pages!"
Is the paper on Othello? I think this is fascinating:
ReplyDelete“Commedia dell’arte in Othello, a Satiric Comedy Ending in Tragedy.” Brief Chronicles 3 (2011), pp. 71-106.
http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/briefchronicles/briefchronicles-3.pdf
Martin
Thanks for that resource; it's extremely helpful. The paper's purpose is to prove Shakespeare didn't write the plays, and although I briefly dealt with Othello I needed something expository on the subject. This resource gives me that and a whole lot more! Thanks again!
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