Inquiry:
I'm feeling a little flat on this project, only because I've sat through my senior thesis meeting, and I wondered to myself if I wanted to funnel all of my energy and resources into this Nellie Cornish project that would result in a performance for my senior thesis. I mean it makes sense to, and I've been working towards it for quite sometime. I just don't know how it would look. How this class would be used. If I use this semester to culminate my research on Nellie into a casebook, is this enough for the purpose of the class? I would think so. I've never really gotten the chance to do research like this before, and I think it would be a valuable process to go through in making my own work. I believe I would like to do something like Chris is doing, and put together the research needed do produce a draft of a one woman play, and then workshop it for my senior thesis. So yes, as of now, I'm thinking a casebook is the way to go.
This week, I accomplished:
I accomplished making a blog for my project, as well as getting back in contact with the archives. I also scheduled a meeting with Molly Scott to talk about the archives, and what my goals specifically will be for the archives as an archivist. I feel that getting this settled will help me plan how I will be using my this time this semester, and what my duties are to this project, and what they are as a work study student. I feel that as of now, a lot of my information is tied up in one spot, and that I'm blurring the lines between work and school with this project.
The sources I consulted this week were:
The sources I consulted this week were things I had on my computer that I had saved in a Nellie file, that I've been meaning to transfer to this blog to have all of my data in one place. I have bits of documents and pictures online that I've been meaning to isolate to this blog. One is a proclamation from the mayor of Seattle establishing Nelly Cornish day in 1957. Others are some posters I made for Nellie Cornish Day. I also looked over my past notes. I don't know if this is seen as progress, but I contacted a potential director for my senior thesis.
By next week, I want to have accomplished:
I want to know if I am going to be using this class as a time to explore making a casebook on things I want to include in my one woman show about Nellie Cornish, and if this would be enough for this semester.
What obstacles stand in the way of your progress?
I have had limited hours to work in the archives because of my work schedule at school, and from working in the cafeteria. I've found that I may have to cut my hours back in the cafe to stay sane so that I can spend more time on school work. I need to also figure out where I stand on the work I've been doing in the archives, I just feel very tangled in my thoughts of what I want to do and how this process is going to look if this becomes my senior thesis.
What steps can I take to move forward?
I can move forward by planning out a schedule of when I'm WORKING in the archives, and when I'm researching in the archives. I can also move forward by voicing to my boss that I would like to scale back my hours in the cafe. I can look at all of the documents I copied from the U.W. archives, and I can put them into more of an order. Where does most of my research move towards?
In this week's seminar, I want to discuss:
I want to discuss process and possibly look at the bigger picture of this being an all year thing. I think I have to break it down:
-I have my job in the archives, I have used this to collect my own information.
-I have directed studies, I can use this to pull the information together and explore a dramaturgical process
-I have my writing class to workshop and write a solo piece
-I have my senior thesis, which is going into rehearsal for it, and work shopping it, and getting it into performance
Sooooo...I'm wondering how the time line of this would workout. I want to help myself out as much as possible by making this a joint project between classes...or is this overkill? I think I just want opinions from other people about the shape of this project.
You pose some intriguing questions, Stacy. One response: don't feel guilty for having selected a topic that (1) is enjoyable to research and(2) serves you beyond simply fulfilling the objectives of the class. In fact, those are key elements for a successful research project. It is not double-dipping to undertake your research in Directed Studies and then apply what you discover to writing your play. These are two separate yet related undertakings. Let's talk about how to schedule your time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, remember that you are not only working on the Nellie Cornish project, you are learning about the research and writing process, skills that you can apply in other artistic and scholarly work going forward.
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