Since it has been approximately five months since the last interdisciplinary essays that we wrote in HUMN 2001 last semester, I read over the guidelines once again over the weekend to refresh my mind. Over the course of the past few weeks, the task of sorting through all of the material that we have covered so far, and planning out two essays seemed like a daunting task. I have to admit that I was dreading it but I knew that I could not keep on putting it off. With three exams and a paper due this week, I wanted to start planning as soon as possible. One of my goals for HUMN 2002 is to keep up with the material and start preparing sooner. I made the mistake of not spending enough time in the preparation process and having to cram everything into a short amount of time.
After reading the guidelines, I began brainstorming to see which periods and cultures, and which works of literature, art, and music I felt the most comfortable with. Then, I wrote down possible themes that could be integrated into the thesis, and after a process of elimination, I think I will be settling with writing about China and Romanticism. I figured that if I pick works of literature that I feel most comfortable with and manage to find works of art and music that support the same period concepts, I would feel more comfortable. I feel that Analects by Confucius, and Faust by Goethe would be great pieces to write about. For the list of possible China essay themes, I wrote down the Value of a Nature and a Way, Harmony, Cultivated Insight, the Social Nature of Reality, Flexibility, and Existence as Change. As for Romanticism, I may choose to focus on the Sublime, Power Emotions/Moods/Experiences, Revolt Against Strict Forms/Escape, and the Imagination. My next step is to make graphic organizers to help me keep track of important points, and then write drafts of both essays. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the concepts but I just need to make sure that I can seamlessly incorporate them into the literature, art, and music. Lastly, it should be interesting to be typing the essays on laptops instead of hand-writing them. I always had the issue of time management and wanting to write more than I could write within the allotted amount of time. Hopefully, I will feel at ease once I have finished the planning and drafting process of the two essays, and until then, I am determined to continue with the preparation process!
Word Count: 434
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