Update :)

So It’s been quite a while since I updated this blog. I’m afraid to say it took a back seat to my third year studies but perhaps rightly so. The stress and pressure that accompany the final year in a degree are now haunting memories in back of my mind, and the relief and pride at actually crossing the finishing line welcome replacements. I’m going to take the time over the next few weeks to actually upload some of my final pieces of work, including my creative dissertation, and of course it’s the dreaded results day at the end of this week so I will be sure to write (perhaps woefully) about that. For now I am in the midst of finding a place to live in London, finding a job (waitressing for now) and choosing what I want to do with my life in the next few years. No pressure this month then?

Friday’s piccy: Home

Godrevy and Gwithian beaches, about 10 minutes from my house. I went for a muck around surf with my dad and Sam last night and it really struck me how little I appreciate the beauty of home. The sun was sinking over the sea, the waves were not too rough – believe me it was picture perfect – and I thought how damn lucky I really was. So here’s my shout out to Cornwall and the true beauty we have here. I love you.

Friday’s piccy

World cup 2010 here we go…

Its only a matter of hours until we’ll be cheering our lads on to the pitch, fresh and ready to take on the Yanks in the first England match of the tournament. I’m no football fanatic, hell I’m not even a fan, but its hard not to be whizzed along with the wave of world cup madness that is engulfing the nation. I have to wonder now where I even was in 2006 because my interest never peaked then – all I knew is that we were knocked out by those pesky Portuguese in the quarters. But the hype that surrounds the 2010 world cup is intense. Social networking site Twitter is alive with avid tweeters and football fans alike tweeting predictions, reporting live on the matches and offering support to their teams. The world cup kicked off with a spectacular opening ceremony yesterday followed by South Africa vs Mexico (1-1) and then Uruguay vs France (0-0) But what we are all waiting for is the first England match and I’m looking forward to my first football-watching-in-a-crowded-pub experience! I would say wish me luck (you know amid all the testosterone and beer) but I think its safe to say all of the country’s luck today lies with the England squad!

Dissertation dilemma

I got back my dissertation proposal yesterday and, to my surprise, it had been given the go-ahead by my tutors. I say surprise because since submitting my idea I had began to question it. You can read the full proposal here but basically I’ve proposed to do a creative dissertation, specifically a selection of short stories, very character focused, based on strands of the existentialist philosophy. I knew my proposal was quite weak – my stories underdeveloped and my theme only a starting point at best – and had since been wondering whether I should switch to doing a discursive dissertation, a literature based investigation into a writer or theme of my choice.

Now my dilemma stands as such: do I throw myself into developing the short story suggestion? Even with the risk that always accompanies creative fiction, that being how subjectively it can be read (a bad mark on this could really affect my degree). OR do I change my whole idea without guidance from the powers above (aka my lecturers) to a discursive dissertation which allows for an essay format I am already familiar with?

Take a look at my proposal – let me know whether you think my idea has any strength and if anyone has any suggestions or starting points for research please feel free to comment or e-mail many thanks

Friday’s piccy

Creative dissertation proposal

My dissertation proposal – feel free to pick apart and offer suggestions in any form!

A collection of short stories: An hour to exist – conceptual outline

The project will comprise of a collection of short stories based on concepts taken from the philosophy of existentialism. The stories will incorporate themes of absurdity, meaningless, angst, alienation and boredom. There will be 3 or 4 stories (around 1200-1600 words each) which will be entirely character focused with an aim to depict a ‘snapshot’ (an hour) of the characters lives. The characters will not know each other or live near each other but there will be details within each piece of fiction that ties them all together.

Hooper (2000 p.2) when talking of Edgar Allan Poe’s famously gothic short stories describes them adeptly: “In the space of a few pages and a few minutes we are offered quick but indelible glances into Poe’s dark characters.” He then furthers his view on some of Poe’s classic work such as ‘The tell-tale heart’ (1850) as offering us “peeks at the possibility of darkness in our own souls.” This sense that the reader can draw out of a story a sense of dark and quiet reflection is something that the collection proposed would aim to recreate.

“A good short story asks a question that can’t be answered in simple terms” (Mosley and Keison 2003 p.XV) The themes that the stories proposed will encapsulate will ask questions, and draw upon many worries in life that many of us think about or at least lie dormant within our subconscious. These include a sense of not fitting in, an awareness of death and a struggle to assert meaning to human life and existence. The issues raised by those who believe in the concept of existentialist philosophy can be seen as relevant to us all.

Many existentialist issues have been raised in literature such as Albert Campus’s novel ‘The Stranger’ (1942) and Satre’s play about the afterlife entitled ‘No Exit.’ (1944) Furthermore elements of such concepts can be seen woven into modern fiction such as Nick Hornby’s ‘High fidelity’ (1995.) Works such as these will be closely looked at and interpreted for their views on existentialist concepts and themes. ‘The Scream’ (1893) the famously haunting painting by Edvard Munch will be used as a starting point for inspiration as it is a beautifully captured piece that expresses intense and painful desperation.

Medium
The short story feels right for this project. There is a sense of totality in the reading of a story in one sitting, an intensity that can strengthen the message intended. “The pleasure of the quick, concentrated reading experience is more piquant.” (Hooper 2000 p.2) Every word in a short story feels precious; leading purposefully toward a predetermined effect.

The short story can also be seen as a ‘fragment,’ as a small glimpse into something immense. This ties in with the concept of the collection in that the stories would be snap-shots, focused and intense insights into individual’s lives, thoughts, and anxieties. The short story can be seen to present “in a vigorous, compressed, suggestive way, a simplification and idealization of a particular part or phase of life.” (Albright 2009 p.5) in other words it can be seen as a small piece of a puzzle, that although can seem abstract and sometimes incomplete, can still bring something to the user, and is vital and needed despite its size.