Tolkien confirmed.

Yes, that is right. Next to America Herself Tolkien will be definitely the main focus of my BA thesis. However, due to help of our supervisor, I will broach completely different subject than I wrote about in my last post. "Tolkien's letters- Englishman's stereotyped images of America" sounds full title of my thesis. You have no idea how  excited I am about this new subject. In fact, I like it much better than the previous one. 

During upcomig Christmas I will read Tolkien's Letters (primary source for my dissertation)- a book that has been standing on my shelf for two years and every time I was about to take it and read it there was something that disturbed me. In view of the fact that Tolkien actually never visited America I will try to find his perception and stereotypes of America in the letters and then maybe the reflection of this perception in "The Lord of The Rings" or other books of his. 

Possibly, you are familiar with the Facebook profile 'Elendilion- Tolkienowski Serwis Informacyjny'. If not, I strongly recommend you to check it. I've been following this profile for two or three years now and trust me, the quality of their posts is unbelievably good. People who run this news service publish some serious research that is far from amateur, To the point, I have just sent them a message asking for some help an I really hope they will answer me. 

If by any chance, you know any interesting, blogs, websites, newspapers, youtube channels concerning the topic described above, please, let me know! 

I am more than excited about writing on this particular topic. My Tolkien fever has doubled. I am actually liestening to "The Lord of The Rings" audiobook while writing this entry 😂

Cannot wait to read about your progress!

See you all tomorrow! 

Yes, that's right, more changes to come...

Hiya! 

It is time for some update on my BA thesis, right?

“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, leader of transcendentalist movement, and a champion of individualism, in his famous essay entitled “Self-Reliance”. Emerson argues that self- sufficiency gives one the freedom to discover one’s true self and win true independence. Self- reliance, according to him, is the foundation of a productive, efficient, and self-sustaining society. However, the ideas expressed in Emerson’s essay constitute much broader panorama. Namely, Emerson, addressing anonymous individual, addresses the whole America as a country.  This myth of self- reliance presented by Emerson nestled deeply in Americans mentality and gave origin to one of the most paradoxical myths Americans live to date. Over the centuries, they have been emphasizing that all the bonds between Europe and their homeland no longer exists or that they do not need European influences in art, philosophy or politics and the biggest afflatus comes from America herself. America in which they may found everything they need to live happily ever after. Nevertheless, the perfect image of self- reliance does not exist. I wanted to prove it in my dissertation by employing the greatest Europeans names whose ideas may be found in the creations of the biggest Americans figures. I wanted to demonstrate that Emerson was wrong and that Americans are not able to come up with everything by themselves. When I wrote this sentence I got scared. After all, undermining ideas of one of the greatest figure in America is quite risky.

And then I saw our supervisor to discuss my BA thesis and things changed again. I was proposed a new topic, still closely related to Tolkien, which I am totally excited about! Check my next post to read more about it.

Out of the blue

 Hello, hello, hello!

That's it guys! I think I might have found the perfect subject for my dissertation. It's 11.22 PM and literally 5 minutes ago, out of the blue, it came to me!

I think you remember one of our first classes when we got short passages concerning American myths and paradoxes connected to them. Well, my passage was about America's self- reliance and separation from Europe that, actually, has nothing to do with reality. You may also remember that I am absolutely and completely in love with Tolkien and everything he had ever created. With some spontaneous help from Ania I managed to combine these two things into my, hopefully, perfect subject! It took, at least partially, weight off my mind.

I have to tell you that I really enjoy reading your blogs, especially other Łucja's blog (now it is time to admit that simply all Łucjas are awesome). I am literally jealous of how straightforward and structured her thoughts are. At the same time there is always something interesting to read about. I am also really impressed by Ania's last entry, strictly speaking, by the subjecet she came up with for her dissertation. The Myth of Perfect American Housewife is super- cool! I am sure some great piece of work will come into existence!

Since December is already here I am no longer ashamed of my Christmas fever that is in full swing! I got tons of fairy lights, baked gingerbread and, obviously, watched more cheesy Christmas movies. Less enthusiastic is my wallet, I suppose because of all the gifts I have to buy. Nevertheless, the view of my goddaughter opening her presents is worth the money!

I hope you are all well, despite quite freezing weather.

See you on Monday!
Toodles!

Change of plans, folks.

What's up everybody?

I am slowly recovering from Christmas fever, although festive playlist is still on on my Spotify, but hey, one thing at a time, right?

A lot things happened this week that made me rethink the subject of my BA thesis. I came to a conclusion that analyzing female characters in political TV series is not a good idea, eventually. Why? In large part because I am not a feminist and I don't think I'll ever be. It appears to me that this is a huge obstacle, I mean, writing about something and not feeling it fully. Of course, I could come up with many arguments in favour of this subject but what's the point? I want my BA thesis to be about matters I stand for.

That is why, I want to tell you about something that really, really inspired me. Namely, our litrature class and the novel, "The New Atlantis", that  totally spoke to me. As I told you during our class on Monday, I am really into books or movies that picture the issue of totalitarian system which actually looks copletely different in every book I've read or movie I've watched. The goal is, obviously, the same- to control people and their actions. In the case of "New Atlantis", the regime attacks a "thing" that make people most powerful and united- the family. Marriages are forbidden, women must undergo compulsury abortion, divorces are seen as something exemplary along with sex orgies. However, the most striking and extremely touching thing about all of this is the response of people that are to live in such system. I was literally moved by the resistance they display and hope that never leaves them. While for many of you this novel is rather pessimistic, for me it is a representation of hope for better future, in the shape of this new land that arises along the line. The novel emphasises the fact that there are always people who fight back and remain faithful to their values.

Ursula le Guin wrote a very up to date novel. Much of the content is a reflection of what is going on in today's America, and world in general. For example, exlpoitation, environmental damage, sea level rise, the issue of woman and, in my opinion, less and less favorable conditions for having large family.

To sum up, hello confusion, my old friend. I am trying to figure out how to turn all of this into some consistent thesis. Yea, good luck with that. I am a hundred percent sure that next week I will write about another brilliant idea that I would like to turn into my BA thesis.

Anyway, I hope that you are better off with your dissertation.

Have a nice weekend and see you all on Monday! 😊

Under Pressure: Part 2

Welcome back everyoone!

This is my second entry today so make sure you checked previous one.

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful snowy afternoon as much as I do. 

When it comes to my bachelor's thesis, I am getting more and more frustrated from day to day. The topic of our seminar is very extensive and universal, yet I cannot think of anything suitable for me. I am greatly fascinated by America and Hers phenomenon of freedom, opportunity, diversity and boundlessness. However, all of this seem too shallow and common to be the topic of my dissertation. What do you think? Be sure to let me know. 

 There is one  particular idea that I have in mind and that keeps coming back to me. I think I mentioned it last time. Namely, politics. I have structured this notion a bit. In a view of growing popularity of political series, I have come up with the idea of analyzing three most popular political series or, to be more precise, about analyzing three female protagonists of this series. While politics is mostly dominated by men, the plot of these series is  focused on  women politicians and their strong commanding characters that take over the world of politics. 

I am really confused, guys. Any help is welcomed. 

Take care! 

Call me crazy

Hello, dear Munchkins!

Am I the only one that actually enjoys such a low temperature? Ok, to be fair, my friends have to listen to a healthy dose of whining about how cold I am all the time but it's only because me being me, I forgot to take a down jacket from home.

 My mum has just told me that in my hometown there is an actual blizzard. How awesome is that! I hope there is some snow left so we can enjoy it here, in Lublin. You're not gonna believe me, but the second I finished previous sentence I saw first snowflakes falling! So cool!

You will probably call me nuts but I am very Christmassy kind of person, along with my sister who, by the way, got  us super cute Christmas socks, and I have already bought a Christmas sweater 🙈. Also, I have watched six Christmas movies so far. My hatred for commercialism seems to disappear completely when it comes to holiday season. Putting down all of this and then reading it made me realize how mental I really am. Eventually, it is not even December yet!

Speaking of which, December suggests another important date, except for Christmas. Namely, we have to choose primary sources and hand in the draft of the introduction by December 9th.
One- minute silence.

Check my next post to read more about the progress of my bachelor's thesis.

Attached you will find a picture of my super cute Christmas socks.

See you all tomorrow,
Toodles!

Under Pressure

Hello, my dear Honey Buns!

I would like to start this entry with the most absurd situation that has ever happened to me. OK, 'ever' is a little strong (I have tendencies to dramatize 🙈🙈). Back at the ranch, about two weeks ago I had started watching 'Vikings' on Netflix and after  a few episodes I became obsessed with this series, which was no surpise for me as I worship 'The Lord of The Rings' (fun fact- I know almost entire screenplay by heart) and other similar works. Having regard to this fact, imagine my face when I realised that there is no  season 5 of 'Vikings' on Netflix. I was more than disappointed, I was devastated (I know, I am dramatizing again).

Anyway, I lost my heart to this series and most of the day I spent figuring out how to grind it (or the 'Lord of the Rings') into my bachelor's thesis, unfortunately with no success. What about you? Do you have any idea how to do it? Feel free to share your thoughts in comments 😊

There is one more idea  that I would like to tell you about. Well, not many of you know that I really enjoy political series, obviously American ones. I came up with the idea of writing my bachelor's thesis about political reality introduced in TV series and existing in people's imagination. Of course, I would like to correlate it with what politics actually look like but this is just loose idea, nothing serious. Let me know what you think about it.

On a final note, not much changed since my last post. I mean, there is still  huge mess in my head. I have no idea what topic would be most comfortable for me to write about. Consequently, I am getting more and more frustrated and it doesn't help me at all to think straight.

OK, let's leave this depressive mood behind. As I got obsessed with Queen and Freddy Mercury himslef , I've got some positive accent for you (but mostly for me, I guess) at the end- check the link below. I hope it will cheer us up and our bachelor's thesis will rock!

Happy Independence Day to all of you! I was wondering if you are as touched by this special day as I am. A 100 years of so hard fought freedom, that's something!

See you all guys on Tuesday,
Toodles!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJYN-eG1zk

Also, if you want to know where the title of this entry comes from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I