One down, three to go.

Today I turned in my paper comparing and contrasting how J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula K. Le Guin explore good versus evil in The Hobbit and Wizard of Earthsea, respectively. To sum it up in one sentence: Tolkien had a clearly defined good and an elusive evil whereas Le Guin had an elusive good and clearly defined evil. I'm hoping for an A this time. I certainly feel I put more effort into this paper, although that wasn't hard given that my last paper for this class was written while I had a bad cold (as did the Orclette). 

Next up is my paper on chivalry. My current introductory paragraph (written two minutes ago) is this: 

     "Chivalry was an ideology for warriors, a code of behavior knights should follow. According to the literature of the time the chivalric code dictated that a knight must be gentlemanly, uphold his honor and show compassion and generosity. He must fight only for just causes and not engage in wanton slaughter. This code did not prevent violence, however, and neither did knights hold to the code. Gawain and the Green Knight clearly demonstrates that chivalry as a deterrent to violence was a failure."


I tell you, adhering to the MLA style is rough. I had finally gotten used to Chicago style. That's what I get for taking classes geared toward literature.


After that fun paper I have a powerpoint to put together for my science fiction class. We had quite a bit of leeway on our topic and I chose to explore some of the major themes we had discussed, such as "Science Fiction as a Thought Experiment", "Responsibility of the Creator to the Created" and so on. I've got some lovely pictures and a striking purple and gold background (because of course that is the important bit). I'm cutting and pasting various comments made throughout the course and then adding my own thoughts. 


After that I have a final exam for the history class. It will be a doozy if the midterm is any indication, which I did well on because I completely freaked out and studied EVERYTHING. It was exhausting. I'm already up to 8 cups of coffee and I'm not sure it's safe to consume more.


At this point I think both Damm and I are wondering why we thought school was a good idea. We think it every semester, and about one month into the summer break we get bored and remember why. For me it's the intellectual stimulation. I really do love thinking about books/papers/tests. I like connecting events and people and seeing how patterns emerge. At the moment, though, all I'm thinking about are the "three to go" :)