I've been doing a lot of research lately about non-traditional texts from an educational standpoint (secondary English). The two areas I've focused on is graphic novels/comics, and film adaptation. For me, conversation is everything. I do not really genuinely enjoy these mediums (as I study comics, I'm liking them more and more, I just had a pre-conceived notion about them that has been projected onto me by society). I'm studying them so that I have more knowledge about them and the confidence in that knowledge to teach others about them. When I teach students about film and comics, things that students are interested in, the conversation is going to be alive (hopefully). I would much rather teach a class something that I dislike and have a genuinely intellectual conversation, than teach them something I absolutely love, but they will not discuss with me.
As I'm entering the educational scene as an educator, I'm beginning to think about research - I love to do it, but what will I research when I'm done with college and don't have a billion research papers to do about specific novels, and authors, and pedagogical practices? Lately I've been feeling a little down because I have not found my place yet. Then it came to me: FANTASY (with the opera noises and lights and everything). I enjoy reading fantasy, it's something that I do for fun. Why can't I research and write about it? Why can't I write an analytic essay about my favorite fantasy novels the same way I would write about a Charles Dickens novel? Just today I was talking to my boyfriend about stylistic differences between my favorite author's first book (published in 1994) and his last book (published in 2011). He didn't say too much on the topic, and neither did I (I didn't want to bore him) but why don't I just write an essay about it? I think I will. Updates will be made available via blog, so keep reading. :-)
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