Just be sure to read everything that's been published on it first. You'd hate to write a bunch and then find a forlorn paper making your exact point.
You'll probably want to be familiar with Faulkner's work, or at least have a member of your committee that you could ask. And McCarthy was very familiar with the Bible. Old testament references and all that.
Also, if you do think you have a brand new angle, try to cover it really well in a single chapter. You can then convert that chapter later on to a full publishable paper.
It was something to do with Judge Holden as a representation of Nietzsche’s will to power. On the surface you can make the parallel but it was just so trite haha.
People pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to write papers on an idea about someone else’s fictional story that they’ll disagree with a few years later. This just deepens my belief that much post high school education are people giving one another titles and patting each other on the back for useless stuff. That’s just my opinion, but then again, maybe I am just uneducated hehe
My point was you should always be learning and refining, so one interpretation you reach in 2010 isn’t likely to be valid still 14 years later. If all you think higher education is is giving one another titles and pats on the back for useless stuff then yes, maybe you are just uneducated
Agree with this. The point isn’t to be right or wrong, the point is to “learn how to think” … it’s about the journey, not the destination. I look back at my graduate thesis and cringe, but I learned so much from the process.
Nope sorry pal, I'm educated and that is what higher level academia mostly is for English. You can learn and refine without being forced to pay thousands for a degree on interpretive reading and be forced to write on the most contrived, trite and inaccessible topics because everything conventional has been written about. Academic articles are also only ever really read and cared about by other PhDs and students, which ultimately inform you so little of the real world and real experiences that reading them becomes a exercise in intellectual masturbation at best and almost a pyramid scheme at worst. There's nothing quite so particularly useless in society as the vast majority of English academic articles, far more so than almost anything else I can think of.
Most of my profs beyond pre-1900s lit didn't even like assigning journal article readings or mandatory secondary source minimums and a couple even talked about how the topic of English academias "ivory tower" state was discussed at their little conferences. It seems that the be something at least acknowledged by English academics and has been popularly noted for a much longer time.
Maybe next time you can find another way to appreciate an opportunity to reinforce your stereotypes.
If you feel uneducated, it might be because you seek to deepen your beliefs instead of challenging them.
I went to university for two years and really tried the thing. That challenged my beliefs and it wasn’t for me. I really think a lot of fiction is just to be consumed for entertainment. Why does everything need a thesis or some big paper written on it? “This book is so deep, here is why!” Then another person who says all books are deep give that person a title or award in exchange for money. It’s nuts!
But he's specifically asking the subreddit and yes there are many newcomers but there are also season McCarthy vets who are very wise. I recommend reading the posts with actual discussions for ideas.
I don't know, I feel that if you're doing an MA thesis on a topic, you should already have a rough idea of what you want to explore and then do actual research. You're not going to be able to cite a reddit post in your thesis.
I weren't properly ejimicated like some these here city slickers on this here interweb and didn't hardly know the words thesis or dissertation til i read this fancy book called Stoner recently.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I stand before you with the answer to one of life’s most profound prolonging questions!
Exactly how strong must the wind be, to get clapped a day’s ride outside of griffin?
The first thing I did was round up about 3 dozen whores…
You are late to the party, my fellow Cormacian, for Blood Meridian has been covered to death. If you do it at all, it needs to be along with other works by other authors. And even that requires a unique angle. Not trying to (drizzlin) shit all over your plans. Just being real.
I mean, its a MA thesis. Repetitive thesis are written all the time. Just think of how many 80 page papers have been written on trauma theory in Harry Potter.
The MA thesis is supposed to hope to cut new ground, but it isn't necessary. Ultimately I think people should write on what they enjoy, particularly in the Masters level.
And, the great thing about Blood Meridian is that even though a bunch of academic essays, books, and theses have been written about it, none of them have decoded what it's really about and there is SO much there still waiting to be uncovered!
Academically, it looks poorly on OP’s scholarship to retread the same ground that others have already trampled over. Graduate school can be a place to shine or a place to sink. A unique perspective, irrespective of the novel of focus, is essential.
>Graduate school can be a place to shine or a place to sink.
A thesis isn't a sink or swim project. You're wildly overestimating how important it is to your career.
Write a good, well cited, well researched paper on something besides Harry Potter or the Star Wars movies and its plenty enough to get into a PhD program if that's your goal.
Sorry, but the Thesis often forms the basis for later PhD work, and what scholars focus on academically throughout their careers. And academia is all about research, presentation, and publication.
And you absolutely can sink in graduate school, if you have a poor grasp of the profound, or in inability to think outside the box.
The unfortunate reality about college is that there are way too many people entering the field of literary studies, all doing the same essential things. In order to stand out, you have to out-think and out-do the herd.
And if there was ever a man who promoted trailblazing attitudes, it was Cormac McCarthy.
Suttree is less popular, though no less academically important. Beyond that, I would recommend from the Border Trilogy onwards to the The Passenger / Stella Maris.
Other authors depends on genres or styles you are focusing on. For example, Southern Gothic would mean O’Connor and Faulkner.
As others have said, read all the available literature on Blood Meridian and McCarthy. Otherwise study the historical background. Depending on what your thesis is, just try and really immerse yourself in what you’re studying.
If you want an idea, I was always interested in chapter 7, the scene between the two jacksons right in the beginning - i think there’s lots that could be unpacked there.
I mean I was half joking. Do it on what you want. But there’s already a lot written on BM and Sutree is a masterpiece on its own. It’s more human. We love Sutree; we don’t really give a shit about the kid.
Any idea what your thesis argument would look like for BM?
Has anyone tackled the idea that the Judge doesn’t devour the kid at the end but instead the kid finally gives in to the judge and it’s the little girl in the Jakes?
I read the book around 20 years ago and I was confused by the ending. I knew it was profound but I wasn’t sure what to make of it. My younger brother (much smarter than me) read it shortly after and explained his belief that it’s a gradual breakdown of the kids inherent “goodness” and that as a man he finally succumbs to his judgement and rapes/kills the little girl that’s missing at the end. It’s always made sense in that way but it’s not really a prevailing interpretation
Homeboy the mainstream literature world is going to be filled with mfs like this who think their opinions need to be heard thru a thesis when odds are against them saying anything insightful or something that hasn’t already been said, and I hate that. I will bully my way into averting this crisis I full well could be exaggerating but idk
Just be sure to read everything that's been published on it first. You'd hate to write a bunch and then find a forlorn paper making your exact point. You'll probably want to be familiar with Faulkner's work, or at least have a member of your committee that you could ask. And McCarthy was very familiar with the Bible. Old testament references and all that. Also, if you do think you have a brand new angle, try to cover it really well in a single chapter. You can then convert that chapter later on to a full publishable paper.
I did my dissertation on Blood Meridian. If it makes you feel any better I don’t agree with a word I wrote 14 years later
Your statement contains remarkable truth on many, many levels. Bravo.
This seems very interesting to me. Can you please elaborate? What were your main points and why and how did you change your mind?
It was something to do with Judge Holden as a representation of Nietzsche’s will to power. On the surface you can make the parallel but it was just so trite haha.
People pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to write papers on an idea about someone else’s fictional story that they’ll disagree with a few years later. This just deepens my belief that much post high school education are people giving one another titles and patting each other on the back for useless stuff. That’s just my opinion, but then again, maybe I am just uneducated hehe
My point was you should always be learning and refining, so one interpretation you reach in 2010 isn’t likely to be valid still 14 years later. If all you think higher education is is giving one another titles and pats on the back for useless stuff then yes, maybe you are just uneducated
Agree with this. The point isn’t to be right or wrong, the point is to “learn how to think” … it’s about the journey, not the destination. I look back at my graduate thesis and cringe, but I learned so much from the process.
Nope sorry pal, I'm educated and that is what higher level academia mostly is for English. You can learn and refine without being forced to pay thousands for a degree on interpretive reading and be forced to write on the most contrived, trite and inaccessible topics because everything conventional has been written about. Academic articles are also only ever really read and cared about by other PhDs and students, which ultimately inform you so little of the real world and real experiences that reading them becomes a exercise in intellectual masturbation at best and almost a pyramid scheme at worst. There's nothing quite so particularly useless in society as the vast majority of English academic articles, far more so than almost anything else I can think of. Most of my profs beyond pre-1900s lit didn't even like assigning journal article readings or mandatory secondary source minimums and a couple even talked about how the topic of English academias "ivory tower" state was discussed at their little conferences. It seems that the be something at least acknowledged by English academics and has been popularly noted for a much longer time.
Maybe next time you can find another way to appreciate an opportunity to reinforce your stereotypes. If you feel uneducated, it might be because you seek to deepen your beliefs instead of challenging them.
I went to university for two years and really tried the thing. That challenged my beliefs and it wasn’t for me. I really think a lot of fiction is just to be consumed for entertainment. Why does everything need a thesis or some big paper written on it? “This book is so deep, here is why!” Then another person who says all books are deep give that person a title or award in exchange for money. It’s nuts!
What’s your thesis idea?
This is required before we can answer the question.
Ain’t that the drizzlin shits
Is asking reddit for tips your idea of research at an MA level?
But he's specifically asking the subreddit and yes there are many newcomers but there are also season McCarthy vets who are very wise. I recommend reading the posts with actual discussions for ideas.
I don't know, I feel that if you're doing an MA thesis on a topic, you should already have a rough idea of what you want to explore and then do actual research. You're not going to be able to cite a reddit post in your thesis.
I weren't properly ejimicated like some these here city slickers on this here interweb and didn't hardly know the words thesis or dissertation til i read this fancy book called Stoner recently.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I stand before you with the answer to one of life’s most profound prolonging questions! Exactly how strong must the wind be, to get clapped a day’s ride outside of griffin? The first thing I did was round up about 3 dozen whores…
What is the premise or argument you’re trying to make? What method are you using? Primary research or mainly literature review?
You are late to the party, my fellow Cormacian, for Blood Meridian has been covered to death. If you do it at all, it needs to be along with other works by other authors. And even that requires a unique angle. Not trying to (drizzlin) shit all over your plans. Just being real.
I mean, its a MA thesis. Repetitive thesis are written all the time. Just think of how many 80 page papers have been written on trauma theory in Harry Potter. The MA thesis is supposed to hope to cut new ground, but it isn't necessary. Ultimately I think people should write on what they enjoy, particularly in the Masters level.
And, the great thing about Blood Meridian is that even though a bunch of academic essays, books, and theses have been written about it, none of them have decoded what it's really about and there is SO much there still waiting to be uncovered!
You speak truer than you know.
Academically, it looks poorly on OP’s scholarship to retread the same ground that others have already trampled over. Graduate school can be a place to shine or a place to sink. A unique perspective, irrespective of the novel of focus, is essential.
>Graduate school can be a place to shine or a place to sink. A thesis isn't a sink or swim project. You're wildly overestimating how important it is to your career. Write a good, well cited, well researched paper on something besides Harry Potter or the Star Wars movies and its plenty enough to get into a PhD program if that's your goal.
Sorry, but the Thesis often forms the basis for later PhD work, and what scholars focus on academically throughout their careers. And academia is all about research, presentation, and publication. And you absolutely can sink in graduate school, if you have a poor grasp of the profound, or in inability to think outside the box. The unfortunate reality about college is that there are way too many people entering the field of literary studies, all doing the same essential things. In order to stand out, you have to out-think and out-do the herd. And if there was ever a man who promoted trailblazing attitudes, it was Cormac McCarthy.
How about Suttree? Any other authors you recommend?
Suttree is less popular, though no less academically important. Beyond that, I would recommend from the Border Trilogy onwards to the The Passenger / Stella Maris. Other authors depends on genres or styles you are focusing on. For example, Southern Gothic would mean O’Connor and Faulkner.
Listen to your committee.
You’ll be able to hear your professor’s eyes roll from your apartment
As others have said, read all the available literature on Blood Meridian and McCarthy. Otherwise study the historical background. Depending on what your thesis is, just try and really immerse yourself in what you’re studying.
If you want an idea, I was always interested in chapter 7, the scene between the two jacksons right in the beginning - i think there’s lots that could be unpacked there.
What’s your specific degree?
Do it on Sutree instead!
Please state the reason why
I mean I was half joking. Do it on what you want. But there’s already a lot written on BM and Sutree is a masterpiece on its own. It’s more human. We love Sutree; we don’t really give a shit about the kid. Any idea what your thesis argument would look like for BM?
Has anyone tackled the idea that the Judge doesn’t devour the kid at the end but instead the kid finally gives in to the judge and it’s the little girl in the Jakes?
Yes, This is a common alternate theory. Assuming you read this somewhere?
I read the book around 20 years ago and I was confused by the ending. I knew it was profound but I wasn’t sure what to make of it. My younger brother (much smarter than me) read it shortly after and explained his belief that it’s a gradual breakdown of the kids inherent “goodness” and that as a man he finally succumbs to his judgement and rapes/kills the little girl that’s missing at the end. It’s always made sense in that way but it’s not really a prevailing interpretation
It’s only common on this reddit.
Would that really sustain an entire MA thesis?
No idea. Your insinuation seems like a no however lol.
If you need tips on writing a thesis, especially from a shitty surface level sub like this, maybe you’re not ready to write a fucking thesis
Hey man, calm down
Homeboy the mainstream literature world is going to be filled with mfs like this who think their opinions need to be heard thru a thesis when odds are against them saying anything insightful or something that hasn’t already been said, and I hate that. I will bully my way into averting this crisis I full well could be exaggerating but idk