Procrastination Nation

So I'm for sure procrastinating on this grammar paper that is due at 12am tonight. The professor seems pretty cool about turning in the paper tomorrow, but I just wanna go ahead and get it done.

I'm writing a paper about the uses and misuses of hyphens and how they have been shaped by the spoken language. It started off as a really intesting project, one that I wanted to invest more time and research into, but I now have all of 3 hours to complete the last two pages. (I say I'm procrastinating, but in reality, I already had 5 pages done out of 8, so I really don't have that much left to go... thankfully.) I'm thinking to throw in some information about how Shakespeare uses a hyphen in between the words ever and fixed to form "ever-fixed" as a way to maintain his iambic pentameter. I argue a little bit that he does this also for the sake of poetic sound tools.

Earlier, I was working on a different paper which presented Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" in an anticipatory Naturalistic perspective of literature. I did so because of the intense external forces that I felt were brutally affecting the inhabitants of the Usher household. (Note to self: I did not use my pun that the twins were "ushered" into following along with their incestual family traditions...darn.)

See, my problem with papers, or at least these two, is that I have come up with some really cool ideas to work with, but struggle with this idea that I have to find research to support my own, "original" idea. Tell me, professors, what exactly does original mean to you? Because to me, it means that no one EVER has thought of it before. Therefore, research would be kinda contradicting doing an "original" take on a given literature or topic. Oh well. What do I know? Me and my undergrad self.

And hey, I'm not discrediting research or researchers. I think it's very important to spread information around so that knowledge is dispersed among the many, potentially interested minds who could possibly elaborate on said discovery... or discoveries. (It's a thought to ponder.)

Well, I bid you adieu. This is my entry for the day; it's somewhat short, but I should really get back to my grammar paper and finish it! (I would really like to nap... but I have to research.)

BTW: a woman in our guild of poetic intent class said, and I'm paraphrasing, that research is the opposite of a nap. I laughed, but seriously doe. Research doesn't come with pillows and a blankie, unfortunately. All well. Have a good night, thinkers!

#grammar #procrastinationnation #originality