I guess it must be getting close to the end of the semester... I actually have to start thinking about my paper? Already? Well, that makes sense...there will probably be a lot of research involved, countless hours of reading, etc.
Going over the list of topics that Dr. Maruca gave us in class last week, one in particular stood out for me, most likely because it contained a strange word, one that Dr. Maruca had a hard time pronouncing, one which I had never heard before, and which caught my eye: incunabula.
The topic sounds a bit like a treasure hunt; first I must find a book. Then I must locate the book's history (where it came from, who wrote it, the author's significance), analyze it's cultural significance, and put it all together to form a paper that may not end up being about what is between the front and back covers of the book! I've never written a paper about what a book is, usually I spend a lot of time examining the text; specific word usage, metaphors, authorial intent. And some of these things may affect my paper, but I think the most important part of this particular paper will be learning about a type of book and about what that type of book did for the culture and time in which it was written. I think it may just be fun perusing the shelves of the Detroit Public Library (a place I haven't been to since I was a kid) and hunting down an old text with which I have no familiarity, but which in a few weeks I will know a lot about.
I will soon be embarking on what I expect to be a treasure hunt, and although I have just begun formulating the idea of how to go about this, I hope some of my blog readers will have some suggestions. For now, I don't have any idea where this hunt will take me and I really don't know what the end product will be, but I know I will learn a lot along the way!
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You know, that does sound like a lot of fun, and, yes, there's always the disheartening chance that you could spend what feels like forever reading a book only to discover near the end that you'll have no use for it in your final paper; or worse, that you've changed your mind!
ReplyDeleteAs for your "treasure hunt," which is a nice analogy, I'd suggest letting Dr. Maruca provide you with a rough outline of an adventure, with choices and clues strewn about your path, pointing you in at least a rough direction so you don't get too lost in the maze, especially if you have a lot of other work to do in other classes. There's nothing wrong with a little help these days! God knows it's impossible to do anything completely on our own these days - no matter how much we may want to! :D
Good luck!
-M.C.
P.S. By the way, I really like your background: tasteful, elegant, and unobnoxious (for an example of the complete opposite, check out http://th3giv3r-text.blogspot.com).
If you’re looking for some advice on what you could write your paper one, you could start by simply searching that word you find so intriguing on Google. I also never heard of the word so I did exactly that, I searched it. I discovered that the first time this word appears is in Bernhard von Mallinckrodt’s pamphlet, De ortu et progressu artis typographicae circa 1639. I think it’d be interesting to discover the implications, and connotations this has for the Internet. What was the first Internet website, and what was its text?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a treasure hunt. But that's the beauty of it i would have to say. It's a reason to learn something you wouldn't have otherwise. Not to mention how useful it truly is to know about what you're reading as opposed to just what you're reading. I guess im coming from the view point of a hungry mind but i love learning things like that. Not to mention the DPL is an outstanding resource. I love going in there, it smells like ancient knowledge (the smell of old books) i love it!
ReplyDeleteth3giv3r - thanks for the encouragement! Yes, I will definitely be needing a "map" from Dr. Maruca. And your background's not obnoxious, it just kinda burns the eyes.
ReplyDeleteIan- yeah, I see how you are making connections between old books and old internet, interesting...
V.- I'm excited to get in the DPL and do some searching. The whole cultural context surrounding a book, and not just because of what's inside, but what the book is, is something I'm eager to explore.
Thanks for all the great feedback!
I think that sounds fun, too - kind of a biblio-biography. There are probably lots of neat things you could discover about an old book like that. Who was the publisher, and how did this book fit in with their other works? What typeface was used, and was it designed specifically for the book? How was the book regarded in its time, and now? What process was used to make the book, and was this a typical one? Oh yeah, and who wrote it....
ReplyDeleteSarah, just like we discussed towards the beginning of the semester, and as an addendum--of sorts--to Keith's list of cool things that might be learned, there could also be notes or comments that were written in the margins that some seeker such as yourself left a century ago, or however old the book you choose might be...
ReplyDelete...but then again, whose to say YOU are choosing IT. There is that old saying after all, we don't choose the books we read, they choose us...eh?