Using quotes as 'hooks' in my PhD

My study now shared with the 'Train Set' - not in view!

'Already I can see you, shapeless as you are now, embodied in my dreams as the finest of all my works.' Olga Ernst (The Magic Shadow Show, p.18)

Pam and Marnee suggested the exploring the idea of beginning chapters with quotes from Ernst's works that express precisely the chapter focus or lead into the argument. Quotes are useful to because another's language may be so succinct that by comparison, mine may be ineffective. These are my fav quotes about research:

The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking. Christopher Morley (I am thinking... re-thinking...re-re-thinking...and thinking some more).
I once asked a young dissertation writer whether her suddenly grayed hair was due to ill health or personal tragedy; she answered: “It was the footnotes”. Joanna Russ (I think my hair is greyer despite minimal footnotes. However no one will know - hair dye is a wonderful invention!).
It is a laborious madness, and an impoverishing one, the madness of composing vast books. Jorge Luis Borges (I am time-poor & slightly obsessed in my attempt to create this vast book - my PhD).

Comments

My Thesis - what's it about?

I am always thrilled to be contacted by those who by chance find my blog. I have been blogging for three years and am hoping to complete my first draft by the end of the year. I thought it timely to re-publish what has already been published. The following is from my presentation at the University of Kassel, Germany. In 1904 Olga Ernst, a pupil teacher, wrote Fairy Tales from the Land of the Wattle. Although she was just sixteen years old, Ernst was one of a small group of writers in Australia who attempted to nationalise the fairytale towards the end of the nineteenth century, signalling quite clearly that they intended to affix the elves and fairies of Europe onto the Australian landscape aiming to fill a void that was keenly felt by the children of emigrants and the Australian-born children of emigrants. (Walker, 1988) The beginnings of the Australian bush fantasy genre can be linked with the desire to bring the comfortable and familiar into the new and distinctly non

Judged by the audience.

I started this blog as a way to reflect on intriguing aspects of my research. I wonder about who is reading this blog? It is nice to get emails and the occasional comment. I ponder about the regular visitor from Slovenia and am delighted that I was discovered by Heyne family members quite by accident. The most visited posts are: A PhD! What's in it for me? Sept 12,2010 Teaching in the blood Oct 19, 2010 Rosalie's Reward Oct 16, 2010 Tassie Tales Aug 15, 2010 Toxic Friendships Jun 19, 2010 Producing a poster - AARE Conference Oct 24, 2010 So... how popular are the Grimms? March 6 2011

A new audience for 'old' Australian fairy tales?

The Internet offers collaborative possibilities as well as the ease of sharing. This blog, maintained as a writing tool for five years, has shared research that may not appear in my thesis. It also explored the personal narrative of a PhD journey as well as my relationship with Ernst’s work. Interested relatives and other acquaintances interstate and overseas discovered my blog through search engines. They have added to the research data available in State and Lutheran archival records and made personal papers and photographs available. Patterson and Lindberg (1991) claim that, ‘the private papers of authors and artists are important to the cause of learning’ (218) on two levels: one to allow insight and understanding about, the creative process of the author and at another as the ‘cultural heritage’ of how an author’s work has shaped or reflected for the reader, their environment. Relatives who have contacted me through my blog have offered further insight through their anecdotes, p

Early Australian fairy tales

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