Shania Steele
Section 041
Journey Log #7
Warrior
Curiosity & Flexibility
For this week, we actually didn't have any assignments or extra readings BUT we did have our rough draft and peer review in class to do. This paper has been quite an interesting journey for the past few weeks. Since our paper has to do with monsters, I chose Medusa. I’ve always been extremely fascinated by Greek mythology and used to study it myself when I was younger with the Percy Jackson series also having a big impact on my interest in the topic. My curiosity always gets the best of me when it comes to ideas or people that I don’t know and to keep up with the books, I used to research all of the names or places that I came across then connect them back to the book. My intense need to know everything and always be in the loop allowed me to find something I was really interested in and continue to use it in my schoolwork. I had already learned about Medusa but digging up my old knowledge and connecting it to new things I learned about her was refreshing. Medusa and her image have been researched and studied extensively since forever due to the numerous symbols and meanings that surround her. Her transformation into a monster and her story are both interesting compared to other monsters that were born that way.
Medusa becoming a monster a punishment for actions outside of her control seems to be sort of harsh but nevertheless, she is classified as a monster for her appearance and “powers”. When choosing to research her as my topic for the paper, I had this great idea to connect her to views about females and their roles in society today. I was planning to incorporate ideas about rape and how it is interpreted in both the myth and society today. I would also add in how the views and pleasures of men are placed above women throughout the years. However, I didn’t really find the research I wanted that could support this idea and still give me a solid word count for the assignment at hand. Since I had to be flexible and change my direction for this paper, I looked through my research for different ideas that I could use and write a nice and complete paper that accomplished what I was trying to do in the first place.
“She is multifunctional and multidimensional and she should be viewed in all of her complexity…”
So, I did find the many symbols and ideas that she does represent in our society today instead, which then shifted my direction for this paper. Now I’m hoping to analyze the symbols that Medusa embodies and connect them back to my ideas regarding females and their roles in society.
Actually piecing all of my research together into one place and making everything flow was actually really hard for me. I know my direction and what I want to do with my paper but all of the research I found was pretty overwhelming. Along with the fact that it’s a research paper with a pretty lengthy word count requirement. I’ve only ever written one research paper in all of my time in school and it wasn’t nearly as long as this one so I that requirement alone is sort of scary for me. However, with a very positive attitude and new approach to the paper, my writing process will go a lot smoother than how I had originally envisioned it. The peer review also helped me solidify how exactly I was going to approach the paper as well as making sure everything makes sense to the reader. I had a lot of comments about staying true to my topic and making sure my ideas were clear and supported, which I’ll keep an eye out for as I write my final draft. I think the peer review exercise was really helpful in my writing process.
References
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wHFMB82dMI
- libproxy.clemson.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=clemsonu_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA228249657&sid=summon&asid=c9102ae 0d1ae30fd99f466cdf60fd97
- https://courtneytrowbridge.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/medusa4.jpg
- http://www.marymarcusfiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/yay-54383329058.jpeg