#academia shitpost

[tower-of-hana]

Citations in High School: We have kidnapped your family and will execute one member every time you make a mistake.

Citations in College: I don't care if it's Chicago or APA please just cite it.

[lord-des-fleurs]

[curseofmxcbeth]

Academia playlists should include songs with bad bitch vibes for when we fail our exams and/or think we're going to fail.

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

RESOURCE FOR MEDIEVAL DRAMA ENTHUSIASTS + SATBK FANS

okay, totally not like my normal posts since i'm sonic biased and this doesn't have to be sonic, but i wanted to share something with all of you. as someone who has recently gotten into the medieval academic world, i'm bombarded with cool knowledge and ways to read medieval plays in their untranslated form!

if you want inspiration from Arthurian plays or anything else from this time period, want to learn Middle English, or like academia in general... here:

A ABC a femmes / ABC of Women Introduction Text "Above All Thing Thow Arte a Kyng" Introduction Text "Abuse of Women" Introduction Text

these are free to read, and the glosses and footnotes help out with clarifications on words and references so please use them! it would be really great to purchase the TEAMS editions in print because this type of work is difficult, and it's great to pay scholars for their efforts (especially niche stuff like this, they really do deserve the money) but i understand not everyone has the funds or means to purchase books... so enjoy however you choose!

i also have some tips! some of these are official instructions from people specialized in the field (i'm a shakespeare person, this isn't my usual jig) but some are things i noticed that helped me:

1. read stuff out loud, these are phonetically written (aka how they sound) because grammar and spelling weren't standardized yet! this is PRE modern english, so don't worry if english isn't your native language, you actually have an advantage if this is the case.

2. if you're stuck on a word, change the vowels! vowels are whatever you need them to be tbh, swapping them out makes stuff make sense. also, e's can be added or taken away freely, there is essentially no regulation with them

3. y's are often i's, v's are sometimes u's and vice versa, þ (thorns) are pronounced th, and 3's are y, g, or gh (it depends on the word: g/gh is more common within words whereas y's are for ends or beginnings... the 3 stuff trips me up still, but go with whatever looks best!)

4. syntax is messy sometimes (like what you see in shakespeare) so swap it if it's confusing! something like "scorn thou me now?" is "thou scorn me now?" or "you're scorning me now?" in modern day english, so playing with syntax might help reconstruct a line in a way you understand better

5. stuck on a word? look it up! not just anywhere though, use this:

Middle English Compendium

try to use infinitive versions of words when using the MED, but if you don't know how to do that it's fine! you might need to switch to "search for full entry" but you'll get there eventually.

you can also look up modernish words in the dictionary (i use the OED but it's behind a paywall: see if your institution can get you free access but any dictionary should be fine!)

6. don't read too fast! you'll miss stuff and probably get confused

7. don't read too slow either! if something really doesn't make sense (it could be a name or a city or an outdated phrase) just skip it, as long as you get most of what you read it's ok to move on! dont let one word stump or spoil your whole experience :")

8. if you have younger family members who haven't learned a lot (or any) english grammar, ask them to read stuff to you! i'm a tutor, and when i teach units on phonetics i get my students to read some middle english for fun because they always get it quicker than the teens and adults i ask (because things are written like how they sound: plays during this time were crafted orally and only scribbled down as an afterthought on the backs of receipts and shit, not officially scripted and then performed)

9. have fun with this! some of these plays are downright hilarious, and if you're using this for fanfiction or other creative endeavours, imagine all the cool or funny stuff your characters will be doing! i honestly didn't expect medieval drama to be so damn entertaining, but that's because these are PLAYS, also referred to as GAME interchangeably. the goal for these was fun, so you should try to have a good time!

this is definitely a rushed sparknote version of a proper and formal academic study, so don't treat this as a sacred text or anything! i'm totally out of my element here, but i know there are satbk fans in particular who might want an extra spark or source for their works, and this is what i have to offer... so read away!

(as always, pms are open for further questions and advice on this, since i can only ramble so much in a post)

[dumbassacademia]

You: Accents

Me, an intellectual: Verbal handwriting

[shaded-lamp]

I’ve got 99 problems and spending an hour with Gilbert Blythe from Anne with an E would solve just about all of them

:)

[prince-academia]

showed my collarbone at school today... truly i am scandalous and a rascal, avert your eyes to protect your modesty lest you be overtaken by uncontrollable lust at the very sight of me

[arturbecomesanerd]

i understand that it's not advisable to call scientific findings 'interesting' or 'surprising' in academic papers, but i think i should be allowed to call them 'cool' when they're really really cool