#lit major

[ashs-reverie]

10 days to go till exams :)

[academic-vampire]

Be a Dostoyevsky character: rot in your room! <3

[victusinveritas]

Mystery and Gothic Lit Crit drop, with high praise to the fine folks who wrote stuff that was screenshot and then posted on Facebook where it was for by me and reposted here, thus completing the Great Circle of Posting.

[eonian-nightmare]

A note from someone who's graduating thesis for their literature degree was about how horror novels explore psychology.

"Horror books usually only become successful, or impactful if the main character isn't a good person. If the person doesn't have the ability to crack under pressure half the point of a horror piece goes out the window."

Why do I say this: well I'm just so sick of horror/psychological thriller fandoms.

Comments like "that relationship is so toxic and codependent why would you write something like that" Or "this character is so problematic" or "why are you romanticising ...." are honestly proof that either you don't understand the genre or you can't handle it. Horror doesn't romantice shit, it points out the absurdities and acknowledges its not okay.

And don't get me wrong, yes good can prevail in horror texts, yes there can be healthy relationships and good people in horror but I'm not talking about those, I'm talking about the specific psychological thriller sub genre of horror. Which makes up a large percentage of horror texts.

In psychological horror texts, characters are used to explore how a mind can corrupt due to trauma and stress. Mental illness, delusion, paranoia, all these things that make up an unreliable narrator thrive in horror because in these situations, that is how the human mind would react. It is very rare that a person would experience this stuff and come out fine. Sure some people may not crack to the extreme but that's what makes the novel interesting.

People generally don't enjoy reading about daily life , it's the same reason why people like to read about the apocalypse or heroes etc. we like to see what happens when a person is in a situation where they are broken

They always treat the text like the protagonists are not supposed to be good people and whenever someone isn't the rip it to shreds because "this is a toxic representation" like honestly fuck off. The genre isn't supposed to be healthy people doing healthy things. It's dark and gritty as a reflection of the crumbling and toxic society around us and as an internal reflection on the darkness within humans.

So, tldr: Let horror books be horrific. Let dark books be dark, and if you don't like it, go somewhere else, the genre isn't for you.

(Of course, if any book doesn't acknowledge the darkness of a topic, and instead glorifies it, it is not longer a horror book and doesn't fall into this category)

[florasstudyjournal]

study on the train, 06.05 TUE

actually analysing the book!! i’ve got my notes that are in my copy, then the other notebook when my thoughts won’t fit in the book, or i really want to remember a page number or a particular thought.

it’s probably the best way i’ve decided to take notes on reading now? i used to jusg force fit everything in, but i like this system A LOT more, so i’d suggest it for my fellow lit studies people/people who just think a lot about what they read, and feel the need to write it down.

[nelliesnook]

Tips From a Recent English Graduate (That May Apply to Other Arts Degrees)

• If you can't understand a certain book/essay, find a summary first, and *then* read what you needed to originally. It'll (hopefully) make more sense!

• If you're on a time crunch and you have a dense reading to do, read the abstract/introduction paragraph(s) + the concluding paragraphs. Authors will most likely have their key points outlined in these sections. Afterwards, you can go through the middle sections to pick out more concrete details.

• You probably won't be able to read every required text, and that's okay! I would skim a lot of my readings and make note of any sections that seemed particularly important (you learn to pick out the major details with practice). Also, if your professor seems to place more importance on a certain text than others, try to read that one more thoroughly.

• When it comes to essay writing, and you're required to choose between texts, brainstorm in bullet points key info from each text. Do this to identify the ones that a) have enough material for your argument and b) relate to your argument the most (they don't necessarily have to *back up* your argument; rather, they can serve as a counterpoint you can argue *against*). Making bullet points are a good way to ensure you're not stuck grasping for material later on in the writing process!

Hope these help! :)

[girl-of-ink]

The Hollywood creation of "Castle Frankenstein" as the place where Victor creates the Creature is really a shame, as it prevents the wider public from knowing the hilarity of the fact that Victor made his fucked up homunculus in his student housing at the college in Ingolstadt. Imagine you're trying to get your bachelor's degree and the chem major down the hall has created a crime against god in his fucking dorm room AND THEN HE LEAVES IT THERE. The creature has to make his own damn way off campus somehow!!!

[littyngeeky]

rainer maria rilke - letters to a young poet