The Paper to end all Papers

[Hailtothenerd]

       This post is a mixture of a Journal and an advice column.  I am currently a Senior at my Christian High School in Lansing, IL.  I am currently taking an AP English (Advanced Placement) and we, as a class, just got an assignment.  We have a Term Paper due around May 25th about a single author and their world view.  We have to read 3 novels by the author and then use 5 secondary sources.  We then have to form this into an 8-10 page paper with a fully written first draft due on April 7.  Being the natural scholar that I am I wanted to pick an author that would be interesting and would be a challenge.  Who else would I pick than the interesting and intriguing... Dostoevsky.

       Today I went out after much contemplating and bought the 3 Novels by Dostoevsky; Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and The Idiot.  I started reading Crime and Punishment and am only about 14 pages into it right now.  (BTW my translation is the one done by Pevear and Volokhonsky for all three)  

       So you might be asking yourself, what is the point of this forum... Well.  First of all I just thought it would be interesting for some of the guys out there to see a journal of a high schoolers first travel through the world Dostoevsky creates.  I have never read anything of Dostoevsky before this paper and only knew a little about the story for Crime and Punishment.  Second of all, I need help.  I will periodically update this and let you know how my reading is doing.  I will update with more on the assignment, what exactly I am looking for and what I need help from.  I need you to help bounce Ideas off of.  Dostoevsky is supposed to be very strong in his world view but I still may need help determining what it is.

       The first question I have to ask you is... What do you think of the Books I picked for this assignment.  Do you have any good ideas for secondary sources (good essays ((even if they are your own, I promise I won't steal)), Biography, etc...).  And Lastly... What do you think of this Post... Long I know but I'm sure the next won't be as long.  What do you think of the Idea of keeping a journal of my essay writing experience.

       Thanks in advance for any input or ideas you throw into the ring.

[poor knight]

I'm actually very intrigued by your journal idea. Considering way back in my high school days our lit teacher would never have had us doing such a challenging assignment. I'll certainly follow it.

You have chosen books that FD wrote in the prime of his career. Great novels of course. I might suggest however that they each look at different topics although, of course, you can find common threads in all three. For your first experience with FD, though, it might be a bit overwhelming and challenging to describe the broad topic of his "world view" from these three novels, without some background.

I might offer a suggestion. choose one of the three novels and then also select some of his shorter and earlier works that are along the same theme. Having read about two thirds of his works I've definitely noticed that he used his earlier works as "character sketches" in many ways for the characters and themes in his later works. There is a definite progression in his view on a range of subjects over time. In this way you can take one aspect of his world view -- his thoughts on youth, or socialism, or the personal aspects of religion, or the worth of women, etc. and show how his views changed and solidified over time.

I'm sure you'll find support in this group. You might try to read some long synopses of the three novels you've chosen, then pick one and read it first. Highlight some of themes that seem to stand out and then we can recommend earlier works that touch on those same things. I have a number of references I can give you once you've found a theme you like.

Good luck.

[Mogwai]

Cool idea.  If I were you, I'd sign up with www.blogger.com or www.livejournal.com and have the journal online there.

I promise, I'll link this site to it if you do it!  

[Hailtothenerd]

I did it, I took your advice and started a live journal, I will probably be putting almost the same thing in there as I put in here... or Vice Versa.  Here's the link to my live journal  http://hailtothenerd.livejournal.com/

Meanwhile in reading/paperwriting news, I didn't really have a chance to read much today.  I'm working on finishing a book that needs to be read by next week because that it top priority.  The book I am currently reading is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.  I'm just trying to get it out of the way so I am read something Good.  Just kidding if there are any Jane Austin fans out there.  Honestly I can't get into Pride and Prejudice, I think it is a boring story and I don't fully understand the satire, but I'm sure it is good for some people... maybe.

I have started Crime and Punishment and have already found some interesting points about world view as I stand right now.  First of all, I am already in love with the dark nature of Raskolnikov.  Maybe I just love dark characters but I know already that I will fall in love-- in a bad way maybe-- with this character.  I found the 5 page rant by Marmeladov very interessting as well.  The way no one pays any attention other than Raskol and no one cares I think is noteworthy.  It shows Raskol pays attention to society.  

If I'm way off base with anything I ever say, please don't hesitate to let me know.  I can handle it... trust me.

Couple of questions:  What is the money system in this time in Russia.  They mentioned Kopecks and something about Rouples (or something).  I just need to know what order they go in and that that's money, not... rubies... or anything else.  Also Poor Knight suggested I read different other books.  I would like to stick with Crime and Punishment, because I have always wanted to read it, and now this gives me an excuse to do so.  But if there is 2 more books to complement the way Dostoevsky feels in Crime and Punishment please let me know.  I pick the three largest books by Dostoevsky at borders and I would like to read one of his shorter stories to save me time.  

Thanks already, I was so shocked when I read in my email that I already had responses.  I figured it would take at least a couple of days to get a good response.

[poor knight]

Well, if you've decided on C&P, and you are drawn to Rask. and his brooding, existentialism, then you might look also at The Injured and Insulted  and certainly Notes from Underground. The latter is probably better. I'm trying to think of an earlier characters sketch of Rask. in one of his short stories. I haven't read The Jealous Husband, but maybe you could even go back to his first work, Poor Folk, and look at the protagonist.

Any thoughts from anyone else.

[Worm]

I love your idea, and I hope you stick with it until the end.  Good luck with it!


I noticed that i hope you don't narrow down your view on the book by the questions you have posed (world view), but keep your eyes also open for other things (and note those down in your journal as well).
I also hope you put down your real, uncensored, thoughts.

I've checked your journal.
You've just copy&pasted your post of the forum onto your journal... is it that hard to write more?  This stuff here is just small "forum posts".

[Scoundrel]

I agree with poor Knight...you should certainly read 'Notes from the Underground' for one of your books

[Hailtothenerd]

Nothing really new the last 2 days, Between Work, Pride and Prejudice and the little amount of free time I have I haven't had time to read anymore in Crime.  I'll make it my goal to pick up a copy of Notes from the Underground tomorrow... er Today.  Sometime. I'm really glad at people are really getting into the Forum and responding.  I really am glad that you guys write and here and I listen to what you say.  

Coming soon: Handout from my teacher on what is considered a World View so I and everyone else knows what exactly I'm talking about when I say I'm looking to write about Dostoevsky's world view.  More Thoughts on Crime and Pun., and more thoughts on Pride and Prejudice.

[lerik]

Hello Hailtothenerd!I think your choice of Dostoevsky's novels is great because these works are considered to be his best.
As for secondary sources...I know a few good ones but they are in Russian and I am not sure that they are translated into English.But maybe you can find some quotes of Tolstoy on Dostoevsky.I think he mentioned that TBK is not well written or smthg of that kind.I think Scott Fitzgerald said that TBK is his favorite book,so maybe you can find some quotes or sources on that.
Good luck with the reading!

[Hailtothenerd]

Not too much new... half way through P&P.  I need to have that book read by Mon.  Then I'll most likely take a one day break then pick up C&P on Wed.  If you want to read an interesting conversation go to my Live Journal page and look at the discussions on some of my posts.  Good stuff there.

[kudzai]

hailtothenerd, I admire your cerebral ambition. Three books in a matter of months and on top of all that - a paper! My comment about your project is this - Be weary of concentrating too much on the so-called 'darkness'. To get to Dostoevsky's 'worldview' you have to emerge from the shadows and bathe in the light of the resolution in his novels. Those shadows are there for a reason, to illuminate the light!  Good luck my friend.

[poor knight]

Excellent point, Kudzai. I strongly agree.

[Hailtothenerd]

Sorry for the delay, my life has been so busy the last week I haven't had time to even think about updating.  A quick update, I picked up C+P again and am working on that.  I finished Pride and Prejudice.  Still didn't like it, oh well.  Thats it for right now, i'll keep you updated with C+P stuff as soon as I have something to say about it.

[Hailtothenerd]

Well well, It's seems I have forgotten all about this little Forum.  I am currently cramming for the paper, which I knew would happen of course.  You see I lack Motivation unless a deadline is close. Well is 5 days close enough... I certainly hope so.  

I have finished Crime and Punishment last night.  Simply amazing.  A extremely well written novel. I absolutely love Raskolnikov.  I love the way his mind twists and turns.  He is confused, yet in a way, thinks he has everything completely worked out.  The way Dostoevsky puts the reader into the mind of the a killer is completely amazing.

I am currently reading Notes from the Underground and will no doubt finish this tonight.  Tomorrow I plan to read a couple more of Dostoevsky's shorter stories.  I have thought about "The Honest Thief", "Bobok", "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man", "The Crocodile".  Either all of these or just most of them.  I bought from Amazon, "Reading Dostoevsky" by Victor Terras and "Remembering the End- Dostoevsky as Prophet to Modernity" by P. Travis Kroeker and Bruce K. Ward.  I hope I have find some good quotes and sections from here for my Paper.

I promised this a while ago and now here it is, What is a Word View.  (This is from a handout directly from my teacher. I think he borrowed all or at least part from Mr. David Smith)

Worldview = A Way of thinking through which you consciously or unconsciously place or fit everything you believe and by which you interpret all of reality.

There are 5 subjects in everybody's worldview.  Everyone you will ever meet believes particular things about these 5 subjects.  They are:

Metaphysics: Study of reality: What is reality?  Does reality consist of physical and non-physical things?  Can we even know what reality is?  If so, how do we know what is real?  Who determines what is real? These are questions included in metaphysics, but metaphysics is not limited to these.

Epistemology: Study of knowledge: What is Knowledge?  How do you get knowledge?  How do you receive knowledge?  Is knowledge given or "gotten"?  What is the role of human reason in possessing knowledge?  These are questions included in epistemology, but epistemology is not limited to these.

Theology: Study of God: Who or what is God?  How do you know?  What characterizes humans' relationship to God?  How is God related to reality and knowledge?  What does the Church have to do with God?  What is sin?  These are questions included in theology but theology is not limited to these questions.

Ethics: Study of what is morally right and wrong: How do we determine what is right and wrong behavior and thinking?  Is these such a thing as right and wrong thinking or behavior?  Are there right and wrong ways of thinking about God, people, the Church?  Do people determine what is right or wrong?  is there a God who determines right and wrong?  These are questiongs included in ethics, but ethics are not limited to these questions.

Anthropology: Study of humans: What is a human being?  What is the purpose of the human being?  Are humans different from other animals?  If so, in what way?  How do you know what a human being is?  If there is a God, can humans know him/her/it?  How can humans live in harmony with one another?  Is the history of human beings about anything in particular?  If so, what? These are questions included in anthropology, but anthropology is not limited to these questions.

I know this is a lot to read, but I need your help.  I have found personally that in Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky deals with Ethics mainly but I could use examples of others as well.