It is finished! Well, kind of.

I handed in my final paper for Modern Romanian Novel today. This paper has been, by far, the most difficult one I have written in my undergraduate studies. I can't quite explain why. All I know is that I researched, wrote notes, validated my thesis, analyzed the text, outlined, and drafted, just as I normally do. But somewhere in the process, I got lost. My argument did not seem cohesive--I had an idea and sufficient supporting evidence, but it just didn't seem to work.

I finally took it to the writing center and asked my lovely tutor to highlight fallacies, slash repetitions, underline dubious statements, and basically rip apart my paper. And so she did. I don't know whose copy of the paper was bleeding more by the end of the session, hers or mine. It was brutal. And I emerged with an understanding of my shortcomings, but a loss for how to recompense those.

So back to the computer screen I went. Dedicating three full days to revisions and edits, I finally saw my argument coming together. Truth be told, it was God's grace from beginning to end--yes, I worked hard, but divine inspiration helped me through the whole process. One piece after another was falling into place, and the different parts of the paper were harmonizing with the others perfectly. And so, Saturday night, at 1:03 am, I quietly turned off the monitor and crawled into bed. My overextended independent study of the modern Romanian novel was finished. (However, I wanted to turn in a physical copy of the paper, hence the delay between completion and submission.)

I love what I do, and I get a unique thrill when I discover a question no other scholar has thought to tackle. For this paper, I analyzed Vitoria Lipan, the main character in Mihail Sadoveanu's The Hatchet (1930). The paragraph below explains the basic premise of my argument:

Vitoria Lipan, The Hatchet's protagonist, undergoes an important transformation toward the end of the novel in the way she relates to members of her sex, and such a change is worth exploring in further detail. Though Vitoria is initially satisfied with her traditional female role within the patriarchal structure, her homosocial relationships with Saint Ann and Maria empower her to transcend traditional gender roles, avenge her husband's death, and affirm her autonomous individuality (Oana 5).

Though challenging, this paper has been one of the most rewarding ones I've written, mainly because I feel I'm entering a field of scholarship that is hardly explored by contemporary critics. Being able to contribute to that field, albeit minutely, is indeed a thrill.

So this marks the end of my Modern Romanian Novel posts. But fear not! The blog will continue. Today I begin researching for my senior seminar paper, and as that promises to be the longest and most complex paper during my time at Cedarville (topping even this one, I'm sure), I want to keep track of the resources I discover, the development of my "question" (which will lead to the thesis-answer), and any new developments along the way. So stay posted! :)