The challenges of writing a dissertation!

 I have now moved on with my plan for my dissertation and have selected my key texts.  At first I was only going to use 3 texts: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite, and The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis.  However, as I was searching for a clearer vision, I read a review on Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates and felt that it would work well alongside the other texts.  

My next challenge really was about how to approach these texts and how I would be able to offer something new to the academic field.  This was quite problematic as how do you offer something new as an MA student when scholars have been researching and writing about the topic for decades?  Upon reflection I realised that at this moment, nothing has been written about The Shards, as it is a relatively new novel (published January 2023) and I have not read any academic work that focuses on it.  Furthermore, during a collaborative learning session, a fellow student suggested the I explore how this topic is dealt with on social media, as an innovative angle to approaching context.  This is some thing I am going to look at, as I am not familiar with Tik-Tok and tend to limit my social media presence to Twitter and Facebook! 

I now feel more confident that I can provide something new to the field and am excited to get started.  I am going to look at how the characters of the serial killers are created; the form of the novels; the victims and why they are silenced; the violent imagery and what this suggests; how the reader is positioned, and the narrative style.  There are still some areas that I am unsure of but I am sure that I will have more clarity in the coming days and weeks.

I will journal my progress, my ups and downs, and hopefully this will aid not only my fellow MA students, but also myself, as a means of keeping track of my ideas.

Please feel free to offer any advice or words of wisdom by dropping a comment.

Thanks, 

M