Episode 38: I Hate You, Allen Ginsberg

Was supposed to go to a Bible study with Chernise, but I had to back out because otherwise I'd never finish my essay by tomorrow, 3 pm. Felt a bit silly today, as I discovered that I actually didn't need to finish writing that French essay I spent a few hours on yesterday. It was actually meant to be this week's homework. Oh well. C'est la vie. I'm currently a quarter of the way through my 'Howl' essay, judging by word count, and I keep encountering mental roadblocks. I think it's because I'm trying too hard to get everything right, when the first unassessed essay is really the perfect time to make mistakes. Quite a few of my coursemates are also agonising over either their commentary for EN121 or their essay for EN122, so that makes me feel less alone. Anyway, the experience of writing this essay has made me realise that I actually don't like 'Howl' very much. It's okay the first few times that you read it, and I've been picking out some stuff that is definitely good close reading, but I find it very tedious to make my impressions of the poem cohere! So yeah, I hate Allen Ginsberg now. I don't think I'll be getting any sleep tonight at this rate...