Getting Better All The Time...

Well, it's been a better 24 hours since I last posted here. I made a very big decision late last night that has taken a huge weight off my shoulder. Basically, the whole reason I got 'lost' at the weekend is because I was trying to 'force a square peg in a round hole', so to speak. After trying desperately to angle a key 'external' work into my narrative ( to the point where I even forced disparate quotes together to fit my theory) I gave up. At 9pm last night I knew the game was up - I was deluding myself into trying to force this very broad research in a specific context. So I decided to ditch it.

Knowing that freed me as I could now see a 'direct' example in the main course book and from there I began to make some headway. Hopefully, tonight I can get cracking again just like I did before I hit my recent stalemate. Also, my tutor (bless her) has given me a week's extension to today's deadline and that gives me a little more freedom to 're-start' and 're-imagine' this work. Thank god she gave me so much time. I was expecting a few days!

It was also good today to see others on the (usually quiet) DA204 forum whinge about the course so far. Like myself, my fellow posters also came at this from an arts background and they too have been struggling with all this complex social science. Some are panicking at the thought of trying to memorise all this before the exam in October. Others are wondering if the opinions in the forum are being watched and perhaps the OU (and new students) may be warned of the difficulties we are having. Best of all for me was the confession of one or two students who thought it was arts based because it was recommended as part of their BA degree plan! That's why I did it! Oh dear. At least I'm not the only one!