My Writing Process
- When considering topics for this paper, I was intrigued by Lacan’s theories of psychoanalysis. I had learned about Freud many times in high school and in college, so I was eager to use a different lens when it came to literary analysis.
- Lacan’s theory about language and how it fails to truly articulate the unconscious intrigued me. T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” seemed like the perfect poem to analyze through this theory.
- My first draft started out a little rough. I focused too much on the different aspects of Lacan’s research and explaining those in the paper rather than analyzing Eliot’s poem. My professor made sure to let me know that I needed to pick one aspect of Lacan and look at the poem through that lens rather than try to encompass all of Lacan’s work into the essay.
- The second draft got closer to what I wanted to point out. Once I took the pressure off of myself to try and fully explain Lacan, I was able to understand my analysis of the poem more. I also found more quotes that I could work with, too.
- My third draft cleaned up quite a bit in the essay. I reworded some confusing paragraphs, and put a little more analysis of individual quotes. With that draft done, I submitted the paper for my presentation portfolio.
Links to Drafts
Professor’s Comments on Draft One
