Words on a Page

For the past week I have been in deep over my head with stacks of term papers due this up coming Tuesday. Mostly, I have been pouring over Edmund Burke’s explanation of the sublime, moreover, my rebuttal of his arguments, and their manifestations in three of the paintings exhibited by Joseph Mallord William Turner in 1842 at the British Royal Academy of Art. This essay has been giving me trouble. For some reason, though I have a complete grasp on the intricacies of the arguments I am trying to present, I am having much difficulty simply getting the words on the page. “Words on the page” was a mantra that suited me very well last semester as I coached myself, “You know what you’re talking about, you make good arguments, just get the words on the page and don’t worry about anything else right now.” I am partially being held up at the moment because I have, probably unwisely, decided to tackle a subject, which I find interesting, however is squarely within the area over which my professor did her doctoral dissertation at Berkeley before returning to her native Britain. That situation leaves me in a precarious balance. If I do this well and articulate my arguments precisely and completely I will not only be guaranteed an A for the essay, but be in the teacher’s good graces approaching finals (in two weeks). However, if I present my argument fairly well, but miss out on a couple bits of information, whish she is sure to be aware of, I am setting myself up to receive no higher than a B-. There is precious little chance for me to rest among some middle ground here. Though, in a larger sense, that is what I have set myself up for throughout my entire colligate direction. I can, and will be, successful in this. I will be. I just needed to take a second and get some words on a page, even if they are not currently extending the three pages I currently have for my term paper.