I wrote this while working on my first assignments this semester

(but didn't want to post it until I'd caught up on the present. which I have.)

Essay-writing. Stressful, awkward. Combination difficulty of writing to meet the word count, yet also constrained by - although I find it difficult to get these assignment essays completed on time, to spec, etc., if I were writing a serious article on the topic given, I would be wanting rather more space in which to develop my arguments and discuss examples. Likewise with referencing. Targetted numbers + kind of references, I find difficult to meet within the time and other constraints given, but also because as a student I am unaccustomed to doing the work involved. Not in habit. But the target number of references to meet is also quite obviously insufficient if one were attempting to address the topic with seriousness.

But at least that has me thinking and learning. Considering the combination of "this is too few to properly address it!" with "I am having difficulty juggling and re-locating them when needed" helps inspire plans for resolving this in future. E.g. when considering a source and a point occurs, I should be not only jotting down that point for future reminder, but also tagging with at least the source if not a quote or page number. Actually I've been trying to do something similar already, but being unaccustomed I may not think of 'the thing I want to get down' until later, or be able to think of a way to encapsulate it.

Still, we get somewhere. And this early in a course, really that is the primary goal - sure, pass the actual subject, but also learn techniques for engaging with the material so that in later units we won't be completely at sea.