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The MA Thesis

For the past couple months I've been working on the proposal for my MA thesis. Yesterday I defended the proposal before a panel of children's literature experts and I am happy and relieved to announce that they approved my thesis topic. They also gave enormously valuable feedback!

So here is my final thesis topic (it has gone through four incarnations): I am going to trace the development of Asian American children's literature and determine its contributions to American children's literature. I will do this by doing a critical analysis of the Newbery books (Medal winners and Honor books) written by Asian Americans - Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Dragonwings by Laurence Yep, Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. My theoretical framework is ethnic studies and postcolonial studies, and I will be reading the books as Asian American texts and canonized Asian American children's literature.

I hope you'll understand why my blog posts for the next couple months will probably be few and far between. :o) You can follow me on Twitter or add me on Facebook, where I will most likely be posting mini-updates about my thesis.

Wish me all the best? :o)

Comments

  1. Definitely wishing you all the best!! What an amazing thesis!

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  2. Thank you, Corinne! It's ambitious. I'm nervous. =P

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  3. Good luck, what an interesting topic!

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  4. Congratulations, Tarie - that's great news. I wish you all the very best and hope you get a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment doing your MA, as well as from the fantastic books you've chosen. We'll be hanging around, waiting for your posts :-)

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  5. Congrats, Tarie! :) Good luck with your thesis!

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  6. Wishing you all the best, Tarie! I admire your passion for YA. Your thesis will be an interesting read. I hope you get to share highlights when it's done.

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  7. Congratulations again Tarie, and good luck! :)

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  8. What a great thesis topic! Good luck!

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  9. I think this will be one thesis that is not boring at all. I will be riveted if ever I get the chance to read it. Good luck!--though, I think you don't need it, because you're so smart already and I'm sure you're going to ace any test.

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  10. You GOT THIS Tarie! Best of luck, I'll be sending positive thoughts your way :) What an amazing topic. analyzing some awesome-sounding books for your paper. You will rock this.

    Maybe you can share it with us someday =D

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  11. Wow, Tarie! What a wonderful thesis. I wish you'd already written it so we can all can read it. I look forward to its publication.

    Best wishes best wishes bonne chance et bon courage! Go get them! :)

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  12. O,I most definitely wish you the best!!

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  13. Good luck. It sounds like a fascinating topic. :)

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  14. God bless :) Best thesis material :) Baka ito na ang maging way para magka-MA in Children's Lit sa Pinas :)

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  15. Medeia, this means, of course, that my dissertation will be on Asian American YOUNG ADULT literature. Hahaha!

    Jerson, there should definitely be degrees in children's and young adult literature in the Philippines! We certainly have enough faculty!

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  16. Congratulaions Tarie - I hope you have lots of fun writing your thesis and being able to immerse yourself in wonderful books even more that you already do.

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  17. I will definitely miss your posts but congratulations and good luck to you, Tarie!

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  18. Thank you, Zoe and Chris!

    Everyone, please keep sending those good vibes my way. I definitely need them!

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  19. Good luck, Tarie! I'm studying for my PhD exams in May, so I feel you on this. It's a wonderful thing to get to work on topics we're passionate about. We are blessed.

    www.ashleyperez.com/blog

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  20. Yikes, PhD exams! We can do this, Ashley! \m/

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