Other Historical Frustrations

Well, i'm in class, and i didn't do the rewrite. So i'll live with a B for the first paper. While attempting to rewrite, i found myself writing an entirely different paper, looking at my initial conclusions and saying 'wow,' surprised that the grade was so high given my utter disregard for the process of historical research and the existence of primary sources.

Comparing the work i'm doing right now with the last graduate paper i wrote on church history, a study of Irenaeus and Hippolytus' arguments against docetism, I wonder if my mind has atrophied over the past two years, or if i've actually become less disciplined in my studies during grad school, which is quite possible. The patristic paper was focused, well-documented, and pointed, and the professor's comments were quite flattering. I did spend the bulk of the quarter working on it, and put in quite a bit of effort, as well as rewrites, which would be a good practice to incorporate. My tendency is to submit a first draft as a final paper, and it's worked out alright up to this point. Now the bar's being raised...time to aim higher and work with something other than a deadline in mind.