Rose 3
Once again I'm at the Starbucks counter; Naomi waves from her table.
As I sit, she asks tentatively, "mind if I ask for some advice?"
"Go ahead."
"By the end of the holiday, they'll expect me to narrow down the exact topic for my Masters thesis. Could you share your experience with me?"
"Sure, what would you like to know?"
"The overall thought pattern, in as much detail as you like."
"First, it must be a topic you like. Reason, it'll always end up more work than you think. If it's something you like, it's enjoyable. If you only chose it to gain some strategic advantage, you'll resent any extra work."
"So that's why you chose Japanese women's literature?"
"Well yes and no. Yes, I do happen to like it. But bite your tongue when you say 'women's literature'. According to Prof Anderson, that leaves me open to all sorts of charges such as ghettoizaton, being a pawn to the male dominated big publishing houses and so forth."
"So what exactly did she suggest you title it?"
"Literature written in female voice targeted primarily at female readers."
We both laugh.
"So what else Rose?"
"Assuming you like a topic, aim for as wide a terrain as you can. Reason, you'll always find surprises, pleasant and unpleasant, and things will come out a lot different than you think. As well, much as possible, aim to find the unexplored, terrain that hasn't been hunted to death."
She pulls a face, "isn't that a contradiction in terms? Hasn't every topic of any great importance been beaten to death and then some?"
"All right then, as I understand it, you're fluently bilingual, being from Montreal. How exactly do you feel about writing in French Canadian voice in that history thesis?"
"No problem at all, got on well with the Quebecois, in fact better than with fellow Jews. It's doable and easily."
"Ok, start by avoiding big stuff. For sure anything to do with the original settlement or say the Treaty of Paris will have been picked over. But if you aimed to say chroncile daily life in an uneventful era of say circa 1700, chances are, no one has done it yet."
"Ah I see what you mean, I'll think on that. One thing I always meant to ask you, if it's not too intrusive. I've noticed a pattern in you Rose. You avoid any other Jewish students like the plague; they do the same to you. So ah why?"
I look at her in wild disbelief, "you mean you've been here, at this very university for two years now and you still haven't heard that? They must really keep you outa the loop, doubtless because you're seen fraternizing with the enemy, moi."
We both laugh.
Then I shrug, "no reason I shouldn't tell you, you'll hear sooner or later anyhow. Rumor has it I'm Trudeau's illegitimate child."
She gasps, then, "good thing I wasn't sipping coffee at the moment. So, do you suppose it's true?"
I shrug, "who knows? Though people do tell me I have a resemblance."
As I sit, she asks tentatively, "mind if I ask for some advice?"
"Go ahead."
"By the end of the holiday, they'll expect me to narrow down the exact topic for my Masters thesis. Could you share your experience with me?"
"Sure, what would you like to know?"
"The overall thought pattern, in as much detail as you like."
"First, it must be a topic you like. Reason, it'll always end up more work than you think. If it's something you like, it's enjoyable. If you only chose it to gain some strategic advantage, you'll resent any extra work."
"So that's why you chose Japanese women's literature?"
"Well yes and no. Yes, I do happen to like it. But bite your tongue when you say 'women's literature'. According to Prof Anderson, that leaves me open to all sorts of charges such as ghettoizaton, being a pawn to the male dominated big publishing houses and so forth."
"So what exactly did she suggest you title it?"
"Literature written in female voice targeted primarily at female readers."
We both laugh.
"So what else Rose?"
"Assuming you like a topic, aim for as wide a terrain as you can. Reason, you'll always find surprises, pleasant and unpleasant, and things will come out a lot different than you think. As well, much as possible, aim to find the unexplored, terrain that hasn't been hunted to death."
She pulls a face, "isn't that a contradiction in terms? Hasn't every topic of any great importance been beaten to death and then some?"
"All right then, as I understand it, you're fluently bilingual, being from Montreal. How exactly do you feel about writing in French Canadian voice in that history thesis?"
"No problem at all, got on well with the Quebecois, in fact better than with fellow Jews. It's doable and easily."
"Ok, start by avoiding big stuff. For sure anything to do with the original settlement or say the Treaty of Paris will have been picked over. But if you aimed to say chroncile daily life in an uneventful era of say circa 1700, chances are, no one has done it yet."
"Ah I see what you mean, I'll think on that. One thing I always meant to ask you, if it's not too intrusive. I've noticed a pattern in you Rose. You avoid any other Jewish students like the plague; they do the same to you. So ah why?"
I look at her in wild disbelief, "you mean you've been here, at this very university for two years now and you still haven't heard that? They must really keep you outa the loop, doubtless because you're seen fraternizing with the enemy, moi."
We both laugh.
Then I shrug, "no reason I shouldn't tell you, you'll hear sooner or later anyhow. Rumor has it I'm Trudeau's illegitimate child."
She gasps, then, "good thing I wasn't sipping coffee at the moment. So, do you suppose it's true?"
I shrug, "who knows? Though people do tell me I have a resemblance."
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