Amanda L. Rautio 5 ebook.jpg__PID:f166e883-4e7c-40c4-beab-bb4d0cfe53eb

The Sum of My Undergraduate Degree

Call it being Type "A", being anal retentive, intelligent, stupid, crazy, on-crack, but I saved every single paper from my undergraduate degree (at least most of them.)

Most people write their papers, wipe their brows with tear-soaked tissues, and say "thank fuck that's done so I can never think about THAT again," before moving onto the next paper.

To me, I thought that was a waste. If I'm going to spend five years of my life writing papers, researching, and learning how to think deeply and critically, how can you measure your actual progress without keeping that record? So. I kept it. And it is very obvious how much I grew even year to year, never mind how much I grew from year one to year five.

Preserved entirely, I present, ALL of my papers that have survived (alas, when my mac died on me, I didn't have every single one backed up, so you can see the gaps in the earlier years). I have published them so it actually adheres to the dates they were submitted, and from most recent to least recent.

The growth is astonishing.

All the essays are available for free below, but a bound edition will soon be available, and the funds from the sales of this book will be 100% going to my student debt.

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Juvenilia: University-Era Essays

On Bilbo Baggins: A Seminar

On Bilbo Baggins: A Seminar

Amanda Rautio

At the beginning of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is what I have dubbed “A Reluctant Companion”. His character development is fantastic, and I have divided my presentation into 2 parts to...

On Bilbo Baggins: A Seminar

Amanda Rautio

At the beginning of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is what I have dubbed “A Reluctant Companion”. His character development is fantastic, and I have divided my presentation into 2 parts to...

Interview With the Vampire: A Discussion on the Novel

Interview With the Vampire: A Discussion on the...

Amanda Rautio

In Rice's novel, the frame narrative for the story is one of interest – what do you usually associate with an interview?  Who is usually interviewed? Why is s/he interviewed?...

Interview With the Vampire: A Discussion on the...

Amanda Rautio

In Rice's novel, the frame narrative for the story is one of interest – what do you usually associate with an interview?  Who is usually interviewed? Why is s/he interviewed?...

Apt Pupil: A Discussion on the Novel

Apt Pupil: A Discussion on the Novel

Amanda Rautio

What does “The child is the father of the man” mean in the context of Tod? The ‘child is the father of the man’ means that how one is as...

Apt Pupil: A Discussion on the Novel

Amanda Rautio

What does “The child is the father of the man” mean in the context of Tod? The ‘child is the father of the man’ means that how one is as...

A Discussion on Psychological Gothic

A Discussion on Psychological Gothic

Amanda Rautio

The two pieces you will read this week have a great deal to do with how our modern conceptions of the gothic are understood -- first, Freud's "The Uncanny" or...

A Discussion on Psychological Gothic

Amanda Rautio

The two pieces you will read this week have a great deal to do with how our modern conceptions of the gothic are understood -- first, Freud's "The Uncanny" or...

Dracula: A Discussion on the Novel

Dracula: A Discussion on the Novel

Amanda Rautio

For many of you, this will be the first time you have read Dracula; while you have seen the un-dead in films, some good and some definitely horrible, there are...

Dracula: A Discussion on the Novel

Amanda Rautio

For many of you, this will be the first time you have read Dracula; while you have seen the un-dead in films, some good and some definitely horrible, there are...

Setting Through the Lens of Carnivalesque and Gothic Fiction

Setting Through the Lens of Carnivalesque and G...

Amanda Rautio

Gothic narratives use Carnivalesque themes to set up expectations for the fate of the characters through depictions of gloomy castles, mazes, and ruins. Using The Castle of Otranto by Horace...

Setting Through the Lens of Carnivalesque and G...

Amanda Rautio

Gothic narratives use Carnivalesque themes to set up expectations for the fate of the characters through depictions of gloomy castles, mazes, and ruins. Using The Castle of Otranto by Horace...