Researching About An Author

I realize now that doing research on a particular author can be mindboggling. It's not so much that you can't understand their work as it is to try get into the mind of the person. 

When I first read Sylvia Plath's poetry, it was as if I was from another planet. The metaphors she used in her work were other worldly and mystical. When I read Plath's biography, I gained a much better understanding of her and her work. I learned about how depression ran in her genealogy. I read about her suicide attempts and her constant perfectionist tendencies which made her very self critical.

Research isn't something that you do for a short time for an end of the semester term paper. It takes time, diligence, and perseverance to at least gain a proper perspective about the subject. I find that one needs to leave personal biases out of it because it can cloud one's mind.

I have an affinity for obscure authors. They can be the most challenging to research. While Herman Melville wasn't obscure any any stretch, I see him as an author who did not write in the prevaling ways of his times. A vastly underappreciated writer, he is most remembered for his classic Moby Dick. However he wrote other notable novels such as Typee, Billy Budd, and Bartleby and Benito Cereno. Melville was also an accomplished poet. I recently discovered the work of Delmore Schwartz., a brilliant and troubled writer. I read a book of his poems and Screeno, a book of poems and short stories.

I do not criticise other people's writing because someone else may like it. I had a dislike for Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath's husband, who left her for another woman. After awhile I said that this is wrong attitude for me to have then let it go. There may come a time when I'll research on Mr. Hughes. Having an open mind and heart can open my eyes to aspects of the person that would not see if I festered this dislike in my heart.

The first thing involving research is to have an open mind and heart. You may not like the person but that should not be reflected in the essay or report you are to write. You may also discovery something about the person that you may not have known previously. If others read and unbiased and accurate article it can do more for them-and you-in the process.