Almost Done...but Not Really

This coming week will be my last week of classes here at Trinity.  I am very sad, and I wish I could just continue taking classes for the rest of my life!!  But we are in the final push with three papers due (one each week in April - except the week I am giving a conference paper).  Confusing?  I know, it is.  Basically, next Friday I will turn in a paper for my Perspectives on Irish Writing course which will focus on Emma Donoghue's novel Hood.  You may have heard her name in the news with the release of her newest book Room last year.  I will be writing on her focus on "lesbian existence" rather than "lesbian identity" as reflective of her step away from the traditional Irish novel nation as allegory trope.  The Friday after next, I will turn in a paper for my Single Major Authors course on James Joyce.  I have not nailed down the details of that paper as of yet.  The following Friday I will travel to Belfast to present a paper on Joyce and masculinity at a conference at Queen's University.  I am excited about this experience because it will be my first professional conference.  The Friday following that one, I will submit my final paper in my Option Course which is entitled Irish Fiction after Joyce.  Then it will be a swift transition into starting the research and preliminary work for my dissertation!