Journal 5

This week I was able to add an additional six pages to my essay bringing the total number of pages to 12. I was able to finish discussing the background information in order to place the source analysis and the correct context to be understood fully. Last week I was able to work through the pre-writing time period up to the late Shang Period. This week I was able to work from that point to the conclusion of the development of the standard script which remains in effect from the early Tang Dynasty up until 1911. Most of the information that I used to write these sections were pulled from the annotated bibliography notes that I had written previously. From this point on I plan to structure the essay as follows: first an introduction to the script of the time period, and then an in-depth look at some of the primary source material for the script. Each individual section will end with my analysis of the primary source material as well as buying analysis and interpretation of the background information and the insights of other scholars that I bring into the paper. I am also working on putting together a collection of pictures and scan documents that I will need to insert into the paper during the final stage. For convenience sake I have all of the information split up into two separate word document files. One document has all of the text double-spaced saying get an accurate count of how many pages I currently have, and the second document contains all the pictures and primary source games that I will add in later. I also have continue to add the source information in the footnotes.

 One unforeseen little glitch that I have noticed as I have been writing my paper is that the Chinese characters that I insert mess up the spacing of the regular document. I had noticed this in the past but forgot about it so I am currently trying to figure out a way to make all of this spacing between lines equal whether or not they have a Chinese character.

 There are two main things that I will work on next week. One of them will be researching how to properly cite images and primary text scans in the Chicago style. I plan to look at the Chicago manual of style as well as the Kate L. Tarabian book. The second main thing that I will be working on will be to start my analysis of the early Chinese writing primary sources. From here on out until I reach the Cantonese vernacular section I will be writing much more slowly as much of what I will be writing will be my personal analysis and not summaries, paraphrases, or quotes of the scholarship of other individuals. With many of the other primary source sections I will use my own scholarship and ability to read Chinese to aid in my analysis, however, the shop Dynasty characters are so far from removed from the standard script characters that I will, in many cases, be relying on outside scholarship or just my educated guess from my knowledge of the later Chinese script.