The Drawing Board and Back: A Procrastinator's Tale

Remember when I wanted to write about male narration? Here is what it was like trying to research it:

 

There truly is very little to say about narration. Like there's nothing. How did I think I could research and write so much about it?! A couple weeks ago, I met with my professor, and we commiserated over the awfulness of writing essays over a topic you aren't interested in. It gave me the push I needed to let go of an already decaying corpse of an idea and restart at the drawing board. I promised myself I would start researching again to look  for something else, but then life and fear stepped in, and I resorted back to my procrastinator ways: avoidance, excuses, distraction. With a week to go, the manic fire of do-die lit and, hallelujah, I found a good question: How are Asian Americans portrayed in YA Lit?

And okay, I know: Why in the world would I, a white, conservative southerner, be writing about minorities?

• My roommates. I have two half Asian roommates: one is half Japanese and one is half Filipino. We talk alot about their cultures, their identity, and different ways that they are perceived.
• My multicultural education class. We recently talked about what it means to be a minority and the tension of race pride and assimilation into majority culture, which was fascinating.
• American Born Chinese by Gene Yang-A fantastic YA graphic novel that we read in class. It's deals with assimilation without losing your culture, different stereotypes Asians have faced in the last 3 centuries.  
• Eleanor & Park (one of my favorite books) by Rainbow Rowell. This book was so beautifully written. Once I started reading, I could not stop. It's shows an unlikely romance of a poor, fat redheaded girl and a half Korean boy and it's so much more than that. But it's the outrage that I've found over how she wrote Park (the male main character)'s side of the story that sparked me into this topic. 
• Korean Dramas.  Let's get real. I love korean dramas. I got into them last year and have found that not only are they super entertaining (and like Jane Austen level clean!) but that the South Korean Culture is also so interesting.  

So yeah. I am planning on using both American Born Chinese and Eleanor & Park in my essay along with some great essays/articles about Asian American literature and fiery reviews that talk about racial shadows, stereotypes, and identity. However, I seriously only have annotations, some notes, and a vague outline done. No actual usable words for this 10 page paper. And it's due in 3 days. My goal is to write 5 pages tonight, finish it all tomorrow, and do citations and other final edits Wednesday morning.