The due date for this paper is my birthday!!

I got back my rough draft of the paper and it definitely needs some work. I need to figure out how my research has taken the idea of comfort objects above and beyond just defining what they are. I need to relate this to real world issues and find a way to connect it in a literary aspect. I will work on this. I also need my paper to be longer, and to fix the grammar. Tonight I am going to try and contact Peter again, since he still did not answer me. :( Better start working.....

bye vacation

Since my last post I have emailed Peter Rudnytsky and asked him if I could interview him and ask questions about D.W. Winnicott. So far no answer but I am still hopeful.

I also spoke to a local psychologist who gave me some insight on comfort objects, and where the obsession stems from. I am going to have another discussion with him soon, probably this week.

I will speak to the experimental group in my project this week and start tracking their behavior.

To do list

Some suggestions from the class:
-Talk to Dr. Bailey about the psychology aspect of this
-Research Calvin and Hobbs
-Analyze samantha/lea and their comfort objects
-Research puff the magic dragon
-Research Winnie the pooh

Email time

I have been reading through my books, and picking out the parts I want to use for my project. D.W. Winicott has a lot to say about my topic, and he will be the main commentary that I will be using. In his book "playing and reality" he talks about how "playing" influences a childs psycological development. Under this category of "playing" falls the idea of comfort objects. 

PETER RUDNYTSKY (Disclaimer: I had to copy and paste his name because I cant spell it, so sorry about the font change and capital letters.) Anyways, He wrote a book that comments on D.W. Winnicots work. I am going to send him an email and see if he responds. Hopefully he will respond and let me interview him/ answer some of my questions! 

This taught me I cant spell B-i-b-l-i-o(a?)-g-r-a-p-h-y

Books: 

Eisenberg, Arlene. What to Expect During the Toddler Years. New York: Workman Pub. 2010. 

Finley, Mitch. What Faith is Not. Franklin: Sheed &  Ward. 2001. (pg 40)

Freshwater, Dawn. Emotions and Needs. Buckingham: Open University. 2002.

Janice Golik, Janice. Nurses' Perceptions of Children's Use of Transitional Objects During Hospitalization. 

Kamishma, Shinya. Transitional Objects and Parent’s Attitude. 

 Rudyntsky, Peter. Transitional Objects and Potential Spaces: Literary Uses of D.W. Winnicot. New York: Columbia University. 1993.

 Shulz, Charles. Lose the Blanket, Linus! New York: Little Simon. 2003. 

Sussman, Marvin. Handbook of Marriage and the Family. New York: Plenum Press. 1987. (pg 313 footnote)

 Winnicot, D.W. Playing and Reality. London: Routledge. 2005. 

Young, Robert. Mental Space. London: Process Press. 1994. 

Websites:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_object

2. http://mythosandlogos.com/Winnicott.html

3. http://peanuts.wikia.com/wiki/Linus'_security_blanket

Thesis

A basic idea of my thesis: Comfort objects, whether displayed in literature or media, play a major role in the psychological development of children.

Happy November 1st!

I haven't done so much research since my last post. (college applications are to blame.) However, I am going to begin experimenting on my sister and tracking her reactions towards her comfort items. I will track how she acts when she has them as opposed to when she doesn't. This will be recorded in a notebook, and will be used as a main part of my project.