STATE LIBRARY VISIT #2

Well I didn't get to note this down, but about four days ago, on the 28th of January, I went to the State Library again to get some more research done.

As well as actually getting to photocopy some pages (which are also included in this journal), I got some solid thinking and planning done, and by the end of the day I had figured myself out a rough plan to follow, in terms of both structures and content.

MEDIUM: A suite of three short stories, each one exploring a different take on isolation. Preferably, all of these stories would be joined together (not that the characters are aware) by a single item. I have yet to decide what this item will be, but I brainstormed some things I could possibly do and here is what came up:
- A photograph

- A newspaper article

- Maybe not something so simply material

Story 1: I'm thinking of some sort of historical-based work (though obviously not to the point where the history overtakes the English aspect), based on some sort of famous (or not so famous) incident involving isolation - probably social. After brainstorming, here are some things that came up:
- The samurai after the Meiji Restoration, who lost their prestige (probably not this)

- Segregation within America (Probably set within the civil war. Has this been done before? Rhetorical question, it most probably has, so I'll need to take a look for some MWs that have explored this)

- Apartheid, as suggested by Ben Soo.

Story 2: The second story would focus on the isolation of an individual from society (as opposed to the historical one, where an entire group would be isolated). I'd probably take inspiration from the various texts I've checked out that explore this kind of thing, like An Imaginary Life by David Malouf, or the Monos and Daimonos text by Bulwer. I would most probably be basing drafts of my character for this story on Jane (whose biography is also in this folder), the character from my previous writing exercises.

Story 3: The third and final story would focus on isolation within oneself, by which I mean, most probably due to some sort of mental condition, even though I know this has probably been done about like a thousand billion times already. I brainstormed a bit and thought I should probably take a look into:
- Autism

- Schizophrenia

- Dementia? Maybe?

I've yet to read anything about any of these yet, but I know I'm bound to find some sort of other illness that will better suit my cause when I'm researching.

I've also been considering some sort of overarching message about isolation to convey in all three texts. So far, I've only come up with simplistic things like "Isolation is neither completely positive or completely negative" and "People need isolation and privacy at times to stop and take a look at their lives and what they want to do next."

Speaking of privacy, there's a bit that I photocopied on privacy, but I'm not so sure how useful it'll be in the long run.