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Published On: Dec 09, 2003 10:43 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 09, 2003 10:43 AM
Major Mile Marker in Master's Paper
Yesterday I sent out what was effectively the final
draft of my master's paper to my committee members. It took way too long to get
that draft done, mostly from the amount of brain-drain it takes to rewrite
mind-numbing techno-prose.
Yesterday I sent out what was effectively the final
draft of my master's paper to my committee members. It took way too long to get
that draft done, mostly from the amount of brain-drain it takes to rewrite
mind-numbing techno-prose. Academic papers have such a distinctly different
style of language, and I'm out of practice reading and writing it. I looked over
a few small papers and reports I'd written seven or eight years ago, evidence
that once upon a time I could write in that style with
facility.
I'm sure there will be edits and corrections, maybe an expanded example or two, but for the most part that's it. Now the challenge rests with getting my three committee members to agree on a time and date for the actual defense, and for some reason I dread this "simple" act worse than the writing of the entire paper. I've got to give credit to the department secretary for doing everything in her power—and here I'm talking about really going beyond the call of duty—to help me get everything underway. Two professors, however, have been disturbingly unresponsive. I've got no idea if they are planning on reading my paper and suddenly at the last minute demanding major changes, or if they're just going to sit quietly through my "defense" and give a rubber stamp to the whole thing. What's distressing is I have no idea where in between those extremes they are going to fall, and the suspense is distracting.
In other news, I just got a package from Amazon.com. It turns out my mom found my published Amazon "wish list" and bought me two books: The Elements of Style by Strunk & E. B. White and the Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style by Garner. Both recommendations had been given to me in a discussion a few months ago by some accomplished writers.
It took me a while to get through the Introduction of The Elements of Style. It's funny: when I was a kid I always passed by the introduction or preface of a book, considering it masturbatory ramblings by the author. Now I sometimes think the introduction is the most easily enjoyed part of a book. Maybe it's because I've developed an interest in the process which is often discussed by the author. Anyway, the introduction is written by E. B. White's stepson. I quickly browsed the web to see if or when White died1 and I found a really interesting quote that White had used to explain moving from New York City to Maine.
In 1939 White moved to a farm in North Brooklin, Maine, and continued his writing career without the responsibilities of a regular job. He never stopped loving New York, calling it "a riddle in steel and stone," but he also prophetically saw the vulnerability of the city: "A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate millions... Of all targets New York has a certain clear priority. In the mind of whatever perverted dreamer might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm. " (From Here is New York, 1949)
I wonder how many New Yorkers posses that realization on some level of consciousness. Before 9-11 I had always been worried about some sort of biological threat like weapons-grade Anthrax being released in the middle of Times Square. Indeed, I remember being at an incredible New Year's party, December 31, 1999, and thinking as the clock approached midnight that some lunatic was going to detonate a nuke somewhere. It truly amazed me the following morning when across the globe no such plots had unfolded.
—————
1I've got to share with you one of my favorite references on the Internet. There is a site that has detailed biographies of every major writer and philosopher and scientist in the last four or five hundred years. Everyone should have http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/calendar.htm tucked away in their browsers' favorite bookmarks.
I'm sure there will be edits and corrections, maybe an expanded example or two, but for the most part that's it. Now the challenge rests with getting my three committee members to agree on a time and date for the actual defense, and for some reason I dread this "simple" act worse than the writing of the entire paper. I've got to give credit to the department secretary for doing everything in her power—and here I'm talking about really going beyond the call of duty—to help me get everything underway. Two professors, however, have been disturbingly unresponsive. I've got no idea if they are planning on reading my paper and suddenly at the last minute demanding major changes, or if they're just going to sit quietly through my "defense" and give a rubber stamp to the whole thing. What's distressing is I have no idea where in between those extremes they are going to fall, and the suspense is distracting.
In other news, I just got a package from Amazon.com. It turns out my mom found my published Amazon "wish list" and bought me two books: The Elements of Style by Strunk & E. B. White and the Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style by Garner. Both recommendations had been given to me in a discussion a few months ago by some accomplished writers.
It took me a while to get through the Introduction of The Elements of Style. It's funny: when I was a kid I always passed by the introduction or preface of a book, considering it masturbatory ramblings by the author. Now I sometimes think the introduction is the most easily enjoyed part of a book. Maybe it's because I've developed an interest in the process which is often discussed by the author. Anyway, the introduction is written by E. B. White's stepson. I quickly browsed the web to see if or when White died1 and I found a really interesting quote that White had used to explain moving from New York City to Maine.
In 1939 White moved to a farm in North Brooklin, Maine, and continued his writing career without the responsibilities of a regular job. He never stopped loving New York, calling it "a riddle in steel and stone," but he also prophetically saw the vulnerability of the city: "A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate millions... Of all targets New York has a certain clear priority. In the mind of whatever perverted dreamer might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm. " (From Here is New York, 1949)
I wonder how many New Yorkers posses that realization on some level of consciousness. Before 9-11 I had always been worried about some sort of biological threat like weapons-grade Anthrax being released in the middle of Times Square. Indeed, I remember being at an incredible New Year's party, December 31, 1999, and thinking as the clock approached midnight that some lunatic was going to detonate a nuke somewhere. It truly amazed me the following morning when across the globe no such plots had unfolded.
—————
1I've got to share with you one of my favorite references on the Internet. There is a site that has detailed biographies of every major writer and philosopher and scientist in the last four or five hundred years. Everyone should have http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/calendar.htm tucked away in their browsers' favorite bookmarks.
Posted: Thu - November 20, 2003 at 09:01 AM