Home, Angry, Thesis, to Name a Few
Jul. 14th, 2010 06:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
archaesophiliaI've been home from the field for two weeks, but only home for one, really.
Still angry; probably because I never got an apology, and the likelihood of getting on is slim to none. I'm having trouble letting this one go, but hopefully that will come with time. And one of my ankles is still screwed up.
I'm in the process of getting back into my thesis; right now that means beefing up my References Cited list. But as I read and research and such, I find that I'm becoming less and less pleased with the progress I've made on my thesis already. I've got about 30-40 pages written, but I'm dissatisfied with how it is written.
I think I've gotten into a writing rut; churning out term papers and suchlike has apparently made me stop reaching for good prose as well as good information. I'm a firm believer that academics don't consider this enough; the impact of their work is not only directly related to the quality of that work, but their ability to convey the information to their audience.
Articles don't have to be boring to read, but we expect them to be. And if you try to insert voice or tone or any of those touchy-feely things...Well! That's hardly academic.
Never mind that we remember the articles and books that are well written better, or that we talk about them more. And the general public is far more likely to respond to something they can understand (not waffle-waffle-jargon-waffle-hem-haw-name drop-waffle).
I've said it before, and I guess I'm saying it again, there are few things that would benefit a graduate program more than an emphasis on writing development.
Oh, and a computer lab with both ArcGIS and SPSS on the machines.
Still angry; probably because I never got an apology, and the likelihood of getting on is slim to none. I'm having trouble letting this one go, but hopefully that will come with time. And one of my ankles is still screwed up.
I'm in the process of getting back into my thesis; right now that means beefing up my References Cited list. But as I read and research and such, I find that I'm becoming less and less pleased with the progress I've made on my thesis already. I've got about 30-40 pages written, but I'm dissatisfied with how it is written.
I think I've gotten into a writing rut; churning out term papers and suchlike has apparently made me stop reaching for good prose as well as good information. I'm a firm believer that academics don't consider this enough; the impact of their work is not only directly related to the quality of that work, but their ability to convey the information to their audience.
Articles don't have to be boring to read, but we expect them to be. And if you try to insert voice or tone or any of those touchy-feely things...Well! That's hardly academic.
Never mind that we remember the articles and books that are well written better, or that we talk about them more. And the general public is far more likely to respond to something they can understand (not waffle-waffle-jargon-waffle-hem-haw-name drop-waffle).
I've said it before, and I guess I'm saying it again, there are few things that would benefit a graduate program more than an emphasis on writing development.
Oh, and a computer lab with both ArcGIS and SPSS on the machines.