New semester. So far, so good, it seems. I don't feel too overwhelmed or out of place--yet--which means I'm already starting to see an improvement from my situation at the beginning of last semester. That being said, the grading hasn't really started yet, so we'll see how things go in about 3 weeks. Gulp. So... Continue Reading →
What to do?
I have a student. No surprise there. I actually have about 100 students this semester. But there's something else going on with this student: she seems so sad. All the time. At first, it seemed to be a mixture of hostility and sadness, and I felt like that hostility was directed toward me specifically. She... Continue Reading →
You know. . .
what I miss right now? Doing my own work. Writing. Feeling inspired to be a researcher. Making progress. Attempting to publish, or at least dreaming of doing it one day. Exercising. Eating well. Watching Glee. Watching NCIS. Talking on the phone with friends and family who are many, many miles away. Feeling like I have... Continue Reading →
I need
to get out of this writing funk. Everything was progressing along and then. . .BAM. Chapters 1-3 are drafted, I have 2 inter-chapters kinda drafted and ideas for the other 2. . .but chapter 4 looms over me. I just. can't. do. it. Can't bring myself to write anything. It's like I'm overwhelmed by choices... Continue Reading →
Argh.
Time goes by and my dissertation. . .doesn't. I have a job, which is yay, but also means I NEED TO FINISH. SOON. I was in a writing groove way back before my trip to Louisville in the beginning of March. I got the new first two chapters done and off to Kate, and I'm... Continue Reading →
Am I a writer?
I've called myself a writer, been told I'm a writer, hoped I could be a writer. So am I a writer? A writer who teaches writing a la Donald Murray? Or am I kidding myself? In some ways, I think the dissertation writing process has killed any writer-ly instincts I once had, but when I hit... Continue Reading →
Another round of mapping
Here goes nothing. And. . .
Invention Map
The first two chapters of my dissertation focus on place as a topos for invention studies; basically, I think that place has been a crucial organizing feature of the ways we've approached rhetorical invention theories and strategies in Comp/Rhet. We think of invention as occurring in or out--of the writer's mind, of generic conventions, of... Continue Reading →
Where have I been?
It's odd to me now: I'm married, and I chose to move to Oklahoma to be with my husband while I finish writing my dissertation. I know we all have different roles we fulfill every day, but suddenly things have shifted. I'm no longer a teaching associate graduate student from Kentucky who happens to be... Continue Reading →
Boxes
Moving hath begun. . .t-minus 7 days until we load up the truck and I am off to Oklahoma. Scared to death.
essaying the plains 