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rivkaI came upstairs a few minutes ago intending to check my e-mail quickly and lie down for a nap. When I saw a string of e-mails from my delinquent dissertation advisor, however, all thoughts of sleep instantly fled from my mind.
He redeems himself (at least partially) for the delay by giving me a very thorough edit. My favorite comment so far, which makes me wonder if he's been studying snarky editing with Jae's betas: "Although we shouldn't aspire to being Melville, I think you need a better first sentence that captures the broader implications of the work. I must admit that I haven't crafted a very good one, however." Heh. I'm tempted to send back a second draft that leads off, "Don't call me Ishmael."
He's most critical about the Discussion section, which is only reasonable given that the Discussion actually does suck the most. He thinks it's too defensive and self-critical and doesn't focus enough on the strengths of my study, which is a whole lot better than having him think the opposite. There are only a mercifully few places in which he says something like "I think you need to rework this whole section."
I've known all along that if I can get John's approval of my dissertation, I can successfully defend it before my committee. He's smart and unsparing and he knows my subject better than anyone else, so he'll anticipate most of the valid criticisms. And I know him well enough to be confident that he'll take my side at my defense - strenuously, if need be. Once he's signed off on my work, he's not going to want to be second-guessed by anyone else.
Looking at his comments right now, I feel pretty confident that I can edit this document into a form he'll approve. It's going to take some work, but it's not going to take an insane or unreasonable amount of work. And he doesn't have any criticisms I feel I'm at a loss to address. I feel as though I'm in a pretty good space going into the last two and a half weeks before it's due.
He redeems himself (at least partially) for the delay by giving me a very thorough edit. My favorite comment so far, which makes me wonder if he's been studying snarky editing with Jae's betas: "Although we shouldn't aspire to being Melville, I think you need a better first sentence that captures the broader implications of the work. I must admit that I haven't crafted a very good one, however." Heh. I'm tempted to send back a second draft that leads off, "Don't call me Ishmael."
He's most critical about the Discussion section, which is only reasonable given that the Discussion actually does suck the most. He thinks it's too defensive and self-critical and doesn't focus enough on the strengths of my study, which is a whole lot better than having him think the opposite. There are only a mercifully few places in which he says something like "I think you need to rework this whole section."
I've known all along that if I can get John's approval of my dissertation, I can successfully defend it before my committee. He's smart and unsparing and he knows my subject better than anyone else, so he'll anticipate most of the valid criticisms. And I know him well enough to be confident that he'll take my side at my defense - strenuously, if need be. Once he's signed off on my work, he's not going to want to be second-guessed by anyone else.
Looking at his comments right now, I feel pretty confident that I can edit this document into a form he'll approve. It's going to take some work, but it's not going to take an insane or unreasonable amount of work. And he doesn't have any criticisms I feel I'm at a loss to address. I feel as though I'm in a pretty good space going into the last two and a half weeks before it's due.
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no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 12:44 pm (UTC)*snrk*
Wasn't drinking. Saved us all from a well-kittened laptop.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 01:05 pm (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 01:07 pm (UTC)You can do this. I have faith in you because, well, you like completely rock.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 01:39 pm (UTC)Excellent news. =)
no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 05:59 pm (UTC)*kitten*
Date: 2003-07-27 06:42 pm (UTC)