Ph.Duh @ revisionspiral.blog-city.com

What I’ve been doing rather than blogging

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:24:00 GMT

I wish I could say that I’ve been feverishly working on the book with Amy and that the book is just about done. But sadly, that is not the case. I have been working feverishly on the book here and there, but many of my work sessions invol

excellent day

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 23:33:00 GMT

This has been a most excellent day. I got to work out for a full 90 minutes (quite a luxury—I usually work out for 45-60 minutes in the morning before Lily is up, always aiming for 90 minutes, but seldom making it because of all the various mic

I passed!

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:39:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone who was sending positive vibes my way today! After some weather-driven chaos, I successfully defended my dissertation. My committee approved it with no changes! Huge shock for me. I figured they’d approve it, but I also f

defense on ice

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:14:00 GMT

I may end up having my own dissertation defense hell story. My defense is scheduled for 9 a.m. today. It is 8:06, the campus is closed because of snow and ice, and I can’t get in touch with any of my committee members or anyone from the English

defense tomorrow

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:36:00 GMT

I am in Normal, Illinois, for my defense, which is bright and early tomorrow morning. I feel very prepared, having come up with an excellent answer to the question I would most not want to be asked. Given the storm that could dump up to a foot of sno

what not to do at a dissertation defense

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 23:26:00 GMT

This cracked me up.

defense looming

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:34:00 GMT

I've done the easy part of preparing for my defense: I checked to see what the weather in Normal will be like when I'm there (cold), I figured out which outfit to wear (black lace blouse, black jacket, camel pants, black boots that make me 5'6")

the best dissertation is a finished one

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:51:00 GMT

I just finished what I hope will be my last dissertation revision before my defense. The beast is now 302 pages, the last word is still revision/revisioning, and I feel I’ve said what I needed to say. I am very happy with Chapters I, III, IV, a

what Lily is up to (at Nancy's indirect request)

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:29:00 GMT

One night last week I was working in my basement office (on my dissertation—what else?) and Lily and T were upstairs. Lily came down to my office and said, “Mom, I need to tell you something.” She had an urgent tone in her voice, so

defense scheduled

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 22:28:00 GMT

My dissertation defense is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 1. I guess I can buy my plane ticket!

keeping track of chapter edits

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 17:27:00 GMT

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a very organized person. I would recommend to anyone trying to write a dissertation while working full-time that they become extremely organized. I’ve been working seriously on my dissertation since Ju

downsizing the acknowledgments

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:49:00 GMT

Lots of snow today! Nothing compared to my most favorite blizzard of all time, the one of October 1997, but still kind of fun. One of my favorite things about having windows in my office is that I know what the weather is like. And right now, when I

title revision

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 22:42:00 GMT

I think I have a title for my dissertation that I can live with. Amy gave me the original suggestion and then Alice fine-tuned it. Here it is: Dissonance and Excess: Four Students' Revision Experiences in a Composition Classroom. Thanks, Amy and Alic

drafting the abstract

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 04:14:00 GMT

Some good Internet sources on writing abstracts: Here’s a good source on writing abstracts, with information specific to abstracting your own work about halfway down. This one is specific to writing abstracts for dissertations and

drafting the acknowledgments

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 03:24:00 GMT

I drafted the acknowledgments tonight. As I struggled to figure out how to strike a tone of gratefulness without sounding sappy or obsequious, I, of course, did a google search, and found this fascinating article on dissertation acknowledgments. The

possible dissertation title

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 03:01:00 GMT

Possible dissertation title: The Midterm Debacle, Dissonance, and Excessive Revision: Four Students’ Experiences of Revision in a Composition Classroom. What do you think?

defense almost scheduled!

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:44:00 GMT

I WILL DEFEND THE WEEK AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!!! Just got an email from my advisor telling me to start making arrangements!

Gantt charts

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:49:00 GMT

In my post on dissertating while teaching, I don’t know how I managed to forget to mention Gantt charts. I used Gantt charts to keep me on track

random dissertation thoughts

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:45:00 GMT

The whole thing is with my committee now!!! It really does help to keep telling myself that I don’t need to write the best dissertation ever, I just need to write a dissertation that is defendable. Every once in a while I have a twinge, t

revisions

Elizabeth Kleinfeld — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 04:21:00 GMT

Did another round of revisions on chapters 5 and 6 today. . . . tomorrow I will work on chapter 2 a bit, and then maybe I'll actually take Sunday off. A day off!!