for swati

WALKER THESIS DISCUSSION
ANN MEETING 12/13/07


The body as a functioning as a sign of race and gender



What is spirit?

How can one live in the body?

How does detachment solve this problem?

Returning to the beginning as a strategy:

What is an argument?
Debatable claim, backed up by evidence.

“My argument has more merit because…”

Is it a debatable point, esp. in response to the current conversation?

If yes, write down the evidence and move on.

If no, then how can I make it debatable?

--anything new or different to add
--do I have a solution
--a new approach
--should I take the minority view

Questions of audience:

--who are my readers?
--what do they need to know?
--what do I want them to believe?
--Why should they care about what I have to say?

Avoiding writing a lot of evidence that’s not specific enough

Writing out a plan when I begin
A work plan


HOMEWORK

TIE:

Claim/Thesis
Illustration: Specific, Relevant, Typical
Explanation

Three elements MUST be there in each paragraph, not in that order necessarily.
IQE on a paragraph level.

Back up—at the end of every session: why should people care?


THERAPEUTIC TIPS


It’s mine

You take a PhD

Enough of the right kind of work

You might think you’re wrong later!

This is one argument that I’ll make in my career

I’m afraid to step out on the ledge

The ledge is better than where you are now

No what ifs

Positive reinforcement

No more minutes in Buffalo
Party at the end
Writing the acknowledgments
Money
New job
Concentrating on relationships
More time for art
Parental pride
Sisterly pride