Comprehensive Exams: BDS 7-24-13

Planning Writing: Today I will do some work at re-gathering sources that will be important for the first push of my next phase of the comps. I am going to stick with the 'TNS' portion of my list, so I'm going to immerse myself in those conversations so as to have a strong grasp about how my work will contribute to the TN conversation as well as the RC conversation.

Comfort Check: Stretched. Flexed muscles. straightened legs and feet. Separated teeth. Lowered tongue. Re-focused on the task at hand after terrible paper-ripping distraction.

Comfort Check 2: Paused, checked for comfort. Stretched. Un curled legs. Focused eyes out the window at a near and distant focal point.

I worked during this time to begin to make connections between Latour's ANT and the methods that TN scholars employ (particularly Dingo's network methodology as she traces TN concepts across times.

Comprehensive Exams: BDS 7-19-13

Pre-writing: Making connections between lists of texts by looking at others' lists and finding the overlaps in my list and then seeing which of my works could support/augment/supplement/etc those works to bring a transnational reading to RhetComp:

I noticed the lists online are mostly from European universities. I wonder what this says about the state of academics in America?

Comfort Check: Accidentally did the Macarena (while stretching my arms and back).

Finding many connections between food and transnationalism, but that's not exactly what I'm after. I wonder why more scholars are not interested in the way these two streams run together?

Next session I shall be more conscious of connecting the works I see on the web with my own and interjecting my own opinions/thoughts/ideas/ reactions therein.

Mindful Reading: Boice pp 50-59

On Note Taking (aka: compiling, organizing, taxonomizing, labeling, etc): 

Just when I thought Boice couldn't be any more relevant to me, he seems to be providing strategies for precisely the section of my writing that I am in most need of guidance. Here's why I appreciate Boice the most at this part of his text: He provides wide-reaching strategies for handling the secondary-sources that are so important for an academic style of writing. At times it seems like the writing that is expected of me is only the secondary aspect of what I'm to be doing. \

I heard it described once (and I'll paraphrase) that the writing should be the by-product of a broader exploration of an idea, topic, or phenomenon. The writing and the publication should are only means for recording the outcome of a researcher's new understanding of a topic. I definitely want to keep this in mind as I continue my Comps process. There're times when I pile up all my books on the table and work through them one by one. This is a no-no in Boice, and it certainly doesn't feel like the process of accumulation is the most important thing when I go about it this way. 

With deadlines looming, it's hard to keep this ideal situation in mind, but I think it goes nicely with the rules in Boice that I will try my best to implement as I go forward in my research process. Especially: 

• Make Conversing with Others in my Field a Priority: I was surprised that this was Boice's first step, but I'm starting to see how all of his rules are working together. Even though there are people very close to me studying in a similar area, when I do get around to reading and writing, I have the tendency to cut myself off from the conversations surrounding me. 
• Read to Write: Instead of simply reading through a text, checking it off the list, and then plowing forward, Boice wants me to have the broader goal of reading for a specific purpose. This makes sense, and I already do it to an extent. But I think there's something more when this is a primary goal.
• Limit Reading Time and Limit Note-Taking Space: This is great advice for me because I usually devote myself fully to interacting with a text (often to my detriment). I'll sit down with a pile of books to get through in a session and I'll find myself only getting through ONE book. Granted I'd walk away with eight pages of notes from that one book, but I'd be exhausted and discouraged because of the effort that went into doing 1/100 of the work that I need to. One page of notes per text is going to be a new-norm for me, as will the 1-3 hour rule (that I will keep flexible) per book.
• Alternate Reading and Writing: This is great advice on many levels. One, it's fresh when you've recently read it. Two, it helps decrease the monotony. Three, it allows you to be productive towards your end goal even when you're immersed in the note-taking stage. 

Which of Boice's suggestions for increasing imagination through note-taking will you incorporate into your own writing process? I'm curious to hear!