Had A Week...

I have not forgotten about this place. It's just that this last week didn't have a lot to report on. I did a lot of work, but the reading wasn't as intense as it had been. I've also been keeping annotated bibliographies in several different places and I don't know where to keep everything. Basically, the last week was about getting organized. I shifted focus to my culture question and spent time looking through my textbook from my Cultural Studies class and it was such an amazing text, I've managed to get about 12 sources from it, as well as a great list of sources from those readings to go after. This is the question that I think will be hardest because it will involve some really dense theory, but I can do it. It may need a little more time that the others, but it will get done.

At this point, I have about a quarter of my sources for each of my questions.

Speaking of the questions. I think I am getting a lot closer with my specialized question. I don't have a lot of patience, so I wish it could just be approved, but I realize that each revision is better than the next. It's weird to think I worry about writing a question. Anyhoo, here is the most current revision:

Many scholars (Ochs, Trimbur) argue that rituals of consolation should be viewed as inherently rhetorical due the various concerns of both the commemorative speaker and the audiences. More recently, Carole Blair has looked at the different rhetorical modes audiences use to commemorate at both the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the AIDS Quilt. Considering this shift to multimodality in memorials, how are these different rhetorical modes influencing memorials as they move to online spaces and how are people utilizing multiple modes to commemorate those they have lost?

I have a whole list of sources that I will take with me to the library tomorrow. And then I will kick it back into high gear. I fear that my problem, while not really a problem yet, is that I easily burn out with reading. So while I kicked ass reading for about a month, last week was tough to get through. I ultimately took a whole day off from work yesterday. I think it gave me some fresh perspective though.

Wow, I think I might be sounding pretty self-indulgent on this blog, justifying my every move in this process.

Oh well.