Specialized Question

I haven't technically been given the go-ahead for three of my four questions (the ones from a large list of questions we have to choose from and revise accordingly), but they appear to be heading in the right direction. My fourth, specialized question was given the very polite comment of,

"There's a lot going on in here."

(Between the lines, I heard, "Wow, uh...wow!")

So, after some discussion with my chair and the fact that I told my comps class I would come with a question to workshop this Wednesday, I went back to the drawing board, figured out what I actually want to say in my response and crafted another question. Here is what I came up with:

Donavon J. Ochs argues, “Rituals of consolation, filled as they are with symbols, used rhetorically, need to be viewed as attempts to persuade. The incredibly heterogeneous nature of those who attend and participate in funeral rituals require more than a eulogy can be expected, realistically, to provide in addressing their individual and collective emotional and cognitive concerns (13).” Considering this argument and the work of others (Blair, Trimbur) in regards to the rhetoric of commemoration and memorial, how are these rhetorical approaches shifting as multimodality is changing the shape of how people commemorate those they have lost?

I don't know why I get so nervous at the thought of sharing this with my peers. But I am. I always, always always feel (and may never quite get over it) that people are like, "How did she get in here." Even now, starting my third year, I get those jitters.

And yet, I am sharing it here for the whole world to see. Weird.

If anyone out there comes upon this and would like to offer up some suggestions - and you can be honest, nice but honest, if I am totally fully of shit.

(I may change the name of this blog to, "Tell Me if I Am Full of Shit: The Life of a Grad Student in Flux During Comprehensive Exams."