Dissertation Diaries #2

We’re so back!

I had a bit of a wobble the other day, during which I was sat in a seminar letting the presentation go into one ear and out of the other. I had to remind myself of what it’s all for, why I’m here. I’m very fortunate compared to my classmates because I chose my degree based on my love of the subject — I’m here to enjoy and absorb it. But enjoyment can be limited, and I’ve found many gripes with topics of English language that I absolutely loathe. There have been several modules where I’ve wondered why it’s even necessary to learn this stuff because it’s so complicated — though that may be related to the quality of teaching that I’ve received.

So I sat, staring out of the window at the rain running down the building opposite, letting the information go straight over my head. Okay, I’m learning about language acquisition in children at the moment. But this is only relevant if I go into teaching, right? Give me sociolinguistics any day of the week over this crap! Then I get set an assignment where I have to compile data and make a graph and work out percentages and I want to scream because what has this got to do with the words that we all speak? This is my interest specifically so I can avoid maths and science. I’m fascinated by language, but this topic is making me want to bash my head against the wall.

It’s time to reignite my love, to remind myself of why I even enrolled in the first place. I close the powerpoint (it can’t hurt me now) and open up my notebook to look at my dissertation notes. This is why I’m here, baby!

So what have I been up to the past week? I haven’t started writing anything yet, but any progress counts as good progress, eh?

I’m starting with the literature review section of my dissertation because getting the longer parts out of the way first seems like the best way to tackle it. This means lots and lots of reading — for the uninitiated, a literature review is where you look at other research relating to your topic (whether it supports it, shows a need for your study in the first place, etc.) and you write about how it all ties in to what you’re writing about.

The first part of my literature review is focusing on outdoor advertisements, especially how successful they are at selling products and what that means to the people that see them. I read a really interesting paper by Anne Cronin on outdoor advertising, mobility, and market research that gave me a lot of good points to go on when I get to the writing stage.

I have two more sections for my lit review, those being:

1. Women and body image

2. Multi-modal social semiotics

They will be more gloriously worded in the final draft, don’t fear!

I really want to get this done by the end of February. I’ve already set that date back a bit because I’ve had to work and my other uni assignments have been more demanding than I expected. I’m not sure that if attacking each section one by one will get me there, but I’m determined to try.

I’ll keep plodding on, do a little more reading on outdoor advertising (any recs are really appreciated!), write up that section, then move on to the next. I have some studies/research lined up to read for the next sections so I’m not scrambling to find stuff. Gotta look out for yourself where you can.

So I shall be back in two weeks, and hopefully will have met my deadline (or not long be off it)! Until then, I’ll carry on zoning out in lectures because I was put on this planet for one reason only — to stare out of the window.

Love,

Ellen x