The finished proposal

The final version of my finished proposal is available on Scribd. It is embedded here, as well:
Callot Thesis Proposal

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Research bogost thesis proposal

What I learned in this class

Over the course of this class, we've covered a lot of information about rhetoric, both verbal and visual. We've made significant decisions and choices about how parts and components of a proposal, and we've determined what needs to be done to make a fantastic proposal.

I've learned more than just that, however. I learned the importance of maintaining a network of colleagues to review and assist with the writing process. I learned the necessity of a couple of extra hours for editing and review. I learned that a good idea often proliferates itself. I also learned not to overestimate project availability, and to make the best out of a situation gone wrong. I found a new application for voice modulation and face synch, even if I didn't get the chance to use them this time around.

And, at the risk of sounding absurdly sentimental, I learned the importance of having someone who will listen to your writing and tell you, during the absolute depths of writer's self-doubt, that what you are doing is brilliant. That might be the most important lesson of all.

Progress Report 4

Introduction: This proposal will explain my plan to develop a rhetorical analysis of machinima projects as part of a wider discourse community.

Work Completed: All clear. I finished the proposal, finished the video supplement, and turned the whole bit in. Feels great!

Next Steps: The last part of the course is the examination this afternoon. However, that's not the end of the proposal. I'm wondering if I'll be getting any final revisions before I submit the proposal to my committee members.

Conclusion: I'm almost done with this proposal, and it feels really great to have completed so much. My final step is to get the proposal to my committee members, and then to get to the real work: developing and writing my thesis.

Video progress

First of all, I HATE Windows MovieMaker. Point of fact, this entire Windows creation process has cost me more sleep and gray hair that anything I've done since the war.

Now that that is out of my system, the video is progressing nicely. I've completed all of my YouTube captures, scripted and recorded my audio, and edited the whole thing in Final Cut Pro. It's such a relief to have a sizeable portion finished. I'd say that it's 85% done. I still need to add transitions and a credit sequence, not to mention publish it to DVD, but I anticipate total completion tonight after class.

Chapter 12 notes and comments

Finally, we reach the last step of the document creation process. I've tried writing a major document like this in the exact opposite sequence... it doesn't work. However, getting to the front and back matter at this point seems to be an important step most people do not recognize.

I do have a question about the executive summary. Is this really necessary if you have a letter of transmittal? After all, can't you include the information from the executive summary in the letter?

Back matter seems more pertinent to what we're doing for our thesis proposals. Including all of your graphics in the back, even though we just discussed placing them in the main body, is confusing. Do you print the graphics twice, or do you choose between providing breaks in the main body text or preserving the flow of the document?

Finally, we have final revisions. At this point, it's important to leave at least one day to finalize everything and, apparently, obsess about this document. I would be curious to learn just how many grant writers are OCD.

Stylesheet draft

I made a simple dummy page of the finished proposal. Since I'll be binding it, I figure it will make sense to use nonstandard margins. The rest should be self-explanatory.

Chapter 11 Notes and Comments

I approve of Johnson-Sheehan's approach to graphics. It seems very simple, but so many projects I've seen fail to use graphics adequately to explain themselves, and only succeed in detracting from the text.

The majority of the chapter is a simple review of 2nd Grade visual mathematics, but given that for almost all of us 2nd grade was decades ago, it makes sense to include a simple description of what graphs are needed for certain bodies of statistics. The ethics of graphs, such as including all pertinent data and actually labeling axes (Al Gore, are you paying attention?) drew my attention.

Then we have pictures. Again, too often pictures do not accurately represent what the text is explaining, or detracts from the interaction. A key piece of information I think should have been included is to ensure that references to graphics of any kind should be included on the same page as the graphic. Otherwise, the reader can get amazingly confused flipping back and forth within a document. Would you reprint the graphic if it were used on several pages? Also, a more thorough explanation of the rules of photographing objects and people, especially using the rule of thirds, would have been more useful.

Overall, I think the biggest thing to remember is that graphics work best when they mesh with the text, not when they replace the text. Dan, I guess Tufte might have a point.