Progress Report 1

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

Work Completed: I completed a first draft of my proposal several weeks ago and submitted this draft to my committee chair and a potential member of my thesis committee (this member saw the proposal draft as an assignment for another class). My chair reviewed the draft and returned it with recommendations, as well as suggesting that I re-evaluate my argument strategy through this course. This week I returned to the draft proposal and distilled my initial idea into an executive summary and a purpose statement. I also examined some additional sources and, based on suggestions a colleague made, have ordered additional source materials. I'm a little behind in uploading class work to this blog, but I hope to finish this tomorrow morning before class.

Next Steps: So far, this class has helped to solidify what I've already done, and given me some other suggestions as to how to tighten and consolidate what I've written. I seem to be a little ahead of schedule, but I know I'll have to do a lot of revisions over the next few weeks for my proposal to fit department requirements.

Conclusion: I feel confident that I will be able to meet my advisor's revision suggestions and consolidate my proposal. I'm also learning a lot about how to build a coherent and concise argument.