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[llanfair]

Luckily I write quite well (if I do say so myself) and when I published the dissertation I changed everything to how I wanted it--Maisonettes, active verbs, and all.

My supervisor excised several of my pet expressions from my diss, and ever since I've been promising myself that when I write The Book, back in they go.

Funny about the active/passive divide; maybe it's discipline-specific, but I was told ever since I started grad school to avoid the passive voice as much as is humanly possible.  I'm now positively allergic to it - can't blame you, anthroid, for taking it back out again.

[balancing_act]

Funny about the active/passive divide; maybe it's discipline-specific, but I was told ever since I started grad school to avoid the passive voice as much as is humanly possible.  I'm now positively allergic to it - can't blame you, anthroid, for taking it back out again.

It is funny about the divide. I am also told to avoid it, but it's the Latin that has really screwed me up. I spent so long studying Latin, passive voice everywhere, that for a while it crept into my writing.

Ever dreamt about translating Latin? Ugh.

[malcha]

For me, those are happy dreams.

I never used to understand this hatred for the passive.  After all, there is a reason for two voices.  Nor should we be content with two, not when the Greeks get three.

Then I graded my first batches of student essays.  Now I, too, spend half my time underlining passive verbs in red.  The passive voice is abused and misused.  Violence has been done to it.  It has been and will be subjected to advocacy by which it can only be harmed.  Alas!

Now I must get me gone.  An article must be written by me.  Carthage must be destroyed.

[balancing_act]

For me, those are happy dreams.

I never used to understand this hatred for the passive.  After all, there is a reason for two voices.  Nor should we be content with two, not when the Greeks get three.

Then I graded my first batches of student essays.  Now I, too, spend half my time underlining passive verbs in red.  The passive voice is abused and misused.  Violence has been done to it.  It has been and will be subjected to advocacy by which it can only be harmed.  Alas!

Now I must get me gone.  An article must be written by me.  Carthage must be destroyed.

Love it! Or rather, It is loved my me.

[nomad]

I'm surprised no one else is allowed into the defense, though.  When I defended this spring, I had my SO (who doubled as reader) mom, my former co-workers, and a tribe of fellow grad students.  It made the whole thing even b

Actually people can attend the defence from what I understand. You just cannot bring in your statistician or someone to help you defend. You are on your own. The prof said that the student was quite shocked that he couldn't ask his stats person for help during his defense. He was on his own.

[llanfair]

Now that makes more sense - sorry, I misunderstood your earlier post.  For heaven's sake, if you can't explain your work (again, the key word is your), you can't possibly defend it.

What is a defense, after all, but an elongated, nerve-racking explanation?