The last word

(resurrected from the comments)

What's the last word in your dissertation?*

And for extra credit (for other readers), does that word help date the dissertation?

A few weeks ago, I began a dissertation defense with a question about the dissertation's last word.  At times it's a thing of great import--that last word--and other times it can be somewhat mundane. This one happened to be "responsibly," and I think that ending revealed a lot about the dissertator's impulse to subtly argue about ethics and technology, so I was trying to pull on it a little.

Cara, who was also at the defense, pointed out that this question is totally bloggable. Post-defense, Cara and I stopped by her office to look up hers, but now--damn--I can't remember. 

 

Spencer's is "everyday."
Mine's "disruption."

*For those of you still--or not yet--writing a dissertation, what word would you like to be the last word? It might be fun to record it here and then write to it. Voila.

Comments

[Marcia]

I've got a ways to go, but the word that comes to mind is "action."

[Donna]

Mine is "itself." Yep. (And "blogging" is the biggest word in my tag cloud. I think there's a connection.)

[jenny]

yeah, no preposition dangles in my ending.

I wish my "ways" would've been in the context of "anyways." Seems like a good way to end the diss. "So, summing up, affect is cool and whatnot. You get the point. Anyways." Maybe "anyhoo" would have been just right.

[aerobil]

first word "I"
last word "theories"

[Stephanie]

I haven't seen my diss in about ten years, but the last word of my book is "good" -- as in "public good" and not "this book is pretty good!" That was a compromise with my copyeditor, who thought my original ending ("Are you happy? It's done. It's done and I hate it, and you and myself! I hope you choke on it right after you give me tenure, you bastards") was somewhat combative.

[caraf]

During the aforementioned dissertation defense, I joked that my last word would probably be something boring like "it." And "it" it was. Really. And even worse, it was not even my own "it," but Walter Benjamin's. How pathetic, I know, giving over the last word like that. But, upon further reflection, I submit that "it" must have been relatively meaningful, because it took 322 damn pages to get to "it."

Much better is the last word of my book: "charitably."

[Bill]

last word: "making"

(as in: "...an effort worth making.")

[DocMara]

I wish it was something interesting, like "spazmodic," "cylon," or "pedantic."

Actually, it's just

"same."

[katka]

Cara,
322 pages? I feel so....small.

[Mike]

I'm writing towards (economic) "value."

And that's my cue to get back to work.

[caraf]

Aw, don't feel bad, Katka. Back then I was all about quantity over quality. Some folks might say I still am...

[jeff]

36 (or 37 counting this one) comments?
Dang. Is that a record among this blogging crowd?
And I was first!
Whoo-hoo!

[Z]

Yeah, but this whole post was pretty shameless comment-whoring, wasn't it?

[dhawhee]

ha! for the rest of you: Z and I had sth of a trash-talking side bet going about how many comments this entry would generate. and yes, Rice, this is a record, at least for blogos. He has threatened to start a blog offering 10 bucks per comment.

[Leslea, sometimes known as the monkey princess]

"...today."

and let me tell you, what a day it was...

[dhawhee]

Yah, MP: 2000 had a lot of portentious todays.

[Z]

It seems like I can't use html tags in comments here (what's that about, typepad?), so I'll have to just paste the whole URL in here, but I wanted to point all of you to this nice shout-out for dhawhee and this meme she created (which she is too modest to mention):

http://porquoipas.blogspot.com/2006/05/travels-of-meme.html

[Logie]

I am more than a little relieved to learn that my "last word" was . . .

"discourse"

This may date me, though I prefer to think of it as announcing my vintage.

[bosmon]

Dhawhee - my dissertation, indeed, ended with the word "for"! Now I claim my $1 - you may verify it on deposit at the Cambridge Univeristy Library :P

[DrNurture]

"remains to be tested."

Oops!

[Gil]

A year late. A dollar short. But since Deb's just pointed back to this old entry today, I feel obliged to chime in.

My diss (and book #1) ended with The Ur-Word.

"Elvis"

[Philosopher]

Mine is "poverty"

[gleed]

"flow" - not very exciting! But i like the end of my paper: "hazard assessment"