Pinball Prologue

Over the intercession I read the rest of the sources on my "to-read" list, tagging pages and taking notes. Between intercession and week 3, I had discussions with my primary and secondary advisors before submitting the first pages of my rough draft. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the meeting I scheduled with my primary advisor turned into a phone conversation instead, but it was very productive in organizing the outline and eliminating unnecessary content. Since submitting my rough draft I have received feedback from two of my peers that highlighted some of the weak points in my introductory paragraphs and literature review. Their suggestions helped provide direction on where to go next and what to elaborate on. I have also received feedback from my primary advisor to refine the outline even further. The more progress I make, the more manageable the thesis becomes.

This week I had another meeting with my primary advisor to discuss the rough draft, but it had to be rescheduled due to a rare snow day that cancelled on-campus activities. So I will be meeting her at noon tomorrow instead to discuss the changes I have made to the draft (since incorporating the comments and suggestions from her and my student peers, Samuel Pike and Jenna Bossert.)

Next, I will be contacting my secondary advisor to refine the parameters of my scope. The initial proposal's scope was originally 1930 to present day. The revised proposal was reduced to 1970-1989, but this is still rather arbitrary. I would like to focus on more modern machines, where many other historians have left off. I will examine the social landscape of America and important moments in pinball to better define start and end points.