It's me again!

I seem to be struggling with my writing. I am a mature student, who took 10 years off from high school, then came and did my undergraduate degree before starting a masters degree.

I am struggling and my feedback from my supervisor is, of course, the grammar and punction stuff, and organization of sentences and paragraphs. They believe I am having trouble transitioning to writing about your own project and making my arguments clear, but also that you've been reading too much lousy undergraduate writing.

I am planning on paying to have my thesis proofread, but I do not want to pay to have my proposal edited because of financial constraints. My supervisor does not meet with me regularly and we do not discuss my project. Their supervisory style is they are in the trunk of the car while I drive. Is there any advice you have for me to help guide my writing skills, other than writing classes at the University? (They only offer them, during times that conflict with my familial duties)

Thank you all for your input!! Greatly appreciated for sure.

The book is not on google books, nor is it available on inter-Library Loan, which is why I thought to ask my supervisor if they had a copy of it. I fear that if I challenge them on this issue it will cause problems with our relationship since they have a relationship with the author. So, I think I should just cite it, but I did want to know what I should be doing to shape my own academic ethics.

Thankfully it is just a section of my thesis for the rationale where I have many other authors cited for this one argument and not for a particular theory. However, you all confirmed what I had thought, I should be reading the authors I am citing. Nonetheless, my gut felt uncomfortable with this for a reason.

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice here.

My supervisor wants me to cite an author, someone they frequently co-author with. I have not been able to get the person's work to read for myself. My school library does not have it, and the book costs $700 on Amazon, so I chose to cite other authors instead. In a recent conversation when I asked my supervisor if they had a copy of the book so I could read it and then cite it they responded: "why would you remove the citation, it says what you say it does"

Is this common? Do we often cite works that we do not read?

I am in the same boat. I am trying to focus on solutions as a way to keep my mind off the depressing reality of the situation. People in my life keep wanting to talk about it, and for me, that is the worst thing. I just want to grieve and move on.

Hi everyone,

I had high hopes when I came into my program. I aspired to a Ph.D. program, and now I am fearing I should be dropping out of my MA program. My supervisor has three MA students, is teaching, will be the chair of her department next year, while also conducting her own research and writing a book. This means we cannot meet and can only communicate through email, posing challenges.

I wish I had known this going into the relationship because I feel I need more support than a monthly email. However this is what I have, and I do need this relationship. I have submitted two drafts of my proposal which were subsequently due in its entirety during my coursework because of her timeline. I've also had a cancer diagnosis during this as well, which she is aware and the timeline has not changed, regardless. All that has changed was I was awarded a three days extension when I had doctor's appointments.

I'm feeling beaten down and the feedback I recently received she actually changed the title of my thesis.....which I feel is inappropriate, as it is a working title. In addition, I was compared to another one of her thesis students, who got to defense stage quicker than me, without the health issues, and to be honest we are at different life stages. She was straight out of high school to undergrad to masters. I took 10 years off to work, then proceeded to an undergrad then into this master's degree. So our writing skills are significantly different to reflect our journey. However, it is coming across as though my writing is inadequate. Furthermore, my draft was due, as I said, during my coursework and while I was marking/grading 50-10-12 page assignments for my supervisor, that had a 1 week turn around.

I'm feeling as though I just do not measure up to not only her expectations but the grad school expectations and am getting ready to drop out. Can someone offer some advice?