Dissertation Proposal.4 (approximately)

Wystan told me that the skills needed at this point in graduate school are (this is a paraphrase) doggedness and persistence--you have to convince your committee to read and respond to your work in a timely fashion in order to move forward. But this feels like an impossible situation--committees are filled with famous people who have reached their dreams already (more or less) and are accountable to very few people (and certainly not to me). You have to flatter and cajole them into wanting what you want, so that they'll do it. Just like a cat.