Subject: As promised, writing samples (WRT class you are teaching)
From: Sarah Ryan <[email-masked]>
To: Brian Junker <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2015 08:24:54 -0500

Brian,

I've attached a compressed file that includes three subfolders. Each
subfolder corresponds to one of the "essays" from my dissertation that I
 converted to a journal-length manuscript.

In each folder, I include the *original journal submission*.

If the ms. received a revise and resubmit, the* subsequent revised versions
are included along with the response letters *addressing the reviewers'
comments. In each subfolder, I begin each version of the ms. with "1", "2",
etc. *All files are titled and dated* so that it should be clear what the
"trajectory" of the ms. was.

If the ms. was *rejected*, I note this in the doc title. Note that in the
"Hispanic White Comparison" subfolder, this ms. has been rejected three
(yes three!) times. This paper is the little engine that - maybe - could.
The reviewer comments from each rejection are combined in one Word doc.

Note that in the "Hispanic White Comparison" subfolder, the fourth version
is *pending review* *currently at Teachers College Record*. And in the
"Hispanic by Immigrant Generation" subfolder, the second revision to our
AERJ ms. is *pending review at AERJ*. I've confirmed with Bob that he is
also okay with sharing this work. In both cases, it's likely I'll hear
something before you would begin teach this course next semester.

If you'd also like the original and revised versions of the article that
was published in CCJRP on the OLI work, I can also send those. I'll need to
confirm with the co-authors (Joel, Julia, Ricky, Judy), but I imagine
they'll all be fine with it.

I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for. Let me know if you were
hoping for something different. I'm fine with you sharing any of this.
Indeed, I think being able to see how writing evolves in response to
reviews, including what reviewers' comments "look like" and how one goes
about responding, can only be immensely valuable for graduate students. I
appreciate opportunities to contribute to that process for others. While,
in these three papers, every section of each paper has changed over its
trajectory, in many cases the introduction (preceding the "lit review"
section) and discussion sections evolved most dramatically.

If I had to summarize what I have learned about writing through the process
of trying to get these papers published, although cliche, it is to not give
up. Some of my peers who were moving through the Ph.D. at a similar time
seemed to be publishing in journals left and right, even as graduate
students. I have been the more typical case of struggling mightily to take
a dissertation and recraft it into journal manuscripts. I guess my saving
grace has been - in part due to unflagging guidance, feedback, and
encouragement from both you and Bob Ream - that I have not given up.
Despite the fact that when the rejections and reviews come in, there have
been times when I've really wanted to.

What I see only in hindsight is that spending so much time with these three
manuscripts, writing, and rewriting, and re-rewriting has been invaluable,
if not hugely disappointing at times. They say the only way you become a
better writer is to write and write and write some more. Go figure.

While writing my diss as three essays helped, I still had (and continued to
have!) a lot to learn about the art and craft of journal writing.
Ironically, I have also found writing for publication about work beyond my
dissertation easier, and my hypothesis is that sometimes it is easier to
write about something you know *less* about. It's easier to hone in on a
parsimonious argument without feeling the need to reveal every detail and
cite every worthy scholar in the field ('cause you don't know them all!).

Finally, this
<http://www.amazon.com/Style-Clarity-Chicago-Writing-Publishing/dp/0226899152>
is a resource that I've been reading recently. Many of the same lessons
from Gopen and Swan are in this text, but in expanded form.

Sarah