Find out about the re-release of Charisse J. Broome’s poem and colouring book Pastelle Queen Patsie which she describes as a work for everyone from age 7 to 700.
“God gave her an idea and Patsie began preparing potent pastelles for people on public holidays,” Broome states of her colourful character,” says Broome.
Find out more about Broome’s whimsical book which spotlights Trinidad and Tobago traditions and the special promotional event to celebrate its re-release on my creative blog.
“McClean has set out to write a series for children which is full of adventure, Caribbean folklore and mythology, action, suspense, and mystery.”
On my creative blog this month, I spotlight Trinidadian author Danielle Y. C. McClean’s middle-grade (8-12 year old readers) fantasy novel Secrets of Oscuros: The Whisperer’s Warning, the sequel to her award winning Secrets of Oscuros: The Protectors’ Pledge . Click on the book cover below to read the full blog post.
I decided that in this year, I would spend some time highlighting the work of Trinidad and Tobago authors. Despite some rather daunting obstacles, many of them are defying convention and producing an astonishing body of work. This month I’m spotlighting my friend Sherwyn Williams who channeled his love of story-telling, visual artistry and animation into a vibrant children’s story.
“I’d always been involved in story-telling in many, many forms. I’ve been a photographer. I’ve done theatre, music, and I’m also trained in fine arts. There was also a time where I had the crazy idea to create my own Saturday morning cartoon, so I started practicing my character designs, and one day it hit me! Picture books! It just felt really natural honestly….”
Sherwyn Williams imagination shines in his vibrant, curious children’s characters.
This is a great time of year to support your local authors. In Trinidad and Tobago especially, local writers can struggle to get recognition for their work and make sales. This inspired me to spotlight some of the children’s authors I have known and worked with over the years in my latest blog post on my Crossroads of the Imagination blog.
Years ago it was difficult to find children’s books by Trinidad and Tobago authors, but despite the many obstacles in local publications, their books are becoming more prevalent. They span a variety of topics – fantasy, the environment, friendship, hygiene and more. They also feature a variety of illustrations designed to catch the eyes of young readers.
I hope that this post might introduce you to someof interesting work out there and inspire you to explore this developing genre. I hope as well that you will share some of this work with young readers and inspire them to delve into the world of books.
From the moment you begin your graduate programme, you might feel like the shadow of your thesis is hanging over your head. This is not surprising. After all, this is arguably one of the most important papers you will write in your academic life. There’s no wonder that you might feel intimated. However be comforted in the thought that hundreds of thesis students get through this experience relatively unscathed every year, and thankfully there are a huge number of resources available to you.
I had a chat with Lleuella Morris, Masters Research Consultant & Coach who has helped many students with her knowledge, experience and her insightful thesis workshops. Based on her expertise, my research and my own experience, I’ve compiled some helpful tips that might allay your fears.
You should start planning for your thesis as early as possible. You will feel glad you did and greatly reduce stress at the eleventh hour. Talk with your advisors about your timeline, so you have a good idea of what you should have accomplished at each stage. As Morris says, “Let the department handbook be your best friend.”
If you think you will need professional help, start examining options as soon as possible. If you think you may become overwhelmed, start accessing resources to help you before you go too far.
Your graduate programme will undoubtedly have resources available that you can access. You might be surprised to learn certain tips that never occurred to you. Online resources can also be very useful. You’ve probably used many of them for your research, but why not look for advice on actually getting the thesis done. *
Morris observes that one of the issues she sees the most are students who write in a style which doesn’t suit an academic paper. She suggests reading scholarly work to absorb the style of writing. Your whole university life and your research will provide you with lots of material to emulate. Take note of the standard language in your field and continuously try to mimic the turns of phrase. Of course DO NOT plagiarize. It’s better that you write in your own words, review later and make edits to reflect scholarly language.
According to Morris, a poor literature review style is another regular problem among students. This summary of your resources is an important part of your research papers. Find out what your department requires in a literary review, have a look at samples of various studies and take note of their approach. Also have a look at how other works deal with sections. Make sure yours are not all similar to each other.
Morris also notes a recurrent problem of students neglecting to clearly outline their research issue. Think about it. Can you clearly state yours? Morris suggests, “Work backward from your topic and ask yourself, ‘What is the observed problem that prompted this topic?’ ”
Imagine that you’ve completed a considerable portion of your thesis, and you discover that you have been using the wrong methodology! According to Morris, there is no need to create your own ground work when formulating the methods for your research. “I highly recommend that students at master’s level as far as possible do not reinvent the wheel,” she advises. “In quantitative studies, use a reliable and valid survey instrument – do not create one. it’s time-consuming to create and test instruments for reliability and validity, and students are not trained at this level to create instruments, neither is it required of them.”
So what should you do instead?
Morris advises looking up research methods. Find studies similar to your topic and examine the methodology. She explains that depending on the objectives of your study you may be able to use the same methodology with only minor adjustments”.
Thesis workshops are excellent opportunities to get hands-on advice on important aspects related to your thesis like formatting and submitting. Attending workshops also affords you the advantage of meeting others who are going through the same journey. It could be heartening to be reminded that there are others like you labouring to achieve your goal.
All thesis students should have reached the level where they can express their ideas clearly and cohesively, but it’s a very rare phenomena if you don’t have the need for at least a little proofreading and editing assistance. All that time going over the material can leave you blind to mistakes because of your familiarity with the text. Some important points to remember:
1) Contact proofreaders before you need them. Don’t wait until the last minute. They might not be available at short notice. Even if they are, a short time frame might not be enough for them to give your work the careful review it deserves
2) Hiring someone early will also give you time to get a quote and see if it suits your budget. Keep in mind that a good proofreader is not necessarily going to be the cheapest one you find. Ask around for recommendations.
3) Be available if they have questions. You’ve hired an expert, but in the end you’re the one who knows the most about your topic. Sometimes your proofreader will need your input to know how best to handle your work.
Working with a thesis coach can be an invaluable option. Find a very experienced coach like Morris who has worked with many students over the years and who has probably seen or heard of every hurdle that might seem insurmountable to you.
“I’ve helped scores of students even at Ph.D level,” Morris explains. “I have created my own thesis writing frameworks and processes to help students wrap their heads around their topic and what the department requires of them and write a robust and successful thesis.”
There are other advantages of having thesis coaching. “It provides a sounding board for the difficult aspects of writing,” says Morris. She also explains, “It’s designed to ask all the right ‘what if?’ Questions, to create the scope of your thesis and ensure your topic and arguments are sound and flow in logical sequence.”
In addition she observes, “It provides advising accompanied by tools and frameworks to clarify what’s required and support them to develop the competency to produce it.”
In short don’t let the task of writing your thesis overpower you. With careful planning, research and valuable resources, the fearful student can avoid feeling overburdened and have a very educational and fulfilling experience. You can do this!
*Some resources suggested by Lleuella Morris
1. Research Design (International Student Edition): Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches by Creswell, John W. 4th (fourth) Edition.
2. Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh by Green and Salkind 7th ed.
3. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition
4. The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
5. Respective university department style guides (as these have unique requirements aside from the general style manuals and are updated quite often)
6. Purdue Owl https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
7. SPSS (quantitative)
8. Nvivo (qualitative)
Bonus!
9. Fill out the form at this link to get a special PDF created by Morris herself sent straight to your inbox! It’s called “Stop Pulling Your Hair Out and Write Your Thesis” and features advice she’s put together based on her experiences working with master’s students.
** I have over a decade of experience in proofreading and editing. I’ve done considerable work proofreading theses and helping thesis students properly format their references. Find out more about me, my work, and how I can help you best present your research right here at my website or on my Facebook page. You can also e-mail me at belleworks@gmail.com
***Lleuella Morris has been helping thesis students for eight years. She has held free thesis workshops in the past, and she has prepared valuable frameworks and chapter blueprints that can help you on your thesis journey. Learn more about how she can help you. E-mail her at amzconsultco@gmail.com or check her Facebook page.
“….recently one of my co-workers made a passing comment about some pictures I
had up on my FB profile. I could be going crazy, but since then I feel as if some of my co-workers are treating me differently. This is my personal profile! It has nothing to do with work.I do not think that they have any right to tell me what I should or should not post on my profile. I’m upset that they had the nerve to. What should I do?
~ Pissed Off “
How would you answer this question? Recently I was given the opportunity to give advice on this situation.
Every Thursday for some months now, the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT) has had a column in the business section of the Trinidad Newsday. In the column AFETT members have been taking turns giving career advice on topics of interests to professionals.
I am honoured to be the most recent contributor to the column. Have a look at the business section in the Newsday last Thursday December 7th, and you can see my response.
You can also read it here. 
What do you think of this topic? What advice would you give? Do you think of your job before you post on social media?
If you think about it, it’s not really surprising that when you see lists of people’s greatest fears, public speaking often comes in first while death places second. Standing in front of a crowd can be a daunting situation, but one good way to help alleviate fears is to be prepared with a really good speech.
As a professional an important part of your development as a brand should include delivering speeches (or presentations or lectures or sermons). Even if you don’t have a public speaking phobia, the thought of writing a speech can be very intimidating. Not only do you have to convey your message, but you want to capture the attention of your audience. The last thing you want is bored listeners just waiting for you to finally finish. We’ve all experienced it. No one wants to be the speaker that everyone applauds enthusiastically because she has finally, finally stopped talking.
So what should you do? Consider these techniques which should help you produce a speech which evokes interest instead of boredom.
Think of the last speech you listened to. When it finished did you say to yourself, “Wow. I wish that speech was longer”? Have you ever, ever felt like saying that? Even when an audience is listening to a really good speech, there is only so much attention spans can hold. Keep your speech at a reasonable length. One sure way to do this is to plan the message you want to give, focus on strongly presenting some key points and trim off anything that is not absolutely necessary.
What should be clear throughout your speech is your message, and as you close be sure your audience is left with a strong impression of it. Some of the techniques you use to open can be incorporated in your closing as well.
You can also consider a call to action. If you’ve been speaking about the importance of caring for the environment why not challenge your audience to start a recycling programme in their office? Providing a compelling look into the future is also a good technique. Perhaps you could paint a picture of what our world would look like if we don’t stop polluting our oceans.
Keep in mind that this is the part of the speech which will leave the longest impression on your audience. Put the effort into it that it deserves.
I’ve written speeches for ministers, permanent secretaries and other executives. Let me know if you want help crafting the perfect speech or presentation the next time someone wants you “to say a few words”. Contact Me!
One of the great treasures about being a entrepreneur these days is all of the fantastic free resources which are available to help make your business a success. Many of … Continue reading Six Social Media Sites To Boost Your Business
My article “Why Study History?” for UWI Today is now online.
Here’s an excerpt. Read more at the link.
“As 1917 dawned, it heralded a period of great change in world events. It was the beginning of the end of World War I, one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history – a war where even West Indians served, though they were rarely honoured for their contributions.
It was the end of Indian indentureship in Trinidad. After over 70 years and thousands of East Indian migrants coming to local shores, calls to end their sub-human living conditions were finally heeded. It was also a year of turmoil for the Shouter Baptist community as intolerant members of society tried to squash their form of worship. These diverse historical milestones have a common significance.”
This article involved interviewing several members of the UWI history department’s faculty and trying to bring the stories they told to life. This was such an interesting assignment.
Les Belles Mots: Dixie-Ann Belle 