From Musing Thoughts to Concrete Arguments

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch seemed to be calling me. I'd seen it in the "Great Gifts" section of Barnes & Noble at Christmastime, seen it at the top of "Must Read" lists on every book-selling website, and seen it on Pinterest with several thousand repins. When we were allowed to create our own reading lists this term, I decided it was finally time to read it. I checked it out from the library, a tattered burnt-orange copy that looked much older than 2008, with a frayed cover and worn pages from being dog-eared so many times.

I decided to begin with watching the original speech, which Pausch gave at Carnegie Hall. I first reviewed the book and posed the question "What would be my last words?" This would eventually develop into a thesis as I considered Pausch's last words and their authenticity. I began developing a thesis with a few different driving ideas, and posted them for opinions. I received great feedback from Jocelyn, Danielle, Sined, Dr. Burton, and Dawn, as well as the Goodreads page for the book and my roommates. Ultimately I decided on prompt #4 (the evaluation claim) because I felt it was an argument I could make logically and had solid textual evidence. I did, however, switch my view point to the book being the more authentic version after having my opinion changed from further reading of the text.

To begin writing the paper, I summarized the text. What points did Pausch make? What points did I make? What were the differences between the video and the book? I combed through the book line by line and marked spots where he talked about events prior to the speech, events in the speech's aftermath, and any reflections on the speech itself. This helped me to identify spots where I could make solid arguments.

Next, I had to answer the question why does it matter? Ultimately I came to the conclusion that Pausch felt there was more he needed to say after the speech in order to make his children fully understand, and that was why he wrote the book. It mattered because his message wasn't complete without the book. This became a central point to my paper.

After gathering notes and writing, I posted a draft and received feedback from roommates, classmates outside of class(thank you Sined!) and a great comment from Danielle. She brought up a great point that the book conveyed a range of Pausch's emotions as opposed to just the optimism in the speech. This also became a central point of my paper.

Overall, I'm happy with the way it turned out. I wanted to write in a way that was real and honest, yet still academic, and I think this paper achieves that.