Got it, Joe--thanks. It's been over 25 years since I
last taught college students, and I just didn't
realize what changes there have been since then.
(Sorry for seeming to question _your_ experience with
students at that level.)
Candice
--- Joseph Duemer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Candice, I have no objection to undergrads using
> encyclopedias in order to
> orient themselves in an unfamiliar subject, even to
> the extent of quoting
> factual information from them as long as it has been
> double checked. In a
> formal research paper, I wouldn't want all the
> references to be from such
> sources. But the truth is, except for some majors in
> the liberal arts, the
> formal research paper is pretty much a thing of the
> past. In the undergrad
> lit courses I teach I encourage the use of reference
> materials --
> encyclopedias but especially the OED -- as an aid to
> understanding the text
> & its immediate context. A student writing on
> Blake's "London," for
> instance, would probably need to look up the words
> "ban" & "chartered" in
> order to understand Blake's meaning. And they might
> resort to an
> encyclopedia or other reference work to find out
> something about 18th
> century London & the Napoleonic wars. Depending on
> the level of the course,
> that might be a starting point or an ending point.
>
> jd
>
>
> --
> Joseph Duemer
> Professor of Humanities
> Clarkson University
> [sharpsand.net]
>
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