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fandomhigh2008-12-04 05:07 pm
clevermsbennet.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2008-12-04 05:07 pm
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Literature, Class 12: Period 3, Thursday, December 4
"Welcome back," Miss Bennet smiled, placing a basket filled with candy onto her desk. "And welcome back to our usual classroom; I hope you haven't been pining for it terribly, since we haven't been here in a while. Last week, of course, you were all enjoying an American holiday, and the week before that, we were in the school library.
"As you recall, two weeks ago, I assigned all of you research papers, though I left the topic and the implementation largely to your own discretion. That was perhaps more difficult for you in certain ways. It is always easier to pick a topic from a pre-approved list, when one is presented, than to narrow one down from any possible thing in the world. I provided lists of suggestions, in light of that. I intended the lists to serve as encouragement, for any who were unable to think of something appropriate themselves, but I did not intend for you to be limited by them. I do hope you found a topic that interested you, to some degree. And I assure you, I am eagerly looking forward to reading all of your papers. Which I will assume are completed, as none of you came to my office this week to ask for extensions." There was a teasing smile to go with this.
"Now. Why did I ask you to write papers? The first, and obvious answer to that, is that I'm a terrible, heartless teacher who wished to be sure that you were properly suffering over your holiday. Moreover: I wished to show you the basic process involved. Doing library research, for one, and then gathering your thoughts into a coherent structure. The ability to find information when it is needed, and the ability to express one's thoughts clearly: these are both skills which I imagine you will need later in life. Perhaps even later in your school career. For those of you very familiar with the art of paper-writing, this was perhaps a review, but I do not believe it was a waste of your time. At least, I hope that it was not. The very act of writing a paper, over and again, means that each time it will become easier. Each time you will learn ways to express yourself more clearly, or discover helpful strategies in basic research. If any of you have lingering concerns about your paper-writing experiences, I do encourage you to speak with me, either after class or in my office hours next week.
"There is one concept in particular which I only touched on last class that I feel deserves more emphasis. That would be the importance of citing all of the works one uses, whether a direct quote or general ideas. I asked you to cite all of your works last week, but I did not dwell on the reasoning. Everything one states in a paper is considered one's own work; the arguments and insights are attributable to the paper's author. Research allows one to collate ideas from experts in the field, and use those works to shape one's assertions. However, we must always tread carefully, in that regard. Lifting the other person's words intact is intellectually dishonest. It states, implicitly, that you were the one who devised that particular phrasing, who had the idea that led to its shaping. It is a form of lying, and one which, if discovered, will discredit your work from having any authority or credibility. Simply put: your thoughts cannot be trusted if it is unclear which are yours, and which are someone else's which have been removed from their original context.
"There is an easy solution to this. For one, if you must borrow a particular phrase or sentence from a work, place quote marks around it, and afterwards, indicate what the source material is. This shows that one is not trying to imply that those words are original. Further, always be sure to include a bibliography with research papers that you write. The bibliography should list all of the works that one consulted on the topic, quoted or not. A bibliography gives credit where it is due, and shows the proper respect to the other authors and researchers whose works were of assistance.
"Moving on," Miss Bennet said, "I asked you, two weeks prior, to select a text from the library to read, for today. You were not required to read all of your work, though you were very welcome to, and I hope that you progressed at least far enough to complete the first chapter. I would like to discuss those works today: what you read, why you selected that work, and what impressions you have of it. I hope, for each of you, that you were satisfied with the title that you chose, but I assure you, you may safely state otherwise if that was the case.
"Lastly." Miss Bennet gestured to the basket. "This candy was found hiding in all of my slippers, this morning. I would not be offended were you to turn your noses up at shoe-candy, but I assure you it is all safely wrapped. Should any of you like to indulge, do feel free."
(I humbly apologize once more for lateness.)
"As you recall, two weeks ago, I assigned all of you research papers, though I left the topic and the implementation largely to your own discretion. That was perhaps more difficult for you in certain ways. It is always easier to pick a topic from a pre-approved list, when one is presented, than to narrow one down from any possible thing in the world. I provided lists of suggestions, in light of that. I intended the lists to serve as encouragement, for any who were unable to think of something appropriate themselves, but I did not intend for you to be limited by them. I do hope you found a topic that interested you, to some degree. And I assure you, I am eagerly looking forward to reading all of your papers. Which I will assume are completed, as none of you came to my office this week to ask for extensions." There was a teasing smile to go with this.
"Now. Why did I ask you to write papers? The first, and obvious answer to that, is that I'm a terrible, heartless teacher who wished to be sure that you were properly suffering over your holiday. Moreover: I wished to show you the basic process involved. Doing library research, for one, and then gathering your thoughts into a coherent structure. The ability to find information when it is needed, and the ability to express one's thoughts clearly: these are both skills which I imagine you will need later in life. Perhaps even later in your school career. For those of you very familiar with the art of paper-writing, this was perhaps a review, but I do not believe it was a waste of your time. At least, I hope that it was not. The very act of writing a paper, over and again, means that each time it will become easier. Each time you will learn ways to express yourself more clearly, or discover helpful strategies in basic research. If any of you have lingering concerns about your paper-writing experiences, I do encourage you to speak with me, either after class or in my office hours next week.
"There is one concept in particular which I only touched on last class that I feel deserves more emphasis. That would be the importance of citing all of the works one uses, whether a direct quote or general ideas. I asked you to cite all of your works last week, but I did not dwell on the reasoning. Everything one states in a paper is considered one's own work; the arguments and insights are attributable to the paper's author. Research allows one to collate ideas from experts in the field, and use those works to shape one's assertions. However, we must always tread carefully, in that regard. Lifting the other person's words intact is intellectually dishonest. It states, implicitly, that you were the one who devised that particular phrasing, who had the idea that led to its shaping. It is a form of lying, and one which, if discovered, will discredit your work from having any authority or credibility. Simply put: your thoughts cannot be trusted if it is unclear which are yours, and which are someone else's which have been removed from their original context.
"There is an easy solution to this. For one, if you must borrow a particular phrase or sentence from a work, place quote marks around it, and afterwards, indicate what the source material is. This shows that one is not trying to imply that those words are original. Further, always be sure to include a bibliography with research papers that you write. The bibliography should list all of the works that one consulted on the topic, quoted or not. A bibliography gives credit where it is due, and shows the proper respect to the other authors and researchers whose works were of assistance.
"Moving on," Miss Bennet said, "I asked you, two weeks prior, to select a text from the library to read, for today. You were not required to read all of your work, though you were very welcome to, and I hope that you progressed at least far enough to complete the first chapter. I would like to discuss those works today: what you read, why you selected that work, and what impressions you have of it. I hope, for each of you, that you were satisfied with the title that you chose, but I assure you, you may safely state otherwise if that was the case.
"Lastly." Miss Bennet gestured to the basket. "This candy was found hiding in all of my slippers, this morning. I would not be offended were you to turn your noses up at shoe-candy, but I assure you it is all safely wrapped. Should any of you like to indulge, do feel free."
(I humbly apologize once more for lateness.)
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