08-03-2009, 08:29 PM
Quote:I wouldn't like to criticise your professor, but his method seems a little odd. It's as if you are being asked not to think independently, but to parrot whatever others have published, regardless of its credibility. Certainly, I would advise always to read reviews of your set books, to see what others think of them. But you are entitled to (and should be encouraged to develop) you own opinion, too.
P.S. For a link to Speidel's article, see this thread.
That was the first thought that came to my mind. If I have to find an author who thinks as I do on every item I want to write them I am not writing critically but instead I am just regurgitating the thoughts of others, that is the worst kind of history. Its what we all hated in Elementary school and why in general so many kids dislike history.
I did email him and basically ask that question. His response was that as long as its just my opinion against the 180 plus citations and the fact that he had his article posted in a prestigious journal then I had to find authored citations for my statements. I declined to reply to him since my first thought was I could write a 10 page paper with 1000 source in it, that does not make my evaluation of those sources or my interpretation of them relevant or accurate.
Or to just use his exact words:
"It depends on whether I agree with you that a peer-reviewed journal article such as the one
assigned for your Week 4 assignments is not supported adequately by scholarship, and the answer is,
I don't agree with you. The article in question was supported by 187 endnotes and dozens of
primary and secondary sources and was vetted by one of the most prestigious academic journals
printed in the English language."
Now since I cannot find a single critical evaluation of this article, nor did the teacher supply one I find hsi arguement to be nothing more than an "I am the teacher you will do as I say" attitude.
Timothy Hanna
