Tuesday, January 1, 2008

My Primary Sources

Regarding those final essays you've been hearing so much about recently, here's an actual email I received from a student:

Hi Mr. Shain,

I just had a question about the essay question. Im working on topic three and it says that I have to incorporate significant primary sources. I was wondering if I could refer to my lecture notes as my primary source. If you could get back to me as soon as possible, that would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXX

9 comments:

The Yellow Dart said...

Wow.

To be fair...did you at any point define primary sources? Or were you putting your faith in the Oklahoma public school system?

Michael5000 said...

Are not most of what we have from Socrates, Plato, Bhudda, and Jesus basically "lecture notes"? Maybe he just thinks you're THAT good.

d said...

i'd totally let him/her do it. just to see your name in the bibliography if nothing else.

blythe said...

you're my primary source. of self loathing.

Mr. Shain said...

i'm thinking of starting a feature on here where i publish email questions (like this one) from my students and ask the readers to respond for me. best response gets sent to the student. fun?

Michael5000 said...

Fun.

G said...

Ooooh, super fun.

sybil law said...

Oooh, here's my response:
Dear xxxxxx -
Unless you're calling me INsignificant, yes.
Okay, I suck.

The [Cherry] Ride said...

Mr. Shain is my Primary Source for disappointment.