Of Devious Lecturers
Sep. 30th, 2007 12:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
highlyeccentricDavid Juste wanted to know why he doesn't get a mention on my blog, when Melanie, Dan and JP have all been extensively discussed. Being 1200 words into an essay for David at the moment, and having spent the last week trying to write the damned thing, I feel now is the appropriate time to inform the world of his qualities.
David Justse is a devious, devious man.*
Only some kind of twisted mind would, when faced with my publicly declared intention to write a shoddy essay for his subject and save my energies for things more important, resolve to improve my studently endeavours by threatening to consult a teacher whose standards he knows I will turn myself inside out in an attempt to meet. And the thing is, he has a perfectly legitimate reason to do so: he's a high medieval science scholar, and I've declared that I'm removing myself from his time and territory by writing my essays for "medieval cosmology" on Anglo-Saxon topics. So it's perfectly normal for him to ask an Anglo-Saxonist to read over it for him and tell him if i'm off my nut.
Except that the look of sheer glee on his face when he announced his intention to do so suggests to me that he knew exactly what effect that would have on my essay.
In fact, the essay has pulled up its socks so far that i'm now going to specifically ask Melanie to read over it, regardless of David's eventual decision. I've been putting so much time into sorting my footnotes out, i feel someone ought to tell me how I'm going, and I only know one teacher who is persnickety enough to care about comma placement or how to construct a footnote in which you've quoted both an edition and a separate translation of a text.
So, in conclusion: a good teacher inspires their students to raise their standards, i think we are all agreed on this. What can we say of a teacher who employs devious means such as these?
(of course, the other question is: was i going to be capable of writing a sloppy essay on an anglo-saxon topic anyway?)
*disclaimer: I don't normally insult academics in public posts. Rest assured David is a special case, and he will probably take it as a compliment anyway. It is a compliment, actually.
David Justse is a devious, devious man.*
Only some kind of twisted mind would, when faced with my publicly declared intention to write a shoddy essay for his subject and save my energies for things more important, resolve to improve my studently endeavours by threatening to consult a teacher whose standards he knows I will turn myself inside out in an attempt to meet. And the thing is, he has a perfectly legitimate reason to do so: he's a high medieval science scholar, and I've declared that I'm removing myself from his time and territory by writing my essays for "medieval cosmology" on Anglo-Saxon topics. So it's perfectly normal for him to ask an Anglo-Saxonist to read over it for him and tell him if i'm off my nut.
Except that the look of sheer glee on his face when he announced his intention to do so suggests to me that he knew exactly what effect that would have on my essay.
In fact, the essay has pulled up its socks so far that i'm now going to specifically ask Melanie to read over it, regardless of David's eventual decision. I've been putting so much time into sorting my footnotes out, i feel someone ought to tell me how I'm going, and I only know one teacher who is persnickety enough to care about comma placement or how to construct a footnote in which you've quoted both an edition and a separate translation of a text.
So, in conclusion: a good teacher inspires their students to raise their standards, i think we are all agreed on this. What can we say of a teacher who employs devious means such as these?
(of course, the other question is: was i going to be capable of writing a sloppy essay on an anglo-saxon topic anyway?)
*disclaimer: I don't normally insult academics in public posts. Rest assured David is a special case, and he will probably take it as a compliment anyway. It is a compliment, actually.