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RE: why citations matter
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From: Nancy Bo Flood <wflood_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:06:58 -0700
I certainly agree, Meghan, with your comment regarding the errors withi n primary sources. Yes, every memory is selective; every past observati on is selective. And then the retrieval and writing down of personal exper ience is also selective. But the richness of primary sources - with full r ealization that each source reflects one person's experiences - is part of the importance of reading diaries, personal accounts, newspapers articl es, and when possible, doing personal interviews. I agree with Jackie 's comment regarding the emotional richness that is found. I would add the sensory richness as well. Even to hear the "voice" of people, their voc abulary, cadence, grammar, from that time or place is enlightening.
Multiple sources and a critical reflection, being open to contradictory i nformation, and following surprises and serendipity, all of this is par t of research. I hope our nonfiction books can reflect the pleasure an exc itement of this process to our young readers.
Nancy Bo Flood
Warriors in the Crossfire NEWYoung Adult novel set on the island of Saipan during WWII
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:15:24 -0700 From: meghanmccarthy007_at_yahoo.com Subject: Re:
why citations matter To: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
"My own addition to this marvelous discussion is to encourage research that as much as possible goes to primary sources – people and places – whic h becomes the basis of literary nonfiction with truth and detail. Tanya Le e Stone’s ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is one example of including information from a variety and depth of resources. Conflicts, disagreements, multiple v iewpoints, historical misrepresentations become part of the reader’s aw areness that all truth is a slippery fish." This is probably another discussion entirely but you wouldn't believe how c ontradictory and wrong primary sources can be! I'm working on that now for my new book (and don't worry, all of the sources will be there). Every ne wspaper spelled one man's name wrong, for example, and a book from the time period did as well. And it gets far, far, worse but I won't get in to that here. Let's just say that you can't trust primary sources at all. W hat a nonfiction author must do is play detective and take all of the sourc es and someti mes even make educated guesses as to what makes the most sense . Some of this is too complicated for small children to understand. I mean , how do we tell them that some of what they learn in school isn't really all that factual? megahn
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:06:58 -0700
I certainly agree, Meghan, with your comment regarding the errors withi n primary sources. Yes, every memory is selective; every past observati on is selective. And then the retrieval and writing down of personal exper ience is also selective. But the richness of primary sources - with full r ealization that each source reflects one person's experiences - is part of the importance of reading diaries, personal accounts, newspapers articl es, and when possible, doing personal interviews. I agree with Jackie 's comment regarding the emotional richness that is found. I would add the sensory richness as well. Even to hear the "voice" of people, their voc abulary, cadence, grammar, from that time or place is enlightening.
Multiple sources and a critical reflection, being open to contradictory i nformation, and following surprises and serendipity, all of this is par t of research. I hope our nonfiction books can reflect the pleasure an exc itement of this process to our young readers.
Nancy Bo Flood
Warriors in the Crossfire NEWYoung Adult novel set on the island of Saipan during WWII
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:15:24 -0700 From: meghanmccarthy007_at_yahoo.com Subject: Re:
why citations matter To: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
"My own addition to this marvelous discussion is to encourage research that as much as possible goes to primary sources – people and places – whic h becomes the basis of literary nonfiction with truth and detail. Tanya Le e Stone’s ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is one example of including information from a variety and depth of resources. Conflicts, disagreements, multiple v iewpoints, historical misrepresentations become part of the reader’s aw areness that all truth is a slippery fish." This is probably another discussion entirely but you wouldn't believe how c ontradictory and wrong primary sources can be! I'm working on that now for my new book (and don't worry, all of the sources will be there). Every ne wspaper spelled one man's name wrong, for example, and a book from the time period did as well. And it gets far, far, worse but I won't get in to that here. Let's just say that you can't trust primary sources at all. W hat a nonfiction author must do is play detective and take all of the sourc es and someti mes even make educated guesses as to what makes the most sense . Some of this is too complicated for small children to understand. I mean , how do we tell them that some of what they learn in school isn't really all that factual? megahn
---Received on Sat 23 Oct 2010 12:06:58 PM CDT
