When you use footnotes, the footnote goes at the end of the sentence, after the period. It does not go here 1. Where on earth do you get the idea that it goes before the period2? You’ve read texts with footnotes before. I know you have. I made you read texts with footnotes. So why, why do you insist on freakishly putting the footnote before the period?
I know I’m excessively anal about things like footnotes.3 But honestly, when you’re 20 years old and in one of the leading colleges in the nation, I would think you would be able to figure this out. If you’d never seen at footnote before in your life, maybe I would be more understanding. But after 10 weeks of class reading sources with footnotes, after encouraging you repeatedly in class to look at websites on how to cite things properly, and after I marked up your papers the first time you used footnotes incorrectly, I would think you could get this down. Sure, it’s a minor detail, but that’s almost why it annoys me more. When students struggle with difficult concepts, you expect them to mess up. But when they can’t do something a well-trained chimp could do, I assume it’s because they’re being lazy, indifferent, and/or obstinate.
In conclusion, students, if you want me to be angry when I grade your paper, go ahead and put that footnote before the period. I dare ya to.4
1. Cf. half of the final papers I received this week.
2. Looks really stupid before a question mark, doesn’t it?
3. Dr. Tsou can attest to this, re: a certain BA paper we jointly supervised.
4. Any defense attorney who would like to pioneer the footnote insanity defense should contact me asap.
Lady luck seems to be with me this week. I thought that right now I would be miserably grading final papers and final exams. I thought I would be sitting idly at the Daley Center all day tomorrow, waiting to be called and rejected for jury duty (something tells me purple-haired PhD candidates tend not to make the final cut). I thought I would most likely be forced to combine my miseries and grade papers while waiting grumpily waiting to be rejected from jury duty. But I have unexpectedly been spared all these miseries! The professor of the class I was TAing this term offered to grade their final exams *and* their final papers (seriously awesome!!). And the automated recording I called this evening informed me that I was not needed for jury duty. Yee-freakin-haw!
However, I am commited to not squandering these precious extra hours of my life. I am trying to get some dissertation work done before I really will have to grade a stack of research papers over the weekend. In that vein, I have finally finished reading a delightful nineteenth-century novel about honor killing and monomania. I suppose “delightful” is only an apt description if monomania and the unwritten law happen to be important to your dissertation research, as I wouldn’t really recommend the work for its literary merit. But then, I guess popular fiction is never really popular because of its literary merit. Ah well, at least I can scratch Beauchampe off my list. The prudent thing to do now would be to write some notes about the tale, but maybe a little rest first wouldn’t hurt ;-)
The fall term is winding down at last. This means I’m done having to spend time in the classroom, but grading still lurks ominously on the horizon. I’ve managed to accumulate quite a pile of texts that need to be read for my own research once the term is truly over, but I am starting to wonder how I’m ever going to get through it all. Unlike bibliofemme, I am not a speedy reader.
This has to be a joke, right? Reportedly, a vampire slaying kit, circa 1800 was sold at auction in Natchez, MI, about a month ago for roughly $15,000 (http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/AuctionWatch/2008-11-11__14-01-03.html). What seems incredible to me is not how much the thing went for at auction–I’d have actually thought some film promoter would have paid twice that to use it to market the latest tweenie-bopper sensation, the romantic vampire flick, Twilight. Instead, my mind is completely blown by the existence of vampire slaying kits from the early nineteenth-century. Sure, vampire folklore is by no means a modern invention, but who on earth would have actually owned a vampire slaying kit in the 1800s? Now, if we were talking early 20th century, post-Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it would seem less incredible to me since that story really popularized the idea of the vampire. But frankly, if this kit isn’t a total hoax then I think it raises some fascinating historical questions like, who would have had such a kit and why? Were items in the kit ever actually used–like the gun for example? And who authenticates something like this? Are there people out there with expertise on historical vampire-slaying kits?
It’s a good thing there’s no release date for this yet, because I’m pretty sure that I’ll never get any work done again after this comes out. You know, because I get so much work done now and everything…
For the first time in 8 years, I am pleased with the outcome of an American Presidential election. However, I am displeased with the lack of “I voted today” stickers at my polling place (it’s hard to set a good example for your students when all you’ve got to show is an unsightly paper receipt), as well as the fact that apparently Ben & Jerry’s was giving out free ice cream today and I didn’t know about it. Come on MickeyD’s, where’s our “burgers for Obama” day?
I’m talking about my Halloween dinner party last night. There were definitely points in time when I thought it just wasn’t going to happen. This quarter has been crazy busy for me at school, and I didn’t even start planning this party until rather late. In fact, I really didn’t start to start setting things up until about 3 days ago. Unfortunately, my last minute panicking did nothing to slow the march of time. Halloween came, and my guests came, and despite my reservations, I think most everything went well. Ss far as I know, I didn’t make any of my guests sick, so I’m going to consider that grounds for calling the party a success, even though there are some things I would have done differently given the chance to do it all again. If I get a chance later in the week, I might put a few pictures up, although I think I failed to take any pictures of the decor. That’s okay–it certainly wasn’t my best work this year.
Just in time for all of your Day of the Dead needs, Ms. Dragonslayer has managed to convert her 2007 independent film classic into digital video for all you denizens of the world wide web to enjoy. Seriously, go check it out because it’s totally awesome (and I’m not just saying that because I was involved in the production)!
Thank you everyone for your many well-wishes and huzzahs in regard to my shiny new status as “Ph.D. candidate.” I received a very surprising and delightful congratulations gift from a very dear partner-in-crime, Dr. Tsou! I am already fantasizing about 1. graduating, 2. having my own office, and 3. laughing to myself when I see The Jackalope catch the attention of a nervous student’s roving eye during office hours. Ah, the joys of teaching…
I am now Advanced to Candidacy, A.B.D., dissertation proposal accepted, no more hoops to jump through short of writing my dissertation!!!!!! YEEEEEHAAAAAAWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
