The Problem of Pamela Bradley (1 Viewer)

[silvermoon]

theres just one flaw in your logic classics_chic. you've created a paradox by saying that you shouldn't use quotes but that you need to show historiography and analysis of sources (without actually referencing the sources). think about it.
olay, you are right, you DO need to quote sources - especially reference to primary sources. your personal depth and understanding comes through in the way in which you use the sources, the way you link the ideas together and your anlaysis of the reliability of the source/historian etc. if you don;t quote you don't show your research and you aren't backing up your points. when the marker reads it, they will be sitting there going "How do we know this" - you need to use sources and quotes to back up your theories and show that they are plausible, not just pulled from the air. You can say Hatshepsut was an alien or Akenaten was a woman IF you can back up your sources with evidence in the form of quotes and primary sources. if you can't back it up, why should anyone believe its a reasonable theory?

 

[Ava]

And I've been using Bradley all this time...

 

[angelduck]

Oh yeah, Classics Chic, the point, is not that your wrong, but u are sort of, that whilst quoting Bradley will not give you marks, you CAN quote her and not loose marks

 

[scruffy012]

wel, heres my two bob... it doesnt explicitly say that we do not quote PB in the syllabus, have a check, and it wont be in there... so are allowed to use her... but dont be dependant on her use others also

scruffy

 

[silvermoon]

wel, heres my two bob... it doesnt explicitly say that we do not quote PB in the syllabus, have a check, and it wont be in there... so are allowed to use her... but dont be dependant on her use others also

scruffy

in a twisted way, your logic kinda proves the opposite of what you were trying to say...you're right of course, the syllabus doesn't say not to quote Pamela Bradley. But neither does it say TO quote her. And the syllabus is designed to give students only what they will need to know and use - therefore there is no mention of the multitude of pitfalls that the trepid ancient history explorer can fall foul of. Therefore, by the all-encompassing principle of mathematical induction, we can see that because PB is not mentioned on the syllabus as someone to quote...that they are giving us a hint not to quote her at all!
its all so seamlessly logical...

damn, i should have been a bush lawyer!

 

[Satori]

I didnt read the entire thread but its a little disturbing for me, I do distance ed. and PB authoured the HSC Ancient History course. The vast majority of text i read for the subject is by her.

 

[AsyLum]

Yeah it was quite disturbing.

Good thing ive never used any of her books.

Thought this was interesting for the new HSC'ers.

Its a welcome step into what we like to call 'historiographical issues'

 

[silvermoon]

I didnt read the entire thread but its a little disturbing for me, I do distance ed. and PB authoured the HSC Ancient History course. The vast majority of text i read for the subject is by her.

ok, no1 is saying that her work isn't fine to use - its just that basically everyone now uses the bradley textbooks, so to show that your interest and personal research its important to quote from other sources - even if the only ones you use are the ones she quotes! if you look in the appendix you should find a list of footnoted references to modern and primary sources. look these up to find quotes you can use.

 

[Atticus.]

i used bradley as just a summary of information. i found her really general but still usefull...haha i always used her footnotes to find other researh texts. i did the identity of the hyksos for my ext major work and i only ever used bradley as a base for finding other stuff. i think you have to be wary of a historian who solely uses the work of other historians to write a book on a period of history...
im not a fan of textbook writers for objectivity

 

[silvermoon]

i used bradley as just a summary of information. i found her really general but still usefull...haha i always used her footnotes to find other researh texts. i did the identity of the hyksos for my ext major work and i only ever used bradley as a base for finding other stuff. i think you have to be wary of a historian who solely uses the work of other historians to write a book on a period of history...
im not a fan of textbook writers for objectivity

its true...the aim of a textbook is to sell after all - and it has to be fairly non-controversial if you want schools to buy it or to tell their kids to buy it.

 

[snakeoils]

I quoted Bradley a few times in my HSC Ancient History exam in 2003. Got 95. But naturally, used other sources as well.

 

[angelduck]

Geez, now thats weird! She should be in ur school library, being the basic textbook for Egypt and all, but you don't really need her, shes good to use to get an over-view of the course, but hey, you seem to be doin pretty good without her!

 

[silvermoon]

just stay away from her!
...
thats the general consensus i get from this thread
...
anti-bradley vibe

 

[xeuyrawp]

just stay away from her!
...
thats the general consensus i get from this thread
...
anti-bradley vibe

I used her probably twice in each of Egypt Society, Egypt Period, and Rome Period, and I got an exam mark of 99.

 

[butterflybird]

wow this argument's been going for months...

although i find this information interesting as my teacher relentlessly gets us to write down the 'wisdom' of bradley and callender, now i have yet another reason to consider her a fool who has no idea what she's doing

excellent

 

[xeuyrawp]

who cares if she's a good historian / original or whatever, as long as you get good marks, and I can assure you that quoting her won't stop you from the high marks.

 

[silvermoon]

wow this argument's been going for months...

heh - over 12 actually...and hopefully for many more yet! it's probabl a good thing none of us can agree on it

I used her probably twice in each of Egypt Society, Egypt Period, and Rome Period, and I got an exam mark of 99

wow...im so...supremely unimpressed. like, are we supposed to fall over our feet and worship you or something?

 

[nessie_lee]

I can't believe this argument is still going on!........ especially from last year's year 12 students.... get over it! it's all over! be happy!

 

[Mm_cookies]

its a good historical debate! lol!

so im in year 12 this yr? should i quote her or not?

 

[silvermoon]

Only quote her if you have no one better is my advice. try looking in the appendice of her textbooks to see what primary sources she used and then go to them for quotes.