Cribs

By Reed Harp

A reference manual . . . serves across disciplines as a guide in problem solving, organization—history, philosophy, social sciences, etc.—and as a resource in planning and development. It’s organized in areas of interest that promote research and confirm better practices in scholarship and other professional inquiry across various areas of study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Reed Harp
• Release date: May 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781886678132

Book preview

CRIBS

Reed Harp

Copyright © 2012 Reed Harp

all rights reserved

Published on Smashwords

N.P. books

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NOTES . . . on . . .

Learning (beyond innocence)

Destinations (moving ahead . . . motivation)

Pathways (some means toward the ends, coping)

Analysis (essential/critical thinking skills)

Planning (problem solving)

Synthesis (communication . . . reading, writing)

Experiments (creativity)

Vision (accountability)

Exploration (some philosophic considerations)

reference—across disciplines

ebook ISBN 1-886678-13-8

paperback ISBN 1-886678-12-X

* * *

some other books

by Reed Harp

WINTER GARDENS

fiction—short-story cycle

MALONE

fiction—short-story cycle

RENEGADE CREEK

fiction—of a modern

post-novel biographic journal

MODES

verse

DESTINOS

vignettes

ORIGINS

philosophy

VISAGES

journalism—of the feuilleton

query for availability, ebook and paperback,

at [e-mail]

* * *

CRIBS

Reed Harp

Harp, Reed Delon, 1943-

CRIBS

ISBN 1-886678-13-8 ebook

ISBN 1-886678-12-X paperback

reference—across disciplines

ebook and

archival

perfect-bound

4 ½ x 6 ½ paperback

N.P. books

sine loco, sine nomine

reedharp.com

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Contents

See Index for topics

by crib number

(back of the book)

I. Learning (beyond innocence)

cribs1 through

II. Destinations (moving ahead . . . motivation)

cribs 44 through

III. Pathways (some means toward the ends, coping)

cribs 54 through

IV. Analysis (essential/critical thinking skills)

cribs 78 through

V. Planning (problem solving)

cribs 93 through

VI. Synthesis (communication . . . reading, writing)

cribs 109 through

VII. Experiments (creativity)

cribs 156 through

VIII. Vision (accountability)

cribs 177 through

IX. Exploration (some philosophic considerations)

cribs 189 through

Overview (back of the book)

Addenda (back of the book)

Suggested Reading (back of the book)

Index (back of the book)

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front matter

The use of crib notes (over some several hundred years) originally was attributed to gamblers, and later to critics who would keep such notes during a performance, and so forth.

Cribs developed into a primary way of keeping notes for scholars mainly in the British tradition. In contemporary scholarship, the idea is to use the preferred 4 x 6 plain index card, (as the only means of taking notes under any circumstance) and to place only one idea on only one side of each card.

Such index cards can be organized (usually carried in the pocket or the back of a book, and secured with a rubber band), ready for text, lecture and research, organized into various topics and studies, and also used as flash cards in preparation for exams, etc.

~R.H.

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I.

Learning

(beyond innocence)

1

Learning begins with awe, wonder, questions. Knowledge begins with ignorance. There is acquired knowledge, and that which is self-evident, also known as intuition.

2

Ontogeny recapitulates phylogony . . . a phrase

of questionable origin, spelling, meaning, and the rest. Where there is a good idea, we can rest assured there will be argument. However, the phrase is a biological concept. There are the phylums in biology, the type, class, and category of living things. Ontogeny means the beginnings of things. Recapitulation carries the idea of repetition. So, the phrase means that, with each generation, we must start from scratch with all the lessons.

Knowledge can be acquired, passed on. Wisdom?

3

General knowledge, and a sense of philosophic well-being (perspective) certainly pay off in those long cold winters when supplies are low and prospects for progress are slim. Patience and a sense of hope—based in wider awareness—allows survival with some dignity.

4

There is a big difference between intelligence, and intellect, being smart, intelligent, and the like, seeing the big picture, and of being intellectual, or having a developed intellect, seeing, the whole picture. The intellect requires training, discipline.

5

The four disciplines in classic university studies,

general categories of knowledge/learning:

science (empirical inquiry),

history (a record),

philosophy (the search for the good life),

literature (stories, visions between people).

6

Reading is hard work. It requires good light, a suitable table and chair, and a lot of concentration. It can't be done effectively, for long periods of time, but should be done in short sessions, while taking notes, and say, with a tilted surface, such as a small book stand . . . to read something, say, three times, in order to get it, should not be the case. If the reading is intense, with most text, the first time should get it. Review? Of course. But read smart, take notes, cribs.

7

Writing is an unnatural act . . . to scratch out letters on a page, so that it makes sentences, paragraphs, and the rest, makes sense, and so forth. The key to effective writing is to understand that it is work, and that it involves a lot of rewrite.

8

Figuring, as in working math problems, or other similar rational operations, requires a sense of patience and concentration. Not to drag it out; however, 'tis best to move slowly, deliberately, while consciously checking each move for accuracy, and not moving ahead until you know you're right. No guessing allowed. Each step must be true.

Three basic questions at mathematics:

What is 2/3 of 24?

2/3 of what number is 16?

What part of 24 is 16?

Math considers concepts including change (calculus, differential equations), space (geometry, topology), structure (algebra), and quantity (arithmetic). Applied math includes statistics, computer science, etc.

Among theories about math, embodied mind ideas suggest math involves abstract concepts generated by

cognitive mechanisms allowing metaphor, that is, our being able to think about one thing as if it were another.

9

Time is of Chronos and of Kairos (ancient world). Chronos is of chronological, straight-line time, and Kairos is the ancient measure of time as it is experienced (not straight-line, but rather loopy, as in remembering what happened, but not in relation to the clock).

10

Some random sources of awe and wonder:

gravity,

centrifugal force,

electromagnetic force,

the solar system,

the galaxy,

the universe,

relativity.

11

Some frameworks in the ancient world (and since):

The muses, daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus—

Calliope (epic poetry

Clio (history)

Erato (lyric poetry, and mime)

Euterpe (lyric poetry, and music)

Melpomene (tragedy, and singing)

Terpsichore (dance, and choral)

Thalia (comedy, and pastoral poetry)

Urania (astronomy)

Polyhymnia (religious music)

The Elements (ancient world)

earth

air

fire

water

The Humors (ancient world)

blood

phlegm

choler

black bile

Cardinal Virtues

prudence

justice

temperance

fortitude

The Riddle of the Sphinx

What walked on four legs in the morning,

two legs at mid-day,

and three legs in the evening?

Man, first crawling, then walking,

then walking with a cane.

12

About th' sevens (a mystic number):

What are we to make of the seven pillars of wisdom (?) mentioned in Proverbs 9:1 . . . not clear to me exactly what they are, but variations might include

being humble, not proud,

being sorry about evils, and without a lying tongue,

meek, instead of the hand that shed innocent blood,

seeking righteousness, instead of the heart of wicked

imaginations,

merciful, not with swift feet that turn to mischief,

pure in spirit, instead of a false witness,

a peacemaker, instead of a sower of discord among

brethren.

(For the pre-Christian world, see work of Douglas Baker.)

The seven cardinal virtues, in medieval theology, were faith, hope, and love (from Biblical teachings), plus the four natural virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance (borrowed from the Greeks).

The seven deadly sins . . . pride, lust, envy, anger, covetousness, gluttony, and sloth.

Sabbatical (rooted in meanings like the sabbath, the seventh day). every seven years, traditionally, time for

a break, personal review, a little travel, rest, etc.

In the academy, and its seven liberal arts . . . .the academy referring to Plato's school in the academeplus, the seven seasons of South Texas . . . winter, spring summer, fall, football, deer, and dove.

13

To say that someone is a man of letters does not mean he runs to the post office every few minutes, or that he gets a lot of mail. No, the expression refers to the alphabet, those 26 little soldiers, with which Gutenberg said he would conquer the world. And to say man of letters, is not intended to exclude females. When we use he, or him, the masculine reference, it is a rhetorical usage, and is as acceptable as any other, including the his/her nonsense.

14

About rhetoric. It's not a dirty word. Just try living

without it. And the same goes for imagination. Oh, don't worry, it's just his imagination. Without imagination, what do we have? Banality, for starters (look it up . . . you'll find it associated with Hannah Ahrendt's studies of the Third Reich). She coined the phrase, the banality of evil.

Working vocabulary plays into her studies, such that, for example, the working vocabulary of President Woodrow Wilson was said to be around