Thursday, January 15, 2009

Chinese proverbs

One of my ask a librarian questions this week was about Chinese Proverbs. The student was given the following proverb.

“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.”

Here is the assignment:

(1) defining what the quote is about; (2) challenging your assumptions about what it might be saying - that is, not jumping to an initial emotional response; (3) collecting any pertinent factors about the author or statement - as in the author's biography or the craft of the writing (check the Internet!); (4) evaluating the quote in its own context and not just your own frame of reference; (5) finally, offering your own "informed" opinion of the quote in relation to the truth of "You and the Humanities."

Has anyone seen this assignment before? I could find the proverb, but nothing about it or the author.

5 comments:

Emily said...

I guess the student could refer to the craft of the writing - the Chinese Proverb. I tried to find a specific author but could not. We'd probably have to look through older quotation books to find something accurate... people post quotes on the web all the time and misstate the author.

Sara said...

You generally don't find authors for proverbs--kind of trying to find who wrote the greek myths--its part of lore...

Too bad they don't have them research newer quotes---example: "The Doors are open"---refered to Jim Morrison of The Doors--actually from Huxley--and actually, traced back to Wm. Blake.

Cari Lynn Pagel said...

I am doing this assignment right now as well for my Humanities class. However, I am also trying to find more about it and can't seem to do so. I have looked at librarys as well as on the internet. All it says is the quote and that it is a Chinese Proverb. I have also looked in my Humanities book and have only found things about China in relation to art and stories, no proverbs or writing styles. Please let me know if anyone has found anything else. Thank You!
Cari Lynn Pagel

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