Help Needed Please

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

   Fwiw, I see no problem in assisting a student who asks for help, and I see nothing unreasonable in Ms. Landers' request.  Members of the list are free to respond or not respond as they see fit.

   Incidentally, IIRC the project started when Ms. Landers' teacher assigned her the task of researching how lawyers use legal language as a means of domination (If you don't understand what they're talking about, you're at a disadvantage.)  But I'm always uneasy when teachers start with a possibly controversial conclusion (those unreasonable/dominating lawyers) and direct their students to find supporting evidence.  I'd much prefer an assignment in which students are given the option to reach their own basic conclusions.

     Maybe there's a legitimate reason for the legal jargon, maybe the style of legal writing is due more to legal tradition than a desire to use language for the purposes of dominance, and maybe the frustration of legal writing to laymen is no greater than the frustration produced by writing in other fields. I don't know.  But I do know that as a teacher I would have let my students reach their own conclusion about all this.

Gerald Cohen

________________________________

From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Jamie Landers
Sent: Tue 2/27/2007 11:33 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Help Needed Please

Firstly, I would like to say that I am not trying to utilize anyone as a way
to achieve work.  My group and I have found it difficult to find any
research on our topic.  My professor advised me to join this list serve in
hopes that someone out there could point me in the right direction as far as
research.  I was not trying to "fish" for someone to do my project for me
and am honestly apalled by some people's responses to an undergraduate
asking for some help.
My group has lined up an interview with a lawyer, has obtained a court
transcript where a defendant tries to represent himself, but we are finding
it difficult to find any sources out there pertaining to our topic.  One
gentleman provided a list of sources that he thought may be useful and I
appreciate this greatly!  Thank you.  As to anyone else who feels that I am
trying to steal your information/research/time, please just do not reply to
my query.  That is all that I am asking for from anyone.  It is quite
ridiculous to write a diatribe as to why people should not help out others.
Thank you.

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