Work Sited

In my morning class, my professor complained that the class was not doing particularly well, because, apparently, we haven't been citing sources in our papers.
I guess this really surprised me because it seemed like such an obvious thing to do to an academic paper you write for a class. If you don't cite, where the heck are you getting your info?
Kelly mentioned that she thought that it interrupted the flow of writing, which I understand. When I was writing one paper and editing another this past weekend, I need to be left alone, play good music (this time, parts of Massive Attack's new album) and just write. Usually, I write my citations before writing, as part of the outline process. That way, I can just insert the citation via copy and paste.
"Not everyone can be a superhero like you."
Maybe this is harder for people than I realize. When I was in AP Biology, a senior girl did a presentation on a type of animal. At the end of her powerpoint, she had a "work sited" page, and I about died. She had no idea that it wasn't spelled that way, which indicates that she didn't cite often, or had ever looked at a style guide (not even Purdue's OWL, which I love.) I guess I figure that everyone is forced to learn basic citing before college, but maybe I'm making an assumption there. I feel like it's usually not that hard to cite, since the information should be in the colophon anyway, and, if you're really lazy, there are apparently websites that will write the citation for you. I've even seen websites that write the citation out for people and put it at the bottom of the page. This isn't that difficult.
This particular professor is really easy about citations and sources. We aren't suppose to use anything other than our readings and lectures to write our papers, and all she demands is that we write "lecture" for anything we took from class, and then basic citation (author, title, yr. published) for readings. Her essays are basically take-home tests; tons of time isn't necessary to get a decent grade.

Professors

I went in to see one of my professors about a paper. I figure professors love it when you come into see them, since so few students make the effort. I noticed last week this professor's hours were right after a class and just down the street, so it seemed perfect.
There's something off about him. I'm not totally sure yet what it is, but it's been bugging me all semester. I get the feeling that he doesn't like me. Certainly, I've heard other students complain about how pompous he is, which, although he does seem knowledgeable about the subject at hand, doesn't really make me like him all that much. But I feel like I haven't done anything that should earn me his dislike. I've shown up to every class, and participate, and always do the reading and turn in all the homework. What more should a professor want? I mean, sure, I don't always answer questions correctly, but the entire point of a class is to learn, and there's nothing to learn if you already have the answers.
It's possible he thinks I'm pompous. I do think I know a lot about the background of what we're studying. This class is on the Catholic Church in the early Modern world. I've taken heaps of medieval history classes, and, for what I hope are obvious reasons, I've managed to learn a lot about medieval Catholicism. The Catholic Church is not a dynamic institution; as a general rule, if it was once that way, it's probably still that way. So I know a lot about religious orders and saints and Popes and the general "how things work" kind of knowledge, which has been helpful. But I would be the first to concede that I don't know much about mission work or the Inquisitions. I might be quick to guess the reasons why things happened, but I wouldn't know.
Maybe this is the first time a professor has disliked my enthusiasm. I've yet to come across someone who doesn't like that I care about school, but I do. I care not just because it's school with a capital 'S,' but because I'm studying things I'm interested in, and things that I like learning about. And, really, I'm very lucky. Lots of people go to college and either study something they don't like or eventually hate. I get to do things that make me happy.