I'd like to begin by going a bit further with some collaborative thinking about what I asked you do do for today, that is, "read all the responses to the questions you were randomly assigned, and all the responses to any two or three other questions. Look especially for contradictions (where people answered a question in conflicting ways), and for especially illuminating or useful answers." Take out a sheet of paper, and write for the next five or eight minutes, putting down one or two things that occurred to you as you read.

That done, I'll set up some groups. Read what others in the group wrote, and discuss them, looking for ideas about new questions, or old ones that can be rephrased or refocused to make them potentially valuable.  What we're primarily looking for are questions, and ways of approaching them, that seem to have potential to get us further into the period and its writing. Generate two or three questions that you think it would be worth exploring for the next few days. Bear in mind which kinds of questions were actually answerable, and which were dead ends (that is, answerable, but that was the end of the line). Bear in mind, too, that questions in the form of "what do serious scholars say about . . . " or "what do the standard or reputable resources say about . . . " are often the ones that can be most productive.

As a group, produce a list of a half dozen questions that you think (a) will help us all get a bit deeper into the field, (b) can be answered -- or at least can produce a clear indication of where an answer would be found -- in a few days' work, and (c) you'd genuinely like to know the answer to, or explore yourself. List the questions, and make sure the group members' names are on it.

Depending on how soon groups can put together their list of questions, I may ask groups to report -- not by reading their lists, but by saying something about the kinds of questions they considered.

This evening, I'll post a Prompt #13 with a list of questions and some instructions for getting started on choosing and working on one.

Reminder: for Friday

As the last prompt said, there are links from the "Reference works" page to the final versions of everybody's report on the preliminary exploration of a reference work. As a way of finishing with them, what I'd like you to do over the next few days is to read through as many as you can (focusing on ones you haven't read before, of course), and send me (not hunt3336@stu.ca, but hunt@stu.ca) an email saying which one or two -- or, if you really feel strongly, three -- you find most useful (not best writing, not best formatted: useful in providing information and insight), and, in a sentence or two, why. At least one should be one you didn't read and comment on earlier; and, of course, none should be your own. This will have nothing to do with anybody's mark (except that I'll count the email as a task completed); but I'll use the ranking, and the explanations, as a way of providing feedback for everyone. Which ones work best, and why?

Do this at the latest by Friday night; I'll assemble responses and rank the reports over the (long) weekend. We'll next meet a week from now. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.