Footnotes First and Familiar Facts

‘Polyhymnia, What a pleasant surprise!’

‘Indeed, Euterpe, who would have thought two of our tribe would meet in the gardens of Mount Ida.’

‘Remind me, Sister, of your domain. Are you the Muse of Language Learning and Philology, or the Muse of Irony?’

‘Like unto the Mississippi, my realm runs deep.’

‘So it seems! Speaking of bailiwicks … what’s new in your neck of wondrous woods of self-directed education?’

‘I’ve been encouraging mortals to practice their listening skills by enjoying programs that tell tales of familiar phenomena.’

‘Such as … cheese?’

‘Cheese, and beer, and mustard, and bread …’

‘I sense a theme.’

‘Well, it’s almost time for lunch. All kidding aside, one of my inspirés, a certain Mr. Muros, has just discovered a series of short videos, each of which recounts, in clear, accessible French, the history of a common comestible.’ (YouTube)

‘I know him well. Indeed, a great historian once said that his footnotes spawned footnotes of their own.’

‘That’s high praise.’

‘In my world, the highest.’

‘Anyway, he downloads these videos as audio programs, which he plays while he drives, does chores, or drifts off to sleep.’

‘How clever. Pleasant subjects, after all, lend themselves well to casual listening.’

‘Better yet, the things he learns might even improve his culinary skills.’

‘How is his cooking, by the way?’

‘Well, none of the survivors have ever complained.’

‘Ha!’

‘All kidding aside … the videos in question occupy the intersection of interest and accessibility, thus avoiding the banality of so much language-learning materials and the difficulties of programs made for native speakers.’

‘Splendid.’

‘Anyway, enough about me. What’s on your mind these days.’

‘I’m trying to encourage autodidacts to begin their engagement of serious texts by starting with the academic apparatus.’

‘Let me guess. You call this approach … footnotes first.’

‘Bull’s eye. It also works for endnotes, whether classic or chatty.’

‘But you chose to lead with a bit of alliteration.’

‘Such is the way of our order.’

‘So, what benefit does the reader glean by postponing his engagement of the text?’

‘Notes introduce the reader to the people, places, and phenomena that play a role in the main body of the book. Thus, if the reader reads them before engaging the text, he won’t have to stop reading in order to answer such questions as who is this, where is this, and what is this?’

‘That makes perfect sense.’

‘These little explanations, moreover, mark the boundaries of the books, the places where it abuts works of other sorts. Thus, they provide the reader with a degree of orientation.’

‘Speaking of which, your compass rose is glowing.’

‘As is your golden lyre.’

‘You know what that means?’

‘Of course, it’s time for lunch.’

‘Opa!’

Related Reading