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Beyond Feelings

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180 PART THREE A Strategy<br />

BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUE<br />

Think of several general headings under which the issue might be classified.<br />

For example, if the issue concerns criminal investigation, the<br />

headings might be “crime,” “criminology,” “police,” and one or more<br />

specific kinds of crime, such as “burglary.” Then look up those headings<br />

in the index volume of a good general encyclopedia, such as Encyclopedia<br />

Americana or Encyclopaedia Britannica. (Americana has a separate index<br />

volume. Britannica is divided into two sets of books: the macropaedia<br />

set, which contains detailed articles on a limited number of subjects,<br />

and the micropaedia set, which contains brief articles and cross-references<br />

on a large number of subjects.) The articles you will find there<br />

have been written by authorities in the various fields. At the end of each<br />

article is a list of books and other articles you can consult for a fuller or<br />

more specialized treatment of the issue.<br />

In addition to the general encyclopedias, there are numerous specific<br />

encyclopedias of art, business, history, literature, philosophy, music, science,<br />

education, social science, and many other areas. Most of these contain<br />

not only historical background but also titles of other books and<br />

articles you might find helpful.*<br />

FACTS AND STATISTICS<br />

Almanacs, published yearly, are treasuries of information on myriad subjects.<br />

World Almanac is available from the 1868 edition. Information Please<br />

Almanac, The New York Times Encyclopedic Almanac, and Reader’s Digest Almanac<br />

are more recent publications. Because any almanac is arranged very<br />

compactly for efficient use, it is important to study the index before using it.<br />

INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE<br />

A number of biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias are available.<br />

Two of the most helpful ones are Current Biography: Who’s News and Why<br />

and Webster’s Biographical Dictionary.<br />

INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE<br />

Many reference books are available, including the Oxford English Dictionary<br />

(OED), Webster’s New Dictionary of Synonyms, and Eric Partridge’s<br />

Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.<br />

*Remember that background reading, though a helpful start toward analyzing an issue, is<br />

never an acceptable substitute for analysis. Your instructor will expect more from you than<br />

simply background information.

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