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<p>Maybe it’s the high school teachers/profs I’ve had, but writing an essay relating a scholarly topic with modern pop culture to that extent would be unacceptable unless the student has had the prior approval. Something which doesn’t seem to be the case judging by what the OP related. </p>
<p>This prior approval is critical IME considering how some teachers/Profs and classmates would regard allowing a student to reference pop culture/pop sources to that extent to be a sign the class/Prof wasn’t “serious” and the course in question was a “joke” designed specifically for stereotypical jocks/slacker students. It seems that the OP’s professor was operating with the same academic ground rules as nearly all of of the Profs I’ve had. </p>
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<p>While I had no professor who banned internet versions of reputable online news sites and journal articles, I did have a few who banned all internet sources outside of those two categories in lower-division courses because the Prof didn’t want students citing online encyclopedias* or dubiously placed online resources that anyone can put up with little/no effective accountability.</p>
<p>Was never an issue with me or most college classmates…especially when we were college seniors because by then…we had learned enough about sourcing to get a good feel for what’s scholarly/relevant to the assignment/topic and what’s not.</p>
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<li>For example, wikipedia is a good place to start gathering and verifying sources, not as a source in itself. I’ve have had to correct many elementary errors wikipedia articles related to Chinese history, computer technology, and other topics. Errors which anyone who has had a basic 101-level knowledge should have been able to catch with ease.</li>
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