As a teaching device, I'd turn it around and set your student the task
of researching the letter and set the parameters to include pro and
con views and let her work through the issues of when stock phrases
came into being and to research the phraseology to guide her to the
conclusion that the letter is undoubtedly a fake. Once she realizes
that certain phrases haven't always been in use and can be dated to
first use and thus will date a document, she will have a different
take, if she's got the octane to deal with it.
These things take on a life of their own for various idiotic and/or
nefarious purposes. The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is perhaps
the most famous of the nasty myth documents that seemingly have a
vampire sort of life wherein stakes through the heart work for a short
time and then they reappear all over again for another generation of
the gullible.
Sounds like your student is not about to listen to any collection of
wise elders but will have to discover for herself that disinformation
is an insidious problem.
Lyle Browning
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