<p>Plainsman: Your confusion is based on a misunderstanding of how the term “textbook” is used in humanities and many social science classes. Most of those courses don’t use “textbooks” in the way you mean. In literature classes, a text is a novel, a play, a book of stories–not a book costing $150-300.</p>
<p>Most literature courses require 8-10 such texts, some more. I’m not sure why you’re questioning the students’ veracity. And there’s nothing “screwy” about Oberlin.</p>