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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:19:44 AM EDT
[#1]
They are trying to get you to think and to learn how to write decriptively.
GEt used to it...Summer school is like that. SGtar15 |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:20:17 AM EDT
[#2]
Maybe your could write about your uniquely boring life.  Seriously - if everyone else shows up with some "interesting story" about something cool they did, your paper will be an interesting contrast in illustrating how NOTHING interesting ever happens to you. If I were a teacher, I'd like the originality of that. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:20:49 AM EDT
[#3]
You could write about your adventures on AR15.com. That should be interesting.
That is, if you've had some... |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:21:49 AM EDT
[#4]
Everyone has unique things happen in their lives; you just have to recognize what those things are and write about them. Your life is not as boring as you give yourself discredit for, nor is the assignment as stupid as you claim it to be.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:22:24 AM EDT
[#5]
I thought all that stuff was BS when I was in school too. When I got to college, all of those BS writing assignments really paid off. Just wait until you have to do a few 20 or 30 page papers, then you'll understand.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:24:44 AM EDT
[#6]
If you have nothing interesting in your life to write about, do a Walter Mitty.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:28:11 AM EDT
[#7]
I just finished an English class that was more like a class on the civil rights movement. Every single writing assignment was about MLK, or the civil rights movement at that time. We even had one day where the teacher gave us a lecture about growing up during that time, and how she as a white person felt guilty for what was happening to blacks, even though she had many black friends.
This was Just an "English writing class" but the teach chose every single reading and writing assignment to advance her personal agenda. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:29:12 AM EDT
[#8]
That's what I thought, and that's what I'm currently doing. It's 500-600 words, which is usually nothing (hell, I've done three thousand word papers in a few hours, half of which was the necessary research), but a page and a half on nothing is a little bit hard to do. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:31:44 AM EDT
[#9]
Guaranteed method of getting an 'A' in Lit. at those liberal-assed colleges - write about some discovery that created a personal epiphany - one that "enlightened" you to some current liberal belief.
Examples: 1. War is bad - learned it from contemporary global occurances. 2. Gay / Bi sexuality is healthy - even for a family - Cheney supports it. 3. Universal Health care would save the lives of millions of children (its always about the children) - you use Canada as an example and, of course, omit everything that's disasterous about it. 4. Guns should be banned (again for the children) - use the movie "Columbine" as your source of reference. 5. Say anything positive about farenheit 9/11 - that'll score big w/ the lib prof.'s You manipulate those liberals just as you would in everyday life. And if you want to use DUh tactics - state that you agree with ideologies of the likes of Moore and cite examples that discredit him. As long as you say you agree with someone (completely) and offer evidence to the contrary - your chances are greatly improved to cause some conversion. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:33:29 AM EDT
[#10]
My "creative writing" class in high school was THE single best class I took.
The assignments weren't just BS (though some seemed that way), they also taught proper structure and form, and how to make writing come alive. That class was the basis for my success in college writing papers and later in law school and as a practicing attorney. The key to learing how to write, just like anyting else, is to practice writing. Writing about any old nonsense, when there is just nothing else to write, is nearly as good as having a goal in mind and is perhaps better for getting the creative juices flowing. Just do it now while it doesn't really matter. It's only a grade in a class. There is no job, money, or someone's freedom on the line. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:35:04 AM EDT
[#11]
I only thought these things happen in the pages of magazines, but one day, when I was home alone...........
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:41:00 AM EDT
[#12]
Hmm. I guess I'm in deep shit then. I don't tell them what they want to hear. I tell them what they SHOULD hear. Probably not going to win me any friends amoung the liberal shit bags that teach, but I won't compromise my beliefs by spewing more of their garbage. Who knows, maybe they'll actaully learn something from me instead. (Yeah, holding my breath for that) Seriously, though, I just love ruffling their feathers. I'm not the normal college student and they don't expect people like me to come in and have opinions/beliefs of their own. They far prefer the normal sheep that they can mold into the future generation of crack pot liberals. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 8:43:50 AM EDT
[#13]
You will either learn to write well, or you will be destined to mediocrity in life.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 10:14:55 AM EDT
[#14]
I'm an English teacher, and if anyone writes me a paper about how gun control is a good thing, I grade them on how well the paper is written, and then give them comments about how they are wrong. They can still get a good grade, but they aren't impressing me with a liberal agenda.
PS No teachers really care about your exciting experiences. They want to see if you know how to write. A good writer can make watching paint dry exciting. The average high school student (in my experience) can make a grizzly bear fight boring. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 10:27:49 AM EDT
[#15]
They are trying to teach you to creatively BS your way through retarded writing assignments. I don't know how I would have ever passed english without that ability.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 10:33:18 AM EDT
[#16]
Pooper .... Pics .... Stuff.
No. wait. Pics .... Stuff .... Pooper Damn! Stuff .... Pics ... Pooper. Fuck! Forget it. Just go to Disney World and write it up. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 10:37:16 AM EDT
[#17]
consider yourself lucky... in addition to writing assignments, I had to watch Fahrenheit 911.... grrrr that makes me an ANGRY right wing extremist!
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Posted: 9/2/2004 10:41:17 AM EDT
[#18]
I had one give a writing assignment on how the American Dream was a farce. I argued with her and the whole class for a week, aparrently I was the only one who believed in it. I still got an A in the class.
I had just gotten out of the Army and was feeling bitter about missing the Gulf War, so I was pretty hostile towards the dipshits.... So make something up, she just wants to see how well you write. hell, it's called "creative" writing for a reason. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 10:48:16 AM EDT
[#19]
Well you certainly are a minority. But I definitely wish you weren't. Unfortunately, the way I've descibed it, is the norm. When I first got out of the service and entered college, I rose hell on all of my comp. I papers. I had excellent source material and a flawless writing effort. I did 'A' work but got a 'B' in the course due to my politics. I came to the realization that a university is a place of business. So, I manipulated it and graduated with honors. All because I wrote BS that the prof.s wanted to hear. There was one exception, however. I had a Human Growth and Development Professor who was obviously pro-conservative. I was able to extend my beliefs and logic in all of my papers and finished the course with a 96%( + or - about 2% can't exactly recall). Outside of that ONE course, I wrote BS liberal propaganda in order to get the product (diploma) that I paid that place of business (college) for. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 11:00:06 AM EDT
[#20]
I would've made a huge stink about that. If I couldn't get the teacher reprimanded, I would've written all my assignments in Ebonics. CKMorley |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 11:08:05 AM EDT
[#21]
The other approach (which is what I typically did) is to write on topics that the teacher knows absolutely nothing about. This is pretty easy to do with english profs. Write about spaceflight, ancient civilizations in odd parts of the world, obscure wars, etc. You're able to write a paper, persuade the person, and not compromise your principles. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 11:10:15 AM EDT
[#22]
My guess is Bush couldn’t write a grocery list, but I'll still vote for him. "I own six Speaker Cities. I am worth three and a half million that the government knows about and I can barely read." -Vince Vaughn in Old School Words to live by. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 11:13:54 AM EDT
[#23]
Yes you have, and you are right now. You posted an honest question on an internet firearms forum, and got 22 (counting this one) responses within three hours. Now start asking some obvious questions: 1. Were the replies "any good"? ...a. Did they help with the assignment? ...b. Did they make you think of something, or in a way, you hadn't before? ...c. Will you remember any of them in a week? 2. What sorts of folks replied? ...a. How many actually tried to help? ......1. Why do you think this many? ......2. What do you think was their motivation? ...b. How many were just being goofballs? ......1. Why do you think this many? ......2. What do you think was their motivation? 3. Why did you post your question? ...a. What answers did you expect? Why? ...b. What answers surprised you? Why? See where I'm going? edit for outline format |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 11:16:51 AM EDT
[#24]
If your life is truly that boring, and I seriuosly doubt you can't find something interesting to write about, then write a complete piece of fiction. The point of the assignment isn't what you write but how you write it.
Hell, write about the day space aliens abducted you and took you to Caprica to meet Starbuck and how you saved the Star League from Emperor Zurg and the Codan Armada. Put a disclaimer at the bottom tellin' the teach you didn't have much of intrest happen to you recently but you felt compelled to write something rather than get an F on the assignment. ETA: I think Brisk's idea is a winner actually. Would be a rather unique piece and he's already done the outline for you. Just be sure to include the part about defeating the Codan Armada. It's important.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 11:35:17 AM EDT
[#25]
Back in undergrad I had to take some world cultures crap course.
The professorette was very very proud that as a white woman she had been married to a turk. (I guess that AA skin color rubs off during sex). Anyway, this chick was crazy and kept going off about how being a christian slave solider (the janissaries) for the muslim turks was a great honor and all the christians wanted their children taken away to be a slave soldier....and africa was great after the euros pulled out, and india is great because they have AA now.... I used to argue with her and got a nasty in-class grade. It didn't help that she showed a film from the 50s with this black guy, Scatman Johnson (sp?). He was the guy that was always on the love boat in the 70s and he would do a tap dance and play a song beat on his arms and chest and hips. My comment was that he was good on the love boat but I never realized how really good he was. Wrong answer. She was looking for "White men made him enslave his own body for their fun." I still pulled an A in her class. We had blind test grading w/ student number reporting, and on every exam I would write the stupidest left wing crap. On a test about africa I would praise necklacing (putting a burning car tire around someone's chest) as a 'people's justice system created to resist the master's unfair 'law' system while bringing to the fore the values and sense of right of the former victims, now freed by their own actions'. I got so much extra credit from this dipwad that I aced the course. She was too stupid to figure it out until the end of class, when it was too late to change the already posted grades. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 11:55:30 AM EDT
[#26]
Hmm... What if you write a paper about debating whether you should compromise your true principles and write liberal crap that the teachers/professors want to hear, or take a risk and write what you really think. Don't forget to mention that writing what your liberal teacher/professor wants to hear can be hilarious.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 12:13:41 PM EDT
[#27]
it's called "busy work" and it is given to you to generate the impression that your teacher is actually helping you or otherwise earning a pay check.
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Posted: 9/2/2004 12:25:03 PM EDT
[#28]
Because English/Literature is a weak subject taught by 90% idiots. Anyone who can construct a pseudo-logical argument can ace an English class. Many of the ones who find it a stimulating enough field to go into are idiots; anyone with an aptitude and a desire for logic or pseudo-logic will go into mathematics or law, respectively. The money is better.
Just put in the time and do it. Writing to communicate in the real world is much different than the crap they teach you in most English classes; you'll figure it out in your own time. You can have fun with it too. It's often entertaining to take "evidence" in the text and twist and stretch it as far as possible, and still maintain a "good" argument. It makes a fool of the teacher, but they aren't too often intelligent enough to be aware of it. Have fun playing with linguistic constructs, too. It's kind of like playing with Legos, only with language. That said, literature is an interesting study from a linguistic point of view, but it takes an awareness of more than the rules of grammar and the leftist viewpoint that is all most English professors have. What's more important to a language is context; the historical context, the personal viewpoint of the author, his mental state when he composed the work, and the accepted semantics of the time period when the work was composed. Most of the actual evidence supporting an interpretation is found in history, outside the text itself. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 12:25:50 PM EDT
[#29]
Beaten. 
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Posted: 9/2/2004 12:31:37 PM EDT
[#30]
Never take a literature class from anybody less than 70 years old.
I've taken a lot of lit classes because I really like reading. Lit's just an easy A class for me so I guess it's not a suprise I take the courses often. I've had teachers and professors from all over the board. Any youngers ones were usually fools who didn't know quite what they were talking about. Middle agers knew their stuff, but usually only knew the writing in the standard curiculum. The geriatrics who were being forced into retirement by the admin where always the interesting ones. They had a lifetime behind them. Never had an older instructor push their agenda on me either. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 12:57:56 PM EDT
[#31]
Agreed. Only these days, those young fools are now middle-aged fools. And the young fool category has been refilled by more young fools. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 2:36:48 PM EDT
[#32]
I'd say you guys don't hang out with too many teachers. Now don't get me wrong, many of them are liberal, opinionated, semi-educated, pedagogical, and utterly convinced that they are the smartest person in the room (eight hours a day of hanging out with sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds can have that effect on a person). However, many of them are dedicated and looking for a student to challenge them, myself included. Your average teacher is not threatened by a student who challenges them, they are inspired. They will, however, incite an argument with that student in an attempt to create a polarization of opinions within the classroom; ie kick those complacent and apathetic sixteen-year-olds in the ass to get them to actually form an opinion about a subject. To the average sixteen-year-old (who is threatened by everything) that seems like the teacher is threatened and lashing out. The truth is that they are trying to make everyone THINK. That can be tough to do with teenagers.
As far as only taking lit classes from old geezers, or that all lit classes suck, kiss my ass. I'm twenty-nine and I do a pretty damn good job. If you don't believe me, feel free to check out Ratemyteacher.com. I work at Armstrong High School in MN, and my last name is Maas. No one thinks I'm easy, but I'm sure entertaining. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 5:12:08 PM EDT
[#33]
To clarify, The Neutral Observer was talking about university professors. The Neutral Observer doesn't know any public school teachers, doesn't care about public school, and won't care for about 5 more years. The Neutral Observer does know that each state's educational policies cause a wide variation in the quality of teacher and also changes over time, so The Neutral Observer's school experience does not count and even if The Neutral Observer knew public school teachers in His state, it wouldn't imply anything about the other states.
That said, The Neutral Observer's opinions as related to university professors stand. The older professors are the only ones who really actually study and teach the subject; the younger ones are by and large useless. |
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Posted: 9/2/2004 5:24:54 PM EDT
[#34]
Of course, I am just making generalizations. I did go all the way through grade school and had plenty of contact with teachers there. Apart from that, however, I have taught a number of education majors and that comprises the bulk of my experience which forms the basis for my opinions. Perhaps I've just had extraordinary experiences. |
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Posted: 9/6/2004 5:17:19 AM EDT
[#35]
So I start tomorrow, and I still need to watch A Raisin in the Sun. The problem? There is only one copy in the area that I have been able to find, and it's checked out.
Goddamn it. Oh well. Tra-la-la-la-certainly-not-looking-on-KaZaA-so-don't-sue-me-MPAA-tra-la-la-la... |
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Posted: 9/6/2004 7:56:33 AM EDT
[#36]
Short version. Black family. Father, boy child, girl child, grandmother (possibly) or mother (possibly) or both (possibly). Not sure on the existance of the last two. Poor and oppressed, bla bla bla. Father plans on opening a liquor store, is in the process of arranging finances with his partner. Girl child learns about Africa and starts pretending she's African. Something happens with the girl child's new boyfriend. The others have various petty problems. Grandmother/mother/both bitch(es) incessantly about everything. Partner steals the money for the liquor store. Bla Bla Bla, everyone learns some lessons about race and all that other PC shit. Someone in the story is named Willie. It's been nearly 20 years since The Neutral Observer read it, so that's about all the help He will be. |
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Posted: 9/6/2004 8:03:16 AM EDT
[#37]
It's not about what you did in the summer but to exercise the mind and develop your writing skill. The subject matter isn't half as important as the mental exercise. Go now glass happuh and do well.
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Posted: 9/6/2004 8:13:19 AM EDT
[#38]
Yeah, you know, there's a little site called "sparknotes," and it's a lot better than your summary. No offense. |
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Posted: 9/6/2004 8:22:39 AM EDT
[#39]
Then stop bitching at The Neutral Observer and go do your schoolwork. |
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