Andyman
04-09-2004, 07:08 AM
I found this over on the Klipsch board; it's a riot
Mars & Venus Write A Paper Together
RECEIVED FROM AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR:
You know that book Men are from Mars, Women from Venus?
Well, here's a prime example of that. This assignment was actually
turned in by two of my English students:
Rebecca (last name deleted) and Gary (last name deleted)
First, the Assignment:
English 44A
SMU
Creative Writing
Prof. Miller
In-class Assignment for Wednesday, today we will experiment with a new
form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair
off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you
will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will
read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story.
The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.
Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the
story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been
reached.
And now, the Assignment as submitted by Rebecca & Gary:
------------------------------------------------------------
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The
chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now
reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he
liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind
off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about
him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the
question.
------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron
now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than
the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had
spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17,"
he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established.
No sign of resistance so far..."
But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of
nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the
direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
----------------------------------------------------------
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt
one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had
ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless
hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes
Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel." Laurie read in her
newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her.
She
stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had
passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no
television to
distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful
things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she
pondered wistfully.
----------------------------------------------------------
Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands
of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of
its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed
the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left
Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were
determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage
of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying
enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop
them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion
missile
entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret
mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt
the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million
other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table.
"We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! !
Let's blow'em out of the sky!"
----------------------------------------------------------
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My
writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.
----------------------------------------------------------
Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at
writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
----------------------------------------------------------
Mars & Venus Write A Paper Together
RECEIVED FROM AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR:
You know that book Men are from Mars, Women from Venus?
Well, here's a prime example of that. This assignment was actually
turned in by two of my English students:
Rebecca (last name deleted) and Gary (last name deleted)
First, the Assignment:
English 44A
SMU
Creative Writing
Prof. Miller
In-class Assignment for Wednesday, today we will experiment with a new
form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair
off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you
will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will
read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story.
The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.
Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the
story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been
reached.
And now, the Assignment as submitted by Rebecca & Gary:
------------------------------------------------------------
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The
chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now
reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he
liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind
off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about
him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the
question.
------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron
now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than
the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had
spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17,"
he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established.
No sign of resistance so far..."
But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of
nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the
direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
----------------------------------------------------------
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt
one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had
ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless
hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes
Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel." Laurie read in her
newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her.
She
stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had
passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no
television to
distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful
things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she
pondered wistfully.
----------------------------------------------------------
Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands
of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of
its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed
the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left
Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were
determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage
of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying
enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop
them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion
missile
entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret
mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt
the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million
other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table.
"We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! !
Let's blow'em out of the sky!"
----------------------------------------------------------
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My
writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.
----------------------------------------------------------
Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at
writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
----------------------------------------------------------