Brasil

I am going to venture that Mimmi's Poetry In Motion is about Yours Truly. Here's why. If it's about me, [quote]you search my fires and evoke revelations imploring freedom The desire to move further[/quote] A teacher is required to search students and find what drives them--what motivates them to go further into a subject, a work and find deeper meanings. [quote]you entwine deepness to my core[/quote] The idea of getting a student away from the superficial nature of education and getting down to the roots of something. [quote]guide me senseless to blissful insights Tempt the craving to learn[/quote] "Craving to learn." ::nods:: [quote]you pleasure me to early beds of graves dug deep with stunning knowledge[/quote] "Deep with stunning knowledge." The idea of an instructor just putting a student in awe of what has just been said, to the point where the student's face lights up and the jaw drops--in a wholesome and innocent way, of course. ^_^;;; [quote]The final slip awaits deliverance[/quote] This, however, I'm still deciding what it means. A slip can be defined as a push over the edge, slipping into a deep sea. So, we could extrapolate...all you need is the final push so that you can finally be whole. Was that close?

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i] [B]Begging your pardon, but I did not contradict. I used Mitch's word "perspective" to make a point that (I thought) detracted from his argument. In fact, my initial post in this thread was fairly ambiguious; there are only two things that I have stated in black and white terms: that I believe there is a definite meaning of "[b]evil[/b]" that can be applied universally, and that Hitler was an [b]evil[/b] man. However, the actual "line in the sand" where one can say "These things are [b]evil[/b], unforgivable acts, and we all agree that they are" is unknown to me. The acts I critisized were the murder of children and Hitler's actions. [/quote] You can always beg; but that doesn't mean you're going to get it. Oh, your initial post, eh? Did you write this? [quote] I'm not going to define evil, because everyone's exact definition is different. You will know something's evil when you see it. If something is so depraved it makes you vomit, if a scene is so incredibly violent that you have to look away, if an action is so wrong you have to ask yourself how anyone could possibly do something like that...that's evil.[/quote] DeathBug, do enlighten us how you did not contradict your statement there. From how that excerpt looks, your initial post was far from ambiguous?in fact, stating [i]precisely[/i] what Mitch has been saying all along, and you even had the gall to accuse him of using a cop-out. [quote] No offense, but that's a bunch of crap. I'm sorry, but some things are evil, and I don't care who you are or what your perceptions are[/quote] Your argument died right there. You can try to rationalize your way out of this one, honey, but you?ve just lost all credibility here, and frankly, I don?t even need to go through the rest of your rebuttal, but let?s do so anyway. [quote]I am aware of that. However, it seems you misunderstood the point; Mitch made the point that Hitler himself did not physically kill, but had others do the actions under his command. (Who shared his perspective, was Mitch's point.) Hitler made a point of eliminating (in various forms) his political opposition during his rise to power. There was dissent, but not enough to make a sizeable dent in his opperations. You say that they flocked to Hitler because of his promises to raise them out of depression. (Which I totally agree with.) However, to support someone and to continue to support them are different things. Although I am not sure what to classify the phenomena as, those who knew of Hitler's practices still followed his orders without fault. There are almost no cases of dissent. One of his camps (I cannot recall which) was located a mile from a civilian town. They knew what was happening and did nothing. A government cannot function without the consent of the governed. They gave him their concensus. However, all of this is tangenial.[/quote] ?A government cannot function without the consent of the governed.? That?s the most intelligent thing you?ve said so far in this thread. Cheers. You?re agreeing with me a lot here, too. Interesting. ?There are almost no cases of dissent. One of his camps (I cannot recall which) was located a mile from a civilian town. They knew what was happening and did nothing.? Perhaps they finally had something? Stability? They had no reason to do anything. You, for example. Say your government decides to invade Canada, and you live in Wisconsin, which is a prime location for the war on Canada. Let?s take this even further, and say that the Canadians wiped out the National Treasury. Now, your government says there is a need to establish containment areas for Canadians living in Wisconsin, and that containment area happens to be in the next town over. What do you do? You have no means of supporting yourself, and the government offers to protect you, to aide you, to help you rebuild your life, if you agree to assist them in their war on Canadians. What do you do? Do you fight those helping you? Do you bite the hand that feeds you? Certainly not. That would be an example of challenging authority, which translates to challenging a teacher. [quote]If [b]evil/corruption[/b] is gradation, what is the final destination of the gradation? I'm not arguing, per sae, but you don't say where it leads.[/quote] Oh?so here is your ?Absolute? ideal, even though you declined to define evil in your initial post because everyone had their own definitions. Gradation is the gray area, which you have consistently failed to acknowledge, DeathBug, both in this thread and in others of recently. I see no need to further explain myself, as you refuse to acknowledge the gray area. Come to think of it, in the NCLB thread, when you could not keep denying the gray area, you resorted to ?it?s my opinion.? Do tell me if I?m wrong, but that?s ?a matter of perspective,? now isn?t it? You fell back on ?a matter of perspective.? Why are you so quick to criticize others for using it, when you fail to criticize yourself in this very thread? [quote]i find it interesting that you should speak of Kurtz as "free", while I always thought his freedom was one of the biggest ironic twists of the book. Yes, kurtz is free, as was stated; he was free of the false trappings of civilization, and is now free to think, but what does he do with that freedom? He squanders it. He is now imprisoned by himself. He has the natives get more ivory, but he never puts it to use. He doesn't want to return to civilization, yet at the same time, he is disgusted by the people that surround him. ("Exterminate all the brutes", or something to that effect.) Everyone Marlowe speaks with thinks highly of Kurtz or his abilities; he could have been anything he wanted. In fact, it was Marlowe's curiosity with Kurtz that drives him to locate him. Kurtz could have been anything. Kurtz could have changed the world. And what happens? Kurtz dies ignobly, virtually unknown outside of the Company. Perhaps it is a difference of opinion, but that hardly seems the death fitting of a man who held such potential. Marlowe actually fairs worse than Kurtz, because he is forced to retun to society. He is disgusted and dissillusioned, and his independence and intellectual freedom has brought nothing but eternal dissatisfaction. I don't think that HoD is entirely relevant to good and [b]evil[/b], since it dealt with civilization and savagrey, and those are entirely subjective.[/QUOTE] Kurtz died of Malaria. Malaria can change a person?s destiny. Squanders it? Hardly. He builds an empire. He changes the world. Are you concentrating solely on his sickness? Are you suggesting that a man on his deathbed squandered his life? ?And what happens? Kurtz dies ignobly, virtually unknown outside of the Company. Perhaps it is a difference of opinion, but that hardly seems the death fitting of a man who held such potential.? Did you not read the passage about the papers? He had written memoirs so that his message will live on. Marlow is not disillusioned. He is wise: [quote]Marlow ceased, and sat apart, indistinct and silent, in the pose of a meditating Buddha.[/quote] Are you suggesting Conrad wrote that passage simply for the hell of it? What does Buddha symbolize? Wisdom, peace, tranquility, and knowledge. Marlow does not reveal the truth to Kurtz?s fiancée because the truth is too much for her. It would destroy her, as she is not yet ready to know. Marlow?s fabrication is not a sign of disgust; it is a sign of applied logic. It is a sign of clarity of situation. DeathBug, do not write off the ending to Heart Of Darkness as meaningles[b]s[/b] or trite, or filt[b]h[/b]y, simply beca[b]u[/b]se you fail [b]t[/b]o read it fully, with yo[b]u[/b]r mind o[b]p[/b]e[b]n[/b] t[b]o[/b] the experience, [b]w[/b]onder and language[b].[/b]

I'm heading to class, so I'll make this brief. Also, I apologize for any spelling errors that may be in this post. I think there is one key point that 90% of these posters are mission. It is not a matter of perspective, nor is it a matter of black and white. It is a matter of [i]gradation[/i]. DeathBug, you tend to view things in only black and white, and have done so in the early half of your discussion here. Now, however, you are beginning to adopt matter of perspective. I'd clean up your contradictions before you decide to post again. Mitch, yes, perspective factors in partially. But mostly, it is gradation. I bring in Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness, as Jordan and I were discussing it last night. He is required to read it for school. Lucky devil ;). He asked about Conrad's motives in HoD, and whether the presentation of humanity was more concentrating on clear-cut, black and white "Evil," or the matter of perspectives. I conclude that Conrad intended neither in HoD. Here is why. While HoD is a very concrete book with very concrete messages concerning evil, it is made very clear that "Evil" itself is a nonapplicable issue in the work. Throughout HoD, we are mezmerized by Kurtz, without even meeting him. Kurtz has long been idolized as evil incarnate. But, when we examine just what evil is, we see, as Charles as put it in this very thread, a literary convention. I would further suppose that Edmund Spenser's The Fairie Queene is the exact illustration of evil. Simply, evil is an archetype--an outdated one at that. The notion of an all-encompassing demon is something that dates back to Romantic literature, even King Lear features archetypes of evil. Lear's legend was based on a Germanic tale, I believe. So, using "evil" to describe a Modern-Day maniacal dictator is foolhardy. On the subject of Hitler, DeathBug, know your history. The German populace did not agree with Hitler on their own free will. They did not flock to him because they agreed on wiping out the world's populace. They supported him because he gave them false hopes of economic stability. You said so yourself. "Socioeconomic pressures." On top of that, Hitler was a very charismatic guy. Watch old footage of him. He knows how to work a crowd. That's why he came into power. Because he knew how to get people on his side. He saw opportunity and grabbed it. Desperation causes people to do bizarre things, even on OB. Don't play off the German following of Hitler as some...mass independently-derived support or consensual agreement. But back to gradation. HoD strongly emphasizes gradation of corruption. Come to think of it, "evil" should not be used. "Corruption" should be its common-day replacement. So, Kurtz essentially unplugged himself from the Company and resorts to savagery. He has, according to most scholars, been corrupted by the jungle. This makes sense, as there are skulls impaled in his compound, an Amazon mistress clad in very little, and a distinct air of disease and Malaria surrounding Kurtz. However, is Kurtz really that corrupt? He opens Marlowe's eyes to the dangers of civilization. He shows Marlowe what it means to be alive, even in the disease-stricken Congo. Kurtz is not a symbol of evil; he never was. He was a symbol of independent thought. He symbolized just how strong civilization's strangehold on humanity is. This message is only strengthened in Apocalypse Now. Many criticize Marlon Brando's improvisations, but they often fail to realize that Brando achieved a character interpretation that further opens the window into Kurtz's mind. What may seem like some random interjection about a snail crawling on the edge of a razor blade is actually Kurtz's greatest fear. The "civilized" humanity is always crawling on the edge of a razor blade and surviving. But they shouldn't. That is a beauty of human existence, and yet it is a downfall. We survive by some...miracle, in a sense. Perhaps, we are all still crawling on the razor blade, hoping to get to the end to fully live our lives. Kurtz has already done this. He has already been through the razor blade. That is why he cannot be viewed as evil. He is aware. If anything, Kurtz is a positive figure. Marlowe sees Kurtz's freedom, desires it, and ultimately achieves it. But throughout the journey, the Odyssey ;), he is conflicted. He consistently wavers back and forth between civilization and freedom. He consistently goes along the gradation of corruption. See? It's a matter of gradation; not black and white; not matter of perspective. I hope I cleared a few things up.

I guess we could classify Zero Mission as a "sleeper title," in that it's been so hush hush, and kept under the gaming radar for such a long time. My only beef with the game is it's coming out on GBA/SP. I have no problem with playing it on GBA, but I'd really dig a modern side-scrolling Metroid designed for Cube. But, as Zero Mission looks now, sweet. I'm looking through the screenshots, and find myself wondering, "Is Zero Mission going to play like Fusion?" Not that Fusion's engine or gameplay was bad, per se, but it just...lacked something. It didn't feel like a Metroid game. It felt more like "a nifty side-scroller action/adventure starring Samus." Meaning, you could have placed any character in there and the game still would have been the same, I suppose. I didn't get that from Prime, nor Super Metroid, and NES Metroid made sure that Samus belonged. But Fusion didn't. I don't have a clear idea why. Perhaps it was the new gameplay mechanics; they were just too different? So, that's my main concern for Zero Mission, I guess, that the gameplay is going to be based on Fusion and feel less like Metroid. EDIT: Did I just make any sense?

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by jacobian007 [/i] [B]i do not type that way for school papers. i would fail....just like that *snaps* [/B][/QUOTE] Not only for school papers, but also here, on OB. *cough*[url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30059]Forum Rules[/url]*cough* Jeeze, I just can't get rid of this cough. *cough*[quote]· Incoherent Posts: At OtakuBoards.com, we greatly emphasize the concept of having clear, easy to read posts. This includes correct use of spelling, grammar and punctuation. If a member is posting with very poor quality, they will be asked to clean up their future posts. If the member persists in posting poorly, they will be banned from the site.[/quote]*cough*

Urge to kill...rising... [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by jacobian007 [/i] [B]and as for the grammer goes, im so used to talking on AIM that i naturally type that way [/B][/QUOTE] No, no, no. AIM is not an accepted form of language. It's AIMSpeak, not acceptable by any stretch of the imagination. Tell me that you do not type that way for school assignments. I strongly advise you to break the AIMSpeak habit and write correctly. As for the poem/song/thing, I'd suggest--apart from the grammar itself--to rework the general rhythm of the piece. Of course, there is only so much one can do with angsty material. But, that does not mean anything goes, lol. As your piece stands now, it's...basic. I'm all for a Minimalist style, but there is a point at which Minimalism becomes Skeletalized. I think this piece is at the Skeletal point. Add some meat to it, being sure to pay attention to grammar, structure, and rhythm, and it should work nicely.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by The Vampire: Ed [/i] [B]That stuff was addicting. It would make me sick, but I couldn't tear myself away from it. It is the Devil's beverage!!! It's a liquid mixed of pure evil, and hatred for humanity. DAMN YOU SURGE!!!! [/B][/QUOTE] TVE now has my vote for funniest post of the week. Way to go, Rob! And yeah. Surge was very addicting. My cousin, Rich, got me hooked on it. Anytime he'd come over here, he'd bring a 2-liter or two, and anytime I was over there, we drank 6-packs. I swear, I was becoming Tweak before I went cold turkey. I still get the craving nowadays...glad I started smoking. That helps a lot. Sugar and I are a very dangerous duo. Just ask my deathmatch friends to describe the...Skittles Situation.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i] [B][color=indigo][size=1][font=century]I am completely and totally aware that my views on education are limited, and based mostly on my own experience. They are weak, don't stand up to scrutiny, and probably shouldn't be held by anyone making educational policy. And they work just fine for me. I only have to get myself through the education system at the moment, and I'm not yet old enough to vote on education legislation or candidates who support/oppose it. I'm kinda' not sure why I felt a need to rant on education in the first place. When I will be voting on candidates, or sending a child through the education system, the need will arise for me to look beyond my own experiences and heavily consider facets of the public education system I never bothered with before. Until then, I don't have the time to do so. Not to belittle education at all, but I can't do anything to affect it at present, and didn't give it a lot of thought prior to writing that post. You, obviously, are heavily involved in education, and have had to consider it in many respects. Of course you will unerstand it better and have different opinions than I do, and have more facts to support them. I've begun studying law, and I'll soon (hopefully) have different opinions on the legals system than I do now, and will be better able to understand it and its relevancy and effect on many others, not just myself. And like the man said, that's all I really have to say about that. Have fun in Pittsburg.[/color][/font][/size] [/B][/QUOTE] Now, here comes "Teacher Alex," as I work this post back into the main topic of the thread, NCLB. "I am completely and totally aware that my views on education are limited, and based mostly on my own experience. They are weak, don't stand up to scrutiny, and probably shouldn't be held by anyone making educational policy." You have just described the majority of politicians who created NCLB. As I have done in this thread, in heavily scrutinizing the legislation, I have proven that those responsible for the legislation's criteria are quite uninformed of the true nature of education, and you have just given us the definition of what I have been illustrating. "I'm kinda' not sure why I felt a need to rant on education in the first place. " And I am very confident that the legislators and politicians responsible for NCLB will be saying the following in two years; [quote]I'm not sure why I felt the need to attempt to enforce such a drastic change on education in the first place.[/quote] "Not to belittle education at all, but I can't do anything to affect it at present, and didn't give it a lot of thought prior to writing that post." I wonder if the legislators gave education any thought prior to writing the NCLB proposal? They probably thought about it for a long time, but since they are not entirely knowledgeable about the educational institution, nor what it truly needs, as you just admitted you were, they really have no leg to stand on. DeathBug, I'm glad this discussion took place; it allowed everyone here to see just what was going on in education. Glad you participated; thanks very much, bye.

I have a suggestion. Normal members (Non-Mods) no longer have the ability to delete threads they start. I find it to be very questionable that a thread disappears if the thread starter happens to get decimated in it.

Surge...goood stuff. One or two cans of it and you had enough energy to blast through the night. I've needed 4 bottles of rootbeer to get the same energy jolt. Great stuff.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i] Yes, I took it for granted I would have bad teachers at some point in high school. My school has seven periods. I could have had as many as fifty-two different teachers in four years. Odds are, one of them wouldn't be up-to-snuff. I think that it would be naieve of me to think I would have only great teachers; I would have lost contact with reality with that attitude, rather than just accepting I'll end up with a bad teacher at some point, then moving on with my life. Yes, there are more mediocre students; however, most students have potential. The next Einstien's interests in Pysics may have been crushed by an apathetic teacher who wrote off the entire class. It's nothing new to say that most students are mediocre; ten-percent of the world has been supporting the other ninety-percent for a while now.[/quote] The bottom line is, [i]everyone[/i] has had or will have mediocre instructors. Knowing that you will run into a few bad apples is one thing; letting it rule your entire belief system is something entirely different. See, Deathbug, you are letting your assumptions/experiences/beliefs become everyone else's reality. You are essentially forcing those around you to adhere to your educational beliefs. You succeeded where others failed. So what? Props and kudos to you, but that doesn't mean you can...insult or belittle those others who weren't able to do what you did. To turn this hypercritical eye on them is quite ill-advised, and is something I strongly advise you to work on. There's a quote I've heard a few times at college, "No, everyone around you isn't stupid and you're not normal; everyone around you is normal and you're an exception." It'd suit you well to take that to heart. :) "Yes, there are more mediocre students; however, most students have potential. The next Einstien's interests in Pysics may have been crushed by an apathetic teacher who wrote off the entire class." I think that's going a bit extreme, there. I realize you intended for a hyperbolic example, but...that certainly does not support your argument. And since you bring up Einstein...you do know that he got mediocre grades in his elementary, middle, and high school (I believe) classes? He received mediocre grades because he was bored with the work. He failed classes because he refused to show his mathematical procedures. I think it's fairly safe to say that his instructor was to blame, and I would think that if we were to ask Einstein, he would blame his instructor, as well. Does that mean Einstein was a bad student? That he deserved to fail? "It's nothing new to say that most students are mediocre; ten-percent of the world has been supporting the other ninety-percent for a while now." This sounds very bitter. Surely you are not under the assumption that you have been helping to support 90% of your school? I should hope you aren't. [quote]I see the harm that the NCLB act could inflict, but I also see the benefits if it actually achieves what it's trying to do. in my opinion, it can go either way. I'd have rather waited to get more concrete and proven legislation, myself, but I'm not a policy maker...yet...[/quote] "Concrete and proven legislation" We're talking about politicians here, keep in mind. Rarely do we ever get concrete legislation. I think expecting a "better" version is foolish. We're dealing with what we were given, and that is the NCLB legislation that we've been discussing over the past two pages. We should examine NCLB closely. Yes, there are benefits to it, but look at what the requirements for the benefits are, and look at what school systems are already on the warning list, and considering that the bill went active last year, correct? These schools only have two years left to get their acts together, if their acts were faltering to begin with. Take Cinnaminson High School, for example. The grades...suck. I attended CHS. Now, the grades have slipped even more in the three years since I graduated. This NCLB just bitchslapped CHS. If the grades there are unable to improve, the instructors and administrators run the risk of being fired. I can guarantee that those instructors are on the top of their game. Only once or twice did I have a teacher who was a bit scatterbrained here and there. The rest are sharp. My Frosh year Earth Science teacher consistently drilled us. You couldn't get anything past him. If you were bullshitting your presentation, he made sure to correct you. Considering the wide variety of topics, covering a range of material, he could not be faulted for anything. The other instructors there are no different. Let me ask you, do the benefits of NCLB outweigh this danger of good teachers getting canned? I don't know if you watched Last Comic Standing, but one comic there--Rob, I believe, was an elementary school teacher. When the judges were asking him questions, one asked, "Now, are we gaining a great comic, or losing a good teacher?" The educational institution cannot afford to lose teachers who know how to teach. That is the bottom line. And what I see happening with this NCLB, is precisely that. Teachers can only do so much; it is up to the students to finish the job, and when students fail to succeed, the teachers are not to blame, except in those unique circumstances. [quote]When I said "higher education", I was speaking of high school. Apparently that is the incorrect usage. I can't comment on college very well, having not attended. Ask me next December about college.[/quote] Now since we are aware of your specific discussion points, let's re-examine your statements, shall we? [quote][i]Originally posted by Deathbug[/i] My views on education is that higher education is the shared responsibility of the student and the teacher. (Parents need to be heavily involved in early stages, but as time goes on, they're needed less and less.) A teacher must be trying to teach and a student must be trying to learn. However, in this relationship, the student has the more powerful position. This is because the student is capable of learning without the teacher. Whether or not the student chooses to learn is a far more important choice that what the teacher decides to do.[/quote] Deathbug, you still have not sufficiently clarified your statements. In this excerpt, "higher education" is high school, correct? Very well, let's examine it. How many high schoolers do you know that their parents are not involved at all in any aspect of their high school experience? I ask because those students whose parents are totally uninvolved...we should not hold that against the student. When we present that as evidence against the student, we should be disgusted with ourselves. Tell me you do not hold lack of parental involvement against the student. Deathbug, I should let you know right now, that you are sounding incredibly negative and cruel to the student populace, and that is making me doubt you more and more. Now, "however, in this relationship." Are you still talking about high school? If so, you are wholly mistaken. "However, in this relationship, the student has the more powerful position. This is because the student is capable of learning without the teacher." Incorrect. You possibly missed my previous statement. [quote][i]Originally posted by PoisonTongue[/i] In a high school environment, surely you agree that the majority of students are unable to pick up the chemistry book, math book, even English book, and effectively teach themselves? As much as it is dangerous to say this, and as much as I don?t want to, high schoolers are really just a blank slate. There are a few shiners here and there, but generally, the teachers have the power to change their students? lives, to change the course of their educational career.[/quote] Since you are admitting to be referring to high school with the "student capable of learning without the teacher" idea, I refer you to my above quote, and re-express my opinion that you are basing everything that...should be...on your own experiences. Like I said previously, you were an exception. You do not apply to the rest of the student populace, and to present yourself as representational of the whole, or "the norm," is wholly uneducated about the educational process. [quote]I am aware that a large part of my beliefs are based on my experiences; my experiences are the only ones I completely trust. [/quote] I rest my case. You are untrusting of anyone other than yourself, which means I can no longer treat your post as possessing any significant quality. [quote]I would argue that 3/4 is too high a number to place on unmotivated students, but my data is all based on my own experience. Motivation is a hard thing to quantify nationaly.[/quote] You admit that you are only viewing this from your own perspective, from your own limited experiences. [quote]Some situations are black and white. I'm aware that a great many of the more complicated issues have gray areas, but it is knowledge about a subject that produces the gray area. I'm not really an expert in education, having not given national education systems much thought, at least in this manner. So, its' a black and white issue for me unless I become informed-enough in it to see the gray area. [/quote] "I'm not really an expert in education, having not given national education systems much thought, at least in this manner." Again, I need not say anything. [quote]The arguments for and against the NCLB act that I've read have actually produced a gray area for me. If you wanted to talk about something else, say....limiting the ammount juries may award plaintiffs in punative damage lawsuits....that's a gray area right there, and because I study it, I can tell you why. Knowledge produces the gray area; I don't have a lot on this subject, so I don't see as much of a gray area as you do.[/quote] "I don't have a lot on this subject, so I don't see as much of a gray area as you do." [quote]You must admit that your circumstances in which you were failed (I'll admit it) were a bit unique. I've never heard an advanced student say that the teacher "Failed them". The only people I hear saying that are those that didn't even bother. I just dislike that phrase.[/quote] Ah, but in a collegiate level, those are not unique circumstances. "The only people I hear saying that are those that didn't even bother. I just dislike that phrase." 1) "Only people." Limited experience. 2) "I just dislike that phrase." Don't do it. Do not fall back on "it's my opinion." [quote]I think I'm done clarifying myself....I'm gonna' go play Smash Bros. Melee, or maybe Soul Caliber II.[/QUOTE] ^_^ Speaking of Melee, everyone wish me luck next Friday. I'm heading out to Pittsburgh for a gaming tourney. PoisonTongue

[quote]First, I'll state for the record that I have no real motive for typing this, other than self-expression.[/quote] That's what makes the world go 'round, dude. :) If I sound harsh in the following, don't worry about it. [quote]I took it for granted that I would get a lame duck teacher at some point in my life, and figured you just have to work with what you have. In that sense, I might be biased; if I can overcome a crappy teacher and still do al right in the class, I'm not that sympathetic to those that don't.[/quote] That was your first mistake: assuming something; taking something for granted. When we take something for granted, we lose touch with the reality of a situation. While you may have had a positive outcome, the negative outcomes far outnumber the positive ones. Looking at high schools today, there are far more mediocre students than there are exceptional ones. We look at the majority of students, and the majority of students would sooner...go play Smash Bros Melee or Soul Calibur II than write that essay on General Robert E. Lee. It's simply the way things work. [quote]Now, the NCLB act; I'll admit handily that I did'nt know anything about the act's legislation until this thread was started. The accusations that were flying, that the act would close the school if a student failed, seemed so incredibly counter-productive that I couldn't believe such legislation would pass Congress. So I looked it up to find out what was going on. With such recent knowlege regarding the act, I really am in no position to argue semantics. My opinion on the legislation is this: President Bush was trying to do what he and his advisors thought best. Everyone wants to improve public education. Whether or not what the administration did actually would be successful remains to be seen. (Admittedly, I'm a bit cautious when people instantly take to ragging on the President's actions. With Bush-bashing being the fashion, it pays to consider whether what is being assaulted is an action, or an action [u]done by Bush[/u].)[/quote] But after reading it, you do see the extreme harm it can inflict upon the educational institution, and thus see where those "flying accusations" were coming from. It is an issue of being knowledgeable before writing off someone's viewpoint, which I feel you failed to do in your previous post, and that is why I..."called you on it." You weren't knowledgeable about your point or purpose of that post, which is why it came out very muddled and haphazardly. [quote]Now, my views on education. I speak only as a student, and not as one with experience in the teaching profession. My views on education is that higher education is the shared responsibility of the student and the teacher. (Parents need to be heavily involved in early stages, but as time goes on, they're needed less and less.) A teacher must be trying to teach and a student must be trying to learn. However, in this relationship, the student has the more powerful position. This is because the student is capable of learning without the teacher. Whether or not the student chooses to learn is a far more important choice that what the teacher decides to do.[/quote] I feel there needs to be clarification here. The conventional definition of "higher education" refers to college-level instruction. When you speak of higher education and the need of a "shared responsibility of the student and the teacher," and the parents' "need to be heavily involved in early stages, but as time goes on, they're needed less and less;" it is a very strong indication that you are indeed referring to college-level instruction. On your point there, I agree with you. The professor-student dynamic is very important in college, and many professors find themselves mentoring students, whether through Advisor positions or even just offering guidance along the student's collegiate [i]adventures[/i] (hehe.). The administrative-student bond is strong, as well. I have bonded with the English Department secretary, and many of the officers in the Student Activities Office. I relax in the English Suites, chatting with my professors. Now, where you should clarify is this passage; "However, with this relationship..." It is not entirely clear that you are still talking about collegiate level. Your choice of phrasing was ambiguous. "However, in this relationship, the student has the more powerful position. This is because the student is capable of learning without the teacher. Whether or not the student chooses to learn is a far more important choice that what the teacher decides to do." Even examining this point, which I have determined to be further discussing college, you must be careful. Here's why. Yes, the student is capable of learning without the teacher in a college environment. However, college professors are not the type to just let a student slide by. They are often even harder on tardy students, or those who sleep in class, or those who do not complete the reading. Might I also add, that a missed reading assignment on a college level is quite deadly to the student's course progress. There is this "safety net" that pre-college students are told about, how your professors will not care if you skip class, or come in late, or leave early. That is yet another heinous educational myth, and one that future teachers, and current teachers, should be working to thoroughly debunk. Many students are in for a shock upon entering college, and rightly so. College students are in control of their academic results for the most part. There are extenuating circumstances that occur fairly frequently, however. I'll touch on that more when I am at the necessary point. [quote]I'm not sure why my earlier post comes off as anti-teacher, when I historically side with teachers. I place more responsibility on students, as a rule. A teacher that say the "Students don't want to learn" is a bad teacher, emphasis on [i]student[b]s[/b][/i]. Plural. I'm not talking the odd unmotivated slacker student, I'm talking their students in general.[/quote] Again, you are failing to take into account student populace. You are basing your opinions [i]solely[/i] on your experiences, which in this discussion, is ill-advised. Here is why. While your case may have been a special one, an exception to "the rule," it is far from the reality of high school, or schooling in general. As I mentioned previously, the majority of high schoolers would be more inclined to get drunk, high, or just waste their nights away doing nothing. And that is not limited only to outside school. Every time--yes, every time--my English classes went to the computer labs to work on in-class essays, only a small handful of students would actually work on the paper. And this is not only my [i]personal[/i] experience. I have gone into the computer labs when other classes were there and saw the same thing. "I'm not talking the odd unmotivated slacker student, I'm talking their students in general." This is far from the case. It is not only one occasional unmotivated "slacker" student. I go as far as to say, at least 3/4 of the student populace demonstrates this behavior. It is certainly not an isolated incident, as you portray. [quote]As for the phrase "failed me"; I simply cannot, on my priciples, condone the use of that phrase, at least not as much as it is used. It indicates a lack of responsibility for the outcome, and because, to my way of thinking, anyway, the student has more of an impact on their education than their teachers. The student takes the tests and does the projects. If they do good work and understand the subject matter, they should not fail. Perhaps it is merely my own personality, but I can't stand it when students say that. If you fail, it is most likely your responsibility. You recount a personal incident, where it seems by what you said that you were well-aquainted with the subject material, but you left outt he most important detail: the basis on which you recieved a failing grade.[/quote] Before starting on the extenuating circumstances, I will suggest that you are viewing things in a very ?black and white? motif. I advise against that. It will not suit you in the long run, and I propose, will only hurt you in the future. Ah, yes. The extenuating circumstances. The Sociology of Education instructor's methods were questionable at best. Not to say she graded unfairly, but she really did not grade at all. Not only did we never receive the pop quizzes back, not once did she go over the material covered in them. Considering, also, that she based the pop quizzes on one tiny paragraph of on average, a 20 page reading. I believe the shortest reading assignments we had were 15 pages. The "big" assignments were few and far between. We had no final exam, nor a mid-term. Finals and mid-terms are quite customary, mind you. Instead, we had a mid-semester paper worth approximately 40% of our grade. This would not seem so damaging, but she had a "No Late Paper" policy that she mentioned once in our 5 page syllabus, and nowhere in her "lectures," which, might I add, were an hour and a half each. She did not give leeway in technological issues, even though the majority of our classroom participation grade depended on a rather archaic and sometimes volatile WebCT program, which was essentially a giant message board. I recently ran into a classmate of mine from the course and she relayed her current grade situation. She had disagreed about her final grade, at which our professor agreed to talk to her about it. This student emailed the professor within a week of the semester ending, only to get no reply until sending a second email a few weeks later. The professor?s reply fell back on a corrupted file or virus in her computer. I find it very questionable that the professor saw no harm in blaming technological issues when it suited her. Surely you see that, too, Deathbug? Further, she was a researcher. Meaning, she was not a full-fledged instructor. She spent most of her adult life living in third-world countries, studying third-world schools. She played us some of the video in class. Even further, the Teacher Prep Department directors aren't very fond of her. They have now introduced an alternate course to fulfill the Teacher Prep requirement, taught by a very respected and effective instructor, meaning, not her. Satisfied? :) [quote]I'll gladly admit that I am biased against that phrase, because the students I always hear using it are the slackers who didn't put effort into the class in the first place. tHe whole phrase reeks of a lack of responsibility for the results of your education. My biggest pet peeve is responsuibilty, and how no one takes it any more. I do not believe I said that a student should take control of their class; I said they should take control of their education. tHe materials are there, even if the teacher is apathetic. More than likely, they've got a book and the class outline, and more than likely, they can procure one if they don't. I do still believe that a student who "isn't challenged" has no excuse for not passing. You have to pass your easier classes to move onto more difficult ones, even if it's boring to do so. There is some personal bias in that, because I "wasn't chalenged" for two years until I changed school systems and got some recognition and relocation. [/quote] Here is where you will need further clarification in the future. In a high school environment, surely you agree that the majority of students are unable to pick up the chemistry book, math book, even English book, and effectively teach themselves? As much as it is dangerous to say this, and as much as I don?t want to, high schoolers are really just a blank slate. There are a few shiners here and there, but generally, the teachers have the power to change their students? lives, to change the course of their educational career. I realize where you?re coming from, and how proud you are that you accomplished so much with what you were given, and I truly and deeply commend you for it. I seriously do. But, you have to examine this from a wider standpoint; you have to view this with the gray area in mind. That gray area is the majority. [quote]As for the lawsuit statements....gah, what was I drinking when I wrote that crap? I was feeling mean-spirited; please disregard that garbage, and proceed to flog me until I get the point. Basically...I feel that education is the shared responsibility of the teachers and the students. I aklao feel that my earlier posts were disorganized, mean-spirited crap. Thanks for calling me on it instead of letting me continue to make a fool of myself. ^^;;[/QUOTE] EDIT INSERT: Now that you agree it is a shared responsibility, do appreciate what the teachers are saying, please. No longer automatically write-off something that you feel does not apply to you, because in the long-run, it does affect you. I am very confident that this NCLB will come back and bite us. Hehe. I?ve long since stopped flogging. Just doesn?t get the same positive response like it used to. >_< And, don?t worry about making a fool of yourself. I was glad to point it out, so you could better understand the big picture. PoisonTongue

DeathBug...let me tell you a few things. I don't have the time to read the legislation fully, but there are a few points you make that...are rather ill-advised. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i] Now, I enter personal rant mode: There are two great misconceptions in the education system which, ironically and admittedly, contradict each other, but they're from opposite sides of the fence, so it's easy to understand why. First, the "Students that don't want to learn" myth; as I said earlier, that is the Bad Teacher's Mantra, the one applied when teachers wish to disavow responsibility with the learning process. I tell you right now, any teacher who says that is a bad teacher. They have given up, period. Why should they bother if they've written the students off in their minds? They need to look for a new job and make way for educators that actually think their students aren't slack-jawed yokels.[/quote] So, I'm a bad teacher, then? Surely, you're not accusing me of having given up when I [i]know[/i] that there are students who will just not try at all in a class? Surely, you're not calling me heartless? Uncaring? Don't even start to try to tell me that because I've seen the reality of education, both in high school and on a college level, that I don't know what I'm talking about and/or I'm some...apathetic instructor. Did it ever occur to you that there are teachers who say "students that don't want to learn" for a reason? The reason is because that's true. Ever been in a high school course? Hell, even some college classrooms still have those students. [quote]Now, when outside observers say this, they are uninformed because they're outside. They might actually be right, but I'd rather hear what someone who actually has a hand in the educational process has to say, wouldn't you?[/quote] Let me get this straight. When a teacher says it, you disregard it. You just had a tirade about it above. And you disregard "outsiders" saying it, because they're "outside," and thus uninformed. But "they might actually be right," you say, but that apparently doesn't matter, because you'd like to hear it from someone who has a hand in the educational process...which would be teachers. Also, you are subscribing to a horrid educational myth right there; that students are not part of their educational process. That is wholly false. You have obviously been poisoned by some second-rate instructor to think that. So, now I question your motives entirely. [quote]When a student sauys that there are kids that don't want to learn, they're right. There are some students who simply don't care. But you knoww hat? They're in the minority. You might be unfortunate enough to be in class with them, but most students at least want to pass. (Whether or not they do anything towards achieving this goal is another matter entirely.) You can't write off the whole barrel for a few bad apples.[/quote] So...now you're believing students are "right"? Didn't you just write off the teachers' statements? Now you're siding with the students? Well, forgive me for asking, but...do you realize how big of a contradiction that is? In the very same post, you disregard instructor opinion, then when an outsider to the educational system brings up the same point, you disregard that, flying back to the instructors' point, which was the same damn idea. Now, you're saying that students know what's going on, and they're saying the same thing as the instructors. What are you trying to say? [quote]The "the student isn't challenged" myth; I actually find this funny. what you are saying is that the student could easily do well in the class, s/he just doesn't. S/he isn't "challeneged"; this smacks of a complete and total refusal of responsibility for yoyr grades and your future. If you're not in a situation where you can be "challeneged", and you're bored in class because you know everything, my God, you have absolutely [b]no excuse[/b] for not passing! You say as much yourself; "I'm not being challenged; this is too easy." If it's too easy, why aren't you passing? So it's boring; suck it up. It's simple logic; if you pass your classes with ease, you'll be noticed, and increase your odds of being placed in a class where you're "challenged". you have no excuse not to do outstandingly well if your excuse is that you're "not challenged". So you'll have to go in to a daily string of monotony; welcome to the real world. You think that sucks, wait 'till you get a job. The problem with the world today is that no one wants to take responsibility for themselves. Speaking of which...[/quote] Cheers! Now practice what you preach. You have not convinced me that you are a good student by any stretch of the imagination. All I see here in your post, is someone who is bitter over a grade, school year, etc. I don't see someone who understands the educational system. You have yet to "show your stuff." [quote]The other great myth of education, what can be called the Bad Student's Mantra: "The teacher failed me." Right, so I'm guessing the fact that you don't know the subject matter has nothing to do with it? [b]The teacher doesn't "fail" you; you failed![/b] If it was English, maybe you failed because you're using the word "failed" incorrectly...[/quote] Ooh. The problem with your argument here, is that my Sociology of Education instructor failed me this past Fall of 2003. No big deal. Summer classes will take care of the credits. But here's where your argument loses strength. I knew the material like the back of my hand. I could have taught the course. Seriously. I could have gotten up in front of 120 students and taught the course. The instructor's curriculum featured "educational articles" dating back to the 60s. Our most recent "text" was a book called Jocks And Burnouts, written and published in 1989. Also, keeping in mind, that in my notebook, I had jotted down some paper topics in the first week of the semester (September). The paper was on how to effectively develop rapport with students. This is what I wrote: "Take the first week and talk with your students. Get to know them." Flash forward to the end of November. Guess what one of the very [i]last[/i] reading assignments was? Guess what it advised. To spend a week or two getting to know your students. I'm sure I didn't know the class material, huh? [quote]Now, I am aware that in classes that require a great deal of essay writing and the like, the teacher's personal discretion can ienter in a lot more than a class full of multiple choice quizzes, and that some teachers can simply not like a student. First off, those instances are few and far between when you consider the unfathomably vast amount of classes that are going on accross the country. And if it turns out that the dislike is on the basis of gender or race, guess what? Lawsuit; you now own that teacher. If you can prove that the teacher is being unfair in his/her grading scale, you can solve the problem.[/quote] "And if it turns out that the dislike is on the basis of gender or race, guess what? Lawsuit; you now own that teacher." That is why I do not respect your argument at all. That kind of...mentality in the educational system, whether propagated by students such as yourself, or instructors, is deplorable. Deathbug, you seem like an intelligent guy, but I'd strongly advise you to re-think that opinion there. [quote]However, the entire phrase "Failed me" indicates a lack of esponsibility on the student's part. Education is a two-way street. Teschers have to want to teach, true, but students actually have the more powerful position, because they decide their own dedication to success. [/quote] Wait, so now you're saying that [i]both[/i] teachers and students have say in the classroom? Actually, about the power issue...go and fight your teacher for control of the classroom. Go ahead. Try it, lol. I guarantee you'll be on the receiving end of an Academic Bitchslap. You don't outright challenge the instructor. Students have very limited power in that respect. It's...political suicide to go up against an instructor. You're really not giving too much respect to educators here, are you? Your tone is very offensive to the teacher profession. Yes, students [i]can[/i] decide their dedication to success, but the question is, [i]do they?[/i] Considering the substandard grades in my old high school when I was attending there, and now I hear the school has gotten flushed right down the toilet, I think it's very safe to say that students are truly not caring. If they do care, they're not trying, and therefore, the teachers are totally appropriate--and in the right--to fail them. [quote]Even if you are unfortunate enough to have a really crappy teacher, you can take the responsibility to learn the subject yourself. I agree that it's unfair and you shouldn't have to, but it's better to put your education in your own hands rather than leave it up to an apathetic educator. This is yet another problem of people not taking responsibility for their actions. When teachers don't want to take responsibility, "The students just don't want to learn." When stuidents don't want to take responsibility, "The Teachers failed me." Next time you hear those phrases, consider who said them? Ask yourself if that person strikes you by their behavior as one who is dedicated to teacher/learning. More than not, they won't be.[/quote] "than leave it up to an apathetic educator." Yeah, you're biased. No offence. But your views are certainly tainted here. "Next time you hear those phrases, consider who said them? Ask yourself if that person strikes you by their behavior as one who is dedicated to teacher/learning. More than not, they won't be." Have you visited teacher prep courses? Sat in with people who will be teaching in 2006? We discuss that issue quite often, and even in one class, your argument loses steam. I don't know where you're looking, if you're looking at all, but "more than not," the teachers [i]are[/i] dedicated. You're generalizing based on a small number of personal experiences that I can count on one hand. [quote]And what's wrong with writing essays in gym class? I did.[/QUOTE] Gym class does not serve a purpose to begin with, other than to make the school admins feel all warm and fuzzy that their brand-new track is being put to use. :p EDIT: Ah, yes. No Child Left Behind. I now have had a chance to peruse the legislation and I reach this conclusion. The supporters of this act are doing nothing more than supporting throwing money on a fire. Even if this link is the exact NCLB description, it's still substandard at best, and here's why. For one, I question the very language of it. It is quite vague in many portions, often repeating terms over in the same section. They make references to "committees," essentially, but make no mention of [i]who[/i] will be on those committees. Now, considering just what government legislation and government-appointed committees have been in the past...really just government officials/worker/employees plucked out of whatever office they were in...can we really have any confidence in these proposed consultant groups? I see nowhere that this legislation makes a mention of incorporating educators into the restructuring, and that worries me very much. Two, in nearly every section devoted to solutions, the only solution described is funding. Do correct me if I'm wrong, but that's nothing more than throwing money on a fire. Three, did anyone notice how 80% of the high schools in South Jersey got an immediate warning after this...thing...was enacted? Yes, I expected Cinnaminson to get slapped. But I did not expect Cherry Hill schools to get smacked. I did not expect Moorestown to get smacked. Cherry Hill is known to be one of the best schools in Burlington County. Moorestown had a lawsuit over the Valedictorian position. Is that the sign of poor grades? Does anyone else see the logic of NCLB here? I certainly don't. Four, as much as I wanted to see a detailed, step-by-step procedural outline, it would have still been an outline written by politicians. If someone wants to argue that politicians are knowledgeable about the educational system, I'd point out Mayor John Street and Governor McGreevey. Street proposed a total restructuring of the Philadelphia school systems. It was, in many respects, the government stepping in and taking control of everything. Teachers were going to get hurt badly--fired, if I remember correctly. Why did Street propose this? Because the schools weren't doing well. And we see how that turned out: a giant shitstorm. Teachers protested; the entire city was up in arms. Hell, even we South Jersey people couldn't stand what was going on. McGreevey. Anyone heard of his restructuring proposal for higher education in Jersey? He had suggested that Rutgers be combined with a few other tech schools. The Rutgers name would be tossed aside. Rutgers as we know it would cease to exist, and would become part of some conglomerate school with a name like "New Jersey Network Of Technology." Does that make any sense at all? Is McGreevey demonstrating [i]any[/i] knowledge of the educational institution? I think not.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by ChibiHorsewoman [/i] [B][color=violet]Yes, I watched it. No, I really don't want to admit to watching it. I did like how they had to change Soviet Union to former SOviet Union, but why not just say Russia? It's all inclusive. I wonder why the ppl ended up with teh rings tho, and why those rings? Did it have something to do with their astrological signs? (ok with the exception of the South American kid) Or was it deeper? Looking back I seem to think those rings would do wonders for calling the quarters. Samurai knows what I mean. Okay, now that I've said what I came to say, you will all forget that I watched Captain Planet[/color] [/B][/QUOTE] I think the ring assignments just had to do with stereotypes, lol. I mean... Kwame...earth...Africa...essential stereotype of "people of the land." No offense to anyone, but in those years, what else did most people think of Africans? Wheeler...fire...virulent inner-city kid...stereotyped with arsonist qualities. Linka...wind...she sounds Scandinavian, or at least a country in that area...and what are those areas stereotyped with? Windmills, primarily, I think. Gi...water...Asian...when we think of Asians, what country comes to mind? The immediate thoughts are China, Japan, or the Philippines, most of which are totally surrounded by water. Mati. Heart and connection with animals. South America...and he was primarily seen talking to a monkey, right? Or with a monkey on his shoulder or something? Rain Forest, anyone? Maybe I'm just reading into it too much...but I don't know. Something tells me I'm not, lol. I had fun watching Captain Planet, but I'd be very interested to see where the funding for it came from...it'd make for a very neat little twist to the show if the funding came from EPA or an environmentally concerned group...I already have a suspicion that the show's creators' motives weren't entirely...forthcoming. I'm going to look into this. See what I can dig up. :D And Captain Pollution rocked. He was so evil. It was delicious.

This is a good hallway. It?s long, too?perfect for extended length band hockey. What?s band hockey? Good question. I don?t think too many of us are totally sure. We know band hockey involves throwing stuff down the hall. Usually that stuff is tennis balls. About tennis balls, funny anecdotal reference. During TVP, TV Production to the layperson, there was a film festival that our teacher required us to enter. The rules of the contest weren?t anything terribly hard, but we still pulled our hair out. The objective was to write, film, and edit a 45 minute short film in less than 2 weeks. Yeah, sounds simple, haha. It wasn?t. Considering what our entry was, it turned out pretty well. Sons Of Python. Yeah, we didn?t rip-off Monty Python. Seriously, we didn?t! Fun stuff, though. Really great times. I need to get a copy of Sons Of Python from Scott. I?ve got editing equipment now on my computer and can upload all that TVP footage and burn it onto a DVD. I?ve long since wanted to do a proper introduction to Sons Of Python, in true Star Wars Geek nature. I?ve got the font and everything, and can get the zoom, trail, and everything. It?s gonna be sweet when I get that footage. I?ve got the scrolling introduction all typed up?somewhere. I?ll find it later. Tennis balls, right? Yeah. One ?scene? during Sons Of Python was written solely by Scott. Scott is more than a fan of Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes. You and I both see where that goes. Attack Of The Killer Tennis Balls, with the theme sung by Scott. He loves getting that bass going. And we just threw a slew of tennis balls around a few hallways. Chris was our bitch during that shoot. I hit him in the face with one of my balls. Geoff and Tom were aiming for his crotch and hit him a few times, too. It was hilarious. The opening to the scene had Chris almost falling down a stairwell and almost hitting the camera, as I recall. ?Watch out! IT?S THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER TENNIS BALLS!!!? Then here come tennis balls bouncing down the stairs. The next few shots were pretty random. The band hallway is great for throwing stuff, especially bouncy items. Come to think of it?the band hallway is very photogenic in general. Some really great pictures were taken. In June, Bethany, Scott and I will collect a mass amount of pictures for the traditional ?end of the year music montage? video, started by Ryan Sharpe two years ago. Heh, the TVP class was introduced two years ago. Coincidence? Not bloody likely. There was a lot of insane footage in Sons Of Python. Scott also has an obsession with Godzilla movies and couldn?t resist cutting up the Godzilla shitstorm with Matthew Broderick. We have nothing against Matthew Broderick, of course. I mean, we worship Ferris Bueller. Seriously. We do. We did back in high school and if anyone mentions Bueller now, we still go nuts. Ferris Bueller?s Day Off is a great movie. What?s that quote from Austin Powers? ?Women wanted him and men wanted to be him.? Austin Powers? charm and pseudo-suave nature cannot compare to Ferris Bueller?s confidence and just overall coolness. Ferris is the epitome of cool. That?s the bottom line. You can?t argue with his philosophy, either. ?Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.? Every angst-ridden, paranoid, angry high schooler needs to watch Ferris Bueller?s Day Off. I?m going to make it a part of my semester curriculum when I start teaching. Uh-oh. Yochim is screaming again. Her classroom is a few feet away. I say ?again? for a reason. She likes to yell. I guess she likes to yell. I don?t know. She yells a lot. I wonder if she?s yelling at Andrew Pancoast-Kerns again. Man, that kid was a tool. I don?t use that term often, but yeah. Andrew was a total tool. He was this tiny little freshman who stood at about three feet tall. He was as tall as a Hobbit, but possessed none of the flair, originality, or?cool factor. He had this really dumb look plastered on his face, the kind of look that belonged to drunks and potheads. Yeah, he was totally gone. And Yochim hated his ass, hahaha. Funny story about Yochim?s Art Classes. I was in Art Major?I guess?II in my Senior Year. Yeah, because I had Art Major I with Mrs. Rossi my Freshman year. Wow, it?s been that long. I had a period to fill in my Fall semester of Senior year and Yochim?s Art Major II fit perfectly. Of course, the thing about Art Classes at Cinnaminson was there was no distinction?no separate class for Art Major I, II, and III. This meant I was lumped in with n00bish Freshman who could draw nothing more than?Goth punk death scenes. Really moronic and stupid stuff, if you ask me. Sure, I had a comic book hand, but I turned out some pretty cool stuff, and varied stuff, too. Some were watercolor portraits, others were just random sketches of my classmates. Actually, I was bored during Pre-Calc/Trig one day, so I whipped out my sketchbook and started drawing my classmates. The first one was of Mary Ennis up at the board as she wrote the answer to a problem. The drawing turned out pretty well. Then, of course, the other people saw that I was drawing and requested I draw them. I was pretty popular with my artwork. I was good at it and could draw some fun stuff?Resident Simpson was a famous piece I created. You?d be surprised just how well Mr. Burns becomes Tyrant, hahaha.

^_^ Just Do It. [img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=541581[/img]

Ben, funny you should ask. Apart from first lines to stories coming to you at the [i]weirdest[/i] times--a classmate of mine had a first line come to him in the shower last semester, and I have had ideas while I'm on the can, I had kept a journal back in high school. It was just something to write down how I was feeling...usually depression, lol. I happened to find it, buried in my archived files. Pretty messy stuff; lots of teen angst, but this one passage really...sparked my interest. [quote]Feb. 24 -- It?s February twenty-fourth. I?m feeling better, but not great. I?m thinking back to when I asked those girls to the prom. I guess it was too sudden, too forward. What right did I have? I mean, I didn?t know them that well. Well, actually, I knew one pretty well, I think. But, still, I know what I shouldn?t do. Ask girls to the prom. It?s fourth period. I?m sitting in the Choral Room. I agendad out of Journalism. Is that even a word? Agendad? Like the past tense of agenda. I?m in English. I?m feeling better than this morning. I can?t wait until this weekend, though. My mom and dad are going away for the entire weekend for their anniversary. My Aunt Carol is coming over to watch my brother and me. Aunt Carol is great. She?s a little kid at heart, so she?s really lenient. I?m allowed to play video games as much as I want, we get all sorts of junk food, I can stay up as late as I want, it?s great. I want to get a cereal with marshmallows in it. Like Lucky Charms? or the new Fruit Loops?. Hey, I may be sixteen, but I?m still a little kid at heart. Just like my Aunt Carol. I have Drama next. [/quote] It occurred to me. The entire journal was a stream of consciousness piece. I would never show it to people for obvious reasons. They would have me put away, lol. But I looked at "I agendad out of Journalism" and my fiction workshop professor started talking in the back of my head. I could hear her voice, "Alex, that's a perfect opening line. I agendad out of Journalism. It's wonderful." So, I took the voice's suggestion, lol, and the story just...poured. And because I've long since removed the teen angst from my conversational style of writing (When I use it. Now I use a much more formal, essayist style.), I can write a journal-type story without worry of it sounding melodramatic, over-the-top, angsty, etc. I had read a short story earlier this Fall..."Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story" by Russell Banks. One could argue that it's an exercise in stream of consciousness writing. But when writing stream of consciousness, I've found that you still have to pay [i]very[/i] close attention to structure. Stream of consciousness has the potential to go way, way off-track...it can go places where it should never go. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but there's a definite line which a writer should not cross, I think. You want to keep the stream of consciousness, but never let your editing mind shutdown. I've written a few pieces where I just let myself go, writing whatever, and a substantial portion of it just never made any sense at all, which I feel is a negative. A story has to make sense, lol; meaning, it can't have random interjections...we can't skip to an entirely new scene without a connection to the current, we can't warp into tomorrow without a logical and relevant today. Basically, even when writing stream of consciousness, you still have to have a point. You just can't spew whatever and think because it is wild and mad and going every which way that it's a good piece because of it. Even the best stream of consciousness has a close attention to structure and point. "Sarah Cole" is a perfect example. It may sound totall chaotic, but there is a definite rhythm of the piece...a definite flow...a definite structure. It's not all just slopped together. It doesn't feel like somebody just took a pen and scribbled down a story. Um...yeah, lol. This post became longer than I intended. But yeah, thanks for all the reviews, hopefully more will come in. ^_^ I try to educate people about writing techniques. It's the teacher in me, I suppose. I'm really pleased to see Dagger posting about literature. Way to go, Dagger.

Eiko, no, that's the actual title, lol. The entire piece is an illustration of stream of consciousness writing (Ben, you were right on the money ;)), and the title reflects the streaming of ideas. It fits with the rest of the piece, because the title came as I was talking to Charles about the writing of the work as I was writing it, lol. Another description of this piece is something called "metafiction." Metafiction is fiction that is knowledgeable about itself...a story that knows it's a story.

Arcadia, awesome idea. [center]"OB BANNED"[/center] Your post count?s over one G And you still aren?t writing stories like me. I make and break words in my sleep, And you still sit there and cry Like the bitchy Bo Peep. And you?ve been OB Banned, That?s what I said, OB Banned! You?re nothing but a newbie, Yeah that?s what I said. You write one shit story and it goes to your head. You ain?t nothing but a dumb little newbie, Madly clutching to yo mama?s boobie. If you think you?re mature then you?re the king of the fools, And boy, you think you can bypass the rules? Nahah, cause you got OB Banned, That?s what I said, OB Banned! You?re not hot shit; You don?t know what to do, Even those teen-angst n00bs are writing better than you. You talk to my friends, call me a sniveling peon, But you?ve been running from me for an eon. Who you callin a coward? Who you callin a brat? Why?d your panties get twisted like that? You?re withdrawing to your safe pussy bubble, Tryin to get away from it all, Tryin to get away from this trouble. Well fella, ya yella bella, Here comes the smackdown. Cause you got OB Banned, That?s what I said, OB Banned! Let?s hear it again! OB BANNED Yeah! OB BANNED Yeah! OB BANNED Can you dig it? I know we can, bizotch.

I've read enough to make a review. Very good story. The characters are sympathetic, identifiable. The flow to the piece is nice, only hindered by the actual "[character's] POV" headings. My suggestion is to cut those out, and just leave maybe three dashes in their place. It would still give the same sectioned feel, but the transitions wouldn't be so jarring. We want to challenge the reader to pay attention when they're reading, and I feel that announcing a new character's POV isn't challenging them much. If you change to the triple dash, I think the reader will get even more out of the story. Not to say they aren't getting anything now, not at all. The theme of a difficult love is universal, and one we can all relate to, whether we're gay, bi, or straight. We've all experienced unrequited or unknown love. So, yeah. Really good start. I enjoyed it very much. ^_^ [quote]Eastern High wasn?t known for its grades - it?s known for the stupidity of its students and teachers. Most students don?t do their work, and the teachers don?t give a shit. [/quote] ::feels a pain in his chest:: :p

[center]"A Title For It...Oh my God! I don't even know where to start for that, lol!"[/center] I Agendad out of Journalism today. ?Agendad?? Is that even a word? Well, I guess it is now. But yeah. So I Agendad out of Journalism and went down to the Chorus Room. It?s too hot outside today. Come to think of it, it?s hot in school, too. Does it make sense for the Admins to run the AC in winter and the heaters in the Spring? Maybe they don?t know it?s happening? I don?t know. It?d make for a good investigative article. Do you think that there?s some sort of WaterGate going on? Maybe the school Admins?no, just Dr. Zank, are covering up some diabolical energy conspiracy that allows them to trick the system and actually make money when they use the heating and AC. But Zank doesn?t really have that kind of ingenuity or strategic inclination for such a plan. Guess I just chalk this one up to Cinnaminson. Yeah. It?s hot outside. The kind of heat that just makes your clothing stick to you. The high humidity and you?re sweating, and your hands feel kind of clammy. It?s the icky weather. It?s days like today and weather like this that makes me even more appreciate of being a Band Geek. See, Band Geeks have an escape on sweltering days like this. We can go down to the Chorus Room or Band Room and be comfortable in sixty degree rooms. Plus, we have couches down there. Try to find a room like that in the rest of the school that students are allowed into. Hah. I think not. It?s good to be in Music. And I?m going down to the Chorus Room. I wonder who?s there today. It?s usually the same crew the entire week during 4th period. Scott?s probably there. Matt pretty much lives there. Do I feel like taking a quick side quest to the cafeteria? Ah, why not. Maybe I?ll find some fellow Band Geeks and convince them to join me. I?m amazed at how anal the cafeteria aides are sometimes. I mean, honestly, what danger is there in our school? Is someone going to start a food fight? Maybe start a riot because of Frisbee material burgers? I don?t know. But, they?re there and you have to convince them to let you pass. They?re really like the Bridgekeeper from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. ?Answer me these questions three, ere the other side, you seek.? They do ask you three questions, too. ?Why are you out of class? What do you want in the cafeteria? How long will you be?? Now they?re grilling me. I could swear I saw a light somewhere around here. They?re not using it on me, but on the bad students, they whip it out?shine it right on them. Police interrogations, you know. Can?t be too careful these days, what with the murderers and rapists, thugs, gun-runners, druggies, sociopaths, loons?that only names my entire Senior class. Well, not totally, but you get the idea. I don?t think any of us are murderers; one might be, but I still need to check his basement. We?ve definitely got our fair share of thugs and thug-lites, though. It?s hilarious to watch. Think they realize how goofy they look? I don?t. The cafeteria is a weird place. Really loud. Really busy. Chaotic, really. I can only stand to be in here for a few minutes at a time. The only times that I?m able to stay here for extended lengths is after school, during Drama rehearsals. Drama is fun. Really fun. I?m one of the big ones there. Oh, no, I?m not big there because I?m a great singer?I actually suck at singing. I?m big there because I?m a force to be reckoned with. I?m loud. I?m bold. I?m brash. I speak my mind. It works beautifully. In two years, I?ll be legendary. It?s three years later now, but that?s beside the point. This story takes place a few years ago, in my Senior year of high school. Okay, I?m lying. I wasn?t in Journalism my Senior year. I took Journalism in Junior Year. Does that matter, though? It?s a story. I?m taking Creative Liberties. Cut me some slack or I?ll cut this story short right now. But getting back to the Cafeteria. Drama comes later. Not too much later, but later. So, the Cafeteria is nuts. You have to be fricking Spiderman to get through here. That?d be sweet if I could climb walls. I would never have to worry about the halls being crowded. I could travel on the ceiling. Cool. Though, the Admins and Cafeteria Aides would get on my case. They would probably tell me that?s dangerous. ?It threatens the overall safety of the school.? Here I was looking forward to doing some nifty Marvel superhero action and stunts. Actually, later this year, my friend, Mike Imperiale, will climb the outside of the auditorium. It?s like a thirty foot high wall. And he?s going to climb it without harnesses and grips. Mike?s a crazy fool. Not crazy in a bad way. Crazy in a good way. The way?the enjoyment you find at seeing your friend leap three feet vertically, grab hold of a thin wooden door with his bare fingertips, and proceed to do twenty pull-ups. Fun times. The Cafeteria is bad for hyper people. I can barely pay attention to one person in there, let alone keep track of four when we do a Cafeteria snack run. Poptarts. Cherry Poptarts. They?re stocked in the vending machine. Sweet. Peach Snapple is a staple of junk food here at Cinnaminson. You cannot go to a soda vendor and not get a Snapple. Another great thing about the vending machines, apart from junk food and Skittles: instant gratification. I?ll have nothing to do with those lines to get the school food. I don?t like eating Frisbees and building bridges out of TaterTots. Okay, well, I like building bridges out of TaterTots. That?s fun stuff, especially when the ketchup is an excellent adhesive material. It rivals glue. Maybe I should suggest that to Mrs. Yochim or Mrs. Rossi. They?re always trying to save some money for the Art Department. I?ll make a mental note. Okay, got to get out of here now. What?s my best escape plan? Did I have an escape plan? Do you remember? Okay, Alex, don?t panic. Retrace your steps. Passed those three tables there?yeah, because I remember hearing Liz McGough laughing. She?ll get funniest laugh in our Who?s Who at the end of this year. I think she will. Maybe worst driver? No. That was Beth Pierce. Too many Beths in my class. Man, there are really a lot of people in here. Even though I?m an Atheist, I wish I was Moses right now. I?d do a total parting of the Red Sea type thing. It?d be cool. ?Behold my power! Behold the power of Cinnaminsonia!? And whoosh! I?d have a path. It would be glorious. Eventually I?ll snake my way through this mass of twisted humanity, but I?ll have you know right now, I won?t be going to the Chorus Room just yet. I?m going to have a sudden urge to go to the Gym to the left, down the hall.

[center]?Lights, Camera, OWWW!!!!?[/center] ?Quiet on the set!? Yelled the director. ?So, my brother said to they guy, ?Yo, Tony, what?re you doin???? One of the actors says. ?AND SHUT YER TRAPS!!!!!!!!!!!? The director screamed. But his actors wouldn?t shut up! So, he did what any GOOD Hollywood director would do. He snuck up behind them, holding his black bag. He put his hand in the bag, and withdrew a pole-like object. You see this pole. It?s got a little forked tip at the end, and a rubber grip at the other. You?re not sure, but? It looks like a cattle prod. ?OWWW!!!!? Screamed the actor. Then, the actor fell to the ground, convulsing. Wow. The director actually treated his actor like cattle. But that?s not all the weird stuff he does. No, indeed. Later, the actor quit. The director was forced to find a replacement. They were actually able to fine one. This new actor is from Britain. He?s the stiff-upper lip type. He was quite snobbish and he seems that he?s going to be hard to work with. He signed on the dotted line, and was now part of the cast. You are happy. Filming can begin again. ?YEEE HA!!!!!!!!!!!? The director yells, and attacks the new actor. You don?t know what to make of this. The director then grabs both of the actor?s arms, and ties them together. Likewise for the legs. Oh my God, you think to yourself. He hogtied him. You hope that?s all he?s going to do. But, nope. Then the director whips out a giant branding button. ?OWWW!!!!? Oh, my God! He?s branded the actor! His initials are now burnt into the skin! This director is insane! Now pandemonium is breaking loose! The crew is running around like chickens with their heads cut off! And what is the director doing??? ?STAMPEDE!!!!!!!!? He?s brought out a long piece of rope! What?s he doing, you ask yourself. Oh, no! The director made a lasso? Oh, dear Lord? ?YEEE HA!!!!!!!!!!!? The director just roped himself a gaffer! Oh, my, oh, my!!! Eventually, the director was arrested. Turns out, he wasn?t a director at all. He was from some ranch out west.

I wrote this during my Sophomore or Junior year of high school. It's intentionally campy, a throwback to classic film noir sci-fi. "A Small Part Of Something Greater" As my starship, DEMON-Q, was cruising at light speed, I took a glimpse around the cockpit. Damn, it was dirty, clothes strewn about, thrown over chairs, beds, anything that they could hang on. My dog, Frank, was lying down, sleeping, his cigar now smoldering in the ash tray by his bed. It?s actually funny how I came to own Frank. I was doing a merc job down on CR-213, some mining facility. I was hired to crush some rebel uprisings. I saw they were right, but I?m a mercenary, I work for whoever pays me. Anyway, I?m suiting up, you know, strapping on armour, checking power levels on my guns. Man, I love this one rifle. It?s a high energy pulse cannon, but with some, how should I put this, ?minor? mod?s that were put on by Yours Truly. Yeah, now it packs some major punch. Very cool shit. Okay, so I finished suiting up, and I walked out into the stormy fields. There were explosions, and lightning, and a shit-load of atmospheric disturbances, which really shitted-up my motion trackers. I took a couple more steps, then a huge Goddamn explosion goes off a couple hundred feet from me. Knocked me on my ass. I got up and scanned the horizon. The glow of radioactive waste caught my eye. It was a mess, bodies were everywhere, charred and blackened, some human, some not. I looked through the wreckage and found a freaky case. It was stamped with ?BIO-HAZARDOUS MATERIAL? and ?TOP-SECRET.? Of course I had to take it. Did anyone have to ask? I figured I had my prize for the day, so I went back to the ship. The contents of that case were something. It was a cute, little puppy. A genetically engineered puppy, but still a puppy. He looked up at me with those big, brown eyes, and I had to keep him. Little did I know that cute, little puppy would turn out to be a cigar-smoking, foul-mouthed wise-ass. But he?s quite handy with weapons. Before I knew it, my little trip down ?memory lane? was over, we were nearing Geto, my home planet. We came out of light speed. ?Transmission from Merc ship DEMON-Q, Identification Number 203-12, Hailing shield command at Laudu,? I said as I leaned forward to the intercom, ?requesting clearance and shields to be lowered.? ?Merc ship DEMON-Q,? the voice crackled, ?shields are being lowered. You have clearance to land at docking bay 4 at Laudu.? ?Thanks a bunch.? I replied. We entered the planet?s atmosphere and the bucking and shaking woke up Frank. ?Hey?a! Can?tcha keep the damn thing steady?? he yelled. ?Well, get yer furry ass up here an? help me!? I yelled back. ?Fine, fine.? And in a second he was in the co-pilot?s seat. We were now in Laudu airspace, hovering down to the docking bay. I let the landing gear down and turned on the stabilizers, but the landing was still a bit rough. ?Damn! I thought you said you could land this tin can!? I told Frank to shove it, then flipped him off. We stepped off the ship, the welcoming committee arrived, our little squabble disappeared, and we put on our ?happy faces.? Three friggin? steps off the ramp, and Frank is surrounded by poodles. Now, I don?t know how Frank does it, but he gets it. ?Hiya, Frankie, howzabout you an? me go out for a walk?? I heard one poodle say. ?Ooh, no, Frank! Come with me!? Then all the others started chiming in. Including me. ?Oh, Frankie, would you please help me? This suitcase is just sooo heavy!? I said in my sweetest voice, then I started making kissy noises. Frank heard me, and not even drawing himself away from sucking face with one of his bitches, he flipped me off. Good ole? Frank. So, I started heading to my apartment. I passed the various shops?some sex shops, some shops specializing in contraband, you know, guns, drugs, that kinda? shit. I looked over the contents of the display window of one gun shop. Nothing special. However, I looked farther back into the store, and I saw the Holy Grail of rifles. I had only read about it, but this was the first time I saw it. Supposedly it was built on a rail gun?s frame, but had a revolutionary power cell. Let me see if I can remember this; The power cell is something they call the ?Matter Energy Displacement Chamber,? or something like that. I believe it draws energy from the matter around it, then amplifies the energy through a hand-sized particle accelerator. That energy is then shot out like a normal rail gun round, only with more power. I think I read it can level skyscrapers with one shot. Weird thing is, it was still in development last I heard. I didn?t even know it was mass-produced already. But imagine, the power of it. I have to have that gun. But credits are a deciding factor, and I needed all of them for my rent. Of course, I still wouldn?t have enough for my rent, but that?s not the point. I figure I?ll just bullshit the landlord again. Say I was robbed or something. Well, I got back to my place. Frank wasn?t home, probably wouldn?t be for a couple of hours. Man, he loves getting tail. My apartment is pretty much how life is: Cluttered with junk, confusing, and filthy. If it wasn?t for the doorways, I couldn?t even tell where one room ended and the next one began. Anyway, I checked my email. Jesus, there were so many free porn offers and casino lotteries. I tell you, the world is being flushed right down the shitter. I was about to sign off when one email caught my eye. I didn?t recognize the sender, but I recognized the subject. ?I hear you help people.? That means credits. Turns out it was a video mail. The file started playing, and I got the first look at my new client. Damn, she was beautiful. Piercing blue eyes, blonde hair, nice tan. Yeah, she was beautiful. She offered me 3000 credits to meet her. We agreed to meet at Vinny?s, an Italian restaurant in District 2. I wore my black suit, nuthin? fancy, but nice. Now the thing is, District 2 is essentially a war zone. There?ve been riots and gang wars since the late 21st Century. The hookers and druggies have free roam, and you can?t go fifteen friggin? feet without a body being thrown out a window, or off a roof, or from a moving hover car. No, District 2 is definitely not a place to be without protection. Now, since I wasn?t feeling like my usual tough self, I was packing. One of my favourites, in fact. A PV-2. Now the great thing about the PV-2, see, is that it can fit in the palm of your hand, easily conceable. It?s lightweight, and has three different firing modes. The first, and a personal favourite of mine, the ?Wide-spread Shock Blast.? It simulates a nuke?s shockwave but without the radiation. It can create a ten foot-wide crater with one round. It?s fuckin? amazing to see. Bodies flying everywhere, rubble and debris thrown around, all with pulling a trigger. The second mode creates a pinpoint energy pulse, capable of cleanly punching a dime-sized hole through a fifteen-foot thick slab of Korite. Another thing that?s great about the second mode is it can ?see? through walls. Now, it?s too small to have an LCD, so its developers combined the gun itself with a holograph projection system. This thing is pretty damn freaky. Imagine a thermal-tracker, but in a full 3D image. That?s what the thing looks like. The third mode isn?t anything spectacular. Just a proxy self-destruct. I set the PV-2 on Mode 2. Now I?m walking down Corridor 12, see, and I pass all the low-life?s who haunt the streets at night. Hookers, Heavy L. dealers, Heavy L. buyers, Pimps, Contraband dealers, Contraband buyers, Smugglers. Some human, some not. ?Hey, baby, whadd?ya need?? One ?Lady of the Evening? said as she pulled back her jacket and revealed her chest, and her four breasts. I kept walking. Again, ?Hunnie, I can do things to ya? that ya? neva? imagined.? Another hooker offered. I kept walking. I passed more hookers, and some street punks. They walked by- no, make that stumbled by, obviously high on some shit. Their hair was spiked and colored gold, their head and face were tattooed, and from what I could tell, they had a few cybernetic augmentations. Now the thing I don?t like about aug?s, is they amplify your strength too much. You crush shit by accident. But that?s not the bad part. The bad part is that if the aug isn?t bonded right, or wired to your nervous system right, then there?s an eighty-two percent chance your aug will malfunction, then you?ll probably have a nervous breakdown, just as your spinal fluid dries up. Then your brain dissolves in its own juices, and you fall to the ground, a quivering mass of jelly. It?s not a pretty sight. My old business partner, Paul, died like that. It?s been a couple of years now. Damn, Paul was a good shit, he shouldn?t have died. The surgeon was fuckin? incompetent. I don?t know why Paul went to him for the aug?s. Of course, after Paul died, I shot the surgeon in his fuckin? head. It was pretty damn funny. I casually walked into the receptionist?s office, walked up to the window, and asked to see the doc. They let me in, they had to. I made an appointment. So, I got stuck in another waiting room for another Goddamn twenty minutes. Waiting in this small room, waiting for ?Doctor Dickhead.? He finally walked in, and I got my first good look at him. He looked like, well, to quote an old saying from the late twentieth century, a ?nerd.? He had a pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses, he was going bald, you could tell he didn?t get out in the sun, ?cause he was pale as hell, and he had a wheeze when he talked. That wheeze really got on my nerves. So now he walked in, slightly hunched over, and with that same wheezy voice he said to me, ?Well, ah- what seems to be the problem, son?? I stood up. ?You know exactly what the problem is, you fucking quack.? Then I pulled out a little laser pistol and aimed it straight at his forehead. He really didn?t know what to say. He could only gasp in fear. ?Remember a little aug job you performed?? I continued, ?a couple of weeks ago? The patient?s name was Paul? Yeah, you remember. Yeah, Paul WAS a good friend of mine. He?s dead now. And it?s your fault.? And then, I shot him. His brains smeared all over the wall. Then I walked out. And that was the end of it.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Hack Helba [/i] [B][center][b]Happy Holidays Otakubaords![/b][/center] [center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?postid=534493[/img][/center] I just couldnt help myself. [/B][/QUOTE] I have but one small, teenytiny question. What's [url=http://www.blizzard.com/images/xmas/diablo2002-640x.jpg]this?[/url] If you want to [i]avoid[/i] getting blasted by someone for copyright infringement, image piracy, and all that illegal stuff, you might want to tell people that you didn't create the image. Just a thought. ^_^ I just couldn't help myself.

Madame Bovary? Anyone? Here's what I saw: [quote][i]Charles[/i] [b]Madam?s lips kiss a raspberry truffle, undressing it of its chocolate veneer. She flips open a pocket mirror and excuses herself from the table, from her guests, from waiters whose smiles never rest. She?s off to visit the powder room. Her painted red toes and crimson lips compliment the satin dress that hugs her hips. As she glides across the room, with silent movie gods in her eyes, silver trays catch her image and project a kaleidoscope of cherry halos across the walls. It?s poetry in motion.[/b][/quote] I'd say there's a heavy emphasis on her love for sweets, yes? I would further say that her affection for sweets doesn't stop at raspberry truffles. After all, she's in the equivalent of a candy store: [quote]People sit here and there, some shifting in their reserved seats, others swooning over carts of sweets. [/quote] A very...snobbish candy store, too: [quote]But, no one goes to a place like this because they?re hungry. Oh no. The menu is a listing of conversation pieces, not meals. They sit over dishes of Huîtres aux Crepinettes and their small talk ascends into the room?s atmosphere. It falls gently, like a veil, over this very beautiful place.[/quote] Now, the clientele of this snobbish store are certainly extremely wealthy; that?s made very clear by the description. Who goes to a restaurant to simply be there? Who goes to a restaurant to be something? Who goes to a restaurant to [i]prove[/i] something? Either the super-wealthy, or those trying to become something they aren?t?poseurs, in a sense. Charles, this ?protagonist? of your story here seems to be quite the dreamer. After all, ?she glides across the room, with silent movie gods in her eyes, silver trays catch her image and project a kaleidoscope of cherry halos across the walls.? I?d say she?s a tad Idealistic. ?Silent movie gods in her eyes,? which is a [i]great line[/i], certainly gives us the impression that she wishes to be more than she is. Where have you and I seen this type of character before? Yep. You know it. Madame Bovary. [quote][i]Gustave Flaubert[/i] [b]But it was [Emma Bovary a.k.a. Madame Bovary] who ruled: in front of company he had to say certain things and not others.[/b][/quote] From where does that behavior arise? From the desire to integrate oneself with a supposed superior social status. How many of us have changed the way we act when we?re trying to make a good impression? How many of us will put on a different face, so to speak, when we?re trying to get into an exclusive nightclub so that we can sample some of that sweet, sweet action that so very few are able to? [quote][i]Flaubert[/i] She had to have her cup of [u]chocolate[/u] every morning.[/quote] Obsession with sweets. [quote][i]Flaubert[/i] Emma herself would have liked to be married at midnight, by torchlight.[/quote] [quote]Seen from so close, her eyes appeared larger than life, especially when she opened and shut her eyelids several times on awakening.[/quote] [quote]Before her marriage, she had thought she had love within her grasp; but since the happiness which she had expected this love to bring her hadn?t come, she supposed she must have been mistaken. And Emma tried to imagine just what was meant, in life, by the words ?bliss,? ?passion,? and ?rapture??words that had seemed so beautiful to her in books.[/quote] In fact, Part One, Chapter IX devotes itself to Emma?s preoccupation with an unattainable life. It relates nearly ad nauseum how she is a dreamer. Emma is an Idealist. She dreams of something that isn?t real, that isn?t supported at all by her current environment. She dreams of something she may never obtain. This is how Flaubert works his magic. Flaubert was one of the premiere Realist authors of his time. Madame Bovary is argued to be [i]the[/i] greatest Realist novel. What Flaubert does with Madame Bovary is ingenious, and if one thinks himself to be a Realist author, one should study Madame Bovary. The key component of Realism is verisimilitude, or ?slice of life.? In the time that I have been browsing OtakuBoards, I have seen two stories that are Realist works. Charles? piece here is one of them. The other is ?A Day In The Life Of A 12 Year Old.? If any of you want to see what Realist writing is, check out the those two stories on OB. But yes, back to my point. Emma dives into Romantic literature, magazines about exotic adventures in foreign lands. I would describe them as the supermarket romance novels you?d find in the check-out line. Look what Charles writes; it?s quite, quite brilliant. [quote][i]Charles[/i] [b]?Enfin, vous êtes éveillé!,? he says, ?I?ve been watching you for a long time, yes. Your adventures. Lounging on gondolas during lazy days, reading romance novels until twilight?s last breath. Smoking fine cigars in star-crossed cafés with a shopping bag attached to your arm like a small child. Window shopping at the finest boutiques. Bitten by wanderlust. Living off your husband?s money like there is no tomorrow. Never touching sorrow. ?[/b][/quote] ?Romance novels.? Nice, Charles, very nice. I would also call attention to the mention of cigars, and reference to Madame Bovary: [quote][i]Flaubert[/i] [b]Often when Charles was out she went to the closet and took the green silk cigar case from among the piles of linen where she kept it. She would look at it, open it, even sniff its lining, fragrant with verbena and tobacco.[/b][/quote] Yep. And, I call attention to Charles: [quote] Bitten by wanderlust. Living off your husband?s money like there is no tomorrow.[/quote] ?Wanderlust.? While its primary definition is a desire to travel, its secondary meaning is clear: sleeping around. Emma has many, many extramarital affairs throughout Madame Bovary. Enough affairs to get the novel banned. She cheats on Charles approximately with five different men throughout the work. She also lives off of his money. She spends exorbitant amounts of money on dresses, perfumes, jewelry, etc. Charles, you are a sly one. ~_^ Now, the ending to these works. Charles has his protagonist die; she is drugged. Flaubert has his protagonist die; she drugs herself by consuming a hefty amount of Arsenic. In both ways, the protagonist is drugged. Finally, the name. ?Madam? and ?Madame Bovary.? Need I say more. Excellent work, Charles. I?ll give you a box of cookies in January. ^_^ EDIT: Or...maybe a box of truffles? ;)