Debating, Friday September 14

[certaintrouble.livejournal.com]

After a couple awkward teacherless minutes, Chuck walked through the door. He acted as if nothing had happened, going to the board and writing:



Generalizations

Chuck tapped the board under the word. “When you know a little about your opponent, you can use that to your advantage. Like they say, “a little bit of knowledge is dangerous…” to your foes. Take these two,” he looked at Jim and Willow, “I had them in class last year. Even though I don’t know them very well, I could say that Willow’s eagerness to study denotes a lack of personal life and a need to compensate to fill that hole in her heart. Or that Jim’s newfound inability to take notes means he will do poorly in school and end up a cubicle drone, endlessly shuffling papers.”

He rounded on Turtle. “I’ve heard her talking about stock options on the radio. Thus, she’s missed out on her entire childhood, and is doomed to have a massive breakdown in adulthood. Unstable.”

Chuck nodded toward Jeff. “He seems a little nervous. I’m guessing that he has some terrible secret, probably involving arson. Yeah, he’s an arsonist.”

“Then there’s the Asian kids.” Namine and Haruhi were next. “I could say that I’m fully expecting A’s from them, and if they’re doing poorly, that they ought to lay off on the Chinese cartoons.” He saw Namine’s sketchbook, and ignored any conventions of her style to say: “Point made.”

“Blonde jokes will never fail to make your opponent feel devalued.” He pointed to Cher. “She looks like a bottle blonde,” to Annette, “she’s probably the rich spoiled kind,” to Charlie, “vacant blond, obsessed with appearance. Probably a moody water sign, too,” he turned to Meg, “and since she’s the fourth person to be listed, this one probably follows the crowd all the time.”

“It’s not just hair color. Judging by appearance is just generally a good idea.” He turned his accusing finger to Zim. “The green kid looks like he’s from Mars.” He nodded to Ronan. “He looks like a Goth, and probably has a very active fantasy life, filled with swords and spears and dungeons and dragons.” He pointed to Mel’s shoes. “Her mom probably also wears combat boots.” He turned to Valentine next.

And stopped.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, shook his head, and said “Too easy. I won’t even bother.”

Finished with the insults, Chuck returned to the board. “Now, I’ll bet some of you are a little mad at me. After all, I’ve solidly won each tiny argument I just started. You all lost. Losers.

“The point of this exercise is twofold. Number one-” He wrote these on the board, “- I want you all to know how it feels to have these expertly crafted paper bullets grazing your vital organs. This shows how powerful these can be in an argument. Number two- It’s an example, so you can use them yourselves. And Number three- I don’t want any of you to forget how it feels to lose an argument, how humiliating and how the need for vengeance will spread in your mind.

“So in this next class exercise, I want you to partner off and take out the resulting need to win on your opposition. Hit them with a sweeping generalization, then give them a chance to recover and try to sling one back at you. ”

He turned back to Valentine. Chuck didn’t feel that the poor kid had suffered quite enough yet. “I also have an extra credit opportunity. For next week’s class, you all can come up with generalizations why board-face here is unreliable and his arguments are bad, based off of his appearance and small things about him. Remember class, work small! An argument with a lot of support is nice and easy. But a thin argument where you have to grasp to connect things? That takes talent.” He clapped his hands. “Get going!”


OOC:You can start arguing when I blow the whistle... TWEEEEEET! Have at them!

Comments

Sign in

[certaintrouble.livejournal.com]

...and make a sweeping generalization about this class.

Re: Sign in

[fullofgoo.livejournal.com]

Zim

Lecture

[certaintrouble.livejournal.com]

What did he just say about you? Converse with neighbors.

Re: Lecture

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

Turtle snorted at her generalization. Sure, she might have a breakdown, but she'll be rich doing it. Ha! And her eyes darted to Jeff to catch his reaction to his, and, for the rest of them, she scribbled down notes for potential future use.

Re: Lecture

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

"He just didn't make a generalization about me because my dashing good looks intimidated him so."

Or, at least he allowed himself to believe that until the extra credit assignment was handed out.

"Hey!"

Re: Lecture

[cantjossme.livejournal.com]

Mel just kind of stared at Chuck in amazement.

Re: Lecture

[notclueful]

"I am not a bottle blonde!" Cher said.

Re: Lecture

[fat-halpert.livejournal.com]

Jim took a single note.

Destined for failure.

That meant that he didn't need to try. It was convenient on a few levels.

Re: Lecture

[scary-jeff.livejournal.com]

Jeff stared. He'd never set fire to anything before! The television just sort of did that that one time!

He broke down a little.

Re: Lecture

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

Charlie had been about to get offended, but then Chuck threw in the bit about the water sign, and called Jeff an arsonist, and she ended up quietly giggling through the rest of Mr. Noblet's generalizations.

The temptation to confess to setting stuff on fire was really, really strong now.

Re: Lecture

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette was rich and spoiled. She couldn't deny that so she grinned, despite being on crutches and in pain.

Re: Lecture

[goodgirlmeg.livejournal.com]

Meg was the total opposite of someone who followed a crowd (at least that's what she thought) and she decided to chalk this up to the teacher being crazy and did her best not to get mad.

Re: Lecture

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

Naminé tilted her head at him curiously. "I don't believe I'm Asian," she said. Or was she? JRPGs were so damn confusing that way.

Re: Lecture

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan struggled not to laugh; swords and spears had definitely figured in his life -- fantasy and otherwise -- but he wasn't sure if the subway that Nita and Kit had told him about, with the draconian Eldest, really counted as a dungeon...

Respond

[certaintrouble.livejournal.com]

Ask Chuck a question, or just try for revenge.

Re: Respond

[fullofgoo.livejournal.com]

Zim raised his hand calmly and methodically. It's a little scary...

Re: Respond

[scary-jeff.livejournal.com]

Jeff raised his hand, too. Nervously.

Re: Respond

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette raised her hand.

Re: Respond

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

Naminé raised her hand, with her best innocent expression.

Re: Respond

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

Turtle raised her hand, a bit defiantly, looking quite confident.

Re: Respond

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"I think it's very silly for you to pretend you don't know me very well," Willow replied.

Re: Respond

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan raised his hand as he carefully masked an amused expression.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

[certaintrouble.livejournal.com]

Partner up and judge them using grossly inaccurate first impressions.

This can't be good for group harmony.

Re: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

Turtle rubbed her hands together with a malicious smirk; she hoped that it made her look intimidating enough to ward off Jeff, because he would be her weakness in insulting because she knew she wouldn't be able to do it.

After Class

[certaintrouble.livejournal.com]

Chuck's feeling very satisfied. He's getting paid to mock is students. Life is so good to him right now.

Re: After Class

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine approached Chuck after class, a grin on his lips.

"So, if I make generalizations about myself, am I also eligible for extra credit?"

OOC

[certaintrouble.livejournal.com]

OOC Notes:

Remember folks, your characters can lose their heads, but keep yours cool! This is supposed to be fun. ^_^

I've got permission from Valentine-mun for the mocking, so that's all good.

and I know that I'm assuming that everyone will be in class with this post, but if you're not here, we'll just pretend that Chuck was looking at the class notes/roster for your character. That way, you can still have your character mocked without having to show up!

Re: OOC

[dark_slippy_thing]

I love your class. Seriously. Lots. Ohman.