Ethics [Tuesday, November 29, 2011]

[sith_happened]

Anakin'd had even more difficulties getting across the causeway this morning and was planning to leave Rory a message after class to let her know that he'd be staying in the hotel and would really prefer if she and Juliet joined him as soon as possible. Not that he knew what traveling across an unstable indimensional...whatever the causeway was...would do to a pregnant woman, but he'd noticed the board of the missing getting fuller and it would kill him to put their pictures up there.

So he'd been more than slightly distracted by current events to come up with a lesson plan that dealt in the world of the hypothetical today.

He leaned against his desk and began speaking. "Many of you have been affected by the wave of disappearances that are sweeping through various multiverses. So far, we haven't found any connections to link the people and places that have disappeared--" or a way to stop it, but Anakin wasn't going to bring up that pesky little detail. "Since we're in ethics class, I thought today might be a good time to discuss the why that might be behind this."

Even in natural disasters, people asked why. He was almost glad that the people noticing disappearances was limited: it meant televised evangelists hadn't started blaming the problem on general godlessness or some other drivel.

"Why do you think this is happening? What do you think might be behind it?" He glanced from one face to another. "There are no wrong answers here because we don't know anything. I realize that emotions are running high right now, so please try to keep this a civilized discussion."

Bringing Literature To Life--Through Violence! [Tuesday, Second Period]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Today's class was not going to be as polished as Cindy's classes usually were. No answer to any of her contacts in Fabletown or the Farm. Not even to Bigby's super-secret emergency number. That had Cindy on edge, oh yes.

"Today, we'll be talking about meta forLord of the Flies," Cindy said abruptly, as soon as the bell rang. "It's a short novel about a group of British school children, the eldest no more than 13, who are marooned on a deserted tropical island after their plane crashes during a wartime evacuation. The book is an interesting--and, in its time, controversial--depiction of what happens to these young boys while they are stranded. Although they are prepubescent, mostly strangers, and on a beautiful, almost paradisaical island, Golding shows them descending swiftly into savagery and barbarism."

"When they first arrive on the island, the boys still recognize the customs of civilization. They democratically elect a leader, they make rules about who gets to talk during meetings, one of the older boyss take to building shelters and watching over the younger ones to make sure none of them come to harm. But in the intervening days, as fear of a possible 'Beast' and idleness set in, they boys schism and start to become more and more savage. A hunt for food becomes a macabre ritual that leaves a pig's head on a spike and then things take a turn for the worse from there, violence spinning out of control and turning to murder of several of their own. They are in the process of hunting down the former, democratically-chosen leader when rescue arrives, in the form of an adult naval officer. He chastises the boys, saying he never would have expected such behavior from British boys--while glancing backwards at his own symbol of war and brutality, the military transport. Is what they were doing on the island all that different from what they were fleeing from in the first place?"

From inside her bag, Cindy produced a conch shell, like the one in the book. "Golding is playing with some pretty deep questions here. He shows a story about the loss of innocence, but there is no external pressure to create that loss. What does this say about his view of society in general? What does it mean when the society of law and democracy they set up at the beginning and represented by Ralph, is nearly killed by Jack, the representative of chaos and savagery? Do you agree with this view? I want your opinions, but only the person holding the conch shell can speak." She held it out. "Who wants it first?"

Library, Tuesday

[angelo_wings]

The Library was open slightly later than usual, and Rinoa had to hope that Belle was not going to mind that she had brought along her Knight. She would lie and say it was for protection, if necessary, so she didn't have to admit that the phone call he had received had shaken her up too much to want to leave his side.

... some other them had died. Had been swallowed by the nothing ...

It would have been tempting to call off, but at times like this, the library needed to be open, for researchers, and so she was here, with coffee, and with Squall in tow, and hoping no one noticed that her eyes were red-rimmed.

Oh, that was ridiculous. Considering all who had gone missing, no one was going to care if her eyes were red-rimmed.

(sorry for late. OCD incoming. Squall modded with permission.)

Wednesday: What was the school board thinking giving Jamie Madrox a teaching position?

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

Today the classroom... was a classroom. No scientific equipment. No duplicates in lab coats. No couch pillows.

Just Jamie, a projector and a screen.

"Good morning," Jamie said officiously. "Today we're going to try something different. I'm going to talk. Hopefully, you'll listen."

( Cut for talk of character death and cautionary tales... )

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

[charming_thief]

"Hey, guys," Neal greeted his class as they came in. Today's class was meeting in a normal classroom, but there were two paper cups on every desk. That was new.

"So according to radio, not everyone's been having the best week," Neal said. Huge understatement, but okay. "So I thought I'd have a nice easy class today. Just some deductive thinking." He gestured to the cups on the students' desks. "Tell the difference between the wine and the juice, and you can leave. That's it."

Look. He'd heard there was no drinking age on the island, and apparently there were students here whose friends and family had vanished off the face of the earth. The least he could do was offer booze. Plus, he would be able to tell the smart (and probably more traumatized) ones by who deliberately guessed wrong in order to get refills. It was a win.