Wednesday, June 02, 2010

School's Out For Summer! (But Before We Leave, A Little Glimpse Into My World, And William Shakespeare's)

I'm postponing the Prodigy of the Week in order to bring you this worthy delight.

About a month ago a student research essay was left on the common printer in the lounge I frequent at The Rock. It was apparent that one of my colleagues who teaches a freshman repeater class had allowed the student writer to either type it on the computer in her classroom or send it as an attachment to her via email. In any case, she printed it a couple of times, I guess, because this one was left on the printer for a couple of days before I finally laid claim to it. I have no idea if it is a final draft or a first draft, but it is definitely student writing. Trust me, it brought untold joy to the English department for days and days. Now, I'm ready to share its bounty, just as it is, completely unedited:

Back in the day fashion was simple all they wore was dresses, and fencing acted as a sport and dance was very common in Elizabethan era. The three most common things in shakespearion era was fashion, fencing, and dancing.

Was Elizabethan dance common. Yes, Elizabethan dance was common. Elizabethan dance was highly sophisticated and stated with intricate steps and nuances. I don't think I could do that dance. What is a nuance? Many of the court dances were performed as couples. What if you didn't like your partner? How many different partners did you have? That is about how common dance was in the shakespear era.

Was fashion much different then it is today? Yes fashion was. I would of never wore that stuff. I'm glad fashion has changed. And there clothes had a lot of patterns on them. I think there clothes were ugly. At least there fashion was simple. That's how fashion was back in the day.

Was a real way of fighting? Yes, it was they have used it for centuries. Fencing is one of the first forms or sword fighting. Back in the day it wasn't just a art form, it was also the most protection you can get. There is a whole bunch of weapons to use while fencing. They figured wearying a cage on there face would be enough protection. They also used the cage so they don't see each others faces. It is hard to get use to seeing threw the cage. Fencing was a real way of fighting and still is, thanks to back in the day in shakespear and era.

These are three important topics to the Elizabethan era. The Elizabethan era was long ago but we still learn about it today. We still do celebrate parties that closely resembles an Elizabethan partie.

There is, of course, an attached page of "Work Cited" that contains the obligatory Wikipedia reference along with another website.

I suppose you could look at it and be dismayed and horrified, but I consider the source: Freshman Repeater. And because I don't know if this is a first draft or a final, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Finally, just reading it is hilarious. I love its conversational tone, rhetorical questions, and use of "back in the day."

And now that I'm on Summer Vacation, hell, everything is funnier.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:17 PM

    I really can't say anything except HAHAHAHAHA!

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are students at my college who have significantly worse writing than that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. V-Grrrl5:55 PM

    Oh.

    That's all I can say.

    And happy summer!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Not much I can add to that, but have a great summer Nance! : )

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anali--Oh, it's very comprehensive. LOL. Thanks, and I plan to.

    V-Grrrl--Feel free to point your children here for a bit of edifying Summer Reading. Hee hee. You have a happy summer as well. I owe you a calisthenically long email. OH! I am awaiting--breathlessly--the Emily Dickinson biography that you sent me the review of. Amazon (my boyfriend!) promises it around the 14th.

    Mikey--There you are! Got your little package, and I will watch it soon, you Movie Star. I know you're having an awesome summer already.

    Anonymous--Before you laugh too hard, I hope your own writing is significantly more accomplished! J/K.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've been bad at commenting. I seem to be reading blogposts whenever I have enough time to read one but not comment. I'll get better soon!

    - Mikey G.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What is a nuance indeed? And, if I can give this student major credit for one thing, s/he clearly didn't copy and paste it from wiki or anywhere else. Good for her/him!

    Sad that it's come to that, but still.

    ReplyDelete
  8. J.@jj.com--I think a few things here and there were taken wholly, but then the writer added the rhetorical questions, such as "What is a nuance?" and their own words, "Back in the day", so there is plenty of his/her own work. There is no internal citation. The paper, if it were turned in as is, would have to fail based solely upon that.

    Mikey--The blog arena has been largely slow lately. I think people are transitioning into summer, plus among the More Organized Blog Stratus, this is now a Nablopomo, so lots of bloggers are busily writing a post a day and ignoring other blogs. As you know, this affects me Not At All from the standpoint that I am not a Major Player, nor do I get all excited about all that crap.

    ReplyDelete

Oh, thank you for joining the fray!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...