Classical Genre [Tuesday, 1st Period]
The usual selection of pastries and coffee greeted the class as they arrived. For his part Rick looked vaguely hung over as he clutched a cup of coffee in his hands.
"I hop you all had a good weekend," Rick began. "And that none of you had to find out that your mother slept with the Vice-Principal." He was in a sharing the trauma kind of mood today.
"So, crime and mystery," he said after giving the class a moment to shake that mental image from their minds. "Now as you might have guessed from the fact I write it, and because I told you in the first class, this is my absolute favourite genre of all time, because it's all about people, and unless you've got a truly terrible story on your hands, it all makes sense. Especially when it involves murder.
"In fiction, even the most seemingly senseless and arbitrary crime means something, has a motive, serves a purpose, even if it's only as a red herring. It has to, for the 'Aha!' moment. Which is the point in the story when all the pieces fall into place and your plucky girl detective, nosy old lady, gentleman sleuth, or hard-bitten P.I., unravels the mystery and you can go back through the book and pick up on the clues leading to it."
As if he was making up for last week's silence, Rick continued on for a while, explaining and expanding on many of the tropes used in the genre.
"Now, speaking of 'Aha!' moments," Rick said after he wound up. "Tell me if you had one in the book you read for this."
[OOC: OCD up.]
[ Class Roster|Syllabus|Class Rules|Previous Classes]
"I hop you all had a good weekend," Rick began. "And that none of you had to find out that your mother slept with the Vice-Principal." He was in a sharing the trauma kind of mood today.
"So, crime and mystery," he said after giving the class a moment to shake that mental image from their minds. "Now as you might have guessed from the fact I write it, and because I told you in the first class, this is my absolute favourite genre of all time, because it's all about people, and unless you've got a truly terrible story on your hands, it all makes sense. Especially when it involves murder.
"In fiction, even the most seemingly senseless and arbitrary crime means something, has a motive, serves a purpose, even if it's only as a red herring. It has to, for the 'Aha!' moment. Which is the point in the story when all the pieces fall into place and your plucky girl detective, nosy old lady, gentleman sleuth, or hard-bitten P.I., unravels the mystery and you can go back through the book and pick up on the clues leading to it."
As if he was making up for last week's silence, Rick continued on for a while, explaining and expanding on many of the tropes used in the genre.
"Now, speaking of 'Aha!' moments," Rick said after he wound up. "Tell me if you had one in the book you read for this."
[OOC: OCD up.]
[ Class Roster|Syllabus|Class Rules|Previous Classes]