Ms. Hawes as a Dickensian Character
Mr. Valaitis asked us to describe an eccentric character in our lives the way Dickens might have. Of course, I had to pick my Calculus teacher, Ms. Hawes. Names were changed to protect my grade.
Nancy Bumpkis had a very round shape, like that of an egg, and although it is almost trite, it cannot be helped that her manner was rather eccentric, as if she were not accustomed to society. Mrs. Bumpkis's eyes were bulging, but never cruel, which made Pip considerably less afraid of her.
"Well now, Mr. Pip- what have we got?" The intonation of Mrs. Bumpkis's voice traveled up and down- varying almost with every word. Mrs. Bumpkis's class was difficult, but fair. If a student had performed poorly, grades might be improved with private interviews and practice problems. As Pip had always struggled with math he found himself having quite a few private interviews and doing several practice problems.
"Um, yes- er, right here-it seems I could have, er, used the definition of the derivative to, um, find out what the function would be at, um, 'x' equal to three."
"Mm-hmm."
Mrs. Bumpkis had an irritating habit of 'mm-hmm'-ing students along, urging them to continue explaining even when most weren't quite sure what she wanted them to say next.
"And so I, um," continued Pip, making 'I' and 'um' into one word: 'eyum.' "I found that the equation would be y-6=13(x-2)."
"Mm-hmm..."
The other annoyance was that Mrs. Bumpkis would often 'mm-hmm' even after there was nothing more to be said. It was never known whether she did this as a test or simply because she did not realize the impact of her own 'mm-hmm'-ing.
Pip finished up his interview, receiving a square fifteen points, and hurried home to impart upon Joe his newly acquired knowledge.
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Practically no one in our class has read Great Expectations all the way through. I can't tell if Mr. Valaitis can tell. Example:
"So, who is Aged P?"
Silence.
"Does anyone remember who Aged P is?"
Silence.
Thankfully Sabrina answered with a nebulous answer letting us all off the hook.
Another example, this one during Stacie's presentation:
"So, are there any other examples from the END of the book to support this?"
Silence.
Struggling to think of something....
"Well, we didn't get that far."
Shock. Fuckin' Stacie, you're going to ruin it! Fuck!
"No, no! I mean, like in our brainstorming for this presentation. We haven't gotten that far in our BRAINSTORMING"
Then Justyna saved her and explained some things about Estella.
I just wonder if maybe he has known all along and is just totally screwing with us. Like, he keeps telling us that Miss Havisham burst into flames at the end. I seriously hope this actually happened, because if not, we've been self-incriminatingly nodding.
But no one worries, because 'oh, it's just Valaitis, he doesn't care.' People (Michelle!) skip class all the time. I just feel bad for him. And no wonder he has such low expectations for high school students- no one really makes an effort for his class.
Of course the other side of this is that if he actually made his class really serious I'd have surely died this past fall when I didn't even have a spare minute to eat dinner, let alone write papers.
I'm leaving at four today (after the St. Joe's game; my parents- plain addicts) for Vermont, to tour Middlebury's campus. I hope I get into a college. Oh please, colleges, let me in!
I also applied to American today, as a third safety.
Nancy Bumpkis had a very round shape, like that of an egg, and although it is almost trite, it cannot be helped that her manner was rather eccentric, as if she were not accustomed to society. Mrs. Bumpkis's eyes were bulging, but never cruel, which made Pip considerably less afraid of her.
"Well now, Mr. Pip- what have we got?" The intonation of Mrs. Bumpkis's voice traveled up and down- varying almost with every word. Mrs. Bumpkis's class was difficult, but fair. If a student had performed poorly, grades might be improved with private interviews and practice problems. As Pip had always struggled with math he found himself having quite a few private interviews and doing several practice problems.
"Um, yes- er, right here-it seems I could have, er, used the definition of the derivative to, um, find out what the function would be at, um, 'x' equal to three."
"Mm-hmm."
Mrs. Bumpkis had an irritating habit of 'mm-hmm'-ing students along, urging them to continue explaining even when most weren't quite sure what she wanted them to say next.
"And so I, um," continued Pip, making 'I' and 'um' into one word: 'eyum.' "I found that the equation would be y-6=13(x-2)."
"Mm-hmm..."
The other annoyance was that Mrs. Bumpkis would often 'mm-hmm' even after there was nothing more to be said. It was never known whether she did this as a test or simply because she did not realize the impact of her own 'mm-hmm'-ing.
Pip finished up his interview, receiving a square fifteen points, and hurried home to impart upon Joe his newly acquired knowledge.
------------------------------------------------------
Practically no one in our class has read Great Expectations all the way through. I can't tell if Mr. Valaitis can tell. Example:
"So, who is Aged P?"
Silence.
"Does anyone remember who Aged P is?"
Silence.
Thankfully Sabrina answered with a nebulous answer letting us all off the hook.
Another example, this one during Stacie's presentation:
"So, are there any other examples from the END of the book to support this?"
Silence.
Struggling to think of something....
"Well, we didn't get that far."
Shock. Fuckin' Stacie, you're going to ruin it! Fuck!
"No, no! I mean, like in our brainstorming for this presentation. We haven't gotten that far in our BRAINSTORMING"
Then Justyna saved her and explained some things about Estella.
I just wonder if maybe he has known all along and is just totally screwing with us. Like, he keeps telling us that Miss Havisham burst into flames at the end. I seriously hope this actually happened, because if not, we've been self-incriminatingly nodding.
But no one worries, because 'oh, it's just Valaitis, he doesn't care.' People (Michelle!) skip class all the time. I just feel bad for him. And no wonder he has such low expectations for high school students- no one really makes an effort for his class.
Of course the other side of this is that if he actually made his class really serious I'd have surely died this past fall when I didn't even have a spare minute to eat dinner, let alone write papers.
I'm leaving at four today (after the St. Joe's game; my parents- plain addicts) for Vermont, to tour Middlebury's campus. I hope I get into a college. Oh please, colleges, let me in!
I also applied to American today, as a third safety.