The 1960s

I gave an exam yesterday and offered three bonus questions at the end. The first one, and by far the simplest, was, "What invention in the 1960s changed the dating game permanently?" Now, we have had an extended discussion about the cultural progression of courtship, flirtation, and dating. We talked a lot about how this invention changed cultural attitudes about sex, marriage, and so on. Guessed the answer yet? I would assume that you have. It's The Pill, of course. Birth control. And it DID change the game. While the majority of my students who made attempts at the bonus questions answered correctly, I got three young ladies who answered me so:

Q: What invention in the 1960s changed the dating game permanently?

A: The car and having places to go for the first time

Sigh.

To give them some credit, we did talk about the car and urbanization as formative to dating, but at the turn of the 20th century, NOT in the 1960s. I'm sure this was careless error on their part, as they did well on the rest of the exam, but I have a good time imagining the original Model T tooting around the set of Mad Men.

Those Lame Men

One of my colleagues shared a paper she was grading, with one particularly delicious phrase:

"...in lame mens terms"

She could have at least done it wrong in style and included the possessive apostrophe. I'm guessing this young lady also thinks that L, M, N, O, and P are one word: ellemennopea.

Signposts

My students are most funny with their written communication. Exams, papers, and quizzes often happen in clusters, which is why my blogs also occur in similar clusters. Hence, I offer you two in two days. I gave a very basic quiz today to my Public Speaking students, in which one of the questions was, "What is a signpost?" Now, a signpost is simply a verbal marker of a shift in topic (next, second, third, in conclusion). I encourage my basic students to use these until they master the art of spoken transitions (which they rarely do). I received several accurate answers to the question, but I here copy several of my favorites.

What is a signpost?

-"something you start and finish with"
-"a piece of something"

-"a gesture signifying an important point"

-"What is a signpost? Something that tells you what to do? Preferably on a sign?"

-"A signpost is a person/item you focus on during a speech to ease anxiety" (that's an anchor, and I got 2 of those responses)

And finally, the absolute best from my football player: "It's a position you hold to do autographs."

An introduction, as we know, sets the tone for a speech. It must be of high quality, or the rest of the speech may not be heard. Its function is to gain attention and credibility for the speaker, to introduce main points and a central theme, and to establish a clear direction and style. I'm not sure what to make of this one, from a student this semester:

(NB: I do not instruct my students to write "comic relief" as a subcategory of their speech outlines. This one seemed to do it quite naturally. Also, please note the thesis. This proposed thesis is, in fact, not a thesis.)

Attention Getter- I would like everyone to first picture yourself siting in a crowded waiting room outside of your doctors office. You’re reading an article in a magazine trying to pass the time until your doctor can see you. Then you start to notice that the lady sitting next to you starts breathing very deeply. Slow at first and then continues to breath more rapidly. You casually glance over and also notice that her legs are also trembling. Then all of a sudden you realize that the lady is having an orgasm. She becomes so aroused to the point where she has to get up and leave the waiting room.

Thesis - Little did you know that the lady who was sitting next to you suffers from an illness known as persistent sexual arousal syndrome.

Preview- Today I am going to talk with you about this persistent sexual arousal syndrome, specifically what the disorder is and what it physiologically entails, the psychological impact it causes, and also what can be done to cure this disorder.

Comic Relief- I know some of you are thinking that it’s not such a bad problem to have. But it can cause a great deal of distress to the people who have it.