Amazing how differently we think!! Funny stuff.
The professor told his class one day: "Today we will experiment with a new form
called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person
sitting to his or her immediate right.
As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You
will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send another copy to me. The partner will read
the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story and send it back, so
sending another copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on
back-and-forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the
story coherent.
There is to be absolutely NO talking outside of the e-mails and anything you wish to
say must be written in the e-mail. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been
reached."
The following was actually turned in by two of his English students: Rebecca and
Gary.
THE STORY:
(first paragraph by Rebecca) At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she
wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now
reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile.
But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was
suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So
chamomile was out of the question.
(second paragraph by Gary)
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit
over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed
asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago.
"A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator.
"Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could
sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his
ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across
the cockpit.
(Rebecca)
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang
of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him.
Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of
Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel,"
Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored
her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed
unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspaper to read, no television to distract her from
her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one
lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.
(Gary ) Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of
miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion
missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace disarmament
Treaty through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien
empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage
of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to
pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their
diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The
President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the
coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid
Laurie.
(Rebecca)
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner
is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.
(Gary) Yeah? Well, my writing partner is a self-centered tedious neurotic whose
attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh, shall I have
chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F--KING TEA??? Oh no, what am I to do?
I'm such an air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels
(Rebecca)
A**hole.
(Gary)
B*tch
(Rebecca) F__K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!
(Gary)
Go drink some tea - whore.
(TEACHER)
A+ - I really liked this one.
The professor told his class one day: "Today we will experiment with a new form
called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person
sitting to his or her immediate right.
As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You
will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send another copy to me. The partner will read
the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story and send it back, so
sending another copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on
back-and-forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the
story coherent.
There is to be absolutely NO talking outside of the e-mails and anything you wish to
say must be written in the e-mail. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been
reached."
The following was actually turned in by two of his English students: Rebecca and
Gary.
THE STORY:
(first paragraph by Rebecca) At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she
wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now
reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile.
But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was
suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So
chamomile was out of the question.
(second paragraph by Gary)
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit
over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed
asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago.
"A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator.
"Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could
sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his
ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across
the cockpit.
(Rebecca)
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang
of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him.
Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of
Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel,"
Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored
her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed
unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspaper to read, no television to distract her from
her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one
lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.
(Gary ) Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of
miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion
missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace disarmament
Treaty through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien
empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage
of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to
pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their
diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The
President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the
coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid
Laurie.
(Rebecca)
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner
is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.
(Gary) Yeah? Well, my writing partner is a self-centered tedious neurotic whose
attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh, shall I have
chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F--KING TEA??? Oh no, what am I to do?
I'm such an air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels
(Rebecca)
A**hole.
(Gary)
B*tch
(Rebecca) F__K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!
(Gary)
Go drink some tea - whore.
(TEACHER)
A+ - I really liked this one.
