<table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="padding: 1.5pt; width: 100%;" width="100%"> Here's a prime example of "Men Are from Mars, Women Are From Venus"
offered by an English professor from the <st1 =""><st1 ="">University</st1> of <st1 ="">Phoenix</st1>:</st1>
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, also 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 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 <st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
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.
(<st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
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 <st1 ="">Guam</st1>, felt
the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid, Laurie
and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the
conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty!
Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"
(Rebecca)
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My
writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.
(<st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
Yeah? Well, you're 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, I'm such an
air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels!"
(Rebecca)
Asshole.
(<st1 =""><st1:city w:st="on">Gary</st1:city></st1>)
Bitch
(Rebecca)
F__K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!
(<st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
Go drink some tea - whore.
(TEACHER)
A+ - I really liked this one
</td></tr></tbody></table>
offered by an English professor from the <st1 =""><st1 ="">University</st1> of <st1 ="">Phoenix</st1>:</st1>
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, also 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 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 <st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
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.
(<st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
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 <st1 ="">Guam</st1>, felt
the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid, Laurie
and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the
conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty!
Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"
(Rebecca)
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My
writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.
(<st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
Yeah? Well, you're 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, I'm such an
air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels!"
(Rebecca)
Asshole.
(<st1 =""><st1:city w:st="on">Gary</st1:city></st1>)
Bitch
(Rebecca)
F__K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!
(<st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">Gary</st1></st1:city>)
Go drink some tea - whore.
(TEACHER)
A+ - I really liked this one
</td></tr></tbody></table>