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Censorship update:

According to Em's civics assignment: "Inappropriate news topics will not be accepted. If you are unsure of what is considered appropriate, please consult your teacher or your parents." (The assignment sheet printed that sentence in bold type.)

Her entire summary:

Source: Washingtonpost.com
Headline: House Defeats Gay Marriage Amendment
Main Idea: Debating whether or not gay marriages should be banned
Summary: People in the House of Representatives debate about banning gay marriage, and it turns out they won't be. :) (Penciled smiley.)
Connection: This connects to civics because it has to do with making laws and debating which are big parts of the government.

Now, besides the fact that this is a danged sketchy summary and I'd like to throttle her for that, the only opinion she offers is the little smiley. She is brief and matter-of-fact. Practically boring! If anything, the article that she summarized is even more dry.

She did what she was told to do and checked with me regarding the appropriateness of the article.

Clearly, this job will require my cape and boots.

Comments

John said…
You just wanted to say 'minuting.' :-)
12:26 PM
listeme said…
You guys are no help at all. I was looking for suggestions or sympathy or even a pithy saying.
2:26 PM
Anonymous said…
The teacher might have a point if Em had delved into the sexual differences in gay marriage and traditional marriage. On the other hand, if she had delved into the questionable politics of election-year pandering with red-herring non-issues such as this, then her civics class would have been well-served.

The perfunctory nature of this analysis means no appreciable work is being lost. Assuming she's allowed to redo the work without penalty, it's not necessarily worth your donning the Halloween gear early.

Btw, I am against gay marriage. They have enough troubles as it is without marriage ruining their relationships :o)

Would that the rest of us were so lucky!
2:27 PM
John said…
I think you should calmly and forcefully make the following points...

-to em: You are really getting a favor here of a do-over, but do you really want to take advantage of a censorious principle?

-to the teacher: Yes, I approved (and still approve) the topic; I'd like to discuss your or the school's standards for barring controversial subject matter, after we have resolved this immediate issue. That said, I suspect both of us agree her effort was less than stellar, and if you wanted to give her a D or an F on the grounds of quality alone, I couldn't object.

Hardly pithy, but saves the cape and boots thing for another day. :-)
2:34 PM
listeme said…
To clarify, this seems to be EXACTLY what the teacher is looking for workwise. The articles and "summaries" are being checked off each week. There's really not much room for indepth analysis. She seems to be looking for proof that they've glanced over the article. (Not to defend the five-minute assignment, of course.) Ahem.
2:38 PM
listeme said…
And y'all seem to think I'm trying to avoid wearing the cape and boots! Come on, how often do I get to wear them???

(Think sequins. Lotsa sequins.)
2:39 PM
John said…
Yes, I should have added, "unless this is what the teacher was looking for, which would be a damn shame." Thanks for the clarification -- back to the crusade-drawing board.

Sequins requins schmequins :-)
3:03 PM
Anonymous said…
If the outfit includes a skirt, go for it. Marsh in cape, skirt, boots, sequins, wow!

Mild-mannered writer/mom Marsh-mellow transforms into
the sequined Lambrequin!


[no sheepish shark! perhaps a shark in sheep's clothing? ... if sheep wear sequined capes and boots.]
3:51 PM
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