# A Writing Essay That Got An A Plus!



## MA-Caver (Aug 29, 2010)

Copied from an e-mail sent to me by my brother who actually knows Laurie.
*[FONT=&quot]Here's a prime example of "Men Are From Mars, Women       Are From Venus". [/FONT]*

*[FONT=&quot]It is offered by an English professor from the University of       Colorado as an actual class assignment:[/FONT]* [FONT=&quot]

      [/FONT][FONT=&quot]A Creative Writing 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 next to his or her desk. 

      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 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: [/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Rebecca *(PINK)*[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      Bill[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot] (BLUE).[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]**[FONT=&quot]THE STORY:[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot](first paragraph by Rebecca)[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      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.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      (second paragraph by [/FONT]**[FONT=&quot]Bill[/FONT]**[FONT=&quot] )[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      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.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      (Rebecca)[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      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.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      ( [/FONT]**[FONT=&quot]Bill[/FONT]**[FONT=&quot] )[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      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 dimwitted 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 even poor, stupid       Laurie.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      (Rebecca)[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My       writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      ( [/FONT]**[FONT=&quot]Bill[/FONT]**[FONT=&quot] )[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      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. I guess I've read too many       Danielle Steele novels!"[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      (Rebecca)[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      A$$h@le.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      ( [/FONT]**[FONT=&quot]Bill[/FONT]**[FONT=&quot] )[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      B*tch![/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      (Rebecca)[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      F*** YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!![/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
      ( [/FONT]**[FONT=&quot]Bill[/FONT]**[FONT=&quot] )[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]

      In your dreams, Ho. Go drink some tea.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
      [/FONT][FONT=&quot]
*
      (TEACHER)*

      [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]A+[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot] - I really liked this one. [/FONT]




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## girlbug2 (Aug 29, 2010)

I probably would have written paragraphs more like Bill's. I must be a Martian.


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## Fiendlover (Aug 30, 2010)

Yeah I would totally write something like Bill's part but I would do zombies instead of aliens.  Maybe alien zombies.... lol


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