To the One-trick Pony in class ...

The BBQ Pit
1

Please shut up until you have something new to say.

Backstory: I am now going back to college, and all-in-all it’s been pretty good. All As and Bs, which is much better than I ever did in high school or college the first time I went.

I am now in a really easy English class and on top of having an incredibly dull, nerdish, uncharismatic teacher, one fella in the class is bugging the hell out of me.

I can’t tell whether he’s black or hispanic, but every time he opens his mouth the same thing invariable interrupt our class: his continued use of the phrase, “Naa mean?” and the absolute belief that there are only two kinds of people, The Man and The Victim.

Every subject the professor brings up is subjected to Pony’s skewed perspective on someone always being “put down” or the unfairness of the courts. He complains away about how certain laws - governing just about anything - only serve The Man and mean nothing the the people. Criminals, most notable drug dealers and thieves, are victims of the system not looking out for them. Profiling by the law is the biggest problem facing our inner cities, displayed by his saying - in every damn class - that “If it were me doin’ that, I’d be in jail, naa mean?”

He seems like a smart guy and he’s nice enough, but I’m reall fucking sick of hearing his “disinfranchised minority” schtick.

Christ, man, we get it. Now shut the fuck up. Are you here in college to learn or as a forum for your angst?

Holy shit, I wish I could just ignore him, but the professor has no balls to stand up to a student with so forceful a personality.

It’s sad and it’s annoying. I’m just glad this is an excelerated summer course, because I don’t think I could do a full semester with this going on every effing day.

2

Hey, why are you keeping the brothers down?

3

You’re lucky. This guy seems to be pretty low on the Obnoxious One Trick Pony Class Hog Scale. I had one guy in a class on Norse Lit who related everything to his own personal D&D-derived animal shamanism mythos. NO, YOU STUPID SPOTTY ASSHAT. NJAL’S SAGA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EAGLE SYMBOLISM. WE’VE BEEN LISTENING TO YOU FOR TEN MINUTES. NOW SHUT THE FUCK UP.

4

It’s accelerated, naa mean?

5

HURM. Yeah, that’s what I meant, UD. I’m actually in class right now, listening to the prof out of one ear, so I’m only giving this half my attention.

And slortar, are you saying this cat created his own religion - based off D&D - and then tried to use it as a point of argument in class?

Wow. I don’t know if that’s more sad or insane.

6

Tell him that. In class. Loudly.
You’ll probably get a standing ovation from the rest of the students.

7

You really need to get your priorities straight and start giving the class half your attention. :smiley:

8

Hey, half to the class, half to the Dope and half to the other things I have to do today.

What’s the problem?

9

No, they just run the fiction through Microsoft spreadsheet programs. :stuck_out_tongue:

10

If you think his position is wrong or unpersuasive, why don’t you say so in class? If there’s anything worse than a one-trick pony in class, it’s a bunch of other students who don’t have the will to offer their own opinions and enter into a debate. And i say that as someone who has seen this from both sides of the desk—student and teacher.

Whether your teacher agrees with this guy or not, i’m sure the teacher would be delighted if other students jumped into the conversation and disagreed with him. It would make the class much more interesting, and would demonstrate that you and the other students actually have some investment in what’s going on, rather than just posting to message boards during class.

I’ll say again what i’ve said a few times before on these boards:

Conservatives often complain that college teachers just want students to spout liberal ideology in class. But believe me, the biggest challenge facing college teachers isn’t student conservatism, it’s student apathy. It’s amazing how often students are willing, once class is over, to complain about the “annoying guy” or “one-trick pony” who dominates class discussion, but those same students are often too apathetic to actually do anything about it when it really matters—during class.

If you think he’s talking bullshit, tell him so—in a calm and rational manner of course—instead of whining about it here.

11

Everybody always says somebody should say something - well, Gorgon, you’re as much somebody as the teacher.

Pretend it’s IMHO - attack the argument, not the student, and see where it goes.

12

As a Conservative in many (though not all) senses of the word, I agree heartily. I often wound up dominating class discussions simply because no one else wanted to talk. SOme of them complained about me talking, but never wanted to talk themselves! It was always the same: three four peeps who consistantly raised points and asked questions, 20+ who were silent as the grave.

13

Well, I tend to agree with his position that the judicial system is applied unfairly against minorities. Surveys tend to indicate similar or even lower rates of illegal drug usage among African-Americans, and yet they are overwhelmingly overrepresented in prison populations for non-violent drug offenses.

Since this is the pit: you’re in class, you’re welcome to speak up, so either speak the hell up or put up.

'Naa mean?

14

G H, I think I might be a little sympathetic to your nemesis, because he may be experiencing a stage of his own racial identity crisis. Here’s a little about it.

He may be investigating these issues himself for the first time, and being in a collegiate environment where he at least appears to have a voice is probably conducive to more of his monologues. I agree that you might want to voice your own opinions as well, but not necessarily refuting his views unless you find factual error in it. As a teacher, I can certainly appreciate an enthusiastic participant - especially when the rest of the class just looks on passively. You’ve had a wealth of experiences, I’m assuming, as you left college and have now returned, so share those experiences… I think the rest of the class might want to hear what you learned away from the collegiate environment.

15

Hey, at least he’s using the subjunctive tense. He can’t be all that bad.

16

I often found this, too. If I didn’t answer a question, no one did. C’mon people, you’re paying for this class, too - make an effort to participate and get involved. It really does make it much more interesting.

17

Actually, I think it was a matter of him having exactly one intellectual tool to interpret literature with and a drooling puppy-like enthusiasm to use it.

But it might have been his religion, too–you never know in college. Hell, I used to know an honest to Dog Odin worshipper back in the day.

As for myself…I never spoke in class, but that’s mostly because I prefer lectures to discussions. I’d much rather hear the professor speak since he’s the one I’m paying for information. I don’t pay cooks at restaurants so I can cook food for them either. :wink:

18

Ah, the old “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” situation.

It’s amazing how many people have such a narrow, passive view of what constitutes education.

19

Most professors encourage class discussion for a reason. it’s part of the lesson. Most people don’t learn by being told something; they learn by participating.

20

And yet, in graduate school, such an approach would constitute a legitimate reading of the text. Feminist theory, for example, analyzes texts from the standpoint of the gender power inequality that led to such a text being able to be created. There are similar textual analyses that are taken from a racial perspective.

Christ, at least he’s participating.