| Author | Message | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5199 Registered: 8-2001 |
The "progressive" elementary school I attended was integrated like a low-quality chocolate chip cookie-- a few bits of brown in a sea of whiteness. (A high-quality chocolate chip cookie, of course, is mostly chocolate.) When I was in seventh grade, the father of one of the school's few black students gave a talk to my class about his experiences with racism. The most important lesson I learned from the talk was not the intended lesson. What was it? | ||
| Kdoc (Kdoc)
New member Username: Kdoc Post Number: 982 Registered: 7-2001 |
was the lesson one which gave you a happierview of the world? sadder? did it worry you? upset you? please you? was the lesson about the way people behave? about the way schools behave? about the way society behaves? was the lesson about education? family values? religion? money? ambition? personal relationships? jobs? was the lesson telling you how to get something you want? how to stop getting something you don't want? how to make something happen? how to make something stop happening? did the lesson relate to food? politics? physical appearance? privacy? (!) travel? hobbies? pets? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5202 Registered: 8-2001 |
Kdoc (Kdoc) New member Username: Kdoc Post Number: 982 Registered: 7-2001 Posted on Sunday, February 28, 2010 - 9:09 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) was the lesson one which gave you a happierview of the world? no sadder? no did it worry you? no upset you? no please you? yesish was the lesson about the way people behave? yope about the way schools behave? yopeabout the way society behaves?yope was the lesson about education? nofamily values? noreligion? no money? no ambition? nopersonal relationships? yes jobs?no was the lesson telling you how to get something you want? yesishhow to stop getting something you don't want? ditto how to make something happen? dittohow to make something stop happening? ditto did the lesson relate to food? politics? physical appearance? privacy? (!) travel? hobbies? pets? no to all! | ||
| Galfisk (Galfisk)
New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1313 Registered: 9-2009 |
Is your relation to the black kid(s) in your school relevant? Did it change as a result fo the lesson? Or did you change your behavior in some other way? Would the lecturer be upset if he knew what you'd learned? Or amused? | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 986 Registered: 10-2008 |
Was the lesson about communication? How to effectively get a point across? Did the lesson relate to speech-making? Being a student? Answering questions? To a subject one would study in school? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5205 Registered: 8-2001 |
Galfisk (Galfisk) New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1313 Registered: 9-2009 Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 11:45 am: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Is your relation to the black kid(s) in your school relevant? noDid it change as a result fo the lesson? no Or did you change your behavior in some other way? yes Would the lecturer be upset if he knew what you'd learned? noOr amused? Gourami (Gourami) Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 986 Registered: 10-2008 Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 3:35 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Was the lesson about communication? yes How to effectively get a point across? yes Did the lesson relate to speech-making? yesBeing a student? no Answering questions? yopeTo a subject one would study in school?yes | ||
| Biograd (Biograd)
New member Username: Biograd Post Number: 682 Registered: 6-2008 |
Was the lesson inferred from the actual meaning of the speech? from the words or tone? from the very fact that the school had allowed this man to speak? from the reaction of the other students to the speech? Is the fact that the speech discussed racism relevant? If he had discussed, e.g., global warming, could the lesson have been learned as well? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5208 Registered: 8-2001 |
Biograd (Biograd) New member Username: Biograd Post Number: 682 Registered: 6-2008 Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 10:04 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Was the lesson inferred from the actual meaning of the speech? nofrom the words or tone? yesfrom the very fact that the school had allowed this man to speak? no from the reaction of the other students to the speech? no Is the fact that the speech discussed racism relevant? noishIf he had discussed, e.g., global warming, could the lesson have been learned as well? yes | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 995 Registered: 10-2008 |
Does the lesson show how to help audiences accept a message? How to simplify a complex issue? How to make a speech under some adverse condition? Is it something that may be taught in a communication course? Did the lesson come from his choice of words? His diction? Volume? The pauses and spaces between his words? Something else about timing? How he addressed the audience or certain members of it? | ||
| Noobdogg (Noobdogg)
Moderator Username: Noobdogg Post Number: 306 Registered: 3-2009 |
If the speech had been identical in all respects other than that the speaker was white instead, would you still have learned the lesson? Did he use slang? Or was the complete lack of slang something that dispelled a stereotypical scrund you might have had? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5209 Registered: 8-2001 |
Gourami (Gourami) Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 995 Registered: 10-2008 Posted on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 3:48 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Does the lesson show how to help audiences accept a message? yesishHow to simplify a complex issue? noHow to make a speech under some adverse condition? no Is it something that may be taught in a communication course? yes Did the lesson come from his choice of words? yes His diction? noVolume? yope The pauses and spaces between his words? yope Something else about timing? yope How he addressed the audience or certain members of it?noish Noobdogg (Noobdogg) Moderator Username: Noobdogg Post Number: 306 Registered: 3-2009 Posted on Sunday, March 07, 2010 - 8:56 am: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) If the speech had been identical in all respects other than that the speaker was white instead, would you still have learned the lesson?A white perspmn couldn't have given this speech about his own experiences being a victim of racism, but if he had given the same speech about a black friend's experiences, I would have learned the same thing Did he use slang? no Or was the complete lack of slang something that dispelled a stereotypical scrund you might have had? no | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5215 Registered: 8-2001 |
HINT: Find out more about my elementary school. | ||
| Noel (Noel)
New member Username: Noel Post Number: 1627 Registered: 7-2009 |
Is it a large elementary school? Small? Urban? Rural? Mixed gender? or all girls? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5217 Registered: 8-2001 |
Noel (Noel) New member Username: Noel Post Number: 1627 Registered: 7-2009 Posted on Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 2:02 am: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Is it a large elementary school? no Small? yes Urban? yes, but irrelRural? no, but irrel Mixed gender? yes, but irrel or all girls? no, but irrel | ||
| Fatboy_chubz (Fatboy_chubz)
New member Username: Fatboy_chubz Post Number: 1 Registered: 3-2010 |
was the school a specialty school? (like school for blind, magnet school, arts, science, etc.) Did you learn that high quality chocolate chip cookies contained more chocolate chips? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5220 Registered: 8-2001 |
Fatboy_chubz (Fatboy_chubz) New member Username: Fatboy_chubz Post Number: 1 Registered: 3-2010 Posted on Sunday, March 14, 2010 - 6:33 am: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) was the school a specialty school? yesish(like school for blind, magnet school, arts, science, etc.) None of those specialties Did you learn that high quality chocolate chip cookies contained more chocolate chips? I ALWAYS knew that--it's obvious!! | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1717 Registered: 3-2006 |
Is this a religious school? A Jewish school? A Christian school? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5223 Registered: 8-2001 |
Woodworm (Woodworm) New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1717 Registered: 3-2006 Posted on Monday, March 15, 2010 - 10:22 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Is this a religious school? noish A Jewish school? no A Christian school? no | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5238 Registered: 8-2001 |
RECAP: Add the following to the puzzle description: The lesson concerned how to give a speech & had nothing to do specifically with racism or even discrimination in general. HINT: What would you expect a speech to 7th graders about racial discrimination to be like? | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1029 Registered: 10-2008 |
You would expect the speech to be against discrimination...Was it against discrimination? Was it pro-discrimination? Did it take a neutral tone? Disinterested? Ambivalent? Did it contain a shocking "hook"--something to get the audience's attention? Did the student present and then refute counter-arguments? A good idea when arguing something for class is to pick not the side you agree with, but the side you can defend best--is that relevant? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5239 Registered: 8-2001 |
Gourami (Gourami) Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1029 Registered: 10-2008 Posted on Sunday, March 21, 2010 - 6:14 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) You would expect the speech to be against discrimination.. yesWas it against discrimination? yes Was it pro-discrimination?no Did it take a neutral tone? yope Disinterested? noAmbivalent? noDid it contain a shocking "hook"--something to get the audience's attention? noDid the student present and then refute counter-arguments? noA good idea when arguing something for class is to pick not the side you agree with, but the side you can defend best--is that relevant? no | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1030 Registered: 10-2008 |
Did the lesson you took from the speech deal with the level of emotion the speaker brought to the speech? To the level of emotion in the audience? Did the speaker trick the audience in any way? Manipulate them? Does the lesson have to do with being condescending/talking down to kids or not? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5240 Registered: 8-2001 |
Gourami (Gourami) Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1030 Registered: 10-2008 Posted on Sunday, March 21, 2010 - 9:52 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Did the lesson you took from the speech deal with the level of emotion the speaker brought to the speech? yes To the level of emotion in the audience? yesish Did the speaker trick the audience in any way? no Manipulate them? no Does the lesson have to do with being condescending/talking down to kids or not? yope | ||
| Galfisk (Galfisk)
New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1495 Registered: 9-2009 |
Did he tell stories? Did you learn an effective way to cause emotions in your listeners? Emotions to get them to support whatever you wanted to convey? To relate to what is being told? Did you learn a particular thing that was good to have in a speech? Or a particular thing to avoid in speeches? Was what you learned especially relevant to speaking to 7th graders? Or could it be used in all sorts of speeches? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5245 Registered: 8-2001 |
Galfisk (Galfisk) New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1495 Registered: 9-2009 Posted on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 2:57 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Did he tell stories? yes Did you learn an effective way to cause emotions in your listeners? yesEmotions to get them to support whatever you wanted to convey? yopeTo relate to what is being told? yes Did you learn a particular thing that was good to have in a speech? Or a particular thing to avoid in speeches? yes Was what you learned especially relevant to speaking to 7th graders? noOr could it be used in all sorts of speeches? no | ||
| Galfisk (Galfisk)
New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1576 Registered: 9-2009 |
Was it one particular word you learned to avoid? a way of speaking? Way of telling stories? Or concept? Or tone of voice? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5250 Registered: 8-2001 |
Galfisk (Galfisk) New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1576 Registered: 9-2009 Posted on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 9:51 am: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Was it one particular word you learned to avoid? noa way of speaking? yes Way of telling stories? yes Or concept? noOr tone of voice? yes | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5255 Registered: 8-2001 |
HINT: Think about what a speech about racial discrimination is apt to be like. | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1076 Registered: 10-2008 |
Sorry if this has already been answered, but did the speaker set an example for you to follow? Or did you learn not to do what he did? Is the thing to avoid: a way to transition into a story? A way of "playing" characters in a story? Putting a moral at the end of a story? Or leaving a story open-ended? Does it involve the relationship between more than one story? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5258 Registered: 8-2001 |
Gourami (Gourami) Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1076 Registered: 10-2008 Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 2:05 am: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Sorry if this has already been answered, but did the speaker set an example for you to follow? yes Or did you learn not to do what he did? no Is the thing to avoid: a way to transition into a story? A way of "playing" characters in a story? Putting a moral at the end of a story? Or leaving a story open-ended? Does it involve the relationship between more than one story? No, even if you had asked whether these things were part of the good example (since the speaker offered a good example rather than a thing to avoid | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1080 Registered: 10-2008 |
But what you ultimately learned was something to avoid, correct? Does the lesson have to do with dialects/accents? The childish diction and syntax usually used with kids? The length of a speech? It seems there's still something more to find out about the school--is it a school for the gifted? A school with non-traditional grading? A private school? A school with a theme to its teaching--vocational, environmental, spiritual, etc? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5260 Registered: 8-2001 |
Gourami (Gourami) Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1080 Registered: 10-2008 Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 4:06 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) But what you ultimately learned was something to avoid, correct? You can put it either as something to do ot as something to avoid Does the lesson have to do with dialects/accents? no The childish diction and syntax usually used with kids? noThe length of a speech? no It seems there's still something more to find out about the school--is it a school for the gifted? no A school with non-traditional grading? yes but this is at best marginally relevant (if at all)A private school? yes A school with a theme to its teaching--vocational no, environmental no, spiritual yope, etc? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5266 Registered: 8-2001 |
HINT: The school was a secular humsnist (Ethical Culture) school, but what is relevant is that it was very concerned with the "whole child" & our moral development. (By the way, I found this appallingly intrusive, but that's not what's relevant about the sort of school it was.) | ||
| Galfisk (Galfisk)
New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1669 Registered: 9-2009 |
Did he: talk down to you? Level with you? Asked you to imagine yourself in his situation? Told stories from when he was your age? Made parallells you could relate to? Asked you to imagine how you would feel in the same situation? To imagine something else relevant? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5270 Registered: 8-2001 |
Galfisk (Galfisk) New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1669 Registered: 9-2009 Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 7:58 am: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Did he: talk down to you? no Level with you? Yes--but there's more to the solution than thatAsked you to imagine yourself in his situation? noTold stories from when he was your age? no Made parallells you could relate to?no Asked you to imagine how you would feel in the same situation? noTo imagine something else relevant? no | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1110 Registered: 10-2008 |
Was some aspect of his speaking something you would only expect from a child? Like the use of certain words? Yelling? Crying? Referring to something imaginary? Something irrational? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5271 Registered: 8-2001 |
Gourami (Gourami) Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1110 Registered: 10-2008 Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 11:45 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Was some aspect of his speaking something you would only expect from a child? Like the use of certain words? Yelling? Crying? Referring to something imaginary? Something irrational? no to all | ||
| Galfisk (Galfisk)
New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1732 Registered: 9-2009 |
Honesty relevant? Exaggeration? Did he make references to something relevant? Flesh out the setting before telling the main story? Is what you learned specifically about making speeches? Or just a good way to tell a story? To convey a message? A feeling? Is what you learned related to: what to say/not say? How to say it? Facial expression? body language? How much emotion to put into (or keep out of) your delivery of the speech? Or what kind of emotion(s)? | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5280 Registered: 8-2001 |
Galfisk (Galfisk) New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 1732 Registered: 9-2009 Posted on Thursday, April 22, 2010 - 12:41 pm: Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IPPrint Post Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only) Honesty relevant? no Exaggeration? yes Did he make references to something relevant? noishFlesh out the setting before telling the main story? noIs what you learned specifically about making speeches? see next answersOr just a good way to tell a story? yes To convey a message? yes A feeling? yes Is what you learned related to: what to say/not say? yesHow to say it? yesFacial expression? yesbody language? yes How much emotion to put into (or keep out of) your delivery of the speech? YESOr what kind of emotion(s)? yes ********** SPOILER ***************** My elementary school was called--no kidding!!--The Brooklyn Ethical Culture School. Ethical Culture is a smarmy sort of secular humanism, and the teachers were always trying to whip students up into moral frenzies about various causes. Of course, this had the opposite effect!For all its moralism, though, the school was very poorly integrated--less than 5% black. The black students included 2 sisters, both younger than I was & hence not in my class. But their father spoke to my class about his experiences with racial discrimination. It was the most matter-of-fact talk imaginable: no histrionics & no moralizing. He respected us enough to figure that if he presented the facts, we could figure it out all by ourselves that discrimination was bad. It was the best speech I had ever heard at that point of my life & it still ranks as one of the best. So that's how I learned that matter-of-factness is better than histrionics & overstatement. A new puzzle awaits you! | ||
| Gourami (Gourami)
Moderator Username: Gourami Post Number: 1137 Registered: 10-2008 |
Very nice; a valuable lesson. Your description of that school--"always trying to whip students up into moral frenzies about various causes"--reminds me of an elementary that some family friends send their kids to. They recently got into an environmental/humanitarian kick, which is commendable in itself, but...they canceled their own decades-old Halloween tradition of tossing a pumpkin off the roof. "Waste of food" was the given reason, even though the pumpkin was grown by the students themselves. Anyway, /rant. Good puzzle! | ||
| Nimue (Nimue)
New member Username: Nimue Post Number: 5308 Registered: 8-2001 |
Gourami--Oh, that school sounds TRULY ICKY!! |
