Hush, Hush: Chapter 3

[zelda_queen]

ZeldaQueen: This chapter is rather infamous. Have your feminist rage at the ready, folks

Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...

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Chapter 3

ZeldaQueen: We’re back in biology class, and Nora is secretly writing down the various reasons that she should be moved away from Patch. She hopes that by presenting these arguments to the teacher, he’ll agree this time around. She writes down about his uncooperative-ness regarding the assignment and how he’s terrible with teamwork, but doesn’t write down how he’s constantly making inappropriate sexual comments towards her and scaring her.

Nora tells us that while she can’t prove it, she suspects that Patch was looking in her window last night. She understandably is scared by that. Yet he’s the love interest. That’s just…wow. Anyway, while freaking out about this, she takes two iron tablets discreetly. She notices Patch staring at her, but decides that she won’t explain it to him. Apparently she’s anemic and needs to take a couple of iron tablets. Other than that, she’s good, but she doesn’t want Patch to know about her medical conditions.

Her musings are interrupted as the teacher calls on her. She asks him to repeat the question and he says that he wants her to tell the class what traits she looks for in a “potential mate”.

…What.

I…what sort of a question is that? How has this guy not been fired? I can understand him asking what are a few general traits organisms in general look for, but herself? He honestly wants her to stand up and tell the entire class what she finds sexually appealing?

Oh, and nicely worded there. Potential mates, my ass. Yes, that just makes it sound fine. Take a group of people who are hormonal and probably awkward and shy and getting into the dating scene and talk about it like they’re all pieces of meat in a zoo. God!

Nora is, of course, squicked by this. We get a moment where we’re told how Patch has this satisfied grin on his face, watching in antici…pation and I would dearly love to remove any reason he would have need of a potential mate. Nora sputters and the teacher tells her to get on with it and she finally asks if someone else can take the bullet. The teacher calls on Patch and I am so not looking forward to this.

Patch says that the traits he looks for are “Intelligent. Attractive. Vulnerable” This chills me because he’s done absolutely nothing but come on to Nora in the most sleazy and disgusting ways possible. And what’s one of the things now that he’s saying he wants in a woman? He wants her to be vulnerable. Now consider that he’s harassing Nora and apparently spying on her through her window. He knows where she’s going to college. He knows that she’s going to be dependant on him if she wants a good grade. He knows that she is at home alone at night. And he is turned on by how vulnerable she is.

Thank you for that, Ms Fitzpatrick. I believe I’m going to continue this recap from under my bed.

From there, we launch into what has got to be the most sexist class ever. I’m dead serious here. Any Schufly has nothing on this. The teacher asks why Patch put vulnerable on his list. BECAUSE HE’S A CREEPY, STALKING MOTHERFUCKER WHO OUGHT TO BE LOCKED UP, THAT’S WHY!!!

Vee interrupts as the voice of reason, asking what the fuck this all has to do with biology or Sex Ed in general. The teacher says that all species look for certain things to attract a mate, so he’s just doing the same with us. Then why not ask what humans look for in general instead of singling out and humiliating students, you asshole? Instead of answering my question, the teacher asks Vee to give her list. Ms. Fitzpatrick attempts to make Vee overly bitchy by having her give “Gorgeous, wealthy, indulgent, fiercely protective, and just a little bit dangerous” as her list. She sounds like a blonde version of Bella Swan. And I’m not going to touch that bit about him being a little dangerous. That couple with Patch’s behavior will just make my head explode.

 Patch, for no reason at all, laughs and says that the trouble with human attraction is that no one knows if it will be returned. Um, that risk runs in every species, you idiot. Haven’t you ever watched the Discovery Channel? The teacher agrees with that statement though, which speaks quite a lot about his qualifications to be a teacher.

Patch then goes back to the vulnerable thing. He doesn’t say why he likes it, though. Instead, he says that humans are vulnerable because they can be hurt. As he says this, he bumps his knee against Nora’s



ZeldaQueen: This is a nightmare, I swear to God. All I can think of in relation to that is the Reptile Room, when Count Olaf sat at the dinner table next to the fifteen-year-old Violet and ran a knife up and down her thigh.

The teacher says that humans have the most complex methods of choosing potential mates, and I still find that to be highly suspect. He then goes on to say how women are all attracted to strong, smart men who have good survival skills and how men are attracted to beautiful women, because beauty means that they’re young and healthy and thus won’t die before they can have babies. Oh yeah, he goes there. He says that the only point of sex is babies and then adds “you'll see that children are the key to the survival of our species. And the more children you have, the greater your contribution to the gene pool”. He says this, incidentally, in reaction to Vee calling him out on being extremely sexist and not talking about what some modern-day qualities are for finding potential mates

ZeldaQueen: First of all, thank you for that, you sexist asshole. Thank you for just flat-out saying that people who can't or don't want to have children are a bunch of worthless fools who aren't contributing to our gene pool.

Second of all, if my memory of anthropology serves, it's proven that humans and Bonobo apes are the only species that engage in sex for social reasons (as in reasons other than reproduction). Instead of perhaps speculating on that though, you just basically humiliate and debase people like that. Oh and silly me, wouldn't such discussions be better suited in a social anthropology class rather than a biology one? Like I said, I can understand if there was a general discussion on the matters of reproduction and the gene pool, but this? Has anyone ever had a biology class like this? When my biology classes discussed reproduction and the gene pool, we learned about chromosomes and dominant and recessive traits and the genetic mapping of fruit flies and how marrying your cousins for too many generations was a Bad Idea.

Third of all, I realize I'm not the first reviewer of this book to point this out, but GAY PEOPLE EXIST, YOU BUNGHOLE! Fit that into your "sex is only for babies" nonsense.

My ass. This is infuriating!

And it only gets worse. The teacher says how attraction comes before sex, but there's also the body language involved to let a possible mate know that one is interested. The teacher asks Patch how, if he were at a party, he would let a girl he as interested in know his interest. Patch says that he would single her out and talk to her. Yeah, he'd probably single her out by catching her alone in the bathroom and lock the doors...God, I'm so sorry. Anyway, the teacher then asks Patch how he'd know if said girl was interested, and Patch talks about how he'd study her. I'm sorry, but this is just creepy. He's talking about getting a potential girlfriend like he's choosing a raw steak at the grocery store. Given how the teacher is presenting the lesson, small wonder he's doing so well. And then... oh Jesus Christ!!!

"'I study her,' Patch said. 'I figure out what she's thinking and feeling. She's not going to come right out and tell me, which is why I have to pay attention. Does she turn her body toward mine? Does she hold myeyes, then look away? Does she bite her lip and play with her hair, the way Nora is doing right now?'

Laughter rose in the room. I dropped my hands to my lap.

'She's game," said Patch, bumping my leg again. Of all things, I blushed.

'Very good! Very good!' Coach said, his voice charged, smiling broadly at our attentiveness.

'The blood vessels in Nora's face are widening and her skin is warming," Patch said. 'She knows she's being evaluated. She likes the attention, but she's not sure how to handle it.'

'I am not blushing.'

'She's nervous,' Patch said. 'She's stroking her arm to draw attention away from her face and down to her figure, or maybe her skin. Both are strong selling points.'

I nearly choked. He's joking, I told myself. No, he's insane. I had no experience dealing with lunatics, and it showed. I felt like I spent most of our time together staring at Patch, mouth agape. If I had any illusions about keeping up with him, I was going to have to figure out a new approach.

I placed my hands flat against the table, held my chin high, and tried to look as if I still possessed some dignity. 'This is ridiculous.'

Stretching his arm out to his side with exaggerated slyness, Patch hung it on the back of my chair. I had the strange feeling that this was a threat aimed entirely at me, and that he was unaware and uncaring of how the class received it.  They laughed, but he didn't seem to hear it, holding my eyes so singly with his own that I almost believed he'd carved a small, private world for us that no one else could reach.

Vulnerable, he mouthed.

I locked my ankles around the legs of my chair and jerked forward, feeling the weight of his arm drop off the back of the seat. I was not vulnerable.

'And there you have it!' Coach said. 'Biology in motion.'"

ZeldaQueen: Can we count all of the creepy, possessive, misogynistic, abusive, assholish things going on there? I think we can!

- The way Patch is talking about studying Nora, the girl sitting right next to him, like she's a chunk of meat on display, specifically referring to her skin and figure as "strong selling points", like this is some fucking sex slave trade

- The way the teacher laughs and encourages it because hey, the class is paying attention. To Hell if one of his students is being publicly humiliated. She's just a lowly wimmuns and probably has had period already so by the laws of nature, she ought to be off having babies and contributing to the gene pool, dammit!

- The way Patch puts his arm around Nora in a way that his horribly, creepily possessive, pretty much saying "You belong to me, my pretty"

- The way he immediately after mouths to her how vulnerable she is

- The way Nora is blushing and humiliated and still makes valiant struggles to keep her dignity and fight back, while we all know that she will eventually submit and go into a relationship with this bastard and expect us to believe that it's True Love

- The way the entire rest of the class just laughs at this and apparently fails to notice how upset and uncomfortable Nora is

Teens are being given this book, ladies and gentlemen. There are fans for this series. People who think that Patch is the greatest guy ever. People who say he's even better than Edward Cullen. People who read that and think how romantic and playful it is.

I, meanwhile, feel incredibly frightened. I'm dead serious. Holly Potter's sociopathic reactions to everything in Child of Grace didn't inspire this level of fear in me. Rose Potters narcissistic tendencies to emulate Voldemort didn't. Nothing Zoey Redbird did or will do (yes, I'm looking at you, Chosen) gets my skin to crawl this badly. NOTHING IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING TWILIGHT SERIES, INCLUDING BREAKING DAWN, MIDNIGHT SUN, AND THE SHORT, SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER ELICITS THIS MUCH REVULSION AND DISGUST! I'm dead serious. This is astonishing. We're only on the third chapter and I'm already calling "Bring back Edward and Bella!"

Class lets out and Patch casually tells Nora that he had fun and that they should do that again sometime.

I'm literally ready to weep. I'm not kidding at all.

Vee proceeds to be the only person in the entire biology class to show an iota of sense and compassion. She tells Nora  that she's going to petition to get the teacher fired, as "It was watered-down porn. He practically had you and Patch on top of your lab table, horizontal, minus your clothes, doing the Big Deed-". Nora gives her a "not now" look and proceeds to once again gives a display of sense. She tells Vee to go on ahead, she's going to have a talk to the teacher.

She goes over to the desk and point-blank tells him "I'm here to tell you the new seating chart and lesson plan is making me uncomfortable".

The teacher leans back in his chair, folds his hands behind his head, and tells her just as point-blank that he likes the seating chart and it can stay. I dearly would love to write up a spite fic in which he's sucked into an alternate universe where he's sitting next to Bella Swan who won't stop demanding sex from him, but I'm tired and hungry and want this chapter over as quickly as possible.

Nora proceeds to show sense and breaks out her weapon - she slaps a copy of the school code of conduct and says that all students are guaranteed safety from feeling threatened on school property. Perfect. Let's see how he responds.

He asks if she feels threatened.

After that class. After all of that. He actually has the gall to ask...



ZeldaQueen: Right. I've got nothing.

Nora just repeats that he makes her uncomfortable. Still, I can believe that it's hard to talk about a guy sexually harassing you, not to mention that I'm still furious that the teacher is such a fucking idiot that he couldn't figure out for himself how upset Nora was right in class there! She also proposes a deal - she will tutor any student in the class if she can sit next to Vee again. Oh dear lord, don't let this go where I think it is...

The teacher says that Patch needs a tutor.

Let me get this straight. She says that she feels threatened by this kid while on school property and in the classroom, which is a very public place. The teacher's response is to...tell her to hang out with the kid off of school property, on her own time, probably in said kid's house (or more likely that sleazy bar), and where he doesn't have to be worried about being caught by school rules.

Please, someone, tell me that I'm not the only one noticing the logic fail here.

Nora points out that his plan is kind of defeating the purpose. She does not point out how it pretty much also puts her in even more uncomfortable and threatening situations.

The teacher justifies this by saying that Patch didn't participate in class at all before sitting next to Nora, so clearly she gets him to do work. That's right! Never mind the fact that he's clearly inspired to participate in class by SEXUAL HARASSMENT WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT???

Nora does not point that out. Instead, she makes possibly the worst argument ever by saying that her best friend will fail if not sitting next to her. Of course, this sets up for the teacher to say that Vee just copies off of Nora, giving him the Higher Moral Ground to keep them separated. And it's funny, but going off of that class we just saw, Vee appeared to be the only one with any actual sense or grasp of the wrongness of what was going on. She certainly didn't appear unintelligent to me. Nora begs to be allowed to tutor Vee instead, and the teacher says nope. He also tells her that she's staying next to Patch for at least a few more weeks and still is going to tutor him. So let's see, he's ignoring the proposed deal and forcing her to hang around even more with someone who she feels uncomfortable at best with.

Nora, go to the principle. Go to the superintendent. Take up Vee's petition to get this dude fired. He's breaking the school code of conduct and forcing you into a position which makes you uncomfortable and quite frankly is dangerous.

But enough about that! Not like it's important that a person is being forced into stuff like that! Jump to seven o'clock. Vee and Nora have just seen the symbolically-titled movie The Sacrifice. They have a conversation about how creepy it is to learn that you've been raised your entire life for sacrificial purposes. Ten bucks says that this spells out the plot of this book. Nora doesn't want to discuss the movie, because she remembers how someone was looking in her window last night and is still scared. I have to ask, why doesn't she call the police to drive by or have a look? Ah well, to Hell with logic! We need to talk about Patch! Nora says that he's the reason she's been grumpy for the past two days. No kidding. Vee replies to that with "I have to admit, his dark side calls to me".

Yes, I know. I often feel attracted to assholes who sexually harass me and make veiled threats and possibly peep in my window at nigh - oh, wait. I don't. Because I don't have the IQ of a lobotomized fish.

And, although she's loathe to admit it, Nora feels something about Patch drawing her in. Excuse me for a moment.

WHAT? WHAT ABOUT THIS GUY "DRAWS YOU IN"? HE'S BEEN NOTHING BUT DISRESPECTFUL AND HATEFUL AND HARASSING YOU AND MAKING LEWD COMMENTS AND THAT ATTRACTS YOU?!? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE???

There we go. Vee asks Nora to just try and say that Patch isn't good looking, and I'm about to stick my fist through a pane of glass to distract myself from my anger. Of course Nora just can't bring herself to say that, but says that his personality spoils his beauty. Wonder how long that perspective will stick around.

Vee replies that it's "Not beauty. He's ... hard-edged. Sexy" and then asks if the rough, bad-boy image isn't Nora's type. Maybe her type isn't stalkers who harass her, hmm? No, it's clearly not that Nora has any desire to preserve her dignity, because Vee insists that Nora simply is too picky when it comes to guys and that there isn't a single boy at the school who can live up to her expectations. Yes Nora, fuck those silly expectations of yours! How dare you hold out for a guy who is kind and respectful to you?

Vee, who apparently took a blow to the head and forgotten about today's biology class, tells Nora that it's weird that she's gone through high school without a single boyfriend and says that she's silly for holding out for love. She ought to have fun. Nora points out that kissing someone you don't care for is hardly fun and Vee says no not kissing, Nora should be having sex with other guys. I'm sorry, excuse me again.

YES, BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T HAVING SEX ARE JUST A BUNCH OF FUDDY-DUDDYS WHO HAVE RIDICULOUSLY HIGH STANDARDS! GAH!

So sorry. Vee says that Nora ought to make out with Patch, and that she herself has fantasies about doing so with him.

HIM! WHY HIM? HE'S HOT, SO WHAT? I KNOW HE'S HOT AND HAVE NO DESIRE TO KISS HIM BECAUSE HE'D PROBABLY SHANK ME AND LAUGH! HE'S A JERK WHO HARASSES HIS ALLEGED LOVE INTEREST AND SHOWS NO INTEREST IN ANYBODY ELSE!!!

Oh dear, I really am sorry. At this rate, we're never going to be done.

Jump to the library, where Nora starts typing up a review of the movie for the school paper. I guess she doesn't have the internet at her house or something. There's a random appearance from a girl named Marcie Millar, who is the Bitchy Mean Girl. We know that she's the Bitchy Mean Girl because she wears a short skirt, covers her freckles with foundation make-up, and makes a number of lame insults directed towards how Vee's overweight. Vee drives her off with equally lame insults towards Marcie having chocolate Ex-Lax in her teeth. That was pointless.

And then Patch shows up. Oh great, I was missing him. *rolls eyes* There he is, checking books out of the library. Speaking of checking things out, Nora peeks at him over her computer. She tells us how her heart starts to thud and then how her pulse races when he smiles at her.

Hooooold it in, old girl. Three rants a chapter is quite enough.

Nora tells Vee that they have to leave. Vee first jokes that he's taking out a book titled How to Be a Stalker, then jokes that it's How to Radiate Sexy Without Even Trying. I hate her. Nora gets her gear together just as Patch is finished, and figures that she can't leave now because they surely will meet at the exit and she will be forced to talk to him. Um no, no you will not. Don't talk to him. After how he's treated you, there's not a person alive who would consider it unwarranted to give him the cold shoulder.

While Nora pretends she has to find something so Patch will leave first, Vee guesses that Patch stalked her here. Brilliant deduction, Holmes. She also guesses that Patch has restraining orders filed against him and that if they looked in the student records, they can find some dirt on him. Nora says she's not interested, but Vee keeps going on about it. FORESHADOWING!

They leave the library and apparently Vee's kind enough to loan Nora her car so she can get home, but not kind enough to actually drive her herself. Apparently there's a nasty fog rolling in.

As she drives home, Nora wonders what Patch's deal is. She wonders why he would go to the trouble of stalking her to the library. "Not many people would go to that much trouble... unless they had a very good reason". Or, you know, unless they're sadistic or psychotic killers. Or insane. Or a number of other things.

When she's about halfway home, Nora starts to get freaked out about something unknown. It's really storming hard, and then a dark figure smacks up against the windshield of the car. Nora pulls to a stop and looks out the window to see if whoever-it-is is alright. She sees that it's a guy dressed all in black and wearing a ski mask. Ruh-oh! He gets up, wanders over to the window, and starts pounding on it, trying to break in. Nora freaks out, starts the car, and we get the standard deal where the car won't start while the Bad Guy tears away at the door. He sticks his fist through the window, but the car finally does start and Nora hi-tails it out of there

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Onward to: Chapter 4

Back to: Chapter 2

Return to to: Table of Contents

Comments

[greenerygripes.livejournal.com]

I got to patch bumping his knee against Nora's and had to stop. I'm so sorry but even WITH your spork/recap, I'm getting disgusted and frightened.

A TEENAGER wrote this? What did her parents think?! I know if I showed my parents a story I wrote, and it was something like this, they would never have finished it and would sit me down for a long, serious talk about how I feel about men, and then I'd be seeing a counselor for a while.

ugh...I am SO tempted to write spitefic in which this ass of a teacher gets fired, Nora files restraining order against Patch, and just for good measure, some awesome magical girl or mystical dude who's actually a good person shows up and keelhauls his ass.
Like Kyouko up there. She can do it.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

No, this wasn't written by a teenager. It was written by a grown, married woman. Arguably, that makes it even worse.

I am just going to leave this here.

[das-mervin.livejournal.com]

Re: I am just going to leave this here.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

:D !!!

Thing of beauty, that! :D

[mancalledtrue.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't consider myself a feminist. I believe that to call yourself a member of a cause, you must understand it, and I cannot say I understand feminism. (It's far more than "you're a feminist if you believe in equal rights for women", regardless of what some might say.)

Even as a non-feminist, this chapter disgusts me.

Do I even want to think about the mental pathways you have to go down to consider this normal?

[yemi-hikari.livejournal.com]

I concider myself a feminist, simply because I had the luck of having feminist college professors who explained what it really means and I found I think along that line of thought. It is because of Twilight, House of Night and now this, that I've coined the term "False Feminism".

[arynia.livejournal.com]

...Seriously? There are people out there who think this is romantic?

THAT WAS OUT AND PROUD SEXUAL HARASSMENT!

Now, granted, if memory serves correctly, Patch does mention somewhere in the book that he meddled with the coach's mind to make sure that Nora didn't get moved. But that still doesn't cover the fact that a) those lessons seem geared towards humiliating students for something that is definitely not biology and b) Patch is quite clearly enjoying the fact that he can harass her without any consequences...and this is meant to be a loving relationship, which frankly terrifies me.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

"Now, granted, if memory serves correctly, Patch does mention somewhere in the book that he meddled with the coach's mind to make sure that Nora didn't get moved."

...Dude, that makes me even more afraid of Patch now. There is just no way she can get away from him. O_O

[szaleniec1000.livejournal.com]

This is bad and wrong on so many levels. It's just... words fail me. They really do. And this crap has 118 out of 179 5-star ratings on Amazon? D8

[szaleniec1000.livejournal.com]

Oh and LOLOLOL the publishers chose a review from a Twilight fansite as the top promotional review!

[emmram.livejournal.com]

I just, I barely made it through this recap.

FIRE THAT BIOLOGY TEACHER. RIGHT NOW. AND I MEAN RIGHT NOW.

Good Lord! After how he's frightened and humiliated her, she still finds him ATTRACTIVE? Here's a bit of practical anthropology for you, Nora: have you not an iota of survival instinct??! Out of the gene pool, you, now!

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

"Nora: have you not an iota of survival instinct??! Out of the gene pool, you, now!"

Dude, THAT should have been on the lesson plans. That idiot teacher wants to talk about the gene pool? Have him bring up that.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

he says that he wants her to tell the class what traits she looks for in a “potential mate”.

I got this question in class one day...well, my whole class got it. We had to list the three qualities we'd look for in a mate. I came up with dependability, intelligence and a sense of humor. The teacher got mad; I wasn't supposed to say anything so sensible at sixteen. I was supposed to come up with something shallow that the teacher could mock. I was "wrecking the curve."

And yeah, my teacher made roughly the same argument that the sexist in Nora's biology class did--that humans have complex ways of choosing mates to guarantee the survival of the species. (Gay people? Childless people? They don't exist, silly!)

And oh my Christ, this is fucking creepy.

I hate Patch, and I want to stab him with one of those angelic blades from SPN. The ones that make angels and devils explode.

I feel so sorry for Nora. She's obviously got more sense than her writer, but she's going to be forced into this hideous relationship anyway.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

"I feel so sorry for Nora. She's obviously got more sense than her writer, but she's going to be forced into this hideous relationship anyway"

I feel horrible for Nora in this book. This honestly reads like some really nasty horror story where a demon takes a liking to a girl and breaks her spirit so she'll be his girlfriend.

Although from what I understand, Fitzpatrick turns Nora just as insane as Patch and a kleptomaniac to boot in the sequel, so yeah... -_-

[tsukasabuddha.livejournal.com]

Ah, Evolutionary Psychology, you pursue me just as well as Patch does this girl. I mean, doing a gene-centric view of human attraction is always a fun thing to do, but it is incomplete and not settled science.

His talk about body language reminds me of "The Game" and other self-proclamed "seduction artists". That isn't being intelligent or observational, it is being calculated about manipulating people. Not to mention a lot of it is pop-psych BS. I went to a school seminar that tried to teach body language as a way of avoiding sexual harassment, but that wouldn't sit well with Patch.

I am really trying hard to find anything attractive about this guy. I guess I am just attracted kind, motivated, and honest mates >> .

[tsukasabuddha.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I find the style to be quite odd. Like Meyer, there are a lot of fragment sentences and unique punctuation used for emphasis. Unlike Meyer, there is a complete lack of description, imagery, and back-story. Everything just feels vague, and I have trouble picturing what is happening, especially during "action" scenes.

[mogseltof.livejournal.com]

My biology classes - very different. We looked at plant cells and mitosis etc for reproduction, and did assignments on the benefits of genetic variation. Human reproduction was saved for the human biology class, and then only on a genetic level with haploid and diploid cells and the like. This stuff - not discussed once.

Unbelievably stupid. If decent logic is ever spotted in this, I may just faint.

And also? SPITE

* * *

'The blood vessels in Nora's face are widening and her skin is warming," Patch said. 'She knows she's being evaluated. She likes the attention, but she's not sure how to handle it.'

“I’m sorry?” I asked, jerking back from him in revulsion. “When did I become a tray of mince in the freezer at the supermarket?”

He smirked at me, giving me an itch in my arm to smack him upside the head and wipe it off his face.

“And you know, it is possible to say ‘blushing’ instead of describing the process of the nervous and emotional reflex that causes it,” I said, all pretence at civility dying with my embarrassment, quickly replaced with burning anger. “We’re all senior level biology students, we do know what it is.”

The class tittered, amused at the almost turn of the tables.

“I’d like to present my observations, sir,” I said airily, waving my hand in the air like an eight year old wanting to answer a question. “I select my potential boyfriends based on their prettiness and resemblance to a carrot and how stupid they are so they don’t outshine me!”

I got more of a laugh this time, and when I looked at Fitzpatrick, his smirk was gone, replaced by a flash of anger in his eyes and a frown. He reached forward, placing his hand on my forearm. I looked at it pointedly, giving him a cool glare. When he didn’t remove it I tried to shake it off, but he merely slid it down to my wrist as if holding me there.

Mistake, if that was what he wanted. I made a circular motion with my hand and wrist, forcing his hand to let go, before sweeping my notebook and cluttered pens into a pile. I stood up, holding them with one arm.

“If you’ll excuse me sir,” I said politely. “I need to go make a report for continued harassment after repeated requests to stop.”

I didn’t bother to wait for an answer before slinging my satchel over one shoulder and stalking out of the room. As I left, there was a muffled outburst of laughter, a supporting shout from Vee, a protest from Patch and a smile on my face.

What an arsehole.

* * *

End spite. I don't think I can handle touching the rest of the chapter. I wrote that half way through. Fuck this shit. Seriously. I am so angry at this book. I'm using fragments I'm so angry.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this. This book needs spitefics so badly, it hurts.

[southerngaelic.livejournal.com]

.....Mother of God.

Stephenie Meyer, I apologise for all the comments I made about your Sue and Wardo. At least he had the decency to pretend that he was a gentleman about the whole thing.

Jesus Christ, I....where is this trend coming from? This whole 'Ordinary Girl/Supernatural Guy' thing where the message is anti-human and anti-feminist? What the fuck?!

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

*stares at the screen*

You know what, I can't even properly respond to this. Not in words, anyway. This is just so infuriating and so enraging and I'm seething in feminist rage and *human* rage and it's just -

[(Anonymous)]

Okay. I don't normally comment here, but this one just... AARGH. Somebody actually wrote this, in seriousness? People read this and are attracted to this Patch character?

Compared to this, the creepy abusiveness in Twilight is downright subliminal. This just reads like the author looked up a list of criteria for sexual harrassment and made sur to include every last one of them.

Why, exactly, do all of these novels seem to assume that stalking behaviour and mental abuse (hell, this one even seems to be verging on physical abuse), invasion of personal space, etc, are attractive? How are the girls/women reading these books not creeped out by it? It's one thing to ask why the character doesn't run screaming, but all that tells us is that the author is unhinged - why don't the readers run screaming even if the character doesn't?

One thing I suspect may be going on here is simply a lack of critical reading. The author *says* the character is attractive or loving or whatever, so the readers believe it and allow it to colour everything else they see (in other words, rather than judging the character on the behaviour that is shown, they take what the author tells them at face value).

-M.C.B.

[turtlecrackers.livejournal.com]

"She likes the attention, but she's not sure how to handle it."

That... was where I almost forgot that it's after 1 am, and nearly screamed at the top of my lungs. My family would not have been happy.

Oh, someone else's god... That is the most creepy thing I have ever had the misfortune to read. I'm so reading this to my sister tomorrow, just so she can share my pain. The creepy guy in the story I'm working on has nothing on Patch. I think it will be easier to get through that one now that I know what you go through...

I don't think I've ever had the sensation of being horrified and enraged at the same time before. How dare he speak for her and tell everyone that "she likes it" when she's clearly uncomfortable and bothered by it? WHY? Why do people think that this is good? I just don't get it.

When I was in my teens, I admit, I was more interested in the bad boy Damon than the good guy Stefan when I read the Vampire Diaries, for example. I just felt like Stefan was too bland, and Damon was a bit more interesting, probably because he was the antagonist. He was also more active in everything he did, and Stefan didn't leave a lasting impression at all. Also, Damon apparently went on to fight supernatural crime in his spinoff series, but that's a sidetrack...

But seriously, given that watching Scream at age thirteen gave me horrible nightmares (yes, it's okay to point and laugh), Patch would have given my naïve and impressionable teen-self nightmares for weeks! ... I'm not even sure I'll get any sleep tonight, at age twenty-six! ]8;;

[morri-delrae.livejournal.com]

and just a little bit dangerous

Seriously, can someone explain to me: what's with this constant "dangerous" thing? Do people like Fitzpatrick come from a parallel universe in which this word has acquired a whole different meaning? Because personally, I define "dangerous" as "could posssibly cause me harm", and whenever I got the "dangerous" vibe from a guy I tended to run the other way. I can understand having a harmless lady boner for certain gangsters, psychopaths or *cough* government-sanctioned assasins as they're portrayed in the movies, but actually listing "dangerous" as a desirable quality in a mate?! What the fuck is wrong with you, people?!

And just what the hell is "a little bit dangerous"? Will a guy who is just "a little bit dangerous" only abuse you verbally, without actually raising a hand on you? Or will he be like the Japanese husband who, under the old Japanese law, was allowed to beat his wife with a stick, but only as long as he didn't draw blood and the stick wasn't thicker than his thumb?!

My pet theory is this: Fitzpatrick grew up in a whitebread world, wraped in cotton from head to toe, with no understanding of domestic violence, thinks threats are sexy, because she's never been threatened in her life, and labels people as "a little bit dangerous", because they stay up late and ride a motorcycle.

[(Anonymous)]

My theory is that the "dangerous lover" trait comes from the fact that people like Fitzpatrick are likely miserable and secretly hate their lives, so they create these stories in an attempt to find excitement. Their real lives are boring and going nowhere, so they turn to crap stories like this so they can at least get a sense of false danger. And I thinks that's part of the appeal. The danger is not real, so they can have their wild ride without actually endangering their lives or worrying about the consequences. I think that's where the "It's just a book" excuse comes from too.

While I can understand someone wanting their life to have moments of excitement, books like this go too far. There are PLENTY of books out there that give readers a sense of danger and action, but still maintain good sense.

I'm starting to think that the "First do no harm" oath needs to start being applied to authors as well.

[winki-pop.livejournal.com]

I know I've already said it, but Coach needs to go. This goes against everything in teaching, it's disgusting. And that lesson was nothing but contrived bullshit! God, that was so creepy and humiliating to read, I wanted to go in there and rip Patch out of class myself!

And it's so weird that one minute Vee and Nora seem to be talking sense, yet the next minute they're not freaked out anyt=more and are talking about how hot Patch is >.< Did the author see they were making too much sense or something?

Oh, and to celebrate, this is a short spitefic from me:

"you'll see that children are the key to the survival of our species. And the more children you have, the greater your contribution to the gene pool”

"...Coach McConaugh?"

Appearing at the door of the science room was Principal Sarah May, a woman in her 40s with long brown hair and a black pants suit. Her face was grave as she walked to the front of the classroom, staring out at the students.

"Coach McConaugh, what I'm about to tell you is very serious," she began, "and something all the students need to hear. I am hereby suspending you from this particular class and from teaching at Maine Local High School. We have received a number of complaints from students and their parents about you behaviour in class and the subject matter you are bringing into the classroom."

She then looked straight at Patch with narrowed eyes. "We've also received a complaint about a male student sexually harassing a fellow female student, which is a very serious offence."

Patch gritted his teeth at the principal, but she only looked back at him with disdain.

"Coach McConaugh, I need you to leave the school premises immediately. You are to pack up your desk and security will escort you out."

Coach McConaugh was no doubt appalled, his arms slumped by his sides and shoulders stiff. His brows then furrowed and his lips pursed. "You can't kick me out!" he barked, "I was appointed to this class!"

"Well, we have come to see that we have made a truly grave mistake," Principal May replied.

"This is bullshit, I'm not going anywhere!"

"Well, if we're gonna have a problem with this, Coach, I could just call security now if you like?"

Coach McConaugh huffed irritably through his nose. He knew he had been defeated and causing anymore trouble was going to result in just that. He quickly stormed out of class while the rest of the students looked on wide-eyed and whispering to one another.

"I'm sorry to everyone here that this class has been such a distressing experience for you all," apologised Principal May. "We will soon have a replacement for this class, but until then it will not run until further notice. You may all leave and continue working in the library on any other work you may have."

The students were no doubt relieved to ditch out on this class, practically racing out of the room.

Principal May, meanwhile, stopped Patch before he could make it to the door.

"As for you, you'll be joining me in my office," she told him bluntly. "We have a lot to discuss about your behaviour."

Patch looked like he was about to snarl at her.

"And if you think you can push me around like some poor pathetic woman," she spat at him, "then I don't think you know me all that well, Patch…"

[lamadamerouge.livejournal.com]

After reading this summary, I felt sick to my stomach. I'm not even kidding. That is everything that is disgusting, sick, vulgar, manipulative, and just plain WRONG. It makes me want to write something to prove that the world hasn't gone to Hell in a handbasket.

Don't editors READ this... this... garbage? Doesn't it have to get an "okay" before it's published?! Surely there must be /someone/ at the publishing company who realises that this is most certainly not healthy for anyone! Why? WHY?! THIS IS NOT ROMANTIC.

Poor, poor Nora, why does she have to be in such a terrible excuse for a "romance"? Jesus Christ, Author, what are you trying to prove? This is not okay, this is most definitely NOT okay. Why the hell do you think it is?! They very idea of this is giving me the willies!

Dear God, I weep for humanity.

god save us

[(Anonymous)]

umm i just want to point out that patch has been awarded best book hottie. What the fuck how does that work i never new that rapist psychos where fit or in any way hot and loving. oh wait thats because there not. Also me and my friend where walking through this alley when this pedophile and in fact i new he was asks if we where scared of him and that it was alright to walk home with him. not at any point of him telling us this was i turned on no i made up an excuse that erin my friend had dropped her phone and legged it. God common sense. i guess people these days want a sexy rapist creep touching them up in class and i thought all this time that shiver, linger and forever where nice love stories because they cared and loved each other but of course i was wrong he has to scare you and sexually harass you for any type of love. GOD SAVE ME!

I honestly feel sorry for Nora

[arpeggio513.livejournal.com]

For once I think I see an in-story explanation for this laser-guided romance. Other comments I saw about Patch controlling Couch just confirmed what I already guessed. Patch is using the power of suggestion to subtly influence Nora and everyone else around him. It's a common power amonst demons and angels and it's effects are devestating. Hell, I have a villain character who even at his weakest can use it on a massive scale, because I realize what a powerful tool it is for a villain with an agenda.

So it really isn't Nora's fault she's feeling attracted, givin that she's probably been having suggestions planted not only in class, everytime they meet, but at night when she's asleep and therefore completly defenseless against it. It's a wonder she can even put up a defense at this point. Unless of course, Patch is just using it lightly now because he likes it when they struggle, which he does.

You may scream if you wish.

Opinion/spitefic

[propinquus.livejournal.com]

Dear gawd. I'm laughing at the sheer insanity and the completely unrealistic situation as a whole. I can't even begin to wonder why some girls are attracted to Patch. And Zelda Queen, I've read almost all of your chapters for this book (absolutely fantastic job on the sporking, by the way; lately when I'm upset I'll just come here and read and be instantly cheered up) and I can't wait to move on to Crescendo. Part of me thinks you're too nice to Nora, though. xD She's kind of a raving moron to not think Patch is totally creepy while thinking Elliot is this massive threat.
Also. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, and maybe put Patch it a better light. Maybe he'd be more desirable if he was something like this...

Spitefic time~

I sat there in an awkward silence as Coach stared expectantly at me. It wasn't anyone's business as to what traits I looked for in a potential mate.
"Well?" asked Coach with a maddeningly smug look on his face.
"Why should she have to answer that?" Patch demanded out of the silence, much to my surprise. "That's not really a question pertaining to Biology now, is it? And it's a personal question, if you ask me."
I could hear whispers throughout the class at Patch's objection to Coach's demands.
"Well, Mr. Cipriano, what do you look for in a potential mate, since you so kindly volunteered?" Coach was such a jerk; why was he even allowed to teach at this school?
Patch shrugged, unaffected. "I guess I would want her to be somewhat attractive. There has to be some level of physical attraction. It'd be nice if she had a good personality, and if she was relatively intelligent, too."
"Now let's say you're at a party. what would you do if you saw such a girl that met your criteria; how would you know if she was interested?"
Patch raised his eyebrows, bemused. "Well the obvious thing would be to go up to her to strike up a conversation. If she was interested, she'd keep the conversation going. If not, then I'd go pursue someone else. Simple as that."
Coach made a face, displeased at Patch's calm demeanor. He cleared his throat and turned back to the whiteboard.
"Yes. Well. Anyway..." He continued on with the lesson.
"Thanks for that," I whispered to Patch.
"No problem," he responded. "That's a pretty rude question for a teacher to ask a student, especially a female one. But if you don't mind me asking- and it's fine if you don't- what traits do you look for in a guy?"
I felt my face redden. I shrugged. "It's fine. I guess I really haven't thought of it. It's just embarrassing when a teacher calls you out in front of a class."
He nodded. "Understandable. It's too bad you haven't thought of them, though."
"Why?" I quickly glanced at him.
He fiddled with his pencil a little. "I suppose I was hoping that I might fit into your expectations. And if it means anything at all to you-" he was staring lightly into my eyes at this point "-but you fit into all of my criteria. I'm serious, Nora. You're really attractive, and I can tell you're pretty smart based off of what I've seen you accomplish in this class. You've been pretty nice to me, too. Especially since I was such an ass the first day. I guess I was trying to come off as cool, but all I came off as was a complete jerk. I'm sorry for that."
I felt relieved; so there was a good side to this guy after all.
"Tell you what," he continued. "Why don't I take you out to lunch after school? Your choice?"
I smiled. "That'd be really nice."

I dunno. Maybe the book would be less infuriating if Patch actually possessed some redeeming qualities. Ha-ha...

Re: Opinion/spitefic

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

I'm very sorry for this late reply, but your spite fic is made of win. In that little bit, I can easily buy those two hooking up. And yes, Patch with some redeeming qualities would vastly improve the quality of this series. XD

And thank you! I'm very glad that you like the sporkings so much! ^^

Well, Nora loses all of my good favor by Crescendo, so she loses any kind treatment by then. Here, she's stupid but pitiable. There and onward, she's stupid, selfish, and insane.

[mibamonster.livejournal.com]

'"'I study her,' Patch said. 'I figure out what she's thinking and feeling. She's not going to come right out and tell me, which is why I have to pay attention. Does she turn her body toward mine? Does she hold myeyes, then look away? Does she bite her lip and play with her hair, the way Nora is doing right now?''
I'm sorry, I must've missed the part where teenagers started saying these things in classrooms, especially to their teachers. WHAT THE FUCK? And then he starts flirting with her like that and the teacher is happy about it? WHAT THE FLYING FUCKING FUCK? And mouthing 'vulnerable'? That just made my skin crawl. That there is just fucking creepy.

And then he has the guts to ask if she feels threatened? WHY ISN'T THIS MAN FIRED? I hate this teacher. I haven't read the book and already I hate him SO MUCH OH MY GOD. WHO WROTE THIS?! I understand doing things that seem weird to get the plot rolling, but this? This is just fucking scary!

'ells Nora that it's weird that she's gone through high school without a single boyfriend '
Sweet darling, I went through high school without a single boyfriend and that isn't weird. I have loads of wonderful, pretty, smart and funny friends who also haven't had boyfriends in high school. Because they haven't met anyone they liked, because they had better things to focus on, because in the real world there are things MORE IMPORTANT THAN HAVING A BOYFRIEND!

Zelda, I... there are no words for my respect for you. I know you read Breaking Dawn - and it was bad. You managed to struggle through 2 House of Night novels - and they were bad. But this? I'm seething with rage just over your recaps; I can't imagine what it must be like to read this shit.
You are one brave, brave woman.

Ugh!!!

[tokyo-oranges.livejournal.com]

I had to stop about a quarter of the way through here because this teacher is just pissing me the hell off!!!

Nora is obviously uncomfortable and he's practically laughing at her and forcing her to spend even more time with her! I mean how fucking incompetent can yo get... I really just want to bash my skull against the wall. I've been in a similar position actually, while it wasn't anything sexual, I was bullied pretty badly back in ninth grade. particularly in my German class and my teacher and the sub who took over for her when she went on maternity leave were incompetent twits and did nothing about it. After I'd finally had enough of it I went to my guidance counselor to see if there was any way I could drop the class and pick up a study hall instead. The only thing that happened because of that was that the principal had a talk with them and that did abso-fucking-loutley nothing to change anything.
Sorry for ranting here, but this is really just bringing up some bad memories for me.

And Ms. Fitzpatrick expects people to find Patch's behavior romantic and playful and all that sort of romantic happy bullshit?

Just no...

Seriously, you deserve a medal for sporking this tripe. I don't think I could get through even the first couple chapters of this without wanting to torch it.

Re: Ugh!!!

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

"And Ms. Fitzpatrick expects people to find Patch's behavior romantic and playful and all that sort of romantic happy bullshit?"

Yes. Sadly. I've seen fans who talk about scenes like this and talk about how steamy or hilarious they are.

Thank you very much! ^^; That's what the sporkings are for, making it easier to get through. :)

[katistrophe.livejournal.com]

She asks him to repeat the question and he says that he wants her to tell the class what traits she looks for in a “potential mate”.
Is her teacher, by any chance, an alien sent to research humans?

you'll see that children are the key to the survival of our species. And the more children you have, the greater your contribution to the gene pool
Ugh. No. I mean, it's correct, yeah, but, uh, taking "survival of the fittest" as a guideline leads to a horrible society.
Honestly, he doesn't sound like he's talking about humans.

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK WAS THAT GODSDAMNED SCENE ABOUT?! Oh, ha ha, the creepy guy is talking about someone like a... a sex slave or something, the teacher is encouraging it, very fucking funny!

Let me get this straight. She says that she feels threatened by this kid while on school property and in the classroom, which is a very public place. The teacher's response is to...tell her to hang out with the kid off of school property, on her own time, probably in said kid's house (or more likely that sleazy bar), and where he doesn't have to be worried about being caught by school rules.
The teacher is a dumb fuck and should be fired. As in, set on fire.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

"WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK WAS THAT GODSDAMNED SCENE ABOUT?! Oh, ha ha, the creepy guy is talking about someone like a... a sex slave or something, the teacher is encouraging it, very fucking funny!"

Oh no, this scene is VERY important. It's apparently where this entire book spawned from.

Seriously. In an interview, Fitzpatrick said how she attended a writing class her husband signed her up for as a birthday present. Their one project was to write a scene about humiliation. She wrote this drawing from a memory of a class she had where apparently the teacher really did ask her about traits she wanted in a potential mate.

She took a scene about her getting humiliated and turned it into the starting point of a ROMANCE. She wrote the guy of her dreams (seriously, she's talked about how Patch was the guy she fantasized about dating in high school) and had him participate in humiliating her.

Just think about that.

Re: From someone who sees the world from the other side

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I see your point.

Still, the lesson comes across as rather half-assed, to me. For starters, none of my biology classes mixed human sexuality with animal Biology. We learned how our sex organs fit in our bodies, how babies are made, about periods, erections, how contraceptives work, and so forth. The non-scientific stuff we learned was how to recognize sexual harassment and how to avoid date rape situations.

Perhaps it's just my personal experiences. I don't know. But it definitely feels half-assed that this is more or less their ONLY Sex-Ed class. A few days later, they're doing a blood-testing lab. Meaning that instead of this being one day to talk about the primal behavior behind sex while another day discusses, say, how condoms work, this is pretty much all they get.

I realize Biology is the whole package of everything, but there usually is some logic behind how things are studied. I studied evolution in high school as well. I didn't study anthropology until college, at which point it split into physical and social, which were entirely different fields. And going off of what I learned, in my opinion, the study of how sex fits into society (which is what the whole scenario of Patch going to a party and picking over "blondes, brunettes, and red heads" felt more like) fits more into social anthropology. Could be me, maybe I'm wrong, but it honestly is closer to anything I studied in social anthro than in any biology class I had in high school.

I could understand if the teacher touched on the animalistic nature behind sex, but I still find it hard to believe that Nora couldn't have gotten him in trouble for openly humiliating her. I'm pretty sure most teachers differentiate between discussing the primal nature of sex and allowing students to sexually harass others in front of the entire class.

Not to mention, he just leaves it at "beautiful women get mates", ignoring the fact that beauty is subjective, and that there are plenty of things that cultures deem "beautiful" that are actually harmful to one's health.

While I understand the primal "men need to be strong protectors" mindset, Fitzpatrick doesn't seem to differentiate between "protective" and "criminally dangerous". Patch is supposed to be the ideal man, and we're going to find out that he'd been stalking Nora with an intent to kill.

Actually, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, sexism is any prejudice or discrimination based on sex.

I'm sure studying sex from a scientific approach isn't very kind to people of those sexualities, but I also am fairly sure a teacher would have some fallout if he totally ignored those implications entirely. If the teacher explained sex as in purely scientific terms and THEN explained other purposes behind it, okay fine. But like with Twilight, this series was pretty much written like any sexuality other than hetero just doesn't exist.

Like I said, the only experience I've had with Sex Ed is through Health Class, not Biology, so maybe my lessons were done unusually. I dunno. In any case though, thank you for the information! I just wish the author had handled it with any sort of tact.

(On a slightly unrelated note, I didn't bring this up in the sporking because it comes in later in the series, but it's kind of backwards for the author to put in about how sex is totally for reproduction and the bottom line of "choosing a mate", mainly because we'll find out:

- Fallen angels can't feel anything, physically, meaning they get no stimulation from kissing, sex, etc.

- Fallen angels are immortal, so there's no purpose to them reproducing and passing on their genetics

- The children fallen angels produce with humans are treated as abominations who shouldn't exist at all. Patch later refers to them as unnatural, and says that his car has more value than them

- When Nora is hooking up with Patch in this book, he's trying to murder her. And she thinks he's sexy, even after he admits this. Which kind of goes against the idea of women naturally wanting men who will protect them.

In short, the entire romance of this series is pretty much the exact opposite of the lesson here. I'd think it's supposed to be irony, but this lesson is pretty much forgotten for the entirety of this book.)

[(Anonymous)]

I read this book back in 9th grade, and to be honest I don't remember it beyond Vee. I think it's kind of sad that, despite Patch's behavior, the only thing about it I can recall thinking is that I liked Vee because she actually talked about sex in a way that sounded more like what teenagers (or at least my friends at the time) actually sound like.

Looking back...Patch is horrible. I understand why Nora wouldn't immediately go to the teacher, though. I was partnered up with a guy sort of like him before, and I never went to the teacher. Part of the reason was because the people around us - admittedly his friends - didn't react like it was anything abnormal. It was also because I didn't want to acknowledge that he bothered me, though. Oh, and then part of me also wanted him to try again so that I'd have an excuse to slam his face into a desk, but alas, I ended up being far too concerned about being suspended to actually do that.

As for the class, I've had a teacher like this. It was for Sociology instead of Biology, so it makes a little more sense, but we did have at least 3 class periods that involved questions about "What do you, specifically, look for in a boyfriend or girlfriend?" We also had over 20 girls in this class, but about 8 guys, and he used the disagreement between girls to make jokes about how women don't know what they want. He also talked about how he wouldn't marry his wife unless she changed her last name, yet pestered the girls in the class about "Why would you agree to change your last name? Don't you realize it's a sign of ownership?" Gah, I hated him a lot. If any girl actually disagreed with him, he'd pull out the "Well, this is about trends. I don't want to hear that it doesn't apply to you. You're just the exceptions." He also constantly talked about how the girls in our school were getting more manly, and guys, do you really want to date a girl who swears more than you do and gets in fist fights with other girls over you?

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

This series in general doesn't really have much memorable about it. :/ The whole thing is just basically a Twilight follow-up.

Oh man, I'm sorry about that class. D: I hate teachers who pull things like that. I had a teacher in my Detective Fiction class who went on rants about current political situations, which (A) tended to not be relevant to what was going on in the books and (B) were delivered in a VERY serious way that made me personally feel kind of scared to argue against him. (There are plenty of people who I feel comfortable discussing things like politics with, but the way he talked about it...esh!) He also gave us this really poorly-constructed midterm paper prompt, which had us argue three main points of three books in five pages, which was nowhere near enough for in-depth arguments for that. Among other things, I argued that the titular falcon statue of "The Maltese Falcon" represented the capitalist system, because while horrible things were done to acquire the statue, it itself was an inanimate object and incapable of being right or wrong, just like the capitalist system was simply a system that was used to hurt or help people depending on who was taking advantage of it. He wrote in the margins "This is debatable". Yes, it is. And I would have debated it if I'd have had more room to actually debate it!

But yeah, still, it makes sense that questions like that would be asked in a Sociology class.

Just to chime in...

[(Anonymous)]

Thought this an appropriate story considering the chapter content.

Back when I was in seventh grade social studies, the seating arrangement placed me next to this boy that would pick on me everyday. I cannot remember exact details on what this kid said, but his constant mocking upset me enough that I went to the teacher and told him everything.

Guess what happened?

The teacher reacted immediately. He moved the boy to the opposite side of the classroom, and gave him a good talking to. I was never bothered by that boy again.

That's how a good, responsible and realistic teacher reacts, Mrs. Fitzpatrick.