Dunscentrate just a little bit more . . .

Dunce Cap

"a traffic cone for that special student"

(Image from Wikipedia)

Yesterday, a student showed up in my Yonsei course on multiculturalism and European unification after missing 9 straight classes. She has missed 10 classes in all and hasn't read a single word of the assigned articles, nor has she participated in a single discussion in a course small enough for me to treat as a discussion seminar.

I informed her that she had missed 10 classes, and she merely smiled. I asked her how much one could miss and still pass the course, and she knew the immediate answer to that:

"One-third."

"One-third . . ." I mused. "We have 16 weeks, counting midterm and finals weeks, with two classes per week . . . which makes 32. You've missed nearly one-third already. And that's assuming that midterm and finals weeks count. I'll have to check with the office on this."

I looked at her for a moment, then said:

"Thesis statements are due this Friday. Do you know what you want to write your paper on?"

She shook her head. I pointed to the board, where I had provided a sample thesis statement:

Europe will successfully unify despite its problems because it is a continent of democratic states with wealthy, educated populations that recognize their economic, political, and military self-interest in uniting and developing into an effective superpower.

I then explained:

"Note that this sample has thesis-statement form. It has the A --> B b/c A --> C logic. This Friday, you should bring to class a thesis statement formulated in this way."

She smiled but said nothing. I'm curious to see what she brings on Friday. As for me, I might need to prepare by picking up a traffic cone on my way to that class.