[Letter 2: History Teaching pt 1] History is....

[Perdita Westcott]

History Teaching 01

17th Cylus, 721

erdita was wrapped up against the cold as she arrived in the lecture hall. Looking around, she realised two things. It was empty - which made sense, she was a full break early after all - and it was huge. There was going to be no hiding behind her easel in a small group of like-minded artists, not in this room. The dark-wood desk the teacher sat behind was bigger than her bed and Eli's pushed together - twice. The sweeping staircase up to the back of the auditorium - so filled with chairs - seemed to offer a solution. But Perdita considered that, if she went up those stairs then she'd be at the back, yes. But would that mean that the professor, whoever they were, couldn't see her? That wasn't a guarantee, not at all. Especially if the class number was smaller than the room suggested. She had a vision of sitting - alone and adrift and oh-so-very-sore-thumb-like - with five or six empty rows of seats in front of her.

No, then, not the back of the class.


So, what about there, in the corner? Perdita looked at it and was considering that although it was the front row, it was also sort of hidden away and furthermore, she was half-hidden by a pillar. But what if she needed to escape? Escape was important.

"Can I help you?"

The voice came from behind the large teachers desk at the front of the room and Perdita jumped physically. She'd seen the teacher-desk but she hadn't seen this man. Looking at him, Perdita felt the oh-so-familiar blush creeping over her cheeks. "I.. I'm here for class," she said. He raised an eyebrow. "What subject?" His voice was clipped, sharp, impatient, "H..history?" Perdita said. The man in question looked at her and considered her for a moment.

"You're a full break early. Why?"

"I .. I wanted to choose my seat," she said. He raised an eyebrow. "And get ready." She turned slightly so that he could see she had a satchel with her. With a slight sigh, he nodded. "Do that quietly. I'm busy." She nodded and she turned and made her way to the seat on the front row, next to the wall, where she had slightly more desk and a good view. That would be most beneficial, Perdita decided. She laid out her notebook, her pencils and pen, and she got herself ready for the class. As she always would, she got her notebook ready and she put the text book Rose had given her on her study trip to the library, ready. The professor saw that and he frowned.

"Are you repeating the class?" He looked at her suspiciously. Perdita shook her head, "No, Professor."

"Then why do you have the book?" Looking at her, he moved over and started to examine the pile of books she had next to her, then looked at her satchel which was laying open. "You have all the books, here? On the list? It said that you would be guided as to which are necessary and which useful, dependent on your preferences, in the first class." Perdita nodded her head. "I know, Professor" He saw the blush on her cheek and he considered that maybe this was that rare thing. Someone who was here because they wanted to be. "What's this?" He touched his finger to her notebook and Perdita answered him. "My notebook, Professor."

It was made well enough, though that was not what he noticed - he might have, if he'd known she made it. But what drew his attention was that it had bookmarks in it. "May I?" He asked and Perdita nodded. "Of course. It's just notes."

And so, he looked. On the first page he raised an eyebrow. The second page he lingered over, reading what she'd written and when he got to the third page he looked at her. "What's the diagram?"

Perdita blushed a deep crimson and tried to explain. Moving back to the first page, she pointed to the most outer circle. "That's all of history," she said. Then, she pointed to what seemed to be the very central part of a crosshairs, like the one on crossbows. "That's me. This is what I don't know." He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She continued, turning the page. "Its' more complicated," she said, gesturing to the second diagram. "Connected," and finally she turned back to the third page. "It's this. Big topics. Immortals. Magic. Races." Each one of those a convergence point on the outer circle. "Not just connected. Interlinked. Interdependent."

He was quiet for a moment, then he nodded. "What's your name?"

"Perdita Westcott, Professor." He nodded.

"I expect to see all the homework done to that standard from you," he said, and he turned and walked away, back to his desk. Neither of them spoke again as the time ticked on and he did his thing, and she did hers. Eventually, people started showing up to class.

History is Philosophy teaching by example

[Perdita Westcott]

History Teaching 01

17th Cylus, 721

eciding where to sit had been tricky in itself, but now that people actually started to arrive, Perdita was doubting the whole "I'll be a student, I'll do a qualification" as a premise for action. How could she do that when her ability to make coherent sentences was inversely proportional to the number of people in the room? Perdita started out counting the people as they came in but she recognised that the more souls there were in the room, the greater her own anxiety, so counting seemed like an extraordinarily bad idea.

Time ticked on and people came. Inevitably the seat next to her was taken and Perdita tried to look at the person who sat there. She was rather surprised to see that it was a man - and he was considerably older than her. Maybe in his late fifties, she thought. She smiled, blushed furiously, and looked away and he didn't push it, for which she was grateful. She had her things next to her and they were all laid out carefully on the desk in front of her. Fellow students were still filing in when the man next to her cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to ask, but I seem to have snapped the nib of both of these," he gestured to the two quills he had on his part of the desk. "And I was wondering if you have a spare?"

Perdita was shy, there was no doubt. But she was also fundamentally kind and she immediately handed over two of her spare quills. It meant that she only had four spares left, but she was sure that would be fine. He smiled at her. "Thank you. I must be nervous, it's not like me," he admitted and Perdita looked at him in some surprise. But then, she thought, why wouldn't he be nervous? He was an older man, older than the professor. That must have taken quite a lot of courage, now that she thought about it, to come and sit in here. So, she ignored her flaming cheeks and she held out her hand. "P..Perdita," she said and he smiled as they shook hands in greeting. "Hello, Perdita, I'm Sanders. Nice to meet you. Is this your..." he left it hanging and she nodded. "First class, yes." But then, she realised that wasn't entirely true.

"History, anyhow," he raised an eyebrow. "You're studying two subjects?" Perdita nodded, eagerly. "History and Art," she said. Sanders smiled. "You're keen," he said. The blush on her cheeks deepened but Sanders kept talking. "I've always loved history. Always wanted to study. Now, I've got time so I thought why not. But they're all so young." He smiled at her. "You are all so young. I was concerned that no one would speak to me."

That was strange, Perdita thought to herself. She'd been concerned someone would, but Sanders seemed like a nice man. He had a well-trimmed white beard and sparkling blue eyes. His face was a little red, he was what her mother would call 'portly' and Perdita found herself liking his calm and gentle voice. "Now," he said, "I just need to work out how to take notes." Perdita smiled at him and motioned to his note book. It shared a situation with hers. "It's half full," she said. Sanders nodded. "It is, yes, but you know, I made those notes from books. Who knows how fast he talks? Maybe when we're done here, we can swap notes, see if the other missed anything?"

Perdita considered that and nodded. "I'll leave gaps, if I need to." Sanders nodded. "I'm going to number things, I think, number where there's a gap and then add it in later." That was a good idea, Perdita thought, and just then, the professor called for quiet. "Here we go," Sanders whispered. "Good luck."

She was more or less sure that she was going to be sick. Or faint. Or die. Or maybe all three.

"We're here, this trial, to study History," Professor Deadnut said. "It would be easy to consider that history is simply a recitation of historical facts, but start here. If I teach you one thing, learn this. There is no such thing as a historical fact, there are simply varying degrees of historical fiction."

Perdita wondered if it was too late to switch to something else. Sighing, she hoped for the best as the lecture began. But in truth, she didn't really believe there was any hope for her.

Maybe she could become a cleaner.

History is Philosophy teaching by example

[Pig Boy]

Player Name: Perdita Westcott

Points awarded: 10 xp
Magic xp: no

Knowledge:

Appraisal: Consider all options when choosing a seat
Appraisal: Identify advantages and disadvantages of choices
Appraisal: Note-taking techniques.
Research: Be prepared for lectures.
Research: Identify areas of overlap in history
Teaching: Explain your ideas to your teacher.

Renown: N/A
Loot: N/A
Injuries/Overstepping: N/A
Wealth Points: N/A
Consequences: N/A

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: The way you opened up this story, with Perdita agonizing over which seating suited her best really brought it home to me. This is so very like a person as painfully shy as Perdita, to dwell on such details. I can't help but empathize with her struggle to find a place where she sticks out least, and makes the least waves.

Her anxiety really was devastatingly portrayed from top to bottom, and I felt really bad for her when she contemplated leaving University and becoming a cleaner

This was a well-put-together solo classroom thread, and I enjoyed it greatly. I hope Perdita gets used to the academic scene soon. If not, I suppose she can find solace in her crafts and the fact that she will be left alone to do her homework.

Good job!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!