Teacher Rickrolling: The Aftermath

As a follow-up to my last post, I have to share first the beautiful video Matt made to help me trick my students:

Before I started the video, I handed out the essay questions found in yesterday's post and told them they had the last 15 minutes of class to work on this supplementary final exam.  It's sad, really, how many of them actually thought they would be writing two essays on "The Divine Existentialism of Cyrano de Bergerac" in fewer than 15 minutes.  Some even became openly hostile.  It was delightful.

A couple of my favorite students did something I hadn't planned for, however: they actually answered the stupid question.  Keep in mind that these are not the students Baltimore County has labeled as "gifted," and that they had maybe 10 minutes to write these essays.

Student 1
On Professor Puetner's follow-up lecture on Roxane's love interests, he dispels the myth that the Don Juan complex flourished at the time of the Musketeers.  I believe that, yes, it would have flourished in the pre-Raphaelite age at that time because of the many events in world history, including (1) the French Revolution during the 18th century with the conflict between the ruling class and the bourgeoisie on voting on important issues and (2) the European colonization and use of the sphere of influence of China's cultures as it relates to not controlling their own government.

Student 2
The Professor's follow-up lecture on Roxane's love interest in Christian dispels the myth that the Don Juan complex flourished at the time of the Musketeers.  The historical evidence of Charlie Sheen relates to this because of the way he treats women and his true love.  Roxane is actually Charlie Sheen in disguise.  I do not believe this is appropriate to read about in a 10th grade English class.  Thanks for being a great teacher, Mrs. Scherer!

The students have become the masters.  Mission accomplished.