So I've encountered two challenges in my goal to be the biggest smartass of my poetry class, and to try to turn all of the prof's many rules on their heads...

1. Someone else is being a bigger smartass than me. Only perhaps without the smart... He's been flat-out arguing with the teacher about the rtf. rule, publicly on the questions forum, and with a seriously lack of tact. The public part just adds more hilarity to this course, because the rest of us get to read through the alternating posts and spot all the hints of condescension and defensiveness that have gradually turned their discussion into a battle of egos.

For the record, I lean toward the prof's side on this one (which is not to say that I really agree with either). As much as I think there are flaws in the traditional authority-based teaching style, any student should be able to recognize that this is a teacher who demands that exact sort of authority. If you're going to out-right question a teacher like this, make sure it's for a damned good reason (i.e. not over a minor formatting detail). Honestly, you might as well stroll up to a lion and say, "Hey, I think your mane needs to be shaved off."


2. And my second difficulty in toying with the structure of this class is my realization that this is precisely what the prof wants us to do. Our second assignment is even more rule-specific than the first, with requirements like "include the name of at least one animal" and "do not end any lines on a preposition or an article." What's more, this is totally the sort of structure-challenge that I love... As poetry courses go, this one is practically made for me!

...Which probably explains why certain students (see aforementioned) seem to be getting frustrated....