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Rex v Group Project

"You will be assigned to work in a group. You must complete your project and presentation by the end of two weeks." The professor handed out the pages of paper. Everyone with the same color please get together.

Rex looked at his handout. It was red… his color. He looked up to see who else had red. Seeing that they had gathered near the door, he got up to join them.

"Hi, I'm Rex." He held out his hand.

"I'm Jake." One of the students grasped his hand.

"I'm Maggie." Another offered.

"I'm Franny." The last one said.

"Great, so what do we have to do?" Rex glanced at the paper in his hand.

Assignment:

Pick at least 3 works of literature that we've read and find the overarching theme that runs through all of them. Write a 15 page paper citing evidence for this theme. Create a Presentation that you will expound upon in class.

"Huh, this is work 40% of our grades." Rex looked at his group. "This'll be a cinch."

"Sure, dude." Jake agreed.

"I vote that I lead this project." Maggie said. "I have great organizational skills and I don't want you guys botching my grade."

Rex was taken aback by her bluntness. "Sure. Go for it. I was thinking we should meet to…"

"I'm busy on Tuesdays and Thursdays… oh and I work on the weekends, and I have sorority meetings on Monday nights." Franny spoke up.

"Ooookay." Rex said slowly. "How about we meet Friday night…"

"I said I work weekends!" Franny glared at him.

"Fridays not a weekend!" Rex protested.

"Weekends start on Fridays." Franny said matter-of-factly.

"Sure they do." Rex said. "So you're saying the only day you can meet is Wednesday?"

"Not in the morning. I have a class from 9 to 12." Franny clarified.

"So the only time you can meet is Wednesday night…" Rex tried again.

"No, I have a dinner date this Wednesday." Franny said as if Rex was slow.

"So you're saying we can only meet on Wednesday afternoon to plan our project." Rex was starting to get annoyed.

"For an hour. I have an appointment with my professor at 1:30." She stated.

"Okay, so we should pick some of the books we read and decide on the theme." Maggie jumped in. Rex and Franny can work on the presentation…"

"Wait. How can I work on the presentation with Franny if I'm only going to see her for an hour on Wednesdays." Rex protested.

"Oh, only this Wednesday. Next Wednesday I'm off campus." Franny interrupted.

Rex looked at Maggie as if to say see.

Maggie gave a long suffering sigh. "Fine, you can work with Jake on the presentation and I will work with Franny on the paper."

"Great. So when do you want to meet Jake?" Rex turned to the other male.

"Huh, what? Oh anytime. I'm like free all the time." Jake said dismissively.

"Okay, how about tonight?" Rex asked. "We can meet at the library's atrium and go to one of the computer labs… are you listening?" Rex stopped when he saw Jake's eyes wander off.

"Yeah, yeah, dude. Geesh don't be so uptight. Meet at the library. Got it." Jake picked up his things. "I gotta go."

"But we haven't picked the four works yet!" Rex stated.

"Oh just pick anything and tell me when we meet. Hey Felica!" He chased after a girl leaving the room.

Maggie ignored the fact that Jake disappeared. "So the books we'll do are: Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and Fahrenheit 451. And the theme will be man's search for purpose and meaning in his life." Maggie decided.

"That doesn't make sense. All those books are about man's inhumanity to man." Rex interjected. "I mean there are more evidence for that than an existential search for purpose. I mean look at the Joads and how they were heading for California…"

Maggie held up her hand. "No, the stories are about purpose and meaning… every story ever written is about purpose and meaning."

"No, it's not." Rex argued. "How about Where the Red Fern Grows?"

"Purpose and meaning." Maggie said.

"A Farewell to Arms?"

"Purpose and meaning."

"The Color Purple?"

"Purpose and meaning."

"The Joy Luck Club?"

"Purpose and meaning."

"The Cat in the Hat!"

"Purpose and meaning!"

"That's bull…" Rex restrained himself. "I guess if you can find the evidence of purpose and meaning in the works you picked then go ahead. But how am I suppose to do a presentation on that?"

"Well, that's your job." Maggie said.

"Of course it is." Rex had a bad feeling about this project.

0o0

Rex looked at his watch it was already 9 and the library was going to close in two hours. Where was Jake? He had been waiting at the atrium for two hours. He knew he should have gotten that guys number. Rex was about to give up and go back to his dorm when Jake casually strolled in.

"Hey dude. Where were you? I was waiting for you outside." Jake said in a slow drawl.

Rex was about to have an aneurysm. "I told you in the atrium." He said through gritted teeth.

"You're lucky I got to talking to this girl. I totally got her number." He said as if Rex hadn't spoken.

"Whatever." Rex said calming himself down. "Let's just get this over with."

They went to the media room and sat down at two computers.

"So Maggie thinks the theme should be man's search for meaning and purpose but after reading the books again I couldn't find any explicit evidence for… Jake?" Rex noticed his partner was not even listening to him.

"Just a minute. He scrolled through something on the computer. Checking my email. Score!" He said excitedly. "Felicia said she'll meet me for drinks." He began gathering his stuff.

"Wait!" Rex cried alarmed. "We haven't even gotten any ideas of how to…"

"I'm sure you can figure it out." Jake started walking out. Rex barred his way.

"Dude, at least give me your number, email, or address some way I can reach you!"

Jake gave him a funny look. "Why?"

"Why? So we can work on this project!" Rex said loudly. Several people shushed him. He lowered his voice. "I need help trying to figure out how to fit Maggie's stupid theme for these books."

"You're smart. I'm sure you can figure it out… unless you're not smart." Jake said.

Rex bristled. "I am smart…"

"Good. Then I'll see you in class." He pushed past Rex and left. Rex clenched his fist.

"Are you going to use that computer?" Someone asked him.

0o0

"Can you believe the nerve of some people?" Rex complained to Noah.

"Group projects suck." Noah agreed.

"I mean seriously! What is wrong with these people?" Rex continued.

"I hear ya." Noah watched his friend paced.

"This is my grade! I mean if Maggie cares so much she should have picked a better theme." Rex snarled.

"Rex, I know this is hard but welcome to the real world where you have to learn how to work with… idiots." Noah sighed. "It's high school all over again."

"I was home schooled." Rex was still pacing. "And that is a load of BS. In Providence if you didn't pull your weight, Hutton had your butt on a plate."

"True that." Noah thought back to basic training. "But the world isn't Providence. And sometimes… life isn't fair."

"Well, it should be!" Rex snapped back.

"Look, the way I see if you have two choices. You can complain all night to me or you can try to figure out a way to do your part so you don't fail." Noah advised.

"You're right! I'll show these people what a real project looks like." Rex slammed his fist into his hand. "But first a snack. Complaining makes me hungry."

"Listening to you complain makes me hungry." Noah joked.

"Then taco run, it is." Rex opened the door for Noah.

"No after you." Noah said graciously.

"After you." Rex answered.

"Oh just go! Or we'll never get out of here."

The boys laughed as they both left their room.

0o0

"And based on these scenarios, the overarching theme is man's search for purpose and meaning." Rex finished.

The class clapped politely as Rex took his seat.

"Good job." Maggie whispered.

"Thanks" Rex said beaming. He shot a glare at Jake who didn't seem to notice.

"Now that the presentations are done," The professor walked to the front of the room, we will now do our peer reviews." He handed out more sheets. "Your grades will be mailed to you."

Rex looked at his paper. Now it was time for revenge. From a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best he rated his group. He handed in the paper at the end of class.

A few days later a letter was delivered to him. Seeing it was from his group project, he ripped open the letter. It was a B-.

"B minus?" Rex sputtered. Skimming the letter, he saw that his presentation was an A and the paper was an A but his peer review was a D. "Are you serious?" Rex cried. He read his group's comment about him.

Not a team player.

Argumentative.

Too tightly wound.

Rex crumpled up the paper.

Noah picked it up and looked at it. "Harsh." He noted.

"Those guys were the worst people I have ever worked with and I had to deal with Weever!" Rex growled.

"It's still a respectable grade. And look it's only 40%. You can bring it up." Noah consoled him.

"I guess." Rex flopped onto his bed.

"It could be worse." Noah said.

"How?" Rex asked.

"You could get another group project." He said.

Rex groaned. "Don't jinx me Nixon. I still have three more years to go."

Noah laughed.

Rex: 0 Group Project: 1

Thank you guest for the idea. It was a lot harder to write than I thought. I will think about your other suggestions but I don't know much about room inspections or about RAs. As a teacher I hate group projects but my bosses demand that I do it. I try to be as fair as possible but I know some kids do more and some kids do squat. I grade accordingly because I know who does the work and who doesn't.