Реферат: Creative Writing My Summer Off Essay Research

about rectifying th latter by filling a notebook with all the wisdom that the

teacher could impart to us during the hour long periods. When it was time for

the first debate, I studied up on my notes, reviewed my speech, marched over to

the outdoor amphitheater and was summarily destroyed by a girl would surely go

on to be a lawyer, if she wasn’t one already. Two days later I was bludgeoned

by a boy who lied to the judge so convincingly that all my facts were forgotten,

he would be a politician. And so the sorry sequence continued, the opponents

kept changing but the results remained the same. I grew bitter and frustrated

but I did not walk away. Instead I compiled lists, long lists, of what I had

done wrong and how to do better. With each debate the lists grew longer, until

their growth was halted by the teacher’s announcement that the tournament would

begin in a day and we were to get some rest.

That night I studied and review my lists, reliving the anguish that

accompanied each pointer: ?Don’t let your speech blow away in the wind. Look

the judge in the eye. Breath deeply. Don’t stutter.? The following morning I

went into the debate and rambled through a mediocre speech in a mediocre tone.

When I had delivered my mediocre conclusion, I waited for the judge’s decision

because it is the polite thing to do, not because I needed further confirmation

of my imminent loss. So I sat there In my chair adding to the list as the judge

announced that each of us had garnered the same number of points, but, because

ties were not allowed, he had awarded the debate to me. I was dumbfounded but I

concealed my disbelief so the judge would think me deserving of his accolade.

When I shook hands with my opponent, it felt different than it had previously,

maybe it is because this time I was giving the hand shake rather than receiving

it. I had taken the grand prize and that hand shake was merely his consolation

gift. I erased each of the points I had added to the list, I was becoming

better at debate, but I was not ready to argue with success. Maybe the list now

covered every possible pitfall, making loss an impossibility, but I doubted it.

I am proud to say that I was giving the hand shake at the end of each of