On a few occasions, I have been frustrated by how dismissive Eben is with students who disagree with him. I try to genuinely consider the issues that are raised in class, but when Eben refuses to concede even the most marginal argument in opposition, or to honestly rebut others, it's impossible to really delve into an issue. The example that comes to mind was in February when we had our "Grades don't matter" debate. If I remember correctly, Eben wouldn't even acknowledge that getting good grades will help you land a big law job out of school. The discussion then begins to lose credibility. I think a better approach would be for Eben to concede certain modest points and genuinely explain why he disagrees with others. Good grades will obviously help you get a job at Cravath. I believe the point Eben really wanted to focus on was that working at Cravath when you're 25 isn't what you need to be successful or happy. But if you want us to engage in the argument with you, you can't start by denying the premises that we know are true.

But maybe Eben isn't trying to walk us down a path. Take the same example as above. There was something genuinely frustrating about not getting the answers we were looking for. Satisfaction has a way of ebbing in a way that frustration doesn't, and maybe that's the point; not only are you not going to get the answer you're looking for, you're not even going to get the argument you're looking for. That means you're going to be annoyed. You're going to be mulling it over for the next two days. And you're going to figure out why you actually disagree with the extreme viewpoint being presented in class. Personally, I don't think this is more effective than a back and forth discussion, but I'm just trying to explore possible explanations for why this method may be desirable.

To build on Jessica's point, this class has engendered participation in ways that none of my other classes have. Shortly after we turned in our first papers, I was at a birthday party on the Lower East Side with several other students from our L&CS class. For a few of us, the major topic of discussion that night was what we had each chosen to write about for Eben's class and why. Even at the time, we took notice of the fact that we were actually excited to talk about a law school class on a Friday night. Perhaps there is an argument that the fear of insulting red text inspired us to think about these papers in ways we otherwise wouldn't have. I certainly was excited to talk about my paper, although that apparently didn't help me avoid a ton of red text. (On the upside, I learned what 'jejune' means.)

-- DanKarmel - 08 Apr 2010