Her ideas are unfocused and she has no support for her view that gays should not be allowed to marry. After a half-hour, the student finally reveals that she is having trouble because, like Queen Victoria, she doesn't believe homosexuals actually exist. Not unsupported, or badly thought out, but simply, obviously and completely wrong . Women are biologically programmed to be neater than men. Vegetarians are cold all the time and die early because they don't eat enough protein.
Children placed in day care grow up to be psychopathic killers.
These kinds of views can surface anytime, but they seem to come up more often and to be more of a problem in first-year writing classes. First-year writing classes also focus on the student's ability to present and defend an opinion, rather than master a set of facts or theories. They are more problematic in these classes than elsewhere because the opinions form the basis of written work. During a verbal exchange, an instructor may choose either to ignore or to reveal her reactions to an argument. Papers, on the other hand, require grades.