Dead Ravens Society

Chapter 6 - My Life, If Lost

"I am the weakest, the most wanting in wisdom, I know, And my life, if lost, would be least missed, truly. Only through your being my uncle, am I to be valued; No bounty but your blood in my body do I know. And since this affair is too foolish to fall to you, And I first asked it of you, make it over to me; And if I fail to speak fittingly, let this full court judge Without blame."

- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Author Unknown

Gansey

When their second lesson with Mr Czerny came, Gansey held perhaps too high hopes for it. He knew better than to expect too much from life, as disappointment was something he was more than used to. But although Ronan had thought their new history teacher eccentric, which was the very fact that had eventually made him respect Mr Mallory, Gansey loved the way the man spoke. He loved the way he'd made him think about the lesson outside of the work they had been assigned, the way Mr Czerny spoke of history as if it was this living, breathing thing.

Now Mr Czerny stood in front of the green board with his hands in the pockets of his blazer, a history book under his arm. He looked out over the students who made their way to their places. His face was sporting that mischievous smile from the first lesson. 

Once they had all settled down, he opened the book and gestured towards Adam. "Please read the introduction for us, Mr Parrish."

Adam did so with eloquence, making the boring and technical terms sound like a melody in his slightly accented and low voice. He never stumbled over a single word, instead saying each of them as if they were already ingrained in his brain; they seemed to come as natural to him as breathing. Gansey felt his pen flow with it as he made notes of what seemed to be the most important point the author was trying to make.

Adam read about the author's view of history and why it was an important subject to learn, the words nearly identical to what headmaster Whelk had used when explaining to Ronan that yes, this was a class he had to take. They were practical reasons, although that hadn't motivated Ronan any. The author ended the introduction by saying that as long as you read his well-researched book on the subject, you would know all you needed. 

When Adam was done, Mr Czerny looked out over the room and calmly said, "Excrement."

Gansey blinked, his pen hovering over the annotation he'd been making. 

The man continued, "That's what I think of Dr Nolan's views as they apply to his work." He began pacing the room. "Now, don't fear Mr Parrish, we're going to study the text of this book and learn all it has to offer, as is required by the school for grading-" Mr Czerny smiled at Adam, who burrowed in on himself at the sudden attention from their classmates, "-but we're also going to read plenty of material not originally in the course plan."

Ronan let out a quiet huff next to Gansey, but Mr Czerny's eyes at once snapped over to him. His face split into a wide grin. "I can see Mr Lynch isn't too happy with the idea of learning more than is required for a passing grade, but history needs context for it to make sense for us truly. It needs more than a few carefully worded paragraphs written by someone whose bias is veered towards their own moral compass."

Mr Czerny came to a stop as he placed the history book on the desk next to his laptop.

"Now, I'm not saying we can ever truly escape bias," he said. "I have my own beliefs that are going to affect this course and the way I speak of this subject, but that's why it's going to be extra important that you don't only read the sources I hand to you, but find your own as well. This is not going to be an easy task, and you'll find that finding varied sources many times takes twice as long as the rest of an assignment."