September and October: Learning to Love the Law Summary and Analysis

On the first official day of classes Scott writes in his diary that this semester's classes will include Contracts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law and Torts. These courses will be taught by full professors in the Socratic method, the style employed when instructing large groups. Students tend to fear this style because the professor will call on a student at random and grill him or her usually to the student's humiliation for lack of preparation or understanding of the material.

Despite its negative reputation most law professors defend the Socratic method because it is the best way to teach students not only law terminology but also how to think analytically. Scott is wary of the tactics of the Socratic method as he takes his assigned seat in his...