Raise your hand

Way back in one of my present past lives I studied history. This probably has something to do with my distrust of all things sociological. Sociology has come to represent, for me, much that is evil in academia and in the world in general but I digress. Back to history. Anyhoo, one of my assignments was to write an essay on the political/military climate existing between the United States and China post WWII. The week after handing in my essay, the scheduled lecture was focused on this very same topic. As I settled into the lecture I became increasingly uncomfortable. In front of me and the rest of the class, the professor was disputing each and every point I had made in my paper. It was as if he had my paper in front of him along with his own notes and had as his intention that day to not only disagree with a few of my points but to utterly annihilate my entire argument. When he finished speaking I felt numb. After a short pause, the professor looked around the class and, I swear, ended up looking right at me. He said 'well, that's it for me. I have a feeling that I may have said some controversial things. But, one of the things you should all know about me is that I love a good controversy. If anyone would like to challenge what I have said, the floor is open. So,...' he continued to look at me...taunting me... 'so, is there anyone who would like to comment upon anything I said? Anyone at all?' No point in staying silent I thought. I raised my hand.