I had a college Literature professor who loved to pontificate. Once he’d made a pronouncement, there was simply nothing more to be said.
The class was aching to see him taken down. One day he proclaimed, “All books titled after characters are named for their protagonist (hero). Period.” He started rattling off examples: “Huckleberry Finn, Anna Karenina, Don Quixote, Oliver Twist…”
Then the class anarchist Stuart quietly muttered, “Moby Dick.”
The class stood and cheered.
~from How to be Funny
Brilliant.
🤣😆😂
C.S. Lewis ‘surprised by joy’ etc…
Once-and-future English teacher agrees that pomposity is perilous.
Soooo tired of WP’s bugs. At this point I can’t give likes to several great comments.
I will share my own similar experience however. Community College English 101… The first day of class, we get assigned to read “Letters to A Young Doctor” by Richard Selzer. Its been roughly 40 years and the title still sticks in my mind because of the teacher. Day two of class, we’re asked to discuss our first impressions of the book. One student replied that he found it overly bombastic and difficult to read because of that.
As a side note, I completely agreed with the other student. It felt like there wasn’t a word in the book under 4 syllables. While I believe in using language that creates clarity, I don’t support unnecessarily complex language either.
To return to the story however, the teacher’s response spoke volumes in a few words. Paraphrasing, he snidely called the student ignorant and closed-minded.
Net result; literally half the class was in line at the Admissions Office after class to drop the class. Imagine how the conversation and outcome night have changed if he had simply responded “Yes, it is a bit verbose but try to read it with an appreciation for the richness of the language used and the images it conveys”.
Yes!
The unkind side in me says yes! Just my kind of take down. Great post, thank you.
Good for Stuart!! Take the air out of that pompous windback.
I never understood this word until now
😂
Brilliant!
😂🤣
Funny
I thought Moby Dick was the hero?!🐋 😎
Well…