Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Essay Questions My English Teachers Never Asked

I'm slogging through a pile of papers that need to be graded before class tonight (and another pile before Friday morning) but believe me, I'd rather be reading your blogs. So I thought I would share:

Essay Questions My English Teachers Never Asked
(But I Really Wish They Had)

Consider your answers carefully. Use specific examples and evidence from the text. In your test booklet, clearly indicate which question you are answering. You need only answer one of the three, though additional effort may warrant extra credit. Good luck!

1. Compare and contrast the kissing styles of your best male friend and his childhood buddy. Include evidence from your research. Some questions to keep in mind as you formulate your answer: Do they keep their eyes open or closed? Are they restrained enough to make sure they don’t smash your nose? Do they pay proper attention to each of your lips? Do they slobber?
This fantasy question dates from my 12th grade English class. I never did get to perform that particular experiment. Males may, of course, alter the gender. Or not. Any of you may alter the word "kissing". Hell, compare and contrast whomever you want doing whatever you want. Just make it distracting. There are a lot of essays here, and I'd rather read yours. Give me a reason to procrastinate!


2. What form of bodily excrement/secretion do you find the most fascinating? Why? Be thoughtful in your response. Feel free to include anecdotes from your life that illustrate your answer.
Honestly, I find eye snot (goop? gunk?) enthralling.


3. Compare and contrast the personality profiles and actions of Batman and Hamlet. Indicate your sources, especially if your response hinges on a particular actor's interpretation of a character. If relevant, include in your discussion other superheroes or literary figures, Deconstructionist writings, or the lyrics of random 80's bands. If you prefer, you may use your reaction to this statement as your starting point: "Batman is what would happen to Hamlet if Hamlet didn't know who killed his father."
That's an actual quote from a play I wrote, which was in the New York International Fringe Festival in 2002. It got a pretty good review.

Traditional letter grades will not be assigned, so I urge you to be candid in your responses.

Wednesday Wist will return on its regularly scheduled day once I am caught up. I am also inordinately fascinated with what's on other people's iPods (yes, I'm sort of an "iPod elitist" but don't let my political incorrectness discourage you), so I urge you to give this a try... So how do you participate in Wednesday Wist? You take whatever music player you use, put it on shuffle, grab the first 5 songs and write what that song makes you remember. If it's a new song...and you can't relate it to a memory....do you like it? Leave a comment if you do it on your site and if you don't have a site, comment your wist here! Oh...and feel free to comment about my songs as well!!!

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27 Comments:

  • I will be comparing and contrasting. I will be comparing kissing one Sean Donahue when I was 14 and he was my second kiss EVER to kissing him when I was 28 and experienced in the kissing department.

    14=worst kiss ever. He wasn't sure what to do with his tongue, coupled with the fact that he was nervous and also the fact that I had a crush on his older brother's best friend and was therefore not the least bit interested in kissing him. It all combined into not a great experience.

    28=Eh. He'd improved, luckily, but it was nothing to write home about. I'll tell you what ELSE was nothing to write home about -- his um, boudoir style. Worst. Lay. Ever. Actually, second worst. Anyway. Thank god he went back to the girl he had been dating for the last 5 years and who he hadn't actually broken up with to date me. Otherwise I might have endured that awfulness longer because I would have felt bad about not liking him AGAIN. I just can't impart to you how really really ridiculously bad the sex was. You should be thankful for that.

    So, in conclusion, I conclude.

    By Blogger Amber, At Wed Nov 16, 03:38:00 PM 2005  

  • haha, amber's funny. and so is jill. but jill, really, can you be an iPod elitist if you have The Go-Go's on your i-poodle? hide you head in shame, girl...haha, just kidding. i'll dance to "our lips are sealed" anyday.

    password "zomavce:" a russian word meaning romance with a willing stranger...

    By Blogger Amanda, At Wed Nov 16, 05:38:00 PM 2005  

  • I have always been particularly fond of sweat. Before reading on, please bear in mind I recognize the distinction between sweat and body odor.

    A woman soaked in her own hard work evokes mental escapades of something primal, which is definitely a place I have fun visiting now and then. From the salty taste of it on the back of her neck, to the soft glow it gives her after making love, sweating can be very expressive.

    By Blogger blog Portland, At Wed Nov 16, 06:09:00 PM 2005  

  • Haha! Too funny. I never got assignments like that either. I also never rebelled and didn't do my homework. Sorry but I am going to have to start now...

    By Blogger Cheryl, At Wed Nov 16, 06:54:00 PM 2005  

  • holy effin crap Jill I get it already

    you're seriously crushing on me... I get it!!!

    I get it!!!

    did you all catch it... the veiled Hamlet refrence???

    Hamlet was... helloooooo... Danish
    Romey is... oh yeah... equally blonde

    its as plain as the face on my nose
    ummmm

    anyway... so ur a teacher... how'd I miss that? *sings hawt for teacher*

    romey
    king of the world
    this week only

    By Blogger Romeo Jensen, At Wed Nov 16, 07:04:00 PM 2005  

  • The best kiss I ever had was with a girl I had an enormous crush on when I was about 27. She was in her car, leaving my place. We kissed so briefly it was like a moth brushing across a lamp. I never kissed her again, although I still see her sometimes.

    I think we both remember the kiss.

    By Blogger anaglyph, At Wed Nov 16, 08:27:00 PM 2005  

  • Amber: Ha! That's hysterical.

    Amanda: You know I love you, but don't f&%# with the Go-Go's. Ok, you took it back. But still!

    Portland: I'm all for primal.

    Cheryl: I am going to excuse your lack of homework, but just this once.

    Romey: Ah, Romey.

    Anaglyph: Ahhhh. Thanks for that. But especially I thank you for using the words "crush" and [age] "27" in the same sentence. You have no idea what that does for me.

    By Blogger Jill, At Wed Nov 16, 08:48:00 PM 2005  

  • At first, I thought question #2 was just nasty, then I couldn't help but think about it. I was pretty much put off by everything, until I thought of sweat. That's a good bodily secretion. Any time I've ever sweat, it's been from doing something worth doing (and I'm not just talking about the obvious).

    It's certainly way better than something like mucus, which is just gross.

    Also, that Wednesday Wist thing is brilliant. I'm definitely going to use it.

    By Blogger Bad Habit Brota, At Wed Nov 16, 09:31:00 PM 2005  

  • I really need to be doing this in a blue book. Crammed behind a mini desk that is only as big as the blue book. Sitting in a hall of, oh, 200 or so other people also doing the same thing. But since I can't relive the past in that way: I will combine 1 and 2 into one. "Ewww gross," you say? No not what you think...Have you ever kissed away tears? I have. It is unique to have tasted the sorrow of a loved one. It has the duality of both sharing the sorrow and expressing joy at the same time. Especially when those tears were on the lips of your lover.

    By Blogger Daniel, At Wed Nov 16, 09:48:00 PM 2005  

  • I would actually enjoy writing an essay with questions like this.

    By Blogger Dirk the Feeble, At Thu Nov 17, 10:54:00 AM 2005  

  • No doubt it has to be Breast Milk. I drink several ounces a day and NO one thinks anything of it. If someone who was older than about a year drinks it (I an only 11 weeks old by the way) then people are disgusted by it. Why? If you are willing to drink the bodily excretion of a COW or Goat then how can you possible be grossed out by Mommy Milk? It tastes way better than Barbers by the way.

    By Blogger lil'bitty, At Thu Nov 17, 11:01:00 AM 2005  

  • I was never anything even close to accomplished regarding essay questions.

    I'm facinated and disgusted with sweat. Don't be fooled by my facination and disgust, they both are one in the same.

    Under my current circumstance I'm facinated with how disgusting a group of 90 plus men smell after a day in the salt mine. I'm lucky in the sense I sweat very little unless I'm overly active, and when I'm overly active, I smell like a beach in the tropics.

    I often wonder what makes an otherwise regular person stink with such a profound, if not antagonizing stench. Is it what they eat? Maybe it's genetics? My mom and dad always fed me quality, healthy food, but neither ever smelled like any beach.

    By Blogger Jail Bird, At Thu Nov 17, 11:01:00 AM 2005  

  • Those questions are the best questions an english teacher could ever ask.

    I'm thinking of going back to school to become a teacher, for the sole purpose of asking essay questions like these.

    P.S. love the batman quote. so true. so true.

    By Blogger Kiki, At Thu Nov 17, 11:41:00 AM 2005  

  • I think i will need to reread this several times (it's hard to giggle like a 6 year old and read)

    By Blogger schuey, At Thu Nov 17, 12:19:00 PM 2005  

  • Bad: I'd love to take credit for that idea, but it's all Amy.

    Daniel: That's so sweet.

    Armaedes: Then answer them! I'd love to hear what would come out of your twisted mind.

    Lil Bitty: I must admit, breast milk did not enter my mind when I wrote that, but now that I see it from your perspective...

    Jail Bird: Really? A day in the tropics? Like, coconut oil or something?

    Kiki: I think you should write an essay comparing Spike to...I don't know yet. I'm going to keep thinking.

    Schuey: Glad I can make you giggle. Reread all you want; I'm still on your post about danger. It's been stuck in my head.

    By Blogger Jill, At Thu Nov 17, 12:29:00 PM 2005  

  • Actually, I believe the Hamlet/Batman connection was remarked upon by Batman's originator, Bob Kane, long ago. (Sorry to destroy the warm glow of originality.)

    And I resent the disparagment of mucus, which, of the bodily ex/secretions, may have the most extracorpreal functionality--as either lubricant or, in drier form, as the original rubber cement, as George Carlin so astutely pinted out.

    By Anonymous glenntaj, At Thu Nov 17, 01:39:00 PM 2005  

  • Glenn, I didn't think I was original. Have we not discussed the entire works of Joseph Campbell? By the way, thanks for that visual on the mucus.

    By Blogger Jill, At Thu Nov 17, 02:03:00 PM 2005  

  • Maybe I wouldn't have skipped so much school if these is what high school was like, Jill.

    By Blogger Thomas, At Thu Nov 17, 03:40:00 PM 2005  

  • This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger Jill, At Thu Nov 17, 03:44:00 PM 2005  

  • And I bet if that's what they were going to be asking on those finals you're supposed to be studying for, you'd actually be preparing right now, and not changing your profile picture so much. Much time on your hands?

    By Blogger Jill, At Thu Nov 17, 03:45:00 PM 2005  

  • Sure, if that's what you like?

    By Blogger Jail Bird, At Thu Nov 17, 04:50:00 PM 2005  

  • Jill - the day you get too old to have a crush is the day you shut the door in your crypt and lie down on the slab.

    Actually, having said that, I remember Poe and Annabel Lee and the fact that you can have a crush that survives the Divide as well...

    By Blogger anaglyph, At Thu Nov 17, 08:52:00 PM 2005  

  • I am in flux right now, Jill. I haven't got my email from Jill today. It is like other people's morning coffee.

    By Blogger Thomas, At Fri Nov 18, 12:24:00 AM 2005  

  • Nice new profile pic, Thomas.

    By Blogger Jill, At Fri Nov 18, 09:05:00 AM 2005  

  • The "Gleek" is the most fascinating bodily excretion to me. It's more of a projection than excretion and no, it does not involve any part of the body below your chin.

    It's a skill involving the manipulation of the saliva gland underneath your tongue. I used to be able to gleek up to ten feet. Anybody else know what I'm talking about here?

    By Blogger The Grunt, At Fri Nov 18, 01:05:00 PM 2005  

  • I'm not sure I know what a gleek is, but I can blow tiny saliva bubbles off my tongue. Wow, the things we're learning about me here. First eye gunk, now this.

    By Blogger Jill, At Fri Nov 18, 01:52:00 PM 2005  

  • Funny you should mention that Jill, I once had one of those saliva bubbles fly out accidently during a job interview. It was horrifying, but funny. Everyone in the room stopped talking and just watched the thing float down to the ground. Meh...I didn't want to sell insurance anyway.

    By Blogger The Grunt, At Fri Nov 18, 10:39:00 PM 2005  

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