As I read the paper I was instantly reminded of one of the creative writing classes I had in college. Kate stated her assignment at the top (What does Bram Stoker's novel Dracula have in common with Enron and economic terms?) and it triggered a funny memory.

I think there were only about a dozen of us in the class and the Prof was a great guy, very quick and with a good sense of humor. Semester exam rolls around and the "in class" part of the final he wrote on the blackboard. I recall about four questions but it started as three. He copied his first two, whatever they were, and began to write the third, all the while we are making cracks and jokes about what he's writing. The third question was supposed to be "Describe briefly the Berea College Handbook." A wacky-ass question but it could be fun.

What was more fun and more interesting though was what turned out to be the third question. He wrote the first word, "describe," on the board and we all made assorted boos and snorts. Then he wrote the second word, "briefly," and several of us piped up with cheers and shouts of, "That's better!" He turned around and with a big grin asked, "Is it?" He turned back to the board and put a period after the briefly. So question number three was "Describe briefly."

I don't remember what I amswered but I do remember we all gave Pam Golden the award for the best answer. She wrote, "Briefly is this."

I think if I were Kate I might still have been tempted to turn in a paper which said:
What does Bram Stoker's novel Dracula have in common with Enron and economic terms?
"I have no idea, but here's my report on 'Dracula' so you know I read the book. You can take it from there since I know diddly-squat about economics and this isn't an economics class."

The best thing for Kate here is that this one is over!!!

Spaw