Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson


September 22, 2006 - Found Homework

In honor of the school year starting, I'd like to share something I found while walking my dog last spring. It appears to be answers to a homework assignment from a history book chapter talking about Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt. Aside from being prominent women from roughly the same era, I have no idea why these two women were paired together in a chapter.

The unknown student tried his or her best (the writing looks distinctly feminine to me, with the rounded letters and stylized dots over the "i's"), but it's clear that often these answers are just wild guesses.

For example, the front page reads:

Vocabulary

outspoken — Not to say what is on your mind.
practical — Almost All
elegant — A little ugly
elevations — Something hight up
brisk — cold + chilly
starstruck — lots of stars in sky
miniatures — Something small
marveled — look at something far away

Clearly, the student was trying to use knowledge of word construction to figure out the meaning of these words, failing more often than not.

The back of the paper is titled "Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride", which might be the name of the chapter. It answers some unknown questions.

1) Amelia and Eleanor were real people.

2) Eleanor R. the first lady in the United Stats to live in the white house.

3) Amelia E. The first female to fly over the Atlantic Ocean.

1) That she flew it in high heels.

Once more, it's clear that the student has not read the chapter. I have no idea what the first question was. Perhaps it was to compare Amelia and Eleanor to another chapter in the book, which might have featured mythical personalities.

The answer to number two is clearly wrong, as the official White House page states the presidential residence was first inhabited by President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, in 1800.

While question No. 3 is correct, I'm not certain that she made her historical flight in high heels, but something tells me that's unlikely.

It's fortunate for the student that this appears to have been a homework assignment and not a graded quiz. Without a doubt, this student was just, er... winging it.

 

Moral:
Sometimes you just can't resist an obvious pun.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson


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