2010-05-05

A two-panel comic contrasting how different school subjects would answer test questions if they swapped styles. Panel one, headed "IF MATH CLASS WERE LIKE ENGLISH CLASS," shows a test paper: "4) What is the square root of 64?" The answer is a long, rambling essay in English-class style: "Square rooting is a multifaceted process that has been used in myriad times, eras and epochs. It has its 'roots' in..." trailing off into illegible flowery prose, never actually giving the number 8. Panel two, headed "IF ENGLISH CLASS WERE LIKE MATH CLASS," shows a test paper: "2) Why did Captain Ahab hunt Moby-Dick?" The answer is terse and proof-like: "Book said so." followed by a large "Q.E.D." The joke is that English would over-explain a simple numeric fact while math would reduce a literary question to a curt logical proof. Votey: a single panel headed "IF PHILOSOPHY CLASS WERE LIKE MATH CLASS" showing a test paper: "7) Can man live on bread alone?" with the one-word underlined answer "Nope."