Charles Macomb Flandreau

Prewriting

For 5 minutes, jot down quick responses to these questions:

1.) What is a "double entendre"? How is this technique used in this piece?

2.) What is the attitude and tone of the advisor? What is he trying to accomplish?

3.) What is the attitude and tone of the student? What is he trying to accomplish?

4.) This scene took place on a college campus more than 100 years ago. What things are still true of college students? What things are still true of advisors and administrators?

5.) Can you discover from this dialogue any of the reasons the student may have failed his exams? What are some of them?

6.) The narrator says, "I told all I knew." "Yes," his advisor says, "your instructors were convinced of that." Why do you think the advisor treated the student in the way he did? What kinds of things does the advisor wish to accomplish?

7.) Do you believe the student actually learned anything from this encounter? Why or why not? What might the student have learned?