272 Quiz Answer

 

In “As You Like It,” a chap named Orlando is in love with beautiful Rosalind.  He writes poetry that he hangs on trees for her to find.

Orlando is one of the few Shakespeare characters to be named after a Florida city.

(The above sentence is an attempt at humor and may be ignored.)

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "U" is for "Ulrich")

The following scenelet should remind you of a well-known play.  Which play?

“Looks like you’ve been up to your old tricks, Ulrich, making a mess of things.”

“I’m sorry to hear you say that, sir.”

“You must hate this school.  It’s as though you’re trying to get thrown out.”

“Oh no, sir.  I deeply love the school.  I – er – don’t have it quite clear in my mind just what rule I seem to have broken.”

“The rule is, don’t make a mess of things!  The Dean is almost frantic, very upset.  It would appear that you don’t have much of a future in this institution.”

“Again, if you could let me know just what…”

“Go outside and look!  The quad is supposed to be immaculate.  Those trees are the pride and joy of Dean Dirksen and they’re just covered with – with detritus!”

“Ah, I see.  But that’s not detritus, sir, whatever that is.  It’s a new project of mine for English Lit.”

“You’re doing an English Literature project and you don’t know what detritus is?  It’s litter, Ulrich, it’s rubble.  And you’ve covered the Dean’s trees with it.”

“Well, hardly ‘covered.’ sir.  There are just some pieces of paper on the trees; that’s all it amounts to.”

“I’m afraid to ask this, but why in God’s name would you be hanging pieces of paper on trees?”

“Well, I became absorbed in this idea for a new way to submit a paper in English Lit.  Innovation is important, sir, as you know.  I would write some poems on small pieces of paper – haiku, sonnets, villanelles, whatever – and instead of turning them in during class I’d sort of post them on the trees in the quad”

“Well, that is an idea, Ulrich, though possibly the dumbest one I’ve heard all year.”

“But you see, sir, there’s a reason.  Truth is, I have fallen in love with a beautiful girl named Madge in my Social Studies class.  I wrote all the poetry for her.  She’ll come across my poems in the trees and she’ll be thrilled.  So this will accomplish two things: I’ll get to know her better and when I submit the verses in my English class I should get a special grade.”

(Dryly) "Yes, I believe you will.”

(The answer will be posted Saturday.)