Sinister Moose

In 2008 and 2009, I taught “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer to a group of 18-year old students who, by and large, were not readers. That was fine -- I knew when I started teaching that not every student in my classroom would love reading the way I did. And, for the most part, students did their work well and turned it in on time. I had a great group each time I taught, I guess.

One day in 2009, I was reviewing assignments in my office. One of the things they had to do on a particular homework assignment was find a picture of a moose -- it makes sense if you’ve read “Into the Wild” -- and attach it to the answered questions. It was just on the cusp of spring, but Tessica and I had a basement office like all the Graduate Teaching Fellows, so there wasn’t a ton of sunlight or fresh air. Nonetheless, we opened the windows to the concrete, in-ground area and had a fan going. It always smelled like coffee and people came in and out, full of stories, jokes and questions.

Good office.

Chuckling a bit at the first moose, I commented on how sinister an animal -- who was probably more confused by the photographer than anything else -- can look. Then I turned to the next one. And the next one. Before I was done, I had 35 copies of that sinister moose on my desk staring at me. It was like a horror movie -- or something a little less dramatic. Only four students chose a different moose (and one student didn’t turn in his assignment at all.)

Confused, I tried to find an explanation. Did all the students do their work together? Had I insisted that the moose look scary and just couldn’t remember that off-the-cuff instruction? Was there a moose-finding seminar in another class that required that exact moose so the students took out two assignments with one print out?

“Laurel,” Tessica said, amused. “Just check Google.”

…and the moose was the first image result.



(More than a year later, it’s the second.)