Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for March 12, 1995
Transcript:
Joanie: Sure is quiet in there... Could actual studying be taking place? Jeff: History paper time (reading): "Louisiana purchase (1803): The purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory from France, initiated by Thomas Jefferson. The purchased area, which extended from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, doubled the size of the United States." (writing): The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 was the purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory from France at the inititation of Thomas Jefferson. The area that was purchased extended from the Mississippi to the Rockies, and doubled the size of the United States. Joanie: My...What a dramatic improvement in our writing. Jeff: Thanks.
Ironically this sort of thing can be good practice for new writers, just like new artists use tracing. It’s not something experienced artists should be doing, but it does help give newbies some idea of how things feel and get that muscle memory started. For writing, you see how a sentence should look and be composed before you start trying to compose your own. Jeff doesn’t know it – he’s just trying to cheat his homework – but he really was practicing for his future job in a way.