Story Index Frolickingly Fractured Fables
Background Information for
Dale Neibaur's Frolickingly Fractured Fables
This piece was written for a high-school humanities class taught by Vivian Beattie. Mrs. Beattie was one of the greatest teachers I ever had the joy of studying under. On this particular day she'd been teaching us to write five-part essays. We were to compare and contrast the Greek story of Pandora with the biblical account of Adam and Eve. Each essay was supposed to be comprised of 5 parts: compare, contrast, analyze, evaluate and summarize.
But I just couldn't seem to get serious about this particular assignment. So I finally caved to my baser instincts and wrote what I wanted. I included the following note as an attempt to assuage her:
Author’s note: It should be stated that I did this out of a sense of pure mischief and not by any malignant design. I had a riot writing the thing; hope you enjoy it as much. If you do, read it to your classes. They’d probably love it too! Just don’t tell them who did it. I know this wasn’t exactly what you had in mind when you gave the assignment, but variety is the spice of life. Viva la spice!
Sincerely yours, (I think)
Neibaur & Neibaur, ltd.
"If it's worth reading, we didn't write it!"
I'm pleased to report that she didn't kick me from the class or give me a failing grade, despite this and numerous other gross provocations. Like I said, she was one of the greatest teachers I've ever encountered!