Synecdoche (si-nek’-do-kee): A whole is represented by naming one of its parts (or genus named for species), or vice versa (or species named for genus).
As usual, I turned in my paper late. My ballpoint rolled slow. My wheels turned to a different tune. I had the due date in front of me on the syllabus for the whole semester, yet I failed to meet it. Professor Nolo was not happy. He almost didn’t take my paper at all. Instead, he would deduct 70 of the 100 points that was worth. I missed flunking Moganomics by one point. It was a course about the interactional dynamics of the “Three Stooges.” I had written my paper on Moe’s double face slap and its failure as a corrective measure for Curly and Larry. I argued that the double slap was not focused enough and that a single punch, separately administered to Curly and Larry, would’ve been a much more effective deterrent. I presented my paper at the annual “Stooge Convention.” It was titled “slapping vs. Punching: Correcting a Stooge.” My paper won the convention’s award for “Groundbreaking Scholarship in Stoogology.”
Professor Nolo attended the conference. I told the audience how he had flunked my paper because I turned it in late. He was booed by the nearly 300 people in attendance. He stood up and yelled “I’ll get you!” He stomped out with his fist over his head.
The next semester I wanted to take “Truth in Cartoons.” Professor Nolo was teaching it. Although he had vowed to get me, I signed up for the class anyway. Our final assignment was to draw a single cartoon panel conveying a truth. I drew a picture of Professor Nolo with his pants down being spanked by Marge Simpson while Archie watched. I drew the picture before I knew what its truth was. It took me awhile. I was two days late turning it in. I titled it “Authority and Innocence.” Archie was learning about learning, Professor Nolo was paying the price for disobedience and Marge was practicing her tennis swing. The layers of meaning collided constructing a metaphor conveying the complex connection between truth and timing.
Professor Nolo took one look at my drawing, crumpled it up, and threw it away making a growling sound, like an angry dog. I tried to retrieve it and he hit me over the head with his stapler, right in front of the entire class. The class started chanting “Hit him again,” and he did., about five times. Then the class started chanting “Nolo lunatic.”
I called 911 and Professor Nolo was arrested for assaulting me. Maybe I provoked him. He was a lunatic.
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu)
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