Here is the story. A student submitted their homework late. In a follow-up e-mail, they asked, "What effect will this have on my final grade?" I sighed, then typed out the standard reply, "Please refer to the syllabus." I then received a somewhat angry e-mail accusing me of misunderstanding the original e-mail. The student stated that their original message was not meant to be sarcastic. Where is the hint of any sarcasm in any of this?
CM, I have anticipated your next question. Alas, I have no more context to provide. You now know as much as I do.
Prof. Hyde: I shall apply my own sarcasm detector to this student. It just arrived in the post from Strelnikov.
Dear Snowflake,
ReplyDeletenor was my answer.
Sincerely, etc., J&H.
This brings up something my friends and I have been talking about more and more lately: the problem of detecting sarcasm in written text. Some people are so paranoid that they see sarcasm everywhere; others are blissfully unaware. Still more get offended because the sarcasm detector is off and the "rude" reply is taken at face value.
ReplyDeleteWhat a problem.
So we invented among ourselves a sarcasm symbol. Such as: //Oh yeah, that's a great example.//
Or some days I'm really frustrated with my students. //Bravo Student, I think you are brilliant//
The slash marks work the way auto-bold does when surrounded by stars, like *shakes fist at world*
Not that you have to use this, but I think it is starting to make the sarcasm problem go away in the circle of my facebook/Google+/blogger friends.
It's a major problem. It's not just you.
Young people just have thinner and thinner skins. Not surprising when more and more social interaction is spent while staring down at a screen rather than staring someone in the face. The art of "playing nicely with others on the playground" appears to be dwindling. I can't help stating this despite knowing that even people like Dickens facepalmed about the scurrilousness of the next generation.
ReplyDelete