On 10 Jan 2017 at 5:48, Richard Aiken wrote:

> DIscussions like this always remind of a bit from the Rodney
> Dangerfield movie "Back To School" . . . 
>
> Dangerfield plays a self-made billionaire named Thorton Melon who
> never finished high school. Worried about how his son will do at
> college, Melon "arranges" (through the generous application of his
> boundless wealth) to attend the same college as a freshman. But - of
> course - Melon isn't actually interested in doing any schoolwork. So
> when his English lit teacher assigns an essay on the meaning behind
> "Slaughterhouse Five," Melon hires Kurt Vonnegut to write the
> essay. 
>
> [The author actually has a walk-in part in which he's seen knocking
> on the dorm condo* door.]
>
> To his vast surprise, when Melon gets the assignment back, he's
> gotten a very low grade (a "D" IIRC). When Melon complains to the
> professor, he's told, "You totally misunderstood the work." The
> silent look of bafflement Melon gives in response to this is classic
> Dangerfield.

Isaac Asimov wrote about taking a class where one of his books or
stories was gone over. And he related that when he pointed out to the
professor that after all, since he was the author, he knew what he
was talking about.

The prof's reply was along the lines of "so you wrote it. What makes
you think you know anything about what it *really* means?"