A teacher who criticised one of his student's essays and gave it a D grade divided opinion after posting a photo of the work on social media.
The student was asked to write a character analysis of Tom Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic The Great Gatsby - but they appear to have got their wires crossed and instead handed in a very different piece of writing.
The teacher, based in New York, took to Twitter to write: "Teaching my first English course this semester has been rewarding but I don’t know what to do with this student."
He also attached a photo of the essay, littered in his own red annotations, with the title of the work giving away why the teacher may have taken issue with the content.
Rather than break down the 'brutish' character of Tom Buchanan, the pupil instead focused on working out what Tom, the popular cartoon cat, is attempting to achieve in his rivalry with Jerry, the popular cartoon mouse.
Beginning the masterpiece with the age old question 'What exactly does Tom want with Jerry?', they begin by arguing that all Looney Tunes enemies have a clear goal.
It states: "Wild Coyote wants to eat the Roadrunner. Pepe Le Pue wants to impregnate Penelope. Elmer Fudd wants to shoot Bugs (and who doesn't)."
They go on to argue their belief that Tom 'has no interest in doing anything with Jerry' but is simply 'fulfilling his class role as house cat'. Which is pretty profound.
The teacher, less impressed, added a note to say: "This was supposed to be about Tom from The Great Gatsby! The book we are reading!"
Luckily, others saw it for the creative and ingenious analysis it is.
One replied: "This is already a million times more interesting than any possible further analysis of The Great Gatsby."
Another said: "In my opinion this is actually a super bright student who felt bored by The Great Gatsby (don't we all). I love them."
Others had no issue with the subject the student had chosen, but pointed out a factual error in the work.
One said: "Tom and Jerry isn't even part of Looney Tunes, it's a Hanna Barbera cartoon! This student doesn't know anything."
Another replied to say: "I was coming here to say this! Keep your cartoon universes straight. There was never a Tom and Jerry - Bugs Bunny crossover."
A few thought aimed their criticism at the teacher rather than student, as one wrote: "The writing is terrible but the fact you posted it online should get you fired."
A second added: "If this is a real paper then posting it on twitter is deeply unethical, even redacted."
