The Onion, Once Again, Hits Too Close to Home

I just ran across this story ("Watching Faces Of Students As They Finish 'The Lottery' Highlight Of English Teacher's Year") from my favorite news source, The Onion. For any of those who have an interest, here's the link:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/watching_faces_of_students

I didn't laugh. I didn't find it rotflmao funny or lol funny or even "funny ha-ha" funny. And here's why. I read it and I was like, yeah? So? Welcome to my world, Miss Hamlin. So in lieu of an explanation, I'll offer my own eerily similar anecdote. I've had the opportunity to teach quite a few sections of our sophomore American lit survey: the one where students assume that the boring early travel literature and boring puritan poetry are surely a portent of more boring things to come, so they quit doing the required reading except sporadically because they *think* they can figure out when the pop quizzes are going to be. My favorite part of the year is when we get to Ginsberg's "Howl," which I pretend to believe they've read prior to coming to class. I like to instantly figure out who read and who didn't by asking them to re-read roughly lines 25-29, as though I think there is something particularly compelling in just those lines. In reality, what I'm doing is having them read the line about "cock and endless balls," because those who have read won't say anything or even flinch, and those who have not either squeal in horror or snort with laughter. It's a ridiculously stupid way to amuse myself at my students' expense, but there you have it.