When I was in the 9th grade in 1969, our class, 9B, was told to leave the school cafeteria and proceed through the hallway, presumably back to class. I only know this from reading my handwritten document concerning the event. I don't remember the incident, but something went awry because everyone in the class received the same penalty - write a composition explaining the reason for our crime, hence my handwritten document.
The customary punishment for bad behavior in grade school meant staying after school and writing something on the blackboard (or greenboard) numerous times, i.e., I will not talk in class. But being forced into writing a composition was a little more creative than writing the same sentence repeatedly.
Being a quiet but smart-alec, wise guy, I decided I might as well be creative and have a little fun with my punishment. I decided to write a pseudo-legal document in response to the situation.
I doubt our teacher read any of our compositions. And if she had read my essay, she probably would have graded it a C- (if I was lucky).
A transcript including incorrect grammar, poor punctuation, and misspellings of the "legal document" is below. I should be in grammar prison for this!
M. DeFrancesco
This composition is relevant to an instance of mandatory excerises [sic] and their expected voluntary and justified responses. The predominating mandate, issued by Sister M. Patricia, conforms to the responsibility of an exodus from the school edifice or cafeteria (as in a more adequate and quaint location referred to in this series) to an extending region, a corridor, whereas responsibility is to be confronted by the receivers of the mandate, namely the members of class 9B, a subsidery [sic] of St. Francis Jr. High of which Sister M. Patricia is the educational instructoress. All possibilities for this action can not be thougholy [sic] investigated, however this does not disavow 9B's or any of its solitary members', namely mine or anyone else's, responsibility of yielding to the previously issued mandate. In other words in all due respects and reactionary consentations [sic] members of 9B are confronted to the responsibility of obeying orders given by one or even a superfluity of nuns. This composition is pure evidence of a result enacted upon by an evildoer of the law, disobedient discord or any other person armed with the capabilities of disobeying laws, instructions, or commands or any mandatory action with an opposite and equal duty of obligation behind it resolving good manners or any other effective and progressive developments for the benefit of those under the influence of the law and herby [sic] resolved and witnessed as a "good thing" by Mr. Michael J. DeFrancesco, member of an immediate group of a student body, namely 9B (in order to assure a more exact definition). This enactment is open to any criticism pro or con as long as the truth is percieved [sic] in the act of doing so until this is completely destroyed or annihalated [sic].
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