Um, no. But thanks for trying.

Last spring, I was working with my freshmen on a short story unit. We were talking about all the parts to a short story. The exposition, the rising and falling action, the climax, conflict, etc. We were nearing the end of the unit, and I was doing a brief review of what we'd gone over already, and then we were going to talk about the last element of a short story that we hadn't covered.

I asked students to list every element of a short story they could think of, and I wrote them on the white board as they were calling out the answers. I kept asking for more, until they finally couldn't think of a single thing more. They got everything except for the one last element. I decided to give them a hint.

I said, "I think you've got it all except one. There's one more element of a short story that I can think of, and it starts with a 'd' - can you think of it?"

Dead silence for about fifteen seconds as they are searching the depths of their brains. I'm about to give them a second clue ("It's another word for people talking...it starts with a 'd'...") when J raises his hand.

I called on him, "J, what's the missing element that starts with a 'd'?"

"Um, is it 'da end'?"

Um, no. It's not. But thanks for guessing.

And thanks for keeping my job fun.