The Bible Students Exam (Em Keller)

As the world continues to progress, so does the wit of the youth, especially in an academic setting. Students have a unique cleverness often used to get out of certain work they can't or don't want to do. The concept of academics has leaked into the realm of urban legends. Many tales bring school subjects and the concept of education into folklore, but none more telling of a student's wit than The Bible Student's Exam, from *Curses, Broiled Again!* by Jan Harold Brunvand.

## Summary

Though there are a few documented renditions, the overview is as follows: A class of students is prepared for an exam and there will be a question that they are certain will be on said test. The students found this question easy to answer, so just focusing on that question was the goal. However, once they show up to the exam, they realize the question they were confident in was switched to a different question, one they did not prepare for. Most students panic and simply give up, but a witty student twisted the question back around to the one they had prepared for. In the examples given, the original question the students were prepared for involved “listing the kings”, but then was switched by the teacher to “list the prophets.” The witty student in this case begins their answer with, "Who am I to list these men [prophets] and categorize them… but the kings, however-". Especially in a religious question, the answer would still be incorrect, but morality and belief of not wanting to categorize prophets in such a way is enough to at least get the instructor to take a step back.

## History

Surprisingly, the documentation of legends following this format is few and far between. Some, like the example above, are dated around the 1940s and 1950s, afterwards, the tracks are scattered. One reason this could be would have to do with the influence of religion in society. As most versions in the religious context are in 1900s America, specifically in theology classes or catholic schools, it makes sense since Christianity had a very strong hold on society at the time. Nowadays, religion has been moved to a back burner when it comes to education, taking with it the commonality of these occurrences. Though this is not to say it never happens, it tends to adapt to different topics, like an example given by a biology professor where the students described a worm instead of an elephant.

There is some documentation traced to the 2000s from Know Your Meme leading to a select few blogs that compile these occurrences for entertainment value. One is from around August 28, 2002, by Sam on a BBC News article which compiles a group of questions and answers from students. The only commentary provided in this article is the introduction stating, “Be afraid, be very afraid, these are answers given during exams by students who will, in the future, be running the country” (Sam). This statement is all that's needed to emphasize the line between not being serious or not knowing to be overly clever and thinking outside the box, making a jab at when the line should be drawn. Another article referenced is that from Rodger on Red and White Kop which also compiles the questions and answers of students, with the only context being “The following questions and answers were collected from last year's GCSE [General Certificate of Secondary Education] exam results in Swindon”(Rodger). Just the idea that some of these answers were found on a test that is highly valued by businesses and schools is both telling of how brave these students are to answer with sarcasm or showing genuine worry for the future, like in the BBC article.

## Adaptation

This leads to the adaptation aspect of this legend. Even though the earliest occurrences were mostly in religious spaces, the requirement itself has broadened. The modern overview as summarized by Don on Know Your Meme is “photographs of humorous responses to questions on student tests that typically obfuscate or misinterpret the intended meaning”(Don). There is one example of a group of students who knew their teacher was very Christian, so come time for their exam, they answered every question with "Jesus is the answer".

It is certainly different than the original religious examples, as this version focuses less on the question and more on the teacher's known ideals. This emphasizes more on emotions and mindset rather than the logistics of twisting the question.

## Analysis

Some of the most common adaptations are from students of all ages who aren't necessarily twisting the question itself but rather finding technically correct answers. One instance is a photo of a test where the student was required to answer a writing prompt, the prompt being "What is an example of a risk?" The student simply answered with "This." The one-word statement was technically an example of them risking their grade, and the teacher gave them points. Another instance of this is when a student was asked the question on an exam, "Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?" Instead of answering with the location of Pennsylvania, they wrote "At the bottom." it wasn't specified if they meant the location of the meeting to sign the declaration or the area of the paper where it was signed. Finally, there is an example regarding biology where a student is given a diagram of three giraffes in a series of three scenes. Two tall giraffes are eating the leaves from a tree and a shorter giraffe can not reach them, thus over time he starves out and dies. The student was required to answer with what it was an example of, the answer being Darwin's Theory of Evolution, specifically on natural selection, however, the student wrote their response, "Giraffes are heartless creatures."

The records of these strange answers are not well documented, but they do exist and they continue even in the modern age. While any dating and exact formats from the past have changed from altering the question itself, the simple factor of taking the topic and finding new answers that don't go against the original phrasing is still very commonly used by students of all ages, from elementary to college, finding their clever ways to give a correct answer.

## Citations

Brunvand, Jan Harold. “The Bible Student’s Exam.” Curses, Broiled Again!: The Hottest Urban Legends, Barnes &amp; Noble Books, New York, NY, 2003, pp. 288–290.

Don. “Funny Exam Answers.” Know Your Meme, Know Your Meme, 14 Apr. 2014, knowyourmeme.com/memes/funny-exam-answers.

Duck, The\_. “Giraffes Are Heartless Creatures.” MyConfinedSpace, MyConfinedSpace, 7 Apr. 2018, www.myconfinedspace.com/2011/01/23/giraffes-are-heartless-creatures/.

“Unusual Exam Answers. Part 2 (23 Pics).” Izismile.Com, Izismile.com, 23 Sept. 2010, izismile.com/2010/09/23/unusual\_exam\_answers\_part\_2\_23\_pics.html.

Rodger. “Swindon Exam Answers.” RedAndWhiteKop, RedAndWhiteKop, 19 May 2004, www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=31525.0.

Rodgers, April. “Jesus Is the Answer.” April Rodgers - Reflecting Light Ministries, April Rodgers- Reflecting Light Ministries, 8 May 2019, aprilrodgers.com/jesus-is-the-answer/.

Sam. “Lancashire - Fun Stuff - Stupid Answers given during an Exam.” BBC, BBC, 24 Sept. 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/fun\_stuff/2002/08/28/exams.shtml.

Skirmantė. “30 Brilliant Test Answers from Smartass Kids.” Bored Panda, Bored Panda, 2 Apr. 2014, www.boredpanda.com/funny-test-answers-smartass-kids/?utm\_source=google&utm\_medium=organic&utm\_campaign=organic.