Essay Questions

Why does Todd run to Wayside School and kiss it in the opening chapter?

Chapter 1 picks up two hundred and forty-three days after the ending of the previous entry in the series of books about Wayside. The cliffhanger ending of that book has Wayside being overrun by cows with the result that it is forced to cease operations. This book opens with the image of an upside down hanging on the front of the building announcing that Wayside School is closed for repairs. Those repairs are about to be completed and the school is open to reopen, however. All the kids are excited to return to the school, but especially Todd. His enthusiastic embrace of the building and culminating with a kiss is stimulated by the fact that he has been forced to spend the interim enrolled in the worst possible alternative: the school attended by the reader!

What classic comedy routine does the chapter “Pet Day” take as its structural framework?

“Pet Day” is a chapter devoted to the students in Mrs. Jewls’ class bringing in their pets for special edition of show-and-tell. With the exception of Stephen’s orange and and Todd’s baby brother brought in as substitutes for the lack of a pet, all the animals are fairly normal: dogs, cats, birds, with the occasional skunk and goat. What makes the event particularly memorable, however, is that the names which the students have given to their pets. For instance, Dee brings a dog named “Cat” while Calvin brings a cat named “Mrs. Jewls.” In addition, there are two cats named “Socks” and a dog, cat and goat all share the name Billy. Yorno the ferret and Mino the hamster will prove to have their own unique comedic capacity. The result is a chapter dominated by short expressions of dialogue which capitalize on the comedic reference to the classic comedy routine of Abbott and Costello known as “Who’s on First?”

Chapter Nineteen in the Wayside books is always kind of weird. What strange thing happens this time around?

A recurring gag in the series is the repeated assertion “Miss Zarves taught the class on the nineteenth story. There is no nineteenth story. And there is no Miss Zarves.” That does not stop the books from featuring stories taking place in Miss Zarves classroom on the nineteenth floor. And Chapter Nineteen of the books are always devoted to this mystery. In this particular case, the theme of both the nineteenth floor and Miss Zarves actually existing despite the assertions to the contrary is directly addressed less as a metaphysical question than socio-economic one touching upon the invisibility of the teaching profession. This leads to one of the more bizarre occurrences in the entire bizarre timeline of Miss Zarves when three strange bald-headed men suddenly materialize on the nineteenth floor with a black briefcase which is offered to Miss Zarves so she can blow her nose. The men also take the time to let her know her work has not been overlooked by everybody and that she is being appreciated and noticed.