Periodically (so to speak), professional composition journals have felt the need to liven up their pages with cartoons. Depending on the mood of the editor and perhaps the availability of talent, at one time or another the most prestigious of journals have indulged: College English, College Composition and Communication, even Written Communication.

The target of the humor is always disciplinary foibles, and the tone usually edges toward the ironic or satiric. Here Composition Chronicle represents writing teachers in their popular image as slave, chained to the drudgery of a stack of unmarked papers.

The cartoon appeared in Composition Chronicle: Newsletter for Writing Teachers, Vol. 8, No. 3 (April 1995), p. 11. Original 3.6” x 4.6”. Bill McCleary provides the details (July 2004): "I did not draw the cartoon; I only added the caption. The cartoon comes from a collection of clip art called Business Cartoons. It was distributed by ClickArt, an imprint of the T/Maker Company. The cartoonist is Phil Frank, who draws the 'Farley' comic strip for the San Francisco Chronicle. He also used to sell a huge collection of cartoon clip art about higher education that I used in Composition Chronicle and other publications."

The reference in the caption is to “Minimal Marking,” College English 45.6 (1983), 600-604, although the author of that piece does not remember ever any conference panel on the subject.

RH, September 2003/July 2004