Before asking this question on a mini-quiz, I told students how much it annoys me when they start an answer with “it’s when.” I even wrote “it’s when” on the board and crossed it out.
“If I see anybody tell me that modernism “it’s when”, I will become rabid and bite you all,” I warned them.
Of course, on the mini-quiz, 4 students told me that modernism “it’s when.”
I thought that was bad until I saw that 2 students answered the question with “modernism is a person.”
I thought that was the worst possible answer until I saw that 1 student answered the question with “Modernism is a person called Juan.” That was it. The answer ended after “Juan.” Of course, I wondered why modernism’s name was Juan and not, say, Pedro or Josefina. But that will remain a mystery, I guess.
Clarissa's Blog 
Maybe he was thinking absurdism? “Absurdism is a person named Juan” at least makes a certain twisted kind of sense.
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Your student wrote that modernism is Juan Ramon Jimenez. S/He forgot to include the surnames. Give him/her the benefit of the doubt.
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Yes, we did read JRJ in the course. This must be where the whole thing is coming from. But the answer is failing anyway.
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I have no idea what modernism is, as it is far from my field. But, one cannot know everything, I suppose.
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James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Faulkner, TS Elliot are modernist writers. I gave beautiful lectures on modernism. Paintings, poetry, architecture, even furniture. So my students really have no excuse not to know this.
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