Provocateur Pieces*: Bishop Ampleforth Is Not a Pawn

This piece is a satirical look at the stultifying state of the English classroom in an age of over-testing. Bishop, the eponymous new student at Henry Ford High School, attempts to make sense of his classroom, where students prepare for the next in a parade of tests that will measure their creativity. In this dystopia, writing has been completely codified, distilled to a series of formulae, mechanisms, and flow charts that purport to deliver writers to proficiency. Layered with themes of power, politics, and dehumanization, the piece endeavors to caricature the folly of over-measurement while providing catharsis to those whose real-life classrooms are all too similar to the one depicted. The piece is followed by an actual missive the author received from his union representative after this piece had been accepted that demonstrates how fact isn’t far from fiction: life indeed imitates art.