Andrew Jackson and Wile E. Coyote

Wile E. Coyote - Super Genius

I was lecturing on Andrew Jackson the other day and when I got to the part about his war on the national bank, I mentioned that Jackson probably thought he was a genius when he decided to weaken the bank by pulling out federal deposits. Almost immediately, the picture of Wile E. Coyote calling himself a 'super-genius' popped into my head. Within the space of 2 second I had decided that this might get me a laugh if I shared it with my students. So I said, 'Like the coyote who chases road-runner, Jackson too thought he was a super-genius.' Rather than break out in laughter, my students started to argue with me that Wile E. Coyote never talks.

Now I'm not a super-genius but I remembered seeing at least one cartoon where Wile E. Coyote talked. So after class I hopped on the computer and began my search. At first all I was able to find were some sound clips of the Wile E. calling himself a super-genius. But after days of looking I finally found a copy of the entire cartoon. So of course, I downloaded it and brought it into class. I made them sit through the last 30 seconds of the cartoon, so they could hear Wile E. Coyote talk and watch what happens to people who brag about being a super-genius. The class backed down, but not before after asking me when these cartoons were made (trying to make me feel old I assume). But I got them back by ending the class with the comment, 'Now you can never doubt anything I say again.'