Did I Miss Anything? By Tom Wayman

Everyone has been late or absent from a class at one point in their life. Maybe you head a fever of one hundred six degrees, or you had a doctors appointment, or you just did not feel like going that day. Once you step foot back into that class you ask either another student or the teacher “Did I Miss Anything?” Whether you get a real answer or some one being smart to you we finally get are answer. Well in in Tom Wayman’s poem, “Did I Miss Anything?” he elegantly crafts a answer to every students favorite question using sarcasm, humor, and truth. Tom Waymans back ground in teaching as an English professor helps build his credibility. While working at several schools he wrote many essays a poem. The a author states that “He has worked as a professor of English and creative weighting at a number of colleges in the United States and in Canada…” (412) His poem based off his personal experiences. This helps make the poem more believably and realistic. Wayman crafted this poem to show the reader that missing a day of class in a very important situation. Every teacher spends hours preparing the material in the best way so that the student can understand the lecture.

The lighthearted humor is a ploy over the real meaning of the poem. The poem also shows the reader the opposite side of the question letting students know how the teacher feels upon hearing the question. His use of cynicism helps show the annoyed attitude of the teacher towards the student. This sarcastic response upon many shows his resent for this recurring question did I miss anything? “Everything. I gave an exam worth 40 percent of the grade for this term and assigned some reading due today on which I’m about to hand out a quiz worth 50 percent.”