Editing 1403: Thesis Defense

Jump to: navigation, search

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision Your text
Line 8: Line 8:
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
−
In the comic, [[Megan]] is presenting evidence on her {{w|thesis}}, a theory on the evolution of threat displays in mammals, in front of a panel of some people. To conclude her exposition she charges at the audience, shouting a {{w|battle cry}}, and brandishing a sword. The audience flinches. As the audience is composed of mammals and is responding to a displayed threat<ref>Milosevic and McCabe, ''Phobias: The psychology of irrational fear''</ref>, we should assume that this response provides some key evidence about the threat displays in mammals.
+
{{incomplete|Presentation text missing, but may not be legible}}
  
−
This comic is a play on a thesis defense and the {{w|adage}} "{{w|The best defense is a good offense}}". The adage means that a strong offensive action will preoccupy the opposition and ultimately hinder its ability to mount an opposing counterattack, leading to a strategic advantage. A thesis defense generally involves an oral exam on the topic the candidate has chosen, and should involve no physical violence.
+
This comic is a play on the {{w|adage}} "{{w|The best defense is a good offense}}". Generally, the idea is that strong offensive action will preoccupy the opposition and ultimately hinder its ability to mount an opposing counterattack, leading to a strategic advantage.
  
−
For added humorous effect, in the title text Megan extrapolates how she improved the state of the art, i.e. what she has added to her field of study, while screaming the word art.
+
In this instance however, [[Megan]] is defending her academic {{w|thesis}} in front of a panel of professors.  This generally involves an oral exam on the topic she has chosen, and should involve no physical violence. She seems oblivious to this meaning of the word "defense" however, and is charging her thesis committee, shouting a {{w|battle cry}}, brandishing a sword.
 +
 
 +
The title text is an example of another battle cry Megan supposedly used while defending her thesis. This expands on the joke of confusing thesis defense with physical defense by making a battle cry out of a sentence that Megan would have used in a normal thesis defense.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
−
:[Megan runs towards a desk with two microphones on it, waving a broadsword high in the air. Cueball and one other sitting behind the desk are taken aback, while Ponytail standing off to the side holds an arm in front of her face protectively. A slide is projected on a screen behind Megan, reading "The evolution of threat displays in mammals".]
+
:[Megan at the front of some kind of meeting room, caught between a presentation on the wall behind her and an audience. Brandishing a huge sword and bellowing a battle cry, she charges the audience, the members of which -- Cueball, Ponytail, and one other -- scramble to defend themselves or flee.]
−
:Megan: In conclusion, AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
+
:Megan: In conclusion, '''''AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!'''''
−
:[Caption below the panel:]
+
:The best thesis defense is a good thesis offense.  
−
:The best thesis defense is a good thesis offense.
 
  
−
==References==
+
{{comic discussion}}
−
{{reflist}}
 
  
−
{{comic discussion}}
 
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
−
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
 

Please note that all contributions to explain xkcd may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see explain xkcd:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To protect the wiki against automated edit spam, we kindly ask you to solve the following CAPTCHA:

Cancel | Editing help (opens in new window)

Templates used on this page:

Retrieved from "https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1403:_Thesis_Defense"