Teacher Shares Off-Topic Tom & Jerry Essay Instead of Great Gatsby, Internet Reacts

Teaching my first English course this semester has been rewarding but I don’t know what to do with this student [attached essay: 'What Exactly Does Tom Want with Jerry?' (off-topic from assigned The Great Gatsby work, graded D with comment: 'This was supposed to be about Tom from The Great Gatsby! The one we read!')]

This meme consists of two Twitter/X post screenshots. The first post comes from user @MrAlexisPereira (Alexis De Wokeville), a first-time English teacher, who shares an essay submitted by their student. The essay, titled What Exactly Does Tom Want with Jerry?, was assigned to analyze Tom from The Great Gatsby but instead argues that Tom from Tom & Jerry has no interest in chasing Jerry—only fulfilling his role as a house cat, comparing him to other famous cartoon cats like Heathcliff and Garfield. The essay received a D grade, with handwritten red comments from the teacher stating: "This was supposed to be about Tom from The Great Gatsby! The one we read!". The second post is from verified user @SlimiHendrix (Trey Smith), commenting, "i need to very badly read this entire essay". The humor stems from the student's unexpected, well-structured but completely off-topic academic take, the teacher's obvious frustration, and the internet's intrigue at the absurd essay.

The meme's core content is a pair of public Twitter/X posts: one from a teacher sharing the off-topic essay, and another user's comment reacting to it. According to the provided information, the meme was reposted on 9Gag. It is an unedited screenshot of real social media content, with no visible alterations beyond the natural capture of the posts and attached essay image.