Historical Sporkings

Jay and Acacia were far from the first authors to mock bad writing. In fact, the practice of literary criticism now referred to as sporking predates the very Internet! This page is a list of mockery from a long time ago.


 * "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" by George Eliot, 1856
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 * This essay calls out authors for writing unrealistically talented and respected female characters in their stories, as well as using unnecessarily florid words. Eliot also mentions bad works receiving glowing praise from critics, something modern internet-dwellers are also familiar with. Finally, Eliot points out that poor female writers making poorly written female characters can potentially make women look bad as a whole. The PPC has made similar arguments recently.


 * "The Story of the Good Little Boy" by Mark Twain, 1875
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 * The title character of this short satire attempts to model his life after those of all the sweet, well-behaved children in the books he reads. For some reason, the lessons he learned from those books never seem to stand up very well in the Real World, to the good little boy's eventual undoing.


 * "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" by Mark Twain, 1895
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 * This is a critique of the bad writing practices found in James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking series. It lists several rules needed for good writing, then shows how the Leatherstocking series ignores them. In particular, Twain brings up lack of logic in Cooper's descriptions; inconsistent and wordy speech patterns; and the superhuman abilities of the series' hero, Natty Bumppo.


 * "Sweet Ermengarde;" or, "The Heart of a Country Girl" by H. P. Lovecraft (under the penname Percy Simple), published 1943
 * Link
 * Vastly different from Lovecraft's usual fare, this story is a mockery of overly dramatic romances involving Sueishly virtuous protagonists getting the girl in the end, particularly those written by Horatio Alger or Fred Jackson. "Sweet Ermengarde" centers around the title character, a farmer's daughter receiving the attentions of three separate suitors. Sappy dialogue and convenient plot devices abound.