Oh for a world without exams!” exclaimed Harish. “This is not Utopia, Harish,” said Mrs Lester.
“You what?” asked the boy, curiosity overcoming courtesy.

“’Utopia’ is a 16th century treatise by Thomas More,” said Mrs Lester. “It tells of an imaginary island where perfection prevails. Utopia has since come to stand for an ideal existence; one of several words with literary origins. From ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ we get “Lilliputian. “As Lilliputians are six inches tall, what would that mean?”
“Diminishing,” said Javed.

“Diminutive,” corrected Mrs Lester. “You just used a malapropism— derived from an 18th century play by Sheridan. Mrs Malaprop in ‘The Rivals’ confuses words with similar-sounding ones.”

“Give us an easy book word, Ma’am,” said Rita.

“Robot,” said the teacher, “became popular after a Czech dramatist wrote ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots’ in the 1920s, about mechanical robots (from ‘robota’— forced labour) overpowering their masters. From Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, in which Odysseus entrusts his household to a friend’s care, comes mentor— one who imparts guidance.”

“You haven’t brought in your favourite, Ma’am,” said Javed.

Mrs Lester smiled. “Shakespeare’s characters are words. I need hardly explain the unfortunate associations of Romeo!” ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens gives us Scrooge— miser. Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic is the source of what we call a Jekyll and Hyde personality; one with both a good side and a bad.”

“Could a rags-to-riches situation be a Cinderella story?” said Rita.

“Certainly,” said Mrs Lester. “There are also biblical character-words. A wise human being might be a Solomon and a treacherous one— Judas. Now, let us discuss the forthcoming test. It is quixotic— impractical— to assume you can avoid it. Quixotic stems from Don Quixote, the hero of the novel of the same name by Miguel de Cervantes.”

“We know there’s no escape, Ma’am,” said Harish, “but let us not leave out J K Rowling. “If we can’t wave a wand to make our troubles disappear, it is because we are mere muggles!”