I'm about to grade more papers (surprised?) and I know what the first one will be. I assigned the students to read and respond to an article from Time magazine. One student's response is that the article is stupid because it uses big words that she can't understand. I get that a lot. The Universe has one center. It's me, and everything else is judged by my standard. Do I like Shakespeare? No. He's stupid. Is Robert Frost too intricate for me? Yes. He's an idiot. Do I think a comma belongs here? Of course—and that settles it.
The problem, of course, is that these ultimate deciders usually have a very limited experience of both literature and plain old vocabulary. So if they are right (and which one do I choose to worship?) I can't say "superannuated" (a word in the article that caused particular trouble).
College is a pain, too, when you are the smartest person in the whole place, all the textbooks are beneath you, and nobody will recognize that. You've got to suffer all these idiots for four years to get your B.A.
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