It was the final examination for an introductory English course at the local university. Like many such freshman courses, it was designed to weed out new students, having over 700 students in the class!
The examination was two hours long, and exam booklets were provided.
The professor was very strict and told the class that any exam that was not on his desk in exactly two hours would not be accepted and the student would fail. Half an hour into the exam, a student came rushing in and asked the professor for an exam booklet.
“You’re not going to have time to finish this,” the professor stated sarcastically as he handed the student a booklet.
“Yes I will,” replied the student. She then took a seat and began writing. After two hours, the professor called for the exams, and the students filed up and handed them in, all except the late student, who continued writing.
Half an hour later, the last student came up to the professor who was sitting at his desk preparing for his next class. She attempted to put his exam on the stack of exam booklets already there.
“No you don’t, I’m not going to accept that. It’s late.”
The student looked incredulous and angry.
“Do you know WHO I am?”
“No, as a matter of fact I don’t,” replied the professor with an air of sarcasm in his voice.
“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?” the student asked again.
“No, and I don’t care.” replied the professor with an air of superiority.
“Good,” replied the student, who quickly lifted the stack of completed exams, stuffed her exam in the middle, and walked out of the room.
This is the Nth time, for some high value of N, that I’ve seen this joke presented in a context which implies that it is funny because the protagonist was clever. The protagonist was not clever. “Do you know what I am” in contexts other than grading exams means “do you know what significance I have”, not “do you associate my name with my person”. You can, of course, laugh at the joke because of the stupidity of the protagonist, or because of incongruity between definitions or whatever, but I sense that this is not how the joke is typically presented.
Explaining things without targeted obfuscation? …Do you know who I am?
I can’t help myself...
This is the Nth time, for some high value of N, that I’ve seen this joke presented in a context which implies that it is funny because the protagonist was clever. The protagonist was not clever. “Do you know what I am” in contexts other than grading exams means “do you know what significance I have”, not “do you associate my name with my person”. You can, of course, laugh at the joke because of the stupidity of the protagonist, or because of incongruity between definitions or whatever, but I sense that this is not how the joke is typically presented.
The funny part is how the threat turned out to have an entirely different meaning.
Someone who seems to have something interesting to say, but is unable to say it.