Pennsic Clue Quiz

[baavgai]

I thought to rant about Pennsic tragedies like ninja boy or the guys in T-shirts and renny gear. Then I thought about why it bothered me. I'm fine with the t-tunic/jeans/belt thing, if that's all you got. Hell, I'm still guilty of it at times. No, what bothered me wasn't the explosion of walking wardrobe malfunctions. What I found really disconcerting was the total lack of understanding of the point of Pennsic.

I'm not an SCA historian. I'm usually hard put to name the current royalty in my kingdom, let alone anyone else's. However, I believe that anyone going to Pennsic should have a basic working knowledge of the point of the thing. Here's my short test. I would like it to be given upon site entry next year. If the entrant get's more the one answer wrong... I don't know; flog them, educate them, confiscate their ninja costume?


Wistan's Really Short Pennsic Clue Quiz

1. Pennsic best described as
A. a Renaissance Faire.
B. something like Burning Man, only East coast.
C. an annual SCA event.
D. a place with free booze and loose chicks.

2. SCA stands for
A. Slippery Rock Camping Association
B. Society for Consenting Adults
C. Society for Creative Anachronism
D. Screwing, Carousing, and Alcohol

3. The SCA is
A. A big group that goes to RenFaires.
B. Some kind of Live Action Role Playing (LARP) Game
C. a Living History group
D. the name of the people who throw this big party.

4. Period means
A. anything that would fit in at a RenFaire
B. whatever you want it to mean.
C. Middle Ages, mostly (but not exclusively) European, roughly 600CE to 1600CE
D. some kind of Halloween costume

5. The two sides in the War are
A. The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire and the New York Renaissance Faire
B. The Known World and the Tuchuks
C. The East Kingdom and The Midrealm
D. Pittsburgh and everyone else


Please, feel free to add your own.

Comments

[mikekn]

Hmm... I don't like question #3. The only correct answer I see is D, which is only good if you consider Pennsic a big party.

Now if answer one of the answers was "A medieval re-creation group" I'd be ok with it.

[baavgai.livejournal.com]

Both questions 3 and 4 offer room for semantics, particuarly for some long time scadians.

However, with best answer rules in effect, even someone "in the know" who didn't agree with my definitions should be able figure it out.

Personally, I sometimes suspect that 4B is sometims a vaild answer.

Well.

[kandy-elizabet.livejournal.com]

Personally, I sometimes suspect that 4B is sometims a vaild answer.

Not actually valid, but it does seem to be the most common.

Man, I'm starting to really sound like period police... I don't mean to, really, but I do find myself reacting to the more blatantly out-of-period stuff with the desire to be even more period myself. My Laurel would say that's a "good thing." (Well, maybe not like that, but....)

[mikekn]

Yeah, it's just that when describing the SCA to people I usually make a point of saying we are not a Living History group and never will be.

[baavgai.livejournal.com]

Really? I had no idea "Living History" had take on a negative connotation.

To be sure, "a medieval re-creation group" was a common response when I first joined, but that was before "Living History" style stuff was at all common.

Perhaps Living History is seen as ultra anal, like the civ war folks? To be sure, the one greatest strengths of the SCA, and also what other groups often make fun of us for, is our willingness to accept good intentions ahead of hand stitched underwear.

[mikekn]

It's not really a negative connotation, it's just that more people are familiar with Living History groups these days, and I don't want to mislead them about what the SCA is.

Living History groups focus on much smaller time frames and pay a lot more attention to historic accuracy then the SCA can or does (at least as a whole).

[wingeddefeat.livejournal.com]

Some of your questions are very obvious to anyone who has taken a written test with no prior knowledge of the subject (e.g. me in highschool).

[baavgai.livejournal.com]

Bah! All multiple guess tests are bluffable, to some extent. How do you think I made it through school at all? Studying is for people who aren't lazy.

When I took the SATs ( many moons ago ), one bit of test advise was to choose C if you weren't sure but had narrowed it down to two options. In college, C also seemed to be the guess of choice. The answer order is a nod to someone who might recall this.

[wingeddefeat.livejournal.com]

Haha! I DO remember them telling us that in highschool!

[dame-margarete.livejournal.com]

I mentioned this concept in camp this year (my camp included the autocrat and several past autocrats) and they liked the idea of a "common sense test" a great deal.

I agree with Mike on question 3. I think Wingeddefeat just proved the point of said test - he could pass, and thus get in. He has comsiderably more sense than your average wombat. Anyone from the shallow end of the common sense pool would not figure out the answers (no matter how new or old to the Pennsic experience) and thus would be excluded. It isn't about excluding new people, it's about excluding people who lack basic sense.

Some of the questions that need to be added. One of the biggies is:

If you take regular medication(s), did you bring it/them? (This is especially critical for meds associated with mental illness, diabetes, and heart problems.) Oh, and if you have one of these conditions and don't have meds that you take regularly, please explain why not. A logical answer (diet controlled diabetes, e.g.) gets you in. A stupid answer (I'm only a little bit bi-polar) causes you to get bounced.

[wingeddefeat.livejournal.com]

How about "only a little bit diabetic?" :-)

[woodwindy.livejournal.com]

Pennsic tragedies like ninja boy or the guys in T-shirts and renny gear

You should see the ranting going on over at the Armour Archive on those very topics... actually, you should post this over there and see what happens, if you're feeling brave! :) Could be interesting.