Summary
Summary of At Good Old Siwash
Key ideas
Key idea 1
An invented college feels familiar
At Good Old Siwash follows life at an invented small Midwestern college through comic sketches. George Fitch introduces its football team, fraternities, classrooms and campus traditions as though he were giving a tour of a place he loves. The students have their own odd rules, and those rules offer plenty to laugh about.
The college stands in for many small denominational schools in the American heartland. Rather than building one continuous plot, Fitch gathers moments that reveal how a campus becomes a world of its own.
Key idea 2
Small buildings hold great pride
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Key idea 3
Football carries the school's honor
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Key idea 4
Belonging becomes a campus contest
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Key idea 5
Learning reaches beyond the classroom
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Key idea 6
Mischief belongs to growing up
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Key idea 7
A warm voice connects the sketches
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love American humor, campus comedy and short, light sketches, and anyone curious about early twentieth century college life, football rivalries, fraternity schemes and student mischief.
What this book is
At Good Old Siwash is a book of comic sketches about life at a small Midwestern college. George Fitch, an American newspaper humorist, published it in 1911. Siwash is an invented school, and it stands in for the many small denominational colleges that dotted the American heartland in those years.
The book works like a guided tour given by a man who loves the place and cannot help laughing at it. You meet the football team, the fraternities, the classroom, the campus traditions and the odd rules that students invent for themselves. Fitch writes with big exaggeration and quick jokes. Let us start with the college itself, because the whole book rests on how he sees it.
In this summary
- 1Siwash is a college you recognizeFree
- 2Football is the heart of the campus
- 3Fraternities scheme and compete
- 4Classrooms and professors get their share
- 5Youth makes trouble and mischief
- 6How Fitch tells it
Key point 1 of 6
Siwash is a college you recognize
Fitch presents Siwash as a small college with big pride. It has modest buildings, a loyal student body and a firm belief that it matters to the world. The humor starts from the gap between how grand the college feels to its students and how small it looks to outsiders.
The author writes as a proud graduate. He teases the place, but the teasing is affectionate. That tone sets the rules for the whole book.
For a modern reader, this opening shows how much of college life has stayed the same. Students still defend their school, mock its flaws and treat its small rituals as serious business.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
What creates the central joke in Siwash's sense of importance?
Right. “The humor starts from the gap between how grand the college feels to its students and how small it looks to outsiders.”Not quite. “The humor starts from the gap between how grand the college feels to its students and how small it looks to outsiders.”
What human wish lies behind the fraternity rivalries?
Right. “Young people want to belong, and they will invent endless rules and contests to prove where they stand.”Not quite. “Young people want to belong, and they will invent endless rules and contests to prove where they stand.”
How does Fitch view the students' foolishness?
Right. “Fitch treats foolishness as part of growing up and not as a serious fault.”Not quite. “Fitch treats foolishness as part of growing up and not as a serious fault.”
