49 pages • 1 hour read
Lincoln PeirceBig Nate: In a Class by Himself
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary
Nate blames his fortune for his bad luck day, and his friends tease him again. Francis points out that Nate still has an opportunity to fulfill his fortune in science class. Nate is doubtful as “nothing good ever happens in science” (178). Nate believes this is due to their teacher, Mr. Galvin, having no sense of humor. Throughout the history of P.S. 38, no one has a record of Mr. Galvin laughing. At this point, Nate has a revelation: He can achieve his fortune by making Mr. Galvin laugh. Francis points out that when he and Nate looked at old yearbooks, they found countless pictures, but not one of Mr. Galvin smiling. Francis states that if Mr. Galvin never even smiles, it would be impossible to make him laugh. Nate is undeterred.
Nate starts by placing pencils in his ears and nose. He greets Mr. Galvin like this but receives no reaction from the teacher. When Mr. Galvin tells the students to open their books, Nate interrupts him with a science joke. Mr. Galvin tells Nate to sit down. Nate gives Mr. Galvin one of his “Doctor Cesspool” comics. Mr. Galvin does not laugh. Instead, he confiscates Nate’s pen as they only use pencils in science class. Finally, Nate grabs the feather duster and tries tickling Mr. Galvin. Mr. Galvin finally snaps and warns Nate to be quiet or risk a week of detention. Nate gives up. Then, he notices a small dot on Mr. Galvin’s shirt. The stain grows as Mr. Galvin teaches, and Nate cannot hold in his laughter. Finally, Mr. Galvin notices the ever-spreading stain and asks Nate if he finds it funny. Unable to control himself, Nate breaks into hysterical laughter. Naturally, he gets another detention slip.
Chapter 12 Summary
Nate mopes and daydreams about how he could spend his afternoon if he did not have a stack of detentions when the bell rings for dismissal. Nate trudges toward the detention room, grumbling at Mr. Rosa, who tells him to have a nice day. Nate imagines that even the walls are making fun of him.
Nate flashes back to his last detention. Nate and Francis ran a table at the school bake fair when Randy Betancourt stole a lemon bar. Nate ran after him and told him he had to pay for it. Randy denied having a lemon square and threw it to remove the evidence. It hit Mrs. Godfrey. Mrs. Godfrey asked who threw it, and Randy blamed Nate. Mrs. Godfrey immediately believed Randy and began to write a detention for Nate. Frustrated at not even being asked for his side of the story, Nate decided to “get [his] money’s worth” (205). Since he was getting detention regardless, he wanted to earn it. Nate threw a pie at Randy’s face. He got five detentions, but in his mind, it was worth it. Nate expresses frustration that he did not get his money’s worth on his current detentions.
Mrs. Czerwicki runs the detention room and takes Nate’s detention slips. She is shocked to hear he received detention from all six teachers and the principal. She tells Nate, “You appear to have established a new record…NOBODY has EVER received SEVEN detention slips in one day” (209-10). Nate pauses and asks if he has surpassed all others. Mrs. Czerwicki tells him that he has, in a way. Nate is thrilled. He shouts and does a happy dance right in front of Mrs. Czerwicki. Mrs. Czerwicki sends Nate to his seat. Underneath a drawing Nate previously made, Nate signs his work and writes “School Record Holder” (213). Nate believes his detentions were lucky as he is now part of P.S. 38 history.
Chapters 11-12 Analysis
This section reveals a few key points about Nate’s personality. First, when Nate gets desperate, he loses all sense of rationality and impulse control. Nate began the day desperately hiding a fortune cookie to avoid detention. By the end of the day, he gets out of his seat multiple times, purposefully interrupts class, and even goes so far as to tickle his teacher with a feather duster. Any one of these acts could earn him detention, but Nate is beyond caring. His focus is solely on surpassing all others in any way possible. It is almost insulting that after all of that, Nate’s detention is due to his laughing at an ink stain.
Second, Nate is vindictive. This characteristic seems surprising as Nate is mostly easygoing. Even when he yells at Gina, it is an accident, and he regrets it immediately. However, when Randy steals a lemon bar, throws it, and blames Nate, Nate makes a point to get revenge. He grabs the pie his father made for the bake sale and throws it in Randy’s face. Nate cheerfully accepts his five-detention consequence, as he feels he got his money’s worth.
Third, if there is a positive, Nate will find it. Nate starts to get depressed about his luck and his seven detentions. He is so distraught that he imagines the walls are making fun of him. The minute he discovers he has surpassed all others, he bounces back. Nothing has changed in Nate’s day. He still has seven detentions. Nate still did not “get [his] money’s worth” (205). However, he did fulfill his fortune. That alone is enough for Nate’s extraordinary resilience to kick in. Though he is sitting in detention, and he has several weeks of detention ahead of him, Nate proudly graffitis his desk to announce his accomplishment. He sits in detention, considering himself lucky.
Finally, Nate’s impulse control issues are highlighted in detail in this section. He gets out of his seat to interrupt science class three times. Nate cannot control his laughter at an ink stain, even though he knows he should. In detention, Nate has already graffitied his desk with a portrait of Super Nate. In his joy at achieving his fortune, Nate signs this art artwork and writes “School Record Holder” underneath (213). This graffiti will get Nate into more trouble later, as he essentially admits to defacing school property. However, he cannot control himself. This issue with self-control is a constant problem for Nate.
This section also illustrates even more adults failing to support Nate. Mr. Galvin, in direct contrast to most of the teachers, is too permissive. Nate should have gotten into trouble for his earlier antics in class. Mr. Galvin most likely feels that Nate’s detentions were for all of his behavior. However, it seems more like Nate’s detention is for laughing, which does not send the appropriate message to Nate that all of his behavior was inappropriate. The flashback to Mrs. Godfrey and the lemon square is another unfairness. Mrs. Godfrey accepted Randy’s explanation without question, despite there being other students nearby. She also made no effort to hear Nate’s side of the story. The situation is so unjust that Nate throws a pie in Randy’s face. Once again, Mrs. Godfrey assumes the worst of Nate, so he obliges her. He does not even consider trying to explain or asking another student for help. There is no doubt in Nate’s mind that regardless of his actions, he will not be treated fairly.
Finally, Mrs. Czerwicki, though not unkind, does not offer Nate any support. Nate comes to her with a record-breaking seven detentions, and she does not even bother to ask Nate if something happened. While Nate is prone to causing trouble and getting detention, receiving detention in every single class is excessive. However, Mrs. Czerwicki does not seem to find anything unusual in it and goes about her day. Nate’s behaviors are a cry for help, but no one listens to him. Fortunately, Nate has his resilience to fall back on.
