intro
Explanation
The Joke
A teacher (or professor) at the "Edgar Allan Poe School of English Composition" instructs students that "the introductory paragraph must start with an explanation of the existing evidence — not yours, but staged and set around you — subtle, tingly, at the bottom of an abyss." The instruction continues about "topic sentence" and the general atmosphere of dread. The reveal is the sign on the building: "Edgar Allan Poe School of English Composition."
The Humor
The comic imagines what writing instruction would look like if it were taught by Edgar Allan Poe — or at least at a school named after him. Standard essay-writing conventions (introductory paragraphs, topic sentences, thesis statements) are filtered through Poe's gothic literary sensibility, transforming mundane composition advice into something that sounds like the setup for a horror story. The instructions to write an introduction become instructions to build an atmosphere of creeping dread.
The joke works because Poe's style is so distinctive and so antithetical to the dry, formulaic approach of standard composition classes. The idea that "every introductory paragraph must start with an explanation of the existing evidence... subtle, tingly, at the bottom of an abyss" is a perfect parody of both Poe's overwrought prose and the rigid templates taught in writing courses.
Broader Context
SMBC frequently jokes about academia and education. This comic plays on the tension between creative writing (which values voice, atmosphere, and originality) and composition instruction (which values structure, clarity, and formula). Weinersmith suggests that forcing a distinctive literary voice through the template of standard essay writing produces something hilariously dysfunctional.