Not exactly an identical situation, But in English class, Our teacher had us all try and read Hamlet - By the end of the term he was totally dejected, Only me and a few other nerds had bothered to actually read through it and listen to him explain it in class, 95% of the class had just tuned out - He was an old battle axe of a teacher as well, And he said we were the first class he had failed to even get interested in Hamlet.