- Desiree: May I ask why you are wearing a dish towel in your trousers?
- Eric Matthews: Uh see, lightning hit my zipper and my mom had to throw water on me to put out the fire. Do you believe me?
- Desiree: No.
- Eric Matthews: [lifts the towel, revealing the wet spot on his pants] Now do you believe me?
- Cory Matthews: No more macaroni!
- Kids: No more macaroni!
- Cory Matthews: We want steak!
- Kids: We want steak!
- Cory Matthews: And what do we want with our steak?
- Shawn Hunter: Macaroni!
- Cory Matthews: No, we don't like macaroni.
- Shawn Hunter: Oh!
- Shawn Hunter: Maybe what we did wasn't smart, but at least we stood up for our principles.
- Alan Matthews: And what were your principles?
- Shawn Hunter: I remember something about macaroni.
- George Feeny: You know, you seem amused by this display of defiance, Mr. Turner.
- Jonathan Turner: Oh, I am, I gotta say 'cause if I had done to me what I did to them, then I'd have done the same thing to me that they did.
- George Feeny: Go to the board and diagram that sentence.
- Jonathan Turner: I can't.
- Jonathan Turner: Hi, I'm Jonathan Turner, Cory's English teacher.
- Amy Matthews: [sees his motorcycle helmet] You wear a helmet?
- Jonathan Turner: I fall off the desk a lot.
- Shawn Hunter: [after finding out they have to take a test] I even read the book!
- [everybody gasps]
- Shawn Hunter: That's right, my head still hurts!
- Jonathan Turner: Face it, guys. Feeny's not gonna go away. I mean, he's gonna be all over your case. You turn around, he's gonna be there.
- [turns and faces Mr. Feeny's yard]
- Jonathan Turner: Now that's scary. You know you got a principal living next door?
- Alan Matthews: It's not something we brag about.
- George Feeny: Mr. Turner, I now return you your students, sadder but wiser.
- Jonathan Turner: What about Matthews and Hunter?
- George Feeny: For those two, I shall have to go nuclear.
- Jonathan Turner: And that would mean?
- George Feeny: I shall call their mommies.
- George Feeny: I realize that all you seventh-graders are delicate adolescent flowers just beginning your high school blooming so I say this with upmost sensitivity. Take this test or die.
- Cory Matthews: Look for the union label. Is anyone behind you, my Shawn?
- Shawn Hunter: I've gotta tell you. There's no one with us. We're all alone here. I'm gonna bail.
- Cory Matthews: You better not.
- Shawn Hunter: Oh, yes, I am.
- Cory Matthews: Oh, no, no, no.
- Shawn Hunter: Oh, yes, yes, yes!
- Jonathan Turner: [to Feeny] Come on, George. Why don't you just let them burn out? You don't wanna break their spirit.
- George Feeny: Please. I have been an educator for 35 years. I think I know how to relate to my students.
- [speaks into the megaphone]
- George Feeny: All right, this is your warden speaking. So, you wanna play rough with George Feeny? Fine. We'll take off the gloves.
- Shawn Hunter, Cory Matthews: Uh-oh.
- George Feeny: The 7th-grade dance is hereby canceled.
- Cory Matthews: You can't do that.
- George Feeny: I can do whatever I want. I have the megaphone. The entire football season...
- Shawn Hunter: Oh, no.
- George Feeny: Canceled!
- Shawn Hunter: But that means...
- George Feeny: Yes, Mr. Hunter. No cheerleaders.
- Shawn Hunter: [dramatically drops to the ground and weeps] No!
- Cory Matthews: Shawn, it's a strike. We have to make sacrifices.
- Shawn Hunter: But he's taking my girls. Why can't we just sacrifice you?
- George Feeny: And how do the Joads relate to you?
- Cory Matthews: I guess they don't.
- Shawn Hunter: Yeah, we're not really out in the world yet. They had nothing to eat, nowhere to live. All they knew was that they deserved a decent wage.
- Desiree: [after telling Jason to do something] Say "yes, puddin'."
- Jason Marsden: [smiles] Yes.
- [Desiree stares expectantly]
- Eric Matthews: I believe the woman wants "puddin'."
- Jason Marsden: Puddin'.
- Jonathan Turner: [to Mr. Feeny] I just made the kids a deal that if they do the work and learn this book, then I don't need a test on this book. I don't think that's radical thinking. Do you?
- George Feeny: Oh, not at all, Mr. Turner. In fact, why don't we take off our clothes and run willy-nilly through the woods.
- Jonathan Turner: [to Mr. Feeny] If my kids know their stuff then why do I need a test to prove it?
- George Feeny: How do you determine that they know their stuff?
- Jonathan Turner: Because I know my kids.
- George Feeny: I know my dog, but I haven't a clue what he's thinking.
- Jonathan Turner: You have a dog?
- George Feeny: Well, no.
- Jonathan Turner: All right, class. In "The Grapes of Wrath," we see that the struggle to organize, to get justice for the migrant farm workers, was long and difficult. Heads were broken. People were killed. A lot of blood.
- Shawn Hunter: Sounds like bingo night in my trailer park.
- Jonathan Turner: [When Mr. Turner's class walks out of the classroom] Oh, yeah, I can learn a lot from you, George.
- George Feeny: Shut up.
- Jonathan Turner: [to Cory and Shawn] You're just kids. You're in school. Your parents make you lunch. You're not a migrant farm worker picking grapes. You're just kids. You sleep on sheets with little dinosaurs.
- Cory Matthews: Rocket ships.