I might actually understand what a monad is

Monads are NOT elephants.

Monads aren't burritos.

Monads aren't even bullets.

Monads might be some kind of factory.

But after reading jquery-is-a-monad, it became clear that describing what monads are like, is NOT as useful as describing what things are monads.

In order to make a useful monad metaphor, the reader must be familiar enough with the subject that it helps understand monads more, not just confuse the issue.

no one explains objects in this fashion, no one says "objects are like buses" or "objects are like straitjackets"

After reading jquery-is-a-monad I think I might actually understand what a monad is!

then I came across what-is-a-monad, which makes a LOT of sense;
but would it have if I hadn't read the above descriptions first?