-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"LUCK" by Mark Twain (http://www.eastoftheweb.com/cgi-bin/version_printable.pl?story_id=Luc.shtml)
- Was there a punch line?
- Did you identify with Scoresby? If so, how?
- Do you think History is affected by Luck?
- Is this story an example of Humor, Farce, Wit, or Satire?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
We have started - Pull up a chair and join us - this is our 'Funnies' page -
Our first Humorous short story was - FAST DELIVERY - NO EXPENSE - all on-line - a P.G.Wodehouse - just his name spelled fun - Jeeves in the Springtime (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=352.0)
Another addition to our SeniorLearn bounty of discussions.
In keeping with "Learn" that is in our name - "SeniorLearn" - we can become acquainted with how Humor, Wit and Satire work in story telling.
Again, in the heading is the connecting link to Jeeves in the Springtime (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=352.0) where we can enjoy this focus on laughter or at least a wry smile.
There will be an opportunity the last few days of each discussion starting in March to get your suggestions in if you have an idea for a story that fits our criteria to be included in the three that are chosen -
Remember the short story must be on-line and it must use Humor or Wit or Satire or all three. So many of the 18th and 19th century authors from Mark Twain to Oscar Wilde and in the 20th C. how about Eudora Welty who all have short stories that will fit our discussion - a lot to choose from.
Help us launch this new Discussion Please... :)
-
marking. Catch ya'all in the morning with Jeeves.
-
Hi Barbara, Frybabe and All,
I am soooo excited. Just got a notice in me email. I haven't read the header. I'll come back. ;D
-
Marking my place as I have in the other discussion. Sounds interesting.
Domestic Duties call; I'll be back later to do my homework.
-
hahaha 'homework' I love it - to tell the truth until I got into this I did not realize there was different 'named' kinds of comedy - I knew there was what we call slap stick versus what we see on Saturday Night Live - but somewhere I read a bit that English Lady said something to the affect that using Wit is not hitting someone across the head with a baseball bat to get your message across. A bell went off in my head and that is when I started to look at the differences.
I am looking forward to this conversation - I want to hear what everyone thinks and how you are able to translate humor into the written word - That to me is the real trick.
All that to say glad you peeked in Callie and looking forward to your posts. :-*
-
This sounds like a fun time.
-
what a good idea..........i'll be back...........jean
-
Marking.
Evelyn
-
nlhome - mabel - Evelyn WELCOME - glad y'all peeked in - there is a lot to take in when we are considering stories of humor and so to start us off why not just share the titles of stories you know that are stories of Humor or that use Wit or Satire to make a point.
There are a lot of short stories but we are trying to focus on a certain group of short stories - I will make a list as you share.
The one I can remember reading back in school I cannot remember the name of it or hehehe even the author - but I do remember the story - in the title was something about an Indian Chief - but it was a kid that was I think kidnapped - sounds terrible now - but the boy made such a ruckus that the kidnappers let him go -
I need to find which of the Mark Twain stories are short Stories and the same with Eudora Welty - those two authors pop into my head right away.
-
The Ransom of Red Chief. I think O Henry. Yes, it was funny. And he has some others as well. Then there is James Thurber. I remember the Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
-
OH GREAT you remembered - yes, that is exactly the name - I wonder if it is on-line somewhere - you would think of all of the authors I would remember since we have the O'Henry cottage in Austin - before he moved east he lived here - need to look later and see if I can find the story -
So many times I have heard mention of Thurber - I remember his cartoons but I do not remember reading his short stories - another to look up on the internet - thanks nlhome we have started...
-
When I read your header my mind immediately jumped to The Ransom of Red Chief. We must read this one. Here is the site: http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/ohenry/bl-ohenry-ransomred.htm
-
Yes we MUST - it is a story that brings back memories of school for many of us but it was a story that stuck in our heads as well so it had to be a good story with all that we have read over the years - yes we need to read it - thanks for finding an on-line copy and Welcome Mrs Sherlock [Jackie] love seeing your posts again.
-
After we read "The Ransome of Red Chief", do you think everyone would like to read "The Night the Bed Fell" by James Thurber for May? It is hugely funny, short and on-line. I checked to see if it was there and I laughed out loud all over again on re-reading it!!! So I guess that's my nomination!
-
Thurber is an appropriate name to add to our list.
-
The Thurber sounds like a winner - thanks Joan and the nod from Jackie - Here I am supposed to know what I am doing and y'all knew to post your druthers in this discussion where as I had a post about choices and suggestions in the Jeeves discussion - funny - I'll get it down - sorting and categorizing topics of conversation is obviously not my strong suite. ;)
-
I picked up a book at the library because i liked the title, thinking it was a novel.
It is by Elizabeth Berg and the title of the book is "The Day i ATe Whatever I Wanted." It turns out that it is a short story/essay in a book of 13 short stories. Some of them seem to me to be more essay-type, while others are longer and seem to be short-stories.
Anyway, if you like Elizabeth Berg, you will probably enjoy this book. That first story is funny! She has a day that most of us have probably craved in our later lives since having to be careful about what we are putting into our mouths, instead of eathing what REALLY tastes good. The sub-title of the book is: "and other small acts of liberation." ................... i think we have to, on occasion, do that!
Another about two old friends, one of whom is in the hospital, altho soon to be released is more short-story-like and has more pathos. There is a third one titled "The Day I Ate NOthing I Even Remorely Wanted." The narrator is sticking to her Weight WAtchers diet in that one. A couple others are related to food, or diet, also...................a fun read.............i haven't found it on-line, but i'll keep looking and just tho't some of you might like to look for it at the libary........
YES, YES, YES it is on-line...............
.http://books.google.com/books?id=hH4i94naTm0C&dq=the+day+i+ate+whatever+i+wanted&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=Ot6wqtedNW&sig=7KxisiZ6FFlyiPhqSBPU-Raizkg&hl=en&ei=EJrKSezhBM_JtgedsqGlAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA3,M1
........................jean
-
Thanks Mabel - it does look like a fun read - au courant - since this time of year where a young man's fancy may turn to thoughts of love, a young woman's fancy turns to her waistline and a new lipstick.
As it should be the suggestions for future reads are being posted in the Humor, Wit and Satire discussion - that discussion remains open where as this one will close the end of today Wednesday March 25. - so last chance to say what you will about Jeeves In The Springtime.
-
These suggestions are both wonderful reads - almost wish that we were reading non- stop - I can see we are going to have to make a plan for choosing - we Have April chosen - Marj found that one on line for us - and now for May we have two great suggestions - Lets keep suggestions opened through the end of the week and then vote over the weekend till Monday so we have a story for May by Monday evening.
Our suggestions now are:
"The Night the Bed Fell" by James Thurber
"The Day i ATe Whatever I Wanted." by Elizabeth Berg
-
Barb? What is our next read and when will it start?
-
Alf the next is The Ransom of Red Chief by O'Henry suggested by I think Marj and will start on April 15 -
The two suggestions are for the May discussion - do you have a druther between
"The Night the Bed Fell" by James Thurber
"The Day i ATe Whatever I Wanted." by Elizabeth Berg
Both look like fun stories - Bottom line I think we may have both a May and June's selection but lets see if y'all have a druther between these two for May.
-
OK stirring the pot - after two humorous short story discussions it was easy to see that more than a week on a short story is overkill.
We also have serious reading going on here on Senior Learn and so we did not need an in-depth discussion on yet another story.
However; as the newspapers had a section we called the Funnies it seems appropriate for Senior Learn to also have our version of the Funnies in the form of Funny Short Story discussion.
And so NEW PLAN - every Sunday evening a new humorous short story will be added to the bottom of our heading along with just a couple of questions to help focus the start of a post.
I am working harder this summer than I have in years and so I cannot promise to be here very often but the discussion really does not have to be managed - we are having fun - sharing what makes us laugh - what was funny in the story - and adding a bit of learning as we try to identify the type of humor in each story we read - is it a witty story, a story of satire a slap stick comedy, a farce -
Labeling the kind of humor is the only thinking in the entire discussion - the rest is just letting us know if you laughed, smiled or enjoyed the story and sharing your thoughts about any part of the story that hit your fancy or remind you of a real life experience along similar story lines.
And so please drop in and lighten up your day once a week with a short story from the funny side of life.
-
And yes, the two short stories that were suggested earlier during this discussion will be included in the next few weeks - we are starting with one that seems more appropriate for Memorial Day weekend as we honor those who died for our country there are stories that lighten our ability to cope with history and Mark Twain has one of those stories for us.
-
Barb: this format sounds like a winner.
-
Glad you like it - we shall see what we shall see - but we will get something going on a good track before we are finished - let's hope this is the track -
To start us off here or late I sure unidentified with Scoresby - I am not seeing as well as I should and the glasses are not doing the job they used to - I have lip read since I was a kid with so many abscessed ears that were bandaged making hearing almost impossible and so I figured out I could tell what folks were saying by looking at their face. And now I am not always seeing their face as clearly as I used to so I am doing a lot of smiling without a clue what they have said.
So far so good - but God knows what I am smiling that may be creating a problem - and so I now wonder if luck is the reason I go forward without a major problem hitting me over the head. The Chinese look to Luck and good Fortune rather than all this goal setting control we are taught with the belief we are a whoos if we are not in complete control of our lives.
All I know is for some reason until I can have a good long belly laugh after a tragedy or uncomfortable happening I am in a gray zone as if hanging without feet on the ground. I know my grandboys were stunned when two days after my son died while I was visiting some inane thing happened and I started to noiselessly laugh so hard they thought at first I was crying till they were astonished saying to their mother - she is laughing. Then they all looked at me with this new look on their faces as if a dam broke and we all started to chatter away mixed with tears and laughter and life.
I have a good friend that reverses numbers all the time - the worst was driving all the way to Alvin, which is south of Houston, to meet her at her daughter's and she not only mixed up the instructions how to get there but reversed the phone number - I ended up having to go back home and wait for her call - oh dear - that was a 3 hour drive going and another 3 hours coming and at least an hour trying to dope it all out - but again, we laughed and laughed -
Somehow reading this story by Mark Twain put me in touch with how I handle some events - and yet, I know there are some events I am still chewing on 20 years later. Ah so - but the idea that I am in control has me scratching my head so that this story makes me wonder all over again.
What did the story bring up for you - were you identifying with Scoresby? hehehe I love the name Score-s-by
-
Oh Barb, how well I know the embarrassment of "misplaced" grief. I was executrix for my beloved aunt and when she pased away we were just in the middle of moving into a new home. I had flown back and forth from Florida to NY three times in that month so I was "whipped" and very concerned about her failing health.
At her funeral services, my girlfriend since forever came to show her respects and we started gabbing and then giggling. The giggle went from a chuckle to down-right laugh out loud (and I am not a quiet speaker) noises, with tears streaming down both of our cheecks everyone in the funeral parlor just gaped at us. That, of course, just made it funnier. I thought that my daughter was going to come unglued. "Mother are you alright, "she asked. Well that added fuel to the fire because everyone knew I was NOT alright. We all grieve differently I know but humor during a crisis always seems to do it for me. :D
I am so happy that we are doing these short stories. Thank you for taking us there and assuming this responsibility.
Short stories are like Jello, you can always find room for more.
I printed LUCK out and will read it when I get back later in the day from a golf outing and a picnic in honor of our veterans, at the Legion.
-
I read the Mark Twain story with great pleasure, and you know, I can readily believe such a thing could happen. Military history is full of really dumb blunders, some of which did turn out well.
-
Oh, Alf, I have been in that position. At my MIL's funeral, my SIL---probably one of my best friends until she passed---and I were looking out the window of the funeral parlor when I spied a business across the street and commented on the convenience of it's location---they sold grave markers, engraved stones, plants, decorate your gravesite stuff---the whole ball of wax. Well, things did not improve after that. Every time I opened my mouth, we would start laughing so hard that we cried. Then we found that the wife of her husband's dr was laid out in the room just below my MIL. How convenient, say I and by then we were out of control. Nothing would do but we had to pay our respects to that family and the whole evening ended in our leaving the funeral home and taking a long walk and agreeing not to speak to each other until this sad time was over.
-
hmmm- which illustrious Brit do you think Twain was referencing here?
He says what a fascination there is in a renowned name. There were four of them during the Crimean War:
British commanders
Earl of Cardigan- this guy led the battle of Light Brigade.
Lord Raglan
Sir Thomas James Harper
Sir Edmund Lyons (later 1st Lord Lyons)
Do you think he had one of them in mind while writing this short story that emanates such admiration by everyone BUT the instructor at Woolwich? He knows for a fact, this clergyman, that Scoresby was a dolt. ::) He makes the guy sound like an imbecile, uninformed and ignorant and takes pity on him by drilling and conditioning him to the "head of the class." hahah who's the dummy?
-
I was curious about that, too, ALF. Must not be the Earl of Cardigan, since the charge of the Light Brigade did not end well at all. Do you know anything about what the other three did during that campaign. Of course, it's possible the entire thing was fictional, but Twain did say it was a true story.
-
I hate to admit it Babi but I don't have a clue about the others.
-
According to chapter 16 in 'The Life of Sir Edmond Lyons' Raglan served with or under Sir Edmond and was killed as a result of wound received in battle at Sebastopol. http://tinyurl.com/plyb9y
Cannot find anything about Sir Thomas James Harper other than he is listed as a commander in the Crimean War - I knew very little about the war and come to learn it was the war that contributed to the abolition of serfdom in Russia as well as where Florance Nightingale did her thing. I always thought she started her nursing in a war in Africa - ah so - it appears it was in the Crimea
Nice article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War
I am wondering if this is a Satire on the stupidity of a well planned war - that Mark Twain believes that war is more about Luck and that officers who follow rules that they think are more important equally lead to death as a self-motivated soldier or unit - there is footage on YouTube about 'The Luck of War' in 6 separate video's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNXZ-Vi4MAg&feature=related
-
Sir Edmund Lyons apparentlly went on successfully enough to have a biography written about him, BARB. Do you think it's possible Twain's story
could be a reference to him?
-
Hadn't thought of that - maybe...?!?
-
Just confirms the old saw, doesn't it. That guy with the pen can do you more
harm than the guy with the sword ever did. ???
-
I am SO frustrated. I just lost a 40 minute post by going to look in the online dictionary for the verb "gazetted." I lost my post and all of the comments about Scoresby's fortuitous triumphs.
Let me try this again and I will NEVER toggle again without copying first my comments.
anyhoo, whomeever this dude was in real life, let's examine HOW he got there.
#1. How did his LUCK and good fortune come about? Well, our charitable insturctor grilled him, limiting the questions that would be on the exam, thereby granting this innocent his first success.
#2. Fearing Scoresby's Math skills, he once again prompted him into the first place prize, with all the praise and adoration to boot.
#3. He was gazetted >:( into a position that was usually retained by an older and more mature gentleman) not ...who could have foreseen that they would go and put such a load of responsibility on such green and inadequate shoulders?"
I'm going to post this and wait for a response before I add to it. ::)
-
#1. How did his LUCK and good fortune come about? Well, our charitable insturctor grilled him, limiting the questions that would be on the exam, thereby granting this innocent his first success.
Which is what teachers do to day preparing kids for the No Child Left Behind tests that rate the teacher through how well the kids do on these tests - and so are we educting a bunch of new Scoresbys...hmmm
-
Oh my Barb, I never gave that a thought but how true that is that we are doing the same thing to our kids. With any LUCK at all they too will tiumph. Destiny awaits them! :-\
-
I pray their destiny does not include being tested in battle - huhhh does it ever change... ::)
What I like about most short story humor is the use of language - in one breath there are outrageous comments and then a vocabulary is used that is out of the ordinary and often has us grabbing the dictionary - I love it.
This bit from the story is a great example Of course there had to be a war, I said to myself: we couldn't have peace and give this donkey a chance to die before he is found out. I waited for the earthquake. It came. And it made me reel when it did come. He was actually gazetted to a captaincy in a marching regiment! Better men grow old and grey in the service before they climb to a sublimity like that. And who could ever have foreseen that they would go and put such a load of responsibility on such green and inadequate shoulders? I could just barely have stood it if they had made him a cornet; but a captain - think of it! I thought my hair would turn white.
Consider what I did - I who so loved repose and inaction.
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"LUCK" by Mark Twain (http://www.eastoftheweb.com/cgi-bin/version_printable.pl?story_id=Luc.shtml)
- Was there a punch line?
- Did you identify with Scoresby? If so, how?
- Do you think History is affected by Luck?
- Is this story an example of Humor, Farce, Wit, or Satire?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
I assume 'gazetted' is some kind of British military term, ALF, but I'll wait and see what you found.
-
You are correct Barb- gazettted is a British word:
1. chiefly British : to announce or publish in a gazette
2. British : to announce the appointment or status of in an official gazette
I agree with your statement about the blending of satire into the vocabulary of the story.
;D his blunder was mistaking his right hand from his left. How many times have we heard that: "he wouldn't know his right hand from his left."
The order was to fall forward, and backward he went. His success was based on everything being contrary to what was commanded.
Each paragraph we read what a dear, sweet naive guy Scoresby was but "didn't know enough to come in out of the rain." I think Twain is playing with a great amount of hackneyed phrases.
Hats off to Shakespere:
"Brevity is the soul of wit."
-
Time for weekly change
Our Sunday Funnies brings us another author who has a way with words to make us chuckle. No sniviling young boy in this Dickens story but ghosts as in the ghosts of past in his Christmas Carol - this weeks story -
The Baron of Grogswig...
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"THE BARON OF GROGZWIG" by Charles Dickens (http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/BarGro.shtml)
- What lines made you chuckle?
- If you were a ghost what would you tell the Baron?
- Do we experience our mismatched dreams and unmet needs as a source of humor?
- How seriously did you accept the Baron's depression?
- What do you think happened to his daughters' marriage prospects after they learned how to hunt bear?
- Is this story an example of Humor, Farce, Wit, Satire or...?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
I love this bit - it was so un-natural that it was hilarious
"I am the Genius of Despair and Suicide," said the apparition. "Now you know me."
With these words the apparition turned towards the baron, as if composing himself for a talk - and, what was very remarkable, was, that he threw his cloak aside, and displaying a stake, which was run through the centre of his body, pulled it out with a jerk, and laid it on the table, as composedly as if it had been a walking-stick.
"Now," said the figure, glancing at the hunting-knife, "are you ready for me?"
"Not quite," rejoined the baron; "I must finish this pipe first."
-
A Dickens short story! How delightful. I'd never heard of this, but grinned at
the satire (or should I call it leg-pulling?) all the way through. Even the names
are satires on the German. 'Cold-wet-out' and 'Swill-in-house'. 8)
-
Oh Good Babi you brought us face to face with nailing the kind of humor this story represents - from what I am reading all I can find is that it is out and out comedy - maybe we can define it further. Turning to the definitions in the links.
In a Comedy the hero or heroine gets what each wants, but not quite the way or even in the terms that either expects it, so that can't be its defining aspect. In one episode of Happy Days --it is still in reruns!--the Fons has to ride a wild bull to save a ranch. Not what he expected, but it works.
Archie Bunker [ All in the Family, and The Archie Bunker Show] re-established love and order in his re-running family, each week--but rarely the way he intended to, and always with unexpected surprise and embarrassments. There are always temporary obstacles, but Comedy always ends in a reconciliation.
We may laugh, but we don't have to. Comedy is the story of reconciliations, of the hero or heroine reconciled with family or society. --Archie Bunker is a bigot after all, and some of the plots are poignant. Does anyone recall the show when Archie and his son-in-law Meathead get locked in a storeroom and Archie gets drunk and tells what his childhood was like, when he didn't have clothes or shoes to go to school and the kids from affluent families made fun of him? No, in a Comedy we don't have to laugh. But the main character has got to reconcile himself with society.
Satire is the kind of literature that deals with fragments of society, with a society or family or life that is no longer whole. Satire is what happens when there isn't any decent family or society available for the main character to reconcile himself to, or when the desires he has aren't worth desiring, or when the actions he takes aren't worth taking. Satire is the shape of literature that describes what our world is like when all anyone can see of it are disintegrated pieces.
One of the best satires that has ever been on TV is The Prisoner, a 17-episode series that is recycles from time to time. Probably the most popular satiric novel yet written is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World -- at least since since Swift's Gulliver's Travels or A Modest Proposal, There are lots of other candidates, Salomon Rushdie's The Satanic Verses being one. In each these satiric works, heroes have no place to go when the novel ends, like the young hoodlum protagonist of Anthony Burgess' Clockwork Orange, or Holden Caulfield in Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, or Huckleberry Finn. Essentially, they find no society that's worth becoming a part of.
And so, where the Baron has a 'Coming of Age' party with lots of beer and where he determines a new life course that involves a lady he is following in the footsteps of society. And where he wakes up one day to realize the joys of his youth were gradually chipped away, and regardless how, he does what he can to regain those joys with his children while making his wife and her family the enemy.
Today that kind of humor is verboten and unfair to women but let's face it during the Victorian age and even during our younger years it was typical to make the wife into the enemy. I am thinking of the delightful Brit Com Last Of Summer Wine how Edie Pegden makes Wesley walk on newspaper when he enters the house through the kitchen and how Edie, Pearl, Ivy and Nora Batty gossip over tea about the 'likes' of men - let's look further - I wonder if our short story by Dickens fits as a Parody or a Farce.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary - Parody
1 : a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule
2 : a feeble or ridiculous imitation
synonyms see caricature
Sentences pulled from the above link - What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire
...Most definitions consider a parody to be a mimicry of an established idea, concept or person for comedy, while satire deconstruct a subject for humor without reproducing it directly.
Satire is a more subtle concept, involving mockery usually without mimicry. The style is often related to a desire for social or political change, leading some to call satire the meeting of humor and anger.
One of the most famous satirical films is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, a 1964 black comedy about the Cold War by Stanley Kubrick. Satire is easy to get wrong; when dealing with sensitive or personally important issues, many believe that humor should not be applied. Satire requires a degree of objectivity or personal detachment, in order to accept the humor in sometimes dangerous or devastating situations.
...satire explores an anger or frustration at the status quo, using humor as a tool to make the subject palatable. Parody may or may not have a desire to incite social change, and can be used for pure entertainment through extreme portrayals of established ideas or characters
To me where the Baron may be angry or frustrated, he doesn't really argue for social change does he - he does use an extreme portrayal of his wife's expectations in a comedic way to re-establish the importance of his needs as he sees his traditional enjoyments in life.
Let's do another on Farce and see if that fits.
-
Types of comedy from ancient to modern times:
romantic comedy - involves a love affair that does not run smoothly but ends happily.
Example: Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream
the movie, Pretty Woman
manners - portrays upper-class society involved in witty repartee that focuses on their relationships and "affairs." A comedy of manners focuses on the behavior of men and women who violate the rules and manners of upper-class society.
Example: Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest
farce - "low comedy" with lots of "belly laughs" that uses quick physical action to induce immediate laughter. The verbal humor is often crude or ridiculous. Farce is sometimes based on incongruities of character and action; a character doing something that is completely unlike what we would expect of them.
Example: In Shakespeare uses farcical humor in his play, Twelfth Night. Malvolio, a very prude, self-important character, is convinced to wear funny clothing and act like a fool (Meyer 900).
Most of Jim Carey's comedy is farce. His comedy is based on quick physical humor and often crude dialogue.
satire - mean jokes (barbs) are aimed at people, ideas or things in order to improve, correct, or prevent something.
Example: Again, the character Malvolio in Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night is a satirical character. He is held up for scrutiny and ridicule by other characters and the audience because of his self-important, pompous attitude. Shakespeare reveals Malvolio's faults, and shows him to be pathetic.
absurd (black) - unusual, some would say weird or uncomfortable, comedy that portrays the world as unstable. The action includes improbable events with highly unpredictable characters. Black comedy is very different from other comedies in that this type tends to end unhappily.
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/literature/drama.html#farce
Hmm - we think of the Baron as pathetic but I wonder - is that because times have changed and we have a different attitude, and expectation of fathers then was popular in Victioriana. I am thinking when I was young we thought the movie, Life With Father was a Parody however today we would see it as a Satire because we would, in our heads take the story to the next step that made the wife a hero and we would expect the father to be left in a predicament where his social order would be disintegrated.
-
Here is Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition for us.
farce
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English farce, from Middle French farce, from Vulgar Latin *farsa, from Latin, feminine of farsus, past participle of farcire
Date: 14th century
1: a savory stuffing : forcemeat
2: a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot
3: the broad humor characteristic of farce or pretense
4 a: ridiculous or empty show b: mockery <the enforcement of this law became a farce>
owww I like what Encarta says about Farce
Farce, form of drama intended to excite laughter through exaggeration and extravagance rather than by realistic imitation of life. It differs from comedy chiefly in the emphasis on plot; in farce, characters are necessary only to act out the intricacies of the plot; whereas in comedy, plot is subordinated to characterization.
Farcical elements have entered into many forms of primitive comedy, but the term farce seems to have been applied first in France to the pieces produced by certain lay companies, or clercs de bazoche (organizations of such secular groups as notaries and law clerks, which held annual festivals), in contrast to the morality plays (see Miracle, Mystery, and Morality Plays) produced by the religious orders.
A characteristic of many of the early farces was a mixture of dialects. For example, in the French farce L'avocat Patelin (Lawyer Patelin), an often adapted and translated 15th-century piece attributed to various authors, the principal character speaks seven dialects.
The French writer Molière later refined the farce form into the comedy of manners.
In England, about the beginning of the 18th century, the farce came to be regarded as a form distinct from the comedy proper. Today, the term farce is freely applied to almost any light piece in which the comic effect is carried to ridiculous lengths.
And so it appears that the word Comedy is not the same as Farce - and it also appears that a Farce is a play rather than a novel or short story.
I am still not sure I have the differences straight in my mind - how about y'all - so far I am still not sure if I could define a Parody versus a Farce and what the difference is from Comedy - I think I have used the word Comedy and Humor interchangeably and to cover anything that brought a smile to my face, made me chuckle or laugh. It would be nice to finally understand the differences - but for me it will take more examples as we read.
Thanks Babi for getting us started on figuring out the differences.
-
Well, call it what you will- comedy or farce but I think it was delightful! It's such fun to read something like this and laugh aloud, isn't it? The 2nd sentence had me going right off the bat.
For what German Baron ever lived in a new castle?
Every castle I’ve ever seen has been an old fortification for royalty; a stronghold over the centuries usually. As Babi mentioned the names are used with great humor, Koeldwethout (or cold within) the baron of GROGwig pulls us right along into his fanciful actions to marry and unite with the house of Swillenhausen finding himself in charge of a small family of 12! :o
How about his other cronies ?
........in which he had outdone Nimrod or Gillingwater...
Swill, grog and plenty of wine.
My favorite sentence is this one: the baron's bugle grew hoarse for lack of blowing. I almost fell off my chair on that one. This is funny stuff.
and this-- If I had been a bachelor," said the baron sighing, "I might have done it fifty times over, without being interrupted. Hallo! Put a flask of wine and the largest pipe, in the little vaulted room behind the hall."
[/b] [/i]
-
A 'ridiculous imitation ' could fit this story well, Barb, since it takes a situtation
to ridiculous extents. Which might make it a parody. Then many of the scenes
described would surely be farce, if they were presented visually. Perhaps we
can't confine the story to one type of humor.
Farce, by the way, is the least enjoyable kind of humor. IMO, there is nothing funny about seeing someone fall. get hit with something, or otherwise suffer pain and/or humiliation. It's a question, though, when something like that actually happens in real life, whether it is easier on the victim to laugh about it or to commiserate. It probably depends on the individual.
I think with men it is often best to kid him about it and turn it into a joke. Women I think appreciate concern and sympathy, and many would be offended by joking about their mishap.
joking.
-
I know the kind of humor you are talking about Babi - like the old Buster Keaton and the Three Stooges where folks are being hit by a board and other mishaps- I always called that slap-stick and yet, there is probably a name for it that we will come across the more we read - and I agree - it does not make me laugh - however, at one time comedy seemed to thrive on how foolish people could look while being abused. It would be interesting to find out why that was considered funny because people certainly laughed didn't they. Maybe it has something to do with feeling better about yourself when you can make someone else look foolish so you can laugh at them.
The Farce that I think are a delight is where they confuse people and use a lot of sophisticated witty language to do it - seems to me Shakespeare has one The Comedy of Errors, and one of my favorites is the Oscar Wilde play - The Importance Of Being Earnest
Faulty Towers is another farce but it was not one of my favorites. The one that I thought was a riot was La Cage aux Folles - I liked the first version more than the second but both were a riot.
I found this on some site that I no longer can find but I copied it to keep so here goes...
The connotation of "humour" is more that of response, while "comic" refers more to stimulus. "Humour" also originally had a connotation of a combined ridiculousness and wit in one individual, the paradigm case being Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff.
Here is the link about Sir John Falstaff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falstaff
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"Excepting Mrs. Pentherby" by Saki
(http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/ExceMrs.shtml)
- Was there a punch line?
- Who is the author Saki?
- Have you ever changed the conversation by bringing up a less liked subject?
- Is this story an example of Humor, Farce, Wit, or Satire?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
Been here visiting my family. Ty graduates from High School and my sister is even going to come in- so it is a family reunion - sorry I did not get the story up last night but it is another that is said to be a Satire - looks like we will have down pat a Satire in no time -
My grandson is talking with me and we are trying to decide what kind of humor is Irony when someone makes a statement with clothing as teens often challange each other - example: a leading football player wears a pink Tshirt - the more successful the player the pinker the shirt - if that is Wit, Satire or, if Irony is another catagory. Any ideas for us...
I decided the best way to read this week's story is to pretend you have an upper class English accent as if you are being better than the story - it worked for me...
This is a new author for me - never heard of him till now.
-
Here is a link to the author Sati - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Munro
Evidently he is up there with the likes of O'Henry - amazing that I have never heard about him - have any of you heard of him or read his stories?
-
I've heard of Saki,...H. H. Munro...but I don't remember actually reading anything by him. I'm looking forward to reading this short story, but it will have to wait until later. I'm not going to have time this morning.
-
BARB, maybe the pink shirt on the football player isn't humor at all. As you said, it's a challenge, but a lighthearted one.
-
I've read Saki's stories off and on for many years - I have "The Complete Works of Saki" in one volume with a nice preface by Noel Coward. I think my favorite story is "The Open Window". These stories are not what you'd call knee-slapping funny but are very amusing in a quiet sort of way. They're very short - take no time at all to read. I think they should be read one at a time, given a little chuckle and then put away until you feel the need of another light 10 minutes or so. I wouldn't dream of trying to pin them down!
-
I began to suspect Mrs. Penthery's role early on. It seemed to me a very strange and decidedly unpleasant 'job', until I read of her role in her own family.
I can see where a change from that would be a welcome relief.
I agree with JoanR. Not a knee-slapper, but definitely a small smile of
appreciation.
-
Babi: "Not a knee-slapper, but definitely a small smile of
appreciation."
Exactly. A pleasant read, especially on a day of frustrations for me.
N
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"Diddling" by Edgar Allen Poe
(http://books.eserver.org/fiction/poe/diddling.html/document_view)
- How do you define the word Diddling?
- Is Poe someone who comes to mind when you think of humor?
- What is a portmanteau?
- When was the last time you were Diddled?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
This should be the last of the late timing is the weekly stories - was at my daughter's for two weekends in a row but I am back.
This is to me a witty story that reminds me of old vaudeville routines. And yet, today I am still 'diddled' by quick thinking hucksters.
-
Humor from Edgar Allen Poe?! This came as a total surprise.
I love this line: "...a great man in a small way."
Here, now, I begin to better understand 'diddling'. "Should he ever be tempted into magnificent speculation, he then, at once, loses his distinctive features, and becomes what we term 'financier'. This latter word conveys the diddling idea in every respect except that of magnitude."
(Needless to say, I need one of our Latin students or teachers to translate this: "Ut canis a corio nunquam absterrebitur uncto."
But it is the paragraph on audacity that makes me grin. And I wonder if this story is where 'cool as a cucumber' originated.
-
Babi the best I get out of it is something about a dog never letting go of its game. I looked up many sites and I was only able to learn the quote is from Horace and that Poe was fluent in both Latin and French having attended schools in Scotland, England and America - and that he started to use Latin in his writings as early as the age of 13.
Evidently the words "Ut canis a corio nunquam absterrebitur uncto." are a famous Latin pun.
I remember as a child my aunts telling me to put the sliced skins from the cucumber on my forehead and wrists if I was hot - we always grew cucumbers in the garden and had them sliced in vinegar.
-
Thanks, Barb. I recognized 'canis' as 'dog', but that's as far as I could go.
I've heard of putting cucumber slices on one's eyelids as a beauty aid, but not
putting cucumber skins on the wrists for coolness. Cucumbers are cool, aren't they. Pre-AC, we really needed little gambits like that.
-
Ut canis a corio numquam absterrebitur uncto.
You will never scare a dog away from a greasy hide. - Horace
I had trouble with corio (from corium, meaning hide, skin, leather).
numquam - never
absterrebitur - you will scare away
uncto - greasy or oiled when used as an adjective.
Sounds kind of gross. I think it means once someone (in this case the dog) gets a hold of something he won't let go. Tenacious, maybe?
-
Tarrrifffic - thanks Frybabe - reading how Poe used the phrase in the story it sounds like you nailed it...
I had to look up to learn what a hide is - I thought it was like a burrow where animals lived - not so - it appears to be a structure that hunters will construct to 'hide' in while waiting for deer or such to come within focus but it is an old Anglo Saxon word the is a measurement of land for levying taxes. It is about 100 acres and is made of 4 virgates. A vergate is about 30 acres that were measured by the amount of land a team of two oxen can plow in a day.
A hide is also the skin of a dead animal - and so a greasy hide must be either the skin of a dead animal or the ill-kempt structure where hunters waited to kill game - I say ill-kempt because that is what greasy says to me -
I wanted it to mean a hole in the ground in the woods where an animal takes shelter or a ground bird takes shelter - but I cannot find any definition that matches my idea of what is a hide.
-
look at this delightful page - http://www.linoreburkard.com/resources_glossary.html
Found it while looking up portmanteau which is a Traveling bag, usually of a rich tapestried, coarse fabric.
-
What a neat site, Barb. I'll have to remember that the next time I'm reading a
Regency era story. So many things you have a vague idea what they are, but
really don't know for sure.
-
I love this site with examples of dress from all the periods since the Regency Fashion.
http://www.fashion-era.com/regency_fashion.htm
Seems to me Poe would fit in the Victorian era.
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"Why I Live at the P.O." by Eudora Welty
(http://art-bin.com/art/or_weltypostoff.html)
- Have you ever visited the part of South where Eudora Welty lived and wrote?
- Do you have a good recipe for 'green-tomato pickle'?
- Where is Mammoth Cave?
- Would this be a Comedy of Manners - the Southern version of Oscar Wilde?
- OH my, can you imagine anyone being satisfied today living with the few possessions that "Sister" took with her to the Post Office?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
I love the humor of Eudora Welty - I had the good fortune of staying the night at a B&B in Jackson where the owner's mother was a good friend of Eudora Welty and photos of them lined the stairwell - I did drive the Natchez Trace in October one year. That is the area where Eudora Welty in the 1930s collected most of her stories that she later tweaked and published.
This story reminds me of how much pride there was in our preserves and the dependence we had on our stockpile - although, canned goods were available in the 1930s when I was growing up during those years we did not buy canned goods because the lead in the can was considered poisen. I remember seeing a western and the cowboy took a can off peaches off the shelf, opened it and started to eat them right out of the can using his knife as a fork. I was certain he was going to fall over dead right there in the movie. He didn't, and I decided that it was all make believe and however they did it the magic of the movies made the peaches safe.
Most of the houses that I knew did not have insulation and certain parts of the house just had the outside siding and then seen from the inside were the 2 by 4s used as uprights and cross bars - there were these narrow shelves built between the uprights and the whole room would be lined with mason jars of perserves.
Come to think of it my friend had on her back porch a taught wire strung from porch floor to the ceiling and when her father would come on the porch he would pluck it - he said that was how he could tell if the house was plumb and in tune - I wonder what a house being in tune meant - never asked just took it for granted.
-
Now this is 'humor' that doesn't amuse me. People cutting into each other
and generally making life miserable for one another is, IMHO, the emotional
counterpart of pratfalls in physical humor. What's funny about a family tearing
each other up?
-
Oh Babi it is so typical Southern making a 'to-do' over nothing - having negative opinions just because someone has lived in the north when it is really about sibling rivalry and the ludicrous idea of living in the Post Office - and then calling it the P.O. which was considered High Flattery back then since we did not abbreviate. This is a story so typical of folks who try to out wit each other over nothing - do you remember the wonderful adaptation of Welty's Ponder Heart on PBS Masterpiece Theatre - these are some of the same characters. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/ponder/voices.html
-
I missed Ponder Heart, BARB. It might have made a difference if I had seen it.
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"First Confession"
by Frank O'Connor
(http://www.ireland-information.com/firstconfession.htm)
- Did you live near or with your Grandmother?
- Did you have an older sister that got under your skin?
- What is it about this story that makes it funny?
- This being his First Confession how old would he be?
- Growing up did your mother have a pot on the back of the stove simmering all the leftovers for a soup?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
Reading about humor this popped out - the submitted lines had a philosophical message with a humorous touch. One of the guiding principles of humor is that the Truth is funny. Looking at personal experiences, likes, and dislikes strikes a humorous chord.
One of the theories of humor is that people, your audience, find something funny when they “figure it out for themselves.” It is sometimes referred to as the superiority theory of humor. Don't give them everything. Give them the clues and they love it when they “get it.”
Often, a good humor line has an unexpected twist.
I once tried reading a book upside down, but I had a hard time keeping my legs up in the air.
Relationships Are the Key - Relationships and connections are the key to nearly every joke. When you understand this principle, the humor lines will start to jump out at you.
Pay attention to how things and groups are different and how they are the same. This uses the principle of finding relationships.
After reading this I realized what made this story funny was the relationships - there was a small 7 year old confessing as if he was capable of the greatest sins that folks are sent to prison for life or even put to death by the state. Then the older sister being so self-righteous so that she was sinning with her unkindness while pretending to be the better person who had the right to look down on her brother.
And then the philosophical message that shows the process of Confession to speak of all your sins and feel guilty and shameful where as in reality the priest picks you up out of your misery and gives you courage to go on in life - only for a 7 year old the courage is in the form of taking him seriously yet giving him some candy and a small short penance in the form of only 5 repeats of a prayer.
I do not think this story would work if it were an adult - it is the ludicrousness of a child confessing the will to murder based on feeling neglected and unloved.
-
(1903-1966) Irish writer. Pseudonym for Michael O'Donovan. Frank O'Connor wrote 150 short stories, novels, plays, poetry, and two autobiographies before his death. At least 70 of O'Connor's short stories related to Irish family life and a majority of them related to his own life and experiences.
O'Connor's professional relationships included William Butler Yeats, George Russell and other noted Irish authors. O'Connor wrote non-fiction illuminating his devotion to Ireland and his efforts to preserve its monuments, language, and culture. He also wrote and had affiliated himself with the Abbey Theatre. Among his collection is literary criticism, lecture notes, scripts of radio broadcasts, and some sixty-three articles for newspapers and magazines
Here is a simple Bio on Frank O'Connor - http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/experience_literature8e/fiction/froconnor.htm
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"The day I ate whatever I wanted"
By Elizabeth Berg
(http://tiny.cc/p6nQ0)
- Have you been a member of Weight Watchers?
- What is your favorite calorie filled snack?
- What is it about this story that makes it funny?
- Have you ever been waited on by someone like 'Sigrid?
- Have you ever filled up on water and if so how long did you last drinking lots of water?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
Okay, I was reading the story, salivating over the selection of doughnuts, and
the story skipped from page five to page eight. I tried it three times, but still
no page six or seven.
Still, I definitely get the idea. And I totally agree about women who are thin
insisting they are fat. It's a bit like the person with the hangnail comparing themselves to the one with the broken arm. You really want to say something
scathing.
I have been fat, and thanks to an extended period of poor health, I am now
wearing regular people clothes again. I love it, tho' I can't recommend this method of weight loss to the general public.
As for dieting, I think it definitely helps if say, once a month, you treat yourself to a Dunkin Donut. That way you don't feel so deprived that you despair and
chuck the whole over the side.
::)
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
"The day I ate whatever I wanted"
By Elizabeth Berg
(http://tiny.cc/p6nQ0)
- Have you been a member of Weight Watchers?
- What is your favorite calorie filled snack?
- What is it about this story that makes it funny?
- Have you ever been waited on by someone like 'Sigrid?
- Have you ever filled up on water and if so how long did you last drinking lots of water?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
I read this story based on an earlier recommendation of the book of stories by Elizabeth Berg with this title. I didn't really find it humorous then, so I tried to reread it today, but the link wasn't to the complete story. It was enough to remind me of the story.
I think my lack of appreciation of the story is based on the fact that all my life I have been slender. Genes, and a family diet that always was more fruits and vegetables than heavy foods are responsible, not will power. When you can eat anything you want, then it's not so important.
My favorite calorie-filled snack is cashews or dark chocolate.
I do know a few women like Sigrid. I enjoy their humor and their confidence.
-
Wow Pat - thank you for catching the heading
nlhome - the book just came and I have not had a chance to get into it - hopefully later today I can see what the pages have to say that are missing from this link.
Babi - sounds like you have had the battle of the bulge over the years - I know that one as well I've been carrying around about 40 pounds now for years and years - twice I got it down to 20 pounds but for me it is exercise and stress eating - my hours are so irregular - I keep trying to talk myself into taking a daily walk but I just cannot seem to get going - when I do either swim or walk several times a week I feel better and the pounds drop. I turn to carbs when I am dealing with stress and the work I do is very stress filled. You would think by now I would have it down or maybe that is me talking about myself - I would think I would have it down -
I must say I kept reading and the bit about looking cute licking her fingers after eating a chocolate donnut - my face went askew - not exactly my picture of cute.
I need to read this from a book - this format is difficult - This link was included early in our conversation when we were discussing possible stories - I have not found it yet on another site but if any of you do find it please let us know.
-
Reading it from the book was a different experience - and it was her father who was chubby - missed that when I read it from the on-line version
Here are the two missing pages:
There were lots of dogs and one was a bulldog puppy, which, please, has cornered the market on cuteness. The owner was this very thin women who looked sort of bitchy, which, think about it, most very thin women do--even when they smile, it's like grimacing. Fat people are often miserable, too, but at least they look jolly even thought it's really mostly them apologizing, like, "Sorry, sorry, sorry I'm taking up so much room," "Sorry I am offending your idea of bodily aesthetics," "Sorry I'm clogging my arteries and giving the thumbs-up to diabetes." And spilling over airline seats, which, come on, even for skinny people those seats are ridiculous. Metal girdles.
Lunch was a problem, like do I sit down or continue to fast-food it. Because I really do appreciate good food, but fast food is what i always want. Drive past a White Castle? See myself opening on of the little burgers with the onions all square. Go past KFC? See the big bucket, lift off th lid, see the one corner of on breast just loaded with coating that you pull off and pop into you mouth. Wendy's? Regular with cheese, just a plain regular with cheese and it is good. the buns are still good at Wendy's, they're not t hose weary things other places give you that are like bread out of an old person's bread box who never throws anything away and it was cheap bread and not good in the first place. Generic.
Hot dogs? Well. I live in Chicago, where we know what hot dogs are and how they should be served. I know someone who used to fly from Boston to San Francisco once a month on business and she always stopped in Chicago so she could get a red hot. She said she told people she needed a walk but really she needed a red hot. She ate them in the first-class cabin and all the people used to get pissed off at her. She said they got pissed off because the onions stunk the plane up, but I think they got pissed off because they didn't have the foresight to bring a red hot on board themselves. A flight attendant can put all the French words in the world after"beef" and it still tastes like airline food, which tastes like jet fuel smells.
They don' have red hots in the airport all over the place like they used to. If yo come to O'Hare and you have a bit of a layover, get a cab and tell them Superdawg at Milwaukee and Nagle, it's only about ten minutes away. Get the regular hot dog, but yo might also want to try the Whoopercheesie or Whoopskidawgh. There is only one Superdawg and it was started by a guy and his wife, they fell in love in high school and now they're probably in their eighties. You can see her working the both, she sits there in her black nylon wind breaker andyou shout your order into the little metal box by where you park. Everybody gets their own speaker and their own menu, which has humorous descriptions of the food.
Portillo's hot dogs are also good, and their tamales, oh my. You eat them with a plastic spoon, which adds to the flavor, as does the light orange grease stain on the wrapper. But the Portillo's are not as close to the airport, you might not have time. Although if you said to anyone who knew Chicago, "I missed my flight because I had to go to Portillo's" they would say, "Oh, I Know, did you get a tamale?" If you're debating, which should I go to?, pick Superdawg, because they are not a chain. Always pick the t hing that is not a chain, is one way to try to save the world.
I decided I'd go for lunch t this cafe I know where the butter is real and the syrup is real and the waitresses do not in any way judge what you order. I got there at 12:30 and got a table in a good booth because it was across from where Ivy was sitting. Ivy is a regular in her nineties, and she wears a little old lady dress and a sweater and sneakers and a white baseball hat tunred frontways. Long gray hair tied back in a skinny ponytail.
Ok that catches you up and connects the story.
-
Those tamales sound good. Too bad we don't have a Portillo's around here.
However, it does seem as though any non-chain burger place considers itself a a restaurant and charges accordingly.
Type of story... Well, I guess light humor that satirizes our weakness for comfort food.
-
Humor
Wit
Satire
in
Short Stories
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/shortstory/jester3.jpg)
|
WELCOME!
Linked below is Our Story Of The Week - Our Sunday Funnies - Each Sunday another story - Share with us where the story hit your funny bone. See if you can nail the difference between Humor, Wit and Satire. Enjoy our story while together we discover what makes us laugh.
Our links: (All underlined words are links)
Short Story - What happened - Who did it happen to - What are the bigger issues - How does the protagonist change or make you whole because of something he or she says or does.
- How to Identify a Short Story Theme (http://www.ehow.com/how_2063746_identify-short-story-theme.html)
- What makes a good short story (http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html)
Humor - laughter - comedy
- Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present (http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/Comedy/abstracts.htm)
Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -
- Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason (http://www.azete.com/view/10376)
- The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change... (http://literarybonanza.blogspot.com/2008/10/brevity-is-soul-of-wit.html)
Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
- What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-parody-and-satire.htm)
- Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South (http://www.4secondarysolutions.com/PDFSamples/Adv%20Huck%20Finn/Satire_Huck.pdf)
- Shapes of Satire (http://www.pafaculty.net/joyce/Contents/dubliners/satire/satire.html)
Our Story of the Week
Chapter One of "Dave Barry's Money Secrets"
by Dave Barry
(http://tiny.cc/p6nQ0)
- Have you ever studied Economics - micro or macro?
- Have you ever read a book about Mesopotamians or a Novel where the setting was in Mesopotamia?
- Have you visited Fort Knox and do you know where Fort Knox is located?
- What do squirrels and whiskey have to do with our Dollar Bill?
- Do you have an issue with the pay received by Professional Athletes and Movie Actors?
Discussion Leader: BarbStAubrey (augere@ix.netcom.com)
-
Here is a link to a Dave Barry site - I do not remember him on TV in the early 90s - evidently he had a show at the time - he has written 30 books that are promoted as not having any real information.
With the state of the economy and what we hear how it is being fixed as compared to what we see in our everyday lives I am thinking the Dave Barry approach may be more accurate discussion - it often feels as if the national economic news and the government's fix have little or nothing to do with me and my use or need for money.
Well here is that Dave Barry web site - http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/dave-barry.html
-
I've always felt this story was humorous:
http://www.moxiemag.com/moxie/articles/family/wrongmusic.html
-
Glad you found this discussion Zanybooks - We welcome your comments on Our Story of the Week - We do not condone on this site any story that emasculates either men or women.
-
Zanybooks--I read the story and fail to see its humor. Yes, the woman turns the tables on the man, but the writing is. . . .well. . . .OK I'll be kind and say, pretty awful. I see no real point in the story--other than the reversal. And the writing is predictable and adjective-ridden. I am a harsh critic perhaps. What's the man doing putting his shirt on and getting into bed?
Anyway, I didn't appreciate the story.
-
What's the man doing putting his shirt on and getting into bed?
Good point, Deems. Anyway, I thought the story was pretty lame.