Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories

[PatH]

Humor                 Wit           Satire                      in      Short Stories

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
• What makes a good short story

Humor - laughter - comedy

• Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present

Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -

• Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason
• The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change...

Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.

• What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire
• Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South
• Shapes of Satire

Our Story of the Week

"The day I ate whatever I wanted"
By Elizabeth Berg

• 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

[nlhome]

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.

[BarbStAubrey]

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.

[BarbStAubrey]

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.

[Babi]

  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.

[BarbStAubrey]

Humor                 Wit           Satire                      in      Short Stories

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
• What makes a good short story

Humor - laughter - comedy

• Comedy: From Aristophanes to the Present

Wit - "Brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare -

• Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason
• The Meaning of Wit has Undergone Periodic Change...

Satire - Vice or folly attacked through irony, derision, or wit.

• What is the Difference between a Parody and Satire
• Huck Finn is a Satire of the 19th C. American South
• Shapes of Satire

Our Story of the Week

Chapter One of "Dave Barry's Money Secrets"
by Dave Barry

• 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

[BarbStAubrey]

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

[zanybooks]

I've always felt this story was humorous:
http://www.moxiemag.com/moxie/articles/family/wrongmusic.html

[BarbStAubrey]

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.

[Deems]

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.

[PatH]

What's the man doing putting his shirt on and getting into bed? 

Good point, Deems.  Anyway, I thought the story was pretty lame.