Author Topic: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories  (Read 60826 times)

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #40 on: May 29, 2009, 05:29:40 PM »
     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.

Humor - laughter - comedy

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

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

Our Story of the Week

"LUCK" by Mark Twain

  • 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


I assume 'gazetted' is some kind of British military term, ALF, but I'll wait and see what you found.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

ALF43

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #41 on: May 30, 2009, 07:15:18 AM »
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."
Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.  ~James Russell Lowell

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #42 on: May 31, 2009, 07:52:03 PM »

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...

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #43 on: May 31, 2009, 08:15:24 PM »
     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.

Humor - laughter - comedy

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

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


  • 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

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #44 on: May 31, 2009, 08:21:17 PM »
I love this bit - it was so un-natural that it was hilarious

Quote
"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 man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #45 on: June 01, 2009, 09:03:28 AM »
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)
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #46 on: June 01, 2009, 11:02:37 AM »
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.

Quote
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.


Quote
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.

Quote
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

Quote
...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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #47 on: June 01, 2009, 11:18:35 AM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #48 on: June 01, 2009, 11:32:44 AM »
Here is Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition for us.

Quote
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

Quote
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.

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

ALF43

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #49 on: June 01, 2009, 02:42:55 PM »
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.
 
Quote
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
Quote
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-- 
Quote
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]
Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.  ~James Russell Lowell

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #50 on: June 02, 2009, 08:29:00 AM »
 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 go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #51 on: June 02, 2009, 03:18:04 PM »
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...

Quote
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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #52 on: June 08, 2009, 11:42:45 AM »
     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.

Humor - laughter - comedy

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

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


  • 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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #53 on: June 08, 2009, 11:52:50 AM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #54 on: June 08, 2009, 10:30:36 PM »
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?
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #55 on: June 09, 2009, 08:16:20 AM »
 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.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #56 on: June 09, 2009, 08:27:25 AM »
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 go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

JoanR

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #57 on: June 09, 2009, 10:06:19 AM »
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!

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #58 on: June 10, 2009, 08:21:32 AM »
 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.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

nlhome

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #59 on: June 11, 2009, 12:35:04 PM »
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

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #60 on: June 16, 2009, 01:54:46 PM »
     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.

Humor - laughter - comedy

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

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


Our Story of the Week

"Diddling" by Edgar Allen Poe

  • 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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #61 on: June 16, 2009, 02:04:32 PM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #62 on: June 17, 2009, 08:47:07 AM »
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.

"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #63 on: June 17, 2009, 02:35:03 PM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #64 on: June 18, 2009, 07:57:24 AM »
 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.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

Frybabe

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #65 on: June 18, 2009, 11:50:15 AM »
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?

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #66 on: June 18, 2009, 02:04:07 PM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #67 on: June 18, 2009, 02:10:29 PM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #68 on: June 19, 2009, 08:18:07 AM »
  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 go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #69 on: June 21, 2009, 05:48:00 PM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #70 on: June 21, 2009, 06:10:11 PM »
     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.

Humor - laughter - comedy

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

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



  • 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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #71 on: June 21, 2009, 06:28:13 PM »
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #72 on: June 22, 2009, 08:09:57 AM »
  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?
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #73 on: June 22, 2009, 03:28:46 PM »
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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #74 on: June 23, 2009, 07:54:01 AM »
 I missed Ponder Heart, BARB.  It might have made a difference if I had seen it.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #75 on: June 28, 2009, 01:37:17 PM »
     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.

Humor - laughter - comedy

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

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



  • 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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #76 on: June 30, 2009, 01:21:39 PM »
 
Reading about humor this popped out -
Quote
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.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #77 on: July 02, 2009, 01:14:06 PM »
(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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #78 on: July 06, 2009, 05:03:13 AM »
     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.

Humor - laughter - comedy

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

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



  • 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
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Babi

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Re: Humor, Wit and Satire ~ Short Stories
« Reply #79 on: July 06, 2009, 08:48:40 AM »
 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.
 ::)
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs