The Holidays are always a time we all look forward to but as the years go by we all have experienced the good and the bad. David Sedaris in Holidays on Ice, shared with us some of his personal experiences as well as fictional stories that took those experiences to a whole new level. In this essay, I will be discussing the different types of humor found in his stories and how he presents those stories with two different approaches.
First, I would like to speak about “Christmas means giving” which is an example of a story in which he created fictional characters. In my opinion, this story was definitely the most absurd, which is why I found it to be comical. Since it was not a realistic story, it was difficult to pity the families he creates.. What I found interesting was that this was a tragedy for the families in the story while as a reader it was a comedy. A tragedy because of the stubbornness of the families which lead the finality of them dying in the end, and a comedy because the random and unexpected events which I will show later on. This story starts with a family who lives in a luxurious neighborhood and were well aware of their superiority in the community. They all owned the newest most expensive and useless items such as an “Electric Shovel” or a “Riding Vacuum” (Sedaris 95). They lived an over-the-top lifestyle that was amplified during the Holidays, “After opening gifts we’d sit down to a sumptuous banquet, feasting on every imaginable variety of meat and pudding. When one of got full and felt uncomfortable we’d stick a silver wand down our throats, throw up, and start eating all over again” (Sedaris 96). Early parts of the story I would laugh because of how absurd some of the things they would do. This clearly shows...
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...a character, we saw to be true so we did pity him and relate to his misfortune because they were more realistic. He was able to evoke more pity with the “Santa Land “Diaries” and “Us and Them” than in “Christmas Means Giving” because the two were actual experiences and the one was just an imaginary, made up story. I would consider the whole book Anecdotal because it was a series of stories where he was able to pick out certain stereotypes or elements of society that are more prevalent during the Holiday Season. He shows the negative side towards the Holidays when we are normally used to only happy conclusions with the perfect family on Christmas Day.
Bibliography
Morreall, John. Comic relief: a comprehensive philosophy of humor. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.
Sedaris, David. Holidays on ice. 2nd ed. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2008. Print.
The Web. The Web. 13 May 2014. McCormick, Annie. A. “Brian’s Winter.”
Gioia, Dana; Kennedy, X.J. “Those Winter Sundays.” Backpack Literature. Fourth Edition. Terry, Joe. 2012. Longman, 2012. 382. Print.
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens is a tale of the morality changes of a man. The uncharitable, cold heart of the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, melts with ardent love as he receives visitations from three Christmas spirits who enlighten his soul with wise lessons and bring a warm change to his heart. In the beginning of the novel, Scrooge expresses his vices of greed and cold heartedness by his words and actions, but as the story unfolds, his life is renewed by these Spirits who shed light and truth upon him, resulting in making him become a better man, portraying the virtue of charity.
Notably, he lists off the following texts: Don Quixote, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Tristan Shandy, Huck Finn, Lucky Jim, Catcher in the Rye, and lastly Infinite Jest. He does iterate on the first two texts, and describes them as being very exhibitory of the comic impulse. Don Quixote exhibited the feeling of disappointment, and Dante’s Divine Comedy arose from the author’s feelings after being exiled from Florence. If not you as some individual, certainly many others found theses texts to be sufficiently humorous. One could attribute this to the fact that their respective author’s channeled their feelings that were rooted in tragedy, just as Almond
Comedy in Our Day Out by Russell In this assignment I am going to look at the ways in which Willy Russell has created humour within the play 'Our Day Out'. I will pay particular attention to the characters, their dialogue and the events that take place Willy Russell was born in a town near Liverpool, he left school at fifteen with no idea what he wanted to do and nothing but an O'level in English. ' Our Day Out', 'Blood Brothers' and 'Educating Rita' are a reflection of Russell's own experience of education.
Wintergirls is a book related to eating disorders. The author’s purpose of writing this book is to inform readers what a person with an eating disorder. It depicts the inner and outer conflicts that characters like Lia and Cassie face with disorder. It all began with a competition between two characters of who can be the skinniest. Cassie dies in the attempt of winning the game. Lia, the main character in this novel, always keeps track of her food consumption. For example, one breakfast morning, Lia said she didn’t want “a muffin (410),…orange (75),…toast (87),…waffles (180)” (Anderson 5). Lia constantly keeps track of the calories she eats. Unlike Cassie who follows the path of bulimia, Lia inhibits herself from eating, therefore not getting the proper nutrients. This allows the readers to know how a person with a disorder like Lia can restrain herself from eating foods that we’re used to eating in our regular lives. Her ultimate goal frequently change, getting lower and lower each time. Lia strives for a “five hundred calories a day” (Anderson 189). Her constant change of goals allows the readers to know the struggles a girl with such a mindset may feel.
...essage displaying that Santa is just like everyone else can help people to see the good in themselves. It is drunken Santa that has taken a wrong turn somewhere down candy cane lane. The metamorphosis from gift giver to conman is humorous, but nonetheless preposterous.
Gift-giving nowadays is no longer an act of kindness, but rather a political measure, taken to ensure one’s status with one’s acquaintances. While the general feeling of "goodwill towards men" still pervades the season, albeit filtered through television and municipal decorating projects, there is a great tension that precedes the actual Christmas holiday itself. I remember Christmases of my youth as enjoyable times, to be sure, but also as times when it was best to stay clear of my mother, who was inevitably in
Gallagher, Ann M. "Hayden's 'Those Winter Sundays.' (Robert Hayden)." The Explicator 51.4 (1993): 245+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Charles Dickens creates a world in A Christmas Carol where Christmas is simply magical. The scenes that Dickens describes capture the exact spirit of Christmas, making every reader both young and old relate. Dickens portrays a few of the Christmas traditions in A Christmas Carol that were typical during the Victorian Era, but definitely not all. Christmas during this time period was just beginning to become popular and widely celebrated. People were beginning to decorate their homes for the holiday in reverence of Jesus Christ as well as a sign of new life. Friends and family would send and exchange Christmas cards that featured unique artwork and designs. The legend of Santa Claus was just beginning to circulate throughout Europe. The food that was served for Christmas dinner was also a very important aspect of the holiday season.
When Melinda started her frist day pf highschool, she suffered from peer presure: her best friend left her, everyone hares her because she broke the party last year by calling the police, MElinda knew that no one knows the truth but she is go afride to speak the truth. Laurie Anderson used the sllusion of Rudolph the red-nosed raindear. In the story of rudolph, the red-nosed reindear is considered an”outcast” in the group of reindeers, Melinda feel like this reindeer, theye did nothing wronge, but the pressure they recive is runing their life. Anderson used the story of Rudolph to show how Melinda fell right now, and because the majority knows the story of Rudolph, they can understand Melinda’s feeling easier.
For example, when Scrooge changes because he sees who and how he is affecting and what he is missing out on because of his mood towards others.The article states that Dickens is very popular amongst modern traditions, and Christmas According to Dickens also confirms this by saying, “I have read A Christmas Carol probably ten times, ever since I began doing so as a yearly holiday tradition. I have listened to a recorded version of the book about three times. I have watched cinematic renditions of the story, at least ten times, ranging from the sublime 1951 version starring Alastair Sim to the ridiculous Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol from 1962. Moreover, I have seen live dramatic presentations of this story at least a dozen times, including the Christianized version that was presented every year at the church where I grew up, as well as the always outstanding performance at the Glendale Centre Theatre (which is still offering its winsome drama, now in its 47th year). In fact, last year I played the role of Marley’s ghost in a shortened dramatic version of A Christmas Carol at my work Christmas party. I hope there was more of grave than gravy in me.” (Roberts) This shows that people look up to Charles Dickens for his themes that were given out and they also look up to him to being a great literary writer and him being successful with his book, A Christmas
With this short essay Sedaris was able to appeal to our emotions as readers. When they got kicked out and they were very and almost “frozen” according to Sedaris, his images made us feel angry towards the mother. From his simply structured essay it makes you feel as an adult and as a child. It is structured in a way that would help the reader to stay with the story and builds the interest to keep reading until the end. Sedaris did a fabulous imaginative pieces that would appeal to the readers and appeals to the reader’s emotions as well. At one point he said, “Dusk approached, and as it grew colder it occurred to us that we could possibly die (Sedaris 73). He keeps his audiences remain emotional throughout the
Standiford, Les. The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits
When I think of Charles Dickens I instantly remember that famous quote “Please sir I want some more” from the little boy in Oliver Twist. During Charles Dickens, lifetime he became known all over the world for his short stories, plays, novellas, novels, fiction and non-fiction stories. His remarkable characters, mastery of prose in the telling of their lives, and his depictions of the social classes, mores and values of his times were well known all over. In the spirit of the holiday season I read one of his short stories called “The Christmas Goblins” which teaches a valuable lesson.