Misconceived Humorous Analysis “A sense of humor is just common sense dancing.” -William James . The two stories that I am comparing are “The Weather of New England” by Mark Twain and “The Dog that Bit People” by James Thurber. These essays are both humorous essays. In “The Weather of New England” , it talks about the different , interesting types of weather in New England. In the dog story the crazy dog bites everyone even the own family. Both these humorous essays use style, tone, and perspective to tell their stories in their own way and describe their conflict. Mark Twain uses style when he uses big words like sumptuous and centennial to describe the weather.He uses these words by saying there are different varieties of weather in New England that can be admirable to a stranger. He also uses words like dazzling. This shows sarcasm and understates the unknown weather making it seem like no big deal , but it can be dangerous and more people feel unexpected and unprepared. For example when he says, “You leave your umbrella in the house and sally out with your sprinkling pot and ten to one you get drowned.” he uses and understatement. There is a flood and he should be scared. James Thurber uses style by using hyperbole.. For example, when he says “ He gave me more trouble than all the other fifty-four or -- five put together.” He over exaggerates about how Muggs gets in more trouble than all fifty five or fifty four dogs combined. Another way he used hyperbole is when Uncle Horatio tried to force him to eat on the floor. He was making a big deal by not just letting the dog eat on the table. He also uses understatement to show his style. Like when he said “ There was a slight advantage in being one of the family, for he didn’... ... middle of paper ... ...interesting beautiful way. His feelings are uncertain but in the end he forgives the weather and calls it the most “enchanting “ weather in the world. He realizes that the uncertain weather is better and he actually likes it. In conclusion , that is how both authors used style, tone, and perspective and conflict to show the humor in their essays. James Thurber and Mark Twain use style by using understatements and hyperbole to show their conflicts. Both authors have a different and are irritated by both the dog and the weather and they use their tone to show that. James Thurber’s were confused about the love-hate relationship with the dog until he died at the end. Mark hated the weather until the ice storm came and started liking the beautiful uncertainty of the weather in New England. These two stories are different but both used STP to write a good humorous essay.
There are many writers that convey their purposes using different methods. Many writers use different techniques to persuade their audience towards a specific idea in their writing. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain tells the story about a boy named Huck, who takes on many adventures along with Jim, a runaway slave. Throughout their journey, Huck starts to realize that African Americans are much the same as white Americans. He sees that the treatments of African Americans is wrong and cruel. Huck’s view on African Americans changes through the course of the novel because Twain introduces his idea of racism being immoral through the different uses of techniques. Writers like Walt Whitman, Brent Staples, Langston
In the short stories “A Drug Called Tradition,” “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor,” and “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore” collected in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, author Sherman Alexie uses humor to reflect the life on the Spokane Reservation. In “A Drug Called Tradition,” the story starts with a joke by having Thomas sit down inside a refrigerator in response to Junior’s comment as to why the refrigerator is empty. The Indians are having a party hosted by Thomas, who gets a lot of money from a corporation for leasing some of his land. Alexie’s three second selves, Victor, Junior, and Thomas, later go to the Benjamin Lake and use the drug that Victor brings with him. In “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor,” Jimmy Many Horses, who suffers from terminal cancer, humorously describes his tumors to his wife, Norma, who cannot bear Jimmy’s humor and leaves him. At the end, Norma comes back to Jimmy because the person she lives with is too serious. In “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore,” Victor and Adrian talk about the basketball stars on the reservation, hoping that someone on the reservation can resist alcohol and develop his or her basketball skills to be a successful ballplayer. The function of Alexie’s humor shifts throughout his stories. In “A Drug Called Tradition,” Alexie’s humor effectively accomplishes one of his goals by obliging readers to reconsider their concepts, while his humor helps his characters improve their situations in “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor.” In “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore,” humor mitigates the characters’ pain and despair. One common function hum...
What makes a piece of writing humourus? In “ How I got Smart” by Steve Brody and in “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, both use literary devices to tell a story from a younger perspective. Although they both use figurative language in a humourous way, Brody’s story is silly and has a happy ending and Hughes’s story is somewhat sad and does not end happily thus making Brody’s story overall funnier.
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
Mark Twain applies humor in the various episodes throughout the book to keep the reader laughing and make the story interesting. The first humorous episode occurs when Huck Finn astonishes Jim with stories of kings. Jim had only heard of King Solomon, whom he considers a fool for wanting to chop a baby in half and adds, Yit dey say Sollermun de wises?man dat ever live? I doan?take no stock in dat (75). Next, the author introduces the Grangerfords as Huck goes ashore and unexpectedly encounters this family. Huck learns about a feud occurring between the two biggest families in town: the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons. When Huck asks Buck about the feud, Buck replies, 搾... a feud is this way: A man has a quarrel with another man, and kills him; then that other man抯 brother kills him; then the other brothers, on both sides, goes for one another; then the cousins chip in ?and by and by everybody抯 killed off, and there ain抰 no more feud挃 (105). A duel breaks out one day between the families and Huck leaves town, heading for the river where he rejoins Jim, and they continue down the Mississippi. Another humorous episode appears n the novel on the Phelps plantation. Huck learns that the king has sold Jim to the Phelps family, relatives of Tom Sawyer. The Phelps family mistakes Huck for Tom Sawyer. When Tom meets with Aunt Sally, he ?.. [reaches] over and [kisses] Aunt Sally on the mouth?(219) This comes as a surprises to her and Tom explains that he 揫thinks] [she] [likes] it?(219) Later, Huck runs into Tom on the way into town and the two make up another story about their identities. The two then devise a plan to rescue Jim. They use Jim as a prisoner and make him go through jail escaping clich閟.
Satire is a writing technique used oftentimes as a way to criticize or mock something comically. Many writers utilize satire to reveal their perspectives on social issues without outright stating them. Mark Twain 's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn exhibits many examples of satire, all of which hint towards Twain 's opinions of the American society he lived in. Three particular societal norms Mark Twain uses satire to mock multiple times in his novel, include but are not limited to; racism and slavery, religion, and family feuds. There are multiple other instances for which satire is used, but these three are exceedingly prominent throughout the novel.
First, Mark Twain uses educated diction and obscure descriptions of Simon Wheeler in an attempt to entertain the general public reading the newspaper “The Saturday,” the newspaper where Mark Twain published his original version of his short story. To begin, Mark Twain uses the character of Jim Smiley to interest the reader and keep them hooked at the obscure personality of Mr. Smiley and his frog. Jim Smiley, a man addicted to gambling and competition, fools others through deception and false manipulations and gains the reader’s attention through his dedication to win and compete. Through clever manipulation of words, Jim downplays the skill of his...
Literature has played a large role in the way we perceive the world and it can affect the way in which we think about things. Edgar Allan Poe along with Mark Twain are two of the most influential authors that our world has ever seen. Their descriptiveness and diction has had a huge impact on their readers for centuries. Poe’s gothic style of writing was very enthralling and suspenseful; it left you wanting to know what was going to happen next. Whereas, Mark Twain was a very humorous author that intended to amuse all that read. The descriptiveness that was incorporated by these world-renown authors is tremendous.
One way the author tried to accomplish this was by the way that he used his figures of speech. Many of the authors' statements were very similar if not exact. For example, the author says a few times that 'the dust would rise and choke me.'; This figure of speech is repetitious, which I feel is one way that the author tried to capture the consistent style that he was looking for. Also, the author said, 'my pace was steady and rather fast.'; This statement is also used repeatedly as another way that he develops this consistent style.
...in mass of Flannery O’ Connor’s stories. Shilflet is supposed to drive off with Lucynell Crater and take her to go on a honeymoon. At this moment, ”the early afternoon was clear and surrounded by pale blue sky;” he still gets the chance to save himself. Whereas, after he drop her at The Hot Spot, he loses everything. The weather at this moment like “Deep in the sky a storm was preparing very slowly and without thunder… as if it meant to drain every drop of air from the earth before it broke.” Weather is getting worse after the hitchhiking boy leaps off his car. The personification of weather changes bases on plots throughout the story. O’ Connor uses such writing skills makes content more visible. Audience can easily recognized the process of plot by description of weather, it’s getting better or worse.
In conclusion, Merrill Markoe portrayed high comedy using witty humor along with situational irony in the short story “A Conversation With My Dogs”. She does this while also reaching the moral of the story, which is that with some people or animals you have to be super specific or else they won’t understand what you are trying to say. I have experienced this with some people, including my mom who is often focused on her work. The combination of witty humor and situational irony makes the audience
Barry uses this example to suggest that his comparison extends further than to just human males. And although the author is relating people to dogs, women readers will be able to relate and still feel superior since the male dog is constantly in trouble or doing something wrong. Barry mixes colloquial language with humor to make his essay easy to relate to and understand. By using common language, he becomes more understanding. It would not be humorous to use an extensive vocabulary along with jokes. He appeals to a wider audience by using simple, common knowledge words. He then uses italics to emphasize the jokes he is making. Often in writing, it is more difficult to make out what is meant to be sarcastic or verbal irony, but Barry overcomes this and is able to make his funny texts
As a very gifted writer and philosopher, Mark Twain, maintains his audience with the use of humor. He starts the essay out by saying, “You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I’ll tell you what his ‘pinion is” (1). The
Anyone who has ever read any of Samuel Clemens’s works should be able to recognize or identify with his style because he does not try to hide or mask them. Most of the characters in his stories share the same personalities as well. So it is very obvious that Twain’s styles often include using a form of comedy and delivering the messages he wants to portray through his philosophies.
Humor, along with its various forms, including satire, is often used to present social commentaries. This is especially true in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In his novel, Twain tells the story of a boy named Huckleberry Finn voyaging down the Mississippi River to free his slave companion, Jim. In doing so, Twain evokes many issues of Southern culture. Through the use of satirical devices, characterization, and story, the author enlightens readers and offers a critique on racism and religion. One of the best, if not the single most important, humorist in American history, Mark Twain, through his satire, paints a portrait of the pre-Civil War American South and all its flaws.