Blog 5 Shaggy Dog Stories

Reading the Shaggy Dog stories are very amuzing. Some of them are really draw you in and have a great punchline. There are some however that in my opinion are very dull but still serve the purpose of drawing you in and delivering a punchline. Here is how I predicted how the other class would rank the stories.

(1) String
(3) Dentist
(4) Ghandi
(2) Lawyer


String- I predict that the other class would like String the best because it met the most criteria for what we percieve as funny.
Legnth= was the longest of all stories, and it offered a back and forth dialogue between the string and bartender which showed character and scene development.
Connections to the Audience= String is something we can all identify with. As well as a scene in a bar where this is dialogue between the bartender and subject. The back and forth banter and conflict  draws you in and you anticipate the punchline.You can imagine in your head this piece of string sitting at the bar and asking for a drink. It was the most absurd because it dealt with ther personification of an inanimate object. That always makes for a funny story.
Ironic contrast= In the story it seemed the string the "underdog" you wonder if he will ever get his drink. He is being refused by bartender after bartender and bar after, bar.
Surprise= The string "the inanimate object" uses his wit and smarts, which is absurd and comes up with an idea or plan to get his way. "He had a passerby tie him up into a bow and frazzle his ends. Then he went back into the bar, and climbed up on the barstool. "Bartender, gimme a beer!" he said loudly.
 Conflict/Wordplay= At the end of the story you assume the string gets his beer, but the bartender recognizes him. "Hey, aren't you that string that was in here a few minutes ago?" The string replied coolly, "Nope, I'm a frayed knot." A simple word phrase that we have all used and can all imagine as funny.

Lawyer-I predicted this would be in second place because I think the majority of people could relate to a good lawyer joke. At the college level it safe to assume that everyone knows what a lawyer is and the stereotypes that are associated.
Legnth=The legnth of the story worked well for what is considered funny. The plot developed very well with a beginning, middle, and end. The character development worked well with different characters being introduced into the story. The wealthy lawyer, the Czech friends, the sheriff and the absurd and infamous bears. The bears bought an element of violence which of course is an element in what the reader finds to be funny according to our analysis.
Ironic Contrast=The idea of a bear eating the Czech friend whole, and the cowardly lawyer running away is absurd and funny. One female bear and a male bear are presented which sets up the elements for the punchline. The female bear in the story gets shot which is an element of surprise.
Conflict/Wordplay="The sheriff grabbed his shotgun and dashed back to the berry patch with the lawyer. Sure enough, the two bears were still there. "He's in that one," cried the lawyer, pointing to the male, while visions of lawsuits from his friend's family danced in his head. He just had to save his friend. The sheriff looked at the bears, and without batting an eye, leveled his gun, took careful aim, and shot the female". This was a great presentation of conflict and conflict resolution which makes the punchline "getable". I like the fact that there were two references in this story, one for the Nutcracker."What did you do that for?" exclaimed the lawyer. "I said he was in the other one!

"Exactly," replied the sheriff. "Would you believe a lawyer who told you the Czech was in the male?"

Connection to audience=Again the violence panned out to a spoonerism reference the chech is in the mail, which is a phrase that a college level student can identify with.

Dentist- I predicted this would be in third place. It was not very funny to me but a little more funny than the Ghandi. It met some of the criteria for what we percieve as funny in the Shaggy Dog stories.

Length= Not very long. Story does develop with the man and dentist in a dialogue, however it lacks and overall conflict the reader likes.

Ironic Contrast= the story was just rediculous as well as the reference to the hollandaise sauce.

Word play= The word play was developed throughout the story, with the hollandaise being introduced at the very beginning and followed throughout. The punchline was definitley unexpected with a reference to "No place like home for the holidays."

Connection to audience= This is a punchline that all readers may not be able to connect with if they dont celebrate the holidays. It wasnt violent in nature and did not meet a lot of the criteria for what is perceived as funny

 

Ghandi- I predicted Ghandi to be in fourth place because of its  length and element of surprise makes it the least funniest of all the stories.

Legnth=It was the shortest of all the stories, which may take away of what the reader percieves as funny according to our analysis of the funnier stories being the longest. It didn't develop over a long period of time, and the punchline was very quick. Reader did not have time to be drawn in.
Ironic Contrast= Ghandi is a very serious religious leader. The overall joke was definitley not something the reader could have imagined when thinking about a serious of character as Ghandi. The story was initially filled with facts, that didn't draw you into the aburdity of we aspect to be funny. "He walked barefoot everywhere,his feet became quite thick and hard. Even when he wasn't on a hunger strike, he did not eat much and became quite thin and frail. He also was quite a spiritual person." These are all serious facts and then your thrown off with "Furthermore, due to his diet, he ended up with very bad breath. Served as a disconnet while eluding to the punchline.
Word Play=He became known as a super-calloused fragile mystic plagued with halitosis.
Connections to Audience= Readers would have to have seen Mary Poppins and understand the phrase "supercalifragilisticespalidoshes" in order to get the spoonerism. They would also need to know who Ghandi was in order to get the joke. It is a little harder of all the pieces to connect to a broader audience.

Blog 3 Oral History

I interviewed Joe Palinsky. I was the interviewer, and I shared with Joe the details of my account of what happened that day.

 How old are you and were do you live?
Joe: 26 years old and I live in Colonia, NJ.
Me: I live in Rahway, NJ (Joe and I realize how close we live to each other, 5 minutes away.)


Where were you on 9/11?
Joe: I was 15 years old at the time, a sophmore in Union Catholic H.S. I remember being in Italian class it was about 9:30am when the anouncement came over the PA system about a small plane colliding into the world trade. We had inaccurate accounts about what actually happpened but class went on anyway. At 11:30 am my third period chemistry class teacher was all distraught and acting very confused. Her account was that a plane hit disney land. In Union Catholic we all had individual laptops so I went online but couldn't get any info, cause the server was down. We didn't have hi-tech connections back then. It was shear pandemonium as people started finding out what really happened.
At 11:30 in gym class people had found out that the news of what really happened and some students got picked up, the rest of the students stayed in school the rest of the day.




Me: I am can't believe you all had a full day of school. I was 24 and in college at Middlesex County, which has a large Middle Eastern population. No one new what happened initially, the professor in my first class said the world trade was bombed and told everyone to leave immediatley.


What was the sentiment of the people around you?

Joe: It was a lot of fear. I am not a person who is afraid of much. I don't usually get in a state of paranioa , but I was afraid. My religion class teacher showed us the tower falling. There were conflicting views on what happened it was overwhelming. I was hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed. I had hope as we saw people being pulled out of the wreckage.




Me: As I was leaving school I saw some students of Middle Eastern decent laughing and cheering about the catastrophic event. (Joe is in shock, he could not believe that anyone would cheer at the demise of others.)


Did you have a connection to anyone at the twin towers, pentagon, or on a plane that was affected by 9/11?
Joe: I wasn't really worried about my immediate family no one lived in NY at the time. I did have a friend that it was ironic that both of his parents called out of work that day, and they worked at the towers. I was a little guilty that I was happy about that but it was a small victory. I was happy they survived. I also knew a priest who was connected with my high school who died at the towers.


Me: I didn't have anyone who directly connected but I realized in an instant that I was going to be connected to 9/11. While people around me were thinking of others, I was thinking of how it was going to effect my family. At the time I was a reservist in the United States Army, and I knew after watching the news and hearing a war would be waged on terrorist that I may be called to go overseas.


What did you think about the attackers?
Joe: At the time it happened I didn't know anything about the attackers. I later found out that the terrorist used a computer in William Paterson, the college I was in. He used the library to book a ticket for one of the planes.


How has 9/11 changed the world?
Joe: The world has never been the same. The world is definitley much more bizarre. People are more fearful, there was more profiling of middle eastern groups. Muslims were being treated badly, more wrongs came from the event. The political premise was unecessary, people were patriotic and unpatriotic at the same time. I hated that people were capitilizing off of it. People were afraid to go to NY after that. My parents were not afraid of NY they went to a show in Times Square a couple of weeks later.


Me: I remember people becoming upatriotic and profiling groups that had nothing to do with 9/11. I also remember the boom in cell phones, and no contract cell phones, before that you needed a big deposit to put down if you wanted one, and phones and plans were very expensive.

Blog 4 Oral History Analysis

I interviewed Joe Palinsky. Joe gave me great in depth details of the events that unfolded on 9/11.
 Our interview was a little unique. Talking about 9/11 brings both us to share our feelings together. As I am interviewing Joe I could not help to reflect on what I felt that day. As I listened to Joe answer the questions I asked, he listened to my account based on those same questions. My account is denoted in dark blue font. I chose to analyze my interview with Joe and Arlene and Daniel's interview because they both in a high school setting when they found out about 9/11. Being teenagers and myself a young adult we were able to formulate our own opinions about what it meant to us, how we searched for the real events after hearing different accounts.

Coding:
Pink= Age , location and detail
Yellow=feelings after an accurate account of what happened
Green=Ways of dealing with attack after accurate information was recieved
Orange= Knowing someone directly involved in attack



How old are you and were do you live?
 Joe: 26 years old and I live in Colonia, NJ.
Me: I live in Rahway, NJ (Joe and I realize how close we live to each other, 5 minutes away.)

Where were you on 9/11?
Joe: I was 15 years old at the time, a sophmore in Union Catholic H.S. I remember being in Italian class it was about 9:30am when the anouncement came over the PA system about a small plane colliding into the world trade. We  had inaccurate accounts about what actually happpened but class went on anyway.  At 11:30 am my third period chemistry class teacher was all distraught and acting very confused. Her account was that a plane hit disney land. In Union Catholic we all had individual laptops so I went online but couldn't get any info, cause the server was down. We didn't have hi-tech connections back then. It was shear pandemonium as people started finding out what really happened.
At 11:30 in gym class people had found out that the news of what really happened and some students got picked up, the rest of the students stayed in school the rest of the day.



Me: I am can't believe you all had a full day of school. I was 24 and in college at Middlesex County, which has a large Middle Eastern population. No one new what happened initially, the professor in my first class said the world trade was bombed and told everyone to leave immediatley.


What was the sentiment of the people around you?
Joe: It was a lot of fear. I am not a person who is afraid of much. I don't usually get in a state of paranioa , but I was afraid. My religion class teacher showed us the tower falling. There were conflicting views on what happened it was overwhelming. I was hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed. I had hope as we saw people being pulled out of the wreckage.



 Me: As I was leaving school I saw some students of Middle Eastern decent laughing and cheering about the catastrophic event. (Joe is in shock, he could not believe that anyone would cheer at the demise of others.)

Did you have a connection to anyone at the twin towers, pentagon, or on a plane that was affected by 9/11?
Joe: I wasn't really worried about my immediate family no one lived in NY at the time. I did have a friend that it was ironic that both of his parents called out of work that day, and they worked at the towers. I was a little guilty that I was happy about that but it was a small victory. I was happy they survived. I also knew  a priest who was connected with my high school who died at the towers.

Me: I didn't have anyone who directly  connected but I realized in an instant that I was going to be connected to 9/11. While people around me were thinking of others, I was thinking of how it was going to effect my family. At the time I was a reservist in the United States Army, and I knew after watching the news and hearing a war would be waged on terrorist that I may be called to go overseas.

What did you think about the attackers?
Joe: At the time it happened I didn't know anything about the attackers. I later found out that the terrorist used a computer in William Paterson, the college I was in. He used the  library to book  a ticket for one of the planes.

How has 9/11 changed the world?
Joe: The world has never been the same. The world is definitley much more bizarre. People are more fearful, there was more profiling of middle eastern groups. Muslims were being treated badly, more wrongs came from the event. The political premise was unecessary, people were patriotic and unpatriotic at the same time. I hated that people were capitilizing off of it. People were afraid to go to NY after that. My parents were not afraid of NY they went to a show in Times Square a couple of weeks later.

Me: I remember people becoming upatriotic and profiling groups that had nothing to do with 9/11. I also remember the boom in cell phones, and no contract cell phones, before that you needed a big deposit to put down if you wanted one, and phones and plans were very expensive.





Arlene and Danielle
Where were you on 9/11? Interview
On this occassion I was the interviewer. I spoke to Danielle on what her 9/11 experince was. She lived here in New Jersey, and was a senior in high school when it happened. She had a very descriptive story, and remembered the 9/11 events in more detail than myself (I was only in the sixth grade).

Q: Where were you on that day? How did you find out?
A: She walked into class and saw the news footage on T.V. As soon as the images of the plane crashing into the first building appeared, the teacher had her class shut everything off. There were people screaming, very scared and worried about what happened. Later on there was a school lock. There were students trying desperately to get out of school to get their loved ones.
Q: Compare & contrast your feelings about 9/11 from then and now.
A: At the time there was a lot of anger. There was very strong anti- Muslim sentiment, since everyone needed to put the blame on someone in order to feel (somewhat) better about what happened. However, after she found out what was really the cause of this incident (incompetence in our leaders) there was more a sense of disappointment in our leaders.
Q: What do you feel was the mood overall of the nation/others at that time? How does that vary from your point of view?
A: She says there was more of a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood following the 9/11 events. I point out that it is a travesty that these horrific events are often times what it takes for there to be sense of togetherness in a nation.

Q: Could you tell a story of a friend or someone you know and their experience?
A: Danielle's best friend lost a loved one. After they saw the footage in class, they went to the senior lounge to listen to the radio about what happened. She just remembers her friend screaming and very overcome with emotion.
Q: How do you feel about the memorials?
Danielle points out that there has been debate over whether or not these 9/11 memorials should take place anymore, since it has been eleven years since the attacks. She says that she feels it is very important to conduct memorials, since it is important to pass on to our children the significance of these events. 

After analyzing the data the seemed to be a direct correlation of the age of the subjects being interviewed and the detail of 9/11 account as well as their sentiments. The facts that I chose to focus on presented high school students and post high school. All subjects were in school at the time, and were given accounts based on what was know at the time. No information was concealed, because of the assumed maturity of students. All persons were able to get an accurate account of what happened on 9/11 either through searching for the truth and being told at a later time after events had already unfolded. One the thruth was found the sentiment of those around the subjects were fear, overwhelmed, sadness and  pandomonium. Students were upset and wanted to leave shcool, and parents came for their kids. Myself, I found that those were the sentiment of those who did not sympathize with the attackers. Where I was in middlesex county some students were cheering and they empathized with the attackers which is very interesting because we dont't think of those who support the attackers views. There were other ways of dealing with the attacks. Some blamed the attackers and the government to try to make sense of things. Joe found solice in knowing that people were being pulled out of the wreckage. Althought none of the subjects were in NY that day, all the subjects knew someone who was effected. One family called out of work and lived, and new someone who died, another subject knew someone who had a family member that died. I would be directly effected because of my military status. Together all subjects were in a state of fear and found ways to deal with it. Reading all the blogs we find that for the most part those of who live in New Jersey were effected differently than those who lived and worked in NY. We also formed our opinions of the attacked based on our age and understanding the truth of what happened. The initial reaction was fear followed by ways to make sense of it all. However one coped it was a sad day for all the subjects being interviewed...

Blog 2 Analysis

Analysis is taking a set of data and comparing and contrasting it to come up with a result that will prove or disapprove an idea. Analysis looks at data and breaks it down into components that will help come to some conclusion in defining the data. In class we looked at a sort of puzzle with a missing peice and had to come up with what piece was missing based on data already presented. We looked at the content such as the shapes, colors and orientation of the puzzle. As a group the most important part was analyzing the data and looking for patters to complete the puzzle. We had to come up with ideas and test our theories which is an important part of anylizing data.
In researching my topic of interest writing, I can look at different pieces and compare their gramatical styles, vernacular style, language usage and overall context. That is breaking it down into components. Trying these different aspects of writing and applying them to my creative process would help become a better writer which is my overall goal.

Blog 1

Research done in English and writing studies take a look at language, words and grammar and how we apply it in society. In English research Language is looked at in the form of words, that convey varying meanings and messages depending on the user, and the context of which it is used. Grammar and usage is also an important component.  Research in writing studies looks at how words inform, show emotion, action and convey a message to a reader. How it is done allows us to connect and interact with one another. Language and how we use it gives a description of oneself. In it can manifest ones age, identity, economic status, education and place in the world so to speak. Research methods allows us to see how this effects us and makes us think as a whole society.
I am interested in researching writing and how to perfect my writing skills. I like to write, and put alot of my personality in anything that I create. I would like to research different writing styles to become an more effective writer.