Blog #3

Shaggy Dog Stories

Question to analyze: Why is the punch line always at the end of the story?

1, 5, & 6 are what questions we used in Gee’s text that provides evidence for our answers to our question.

We found that the answers to the text questions we chose can be found in the Code/Patterns in each story we read.

Codes/Patterns:

·      Sequence format to the stories

·      Hype up the story to leave you with a laugh at the end

·      Ending ties everything you read together

·      Personal connection made throughout the story that trigger emotions at the end when reading the punch line, such as happiness or laughter

·      Social language that is easy to understand and attracts an audience that has background knowledge that leads them to comprehend the punch line and associate it with something humorous

·      Knowing previous knowledge of the subject will make the punch line funnier.

·      Most endings have a play on words

*  Some type of violence in the story line
* Development of the story line
* Sequence
* Provide background

Examples from stories: 

-Typical stereotypes such as the joke with lawyer character.

-Smokey the bear is used in one of the stories that borrows facts and lines that we were previously familiar with

-The lawyer story contained a sequence of events that led up to the conclusion - the reader needed to know the information throughout the story before coming to the punch line at the end

Theory: In order to tell a story that result in a humorous punch line, the story must contain a sequence of events that is relatable to the audience. This gives the reader time to understand the story first, and then when reaching the end of the story they are awarded with an ending that pleases the reader.