The Secret to Humor is Surprise in The Weather of New England by Mark Twain and The Dog that Bit People by James Thurber

1. Twain uses a lot of humor and sarcasm throughout his story to create his satire.

Young Goodman Brown and A Cask of Amontillado both incorporate a gothic theme to the simple yet intricate plotline they hold. Within the two short stories, irony scatters, adding to the overall grim theme. Although they use the same 3 types of irony, the authors use them differently and similarly at the same time. In Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne and A Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, there are many examples of situational irony that are used comparably in both texts.

Irony is a very big part of a story, because it can create new elements in a story. Some of these elements may include humor and theme. "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a great example for this.

What makes stories special is the ability to portray meaning between the lines. Every author has their own characteristics and spin that they incorporate into each of their pieces. These can include character genre, symbolism, plot structure, and irony. Shirley Jackson writes an ironic story about a small village who partakes in an annual lottery. The village looks forward to this day and moods are always high. However when the reader gets to the end of the short story they are shocked to find the lottery is a drawing for who in the village gets stoned to death. In The Lottery, Jackson surprises her readers by putting an ironic twist at the end of her tale, by filling the story with warming articulation, light hearted characters, but

“Humor brings insight and tolerance. Irony brings a deeper and less friendly understanding” writes Agnes Repplier, a famous essayist, about her feelings about humor and irony. In addition, irony happens in everyday life, even though it may not be evident. Besides the irony that happens in everyday life, it can also be presented in short stories such as: Sherman Alexie’s “Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ At Woodstock,” Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and Gabriel Garcia MArquez’s “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children.” Although all three stories have different characters and conflicts, there are numerous situations of irony that are

In the short stories “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, irony is the main element used. Like many authors, these authors both use irony to their advantage. One story is about a hunter being hunted, an ironic twist, for a reason yet not stated. And the other is about a murder being committed using reverse psychology which takes place in a family catacomb with a fondness for wine ironically enabling the crime.

Elements within literature make a story unique and admirable.. In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”, the short story exemplifies several usages of literary elements. The author of the 1930 classic, Katherine Anne Porter, made irony very prevalent throughout the story. For instance, Porter’s masterpiece includes an immense percentage of it being written around an ironic situation. In this essay, I am going to elaborate with you, the reader, examples and the premises as to why the author used literary elements in her work.

A very dull and boring story can be made into a great story simply by adding in something that is unexpected to happen. When the unexpected is used in literature it is known as irony. An author uses irony to shock the reader by

One writing that Mark Twain is not as famous for, but is still a well known piece of work for showing the use of humor in his writings is, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. This work starts off slow without much humor until later on in the writing. The humor picks up as Twain includes bits of sarcasm to the mix. The humor in this short work is not so hidden or subtle as it may have been in some of Twain’s other writings. One example of this sort of dry humor is, “And Smiley says, sorter indifferent like, ‘It might be a parrot, or it might be a canary, may be, but it an't it's only just a frog.’” (Jumping Frog). This shows a side and type of writing that is not usually seen with Twain. Usually the humor in his writings was always sort of hidden away and harder to pick out, but in this work, it is more obvious that he is trying to make it humorous. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” may not be as widely known as some of Twain’s other work, but it is a good example of how he includes humor into his writings to catch the reader’s attention and to provide some comic relief from, at times, tense situations.

Mark Twain and James Thurber portray conflict in their humorous writing using literary devices. This enhances their stories and makes them enjoyable to read. Mark Twain in “A Toast to the Oldest Inhabitant: The Weather of New England” and James Thurber in “The Dog that Bit People” use hyperbole, understatement, and precise diction to portray the conflict that develops their humorous writing.

The first story is Gentleman, Your Verdict and the second story is the firing squad.

5. Humor exploits ridiculous or incongruous aspects of life for laughter or amusement. Although the novel as a whole does not use much humor, there are some fine examples of it in chapter 10. Give two

The written word has become a domain for people of all ages and eras to learn from. Within the last century or so, there has been a procession of memorable writers with important messages to understand and learn from. It takes diligence when reading to understand what the author is saying within the context of their lives. Sometimes, the context of the reader’s life makes the writer’s story more memorable. In The Best American Essays of the Century, by Joyce Carol Oates, just in the range of 35 years, from 1901 to 1935, readers are told about things experienced, told, or imagined. Each essay tells a story or a lesson in the form of the written world. Although the authors most likely lived very different lives compared to each other, each essay portrays similar ideas or themes that can be interpreted by the readers. Only through writing can ideas, such as these, be preserved and shared with others in completely different situations as the author was. These essays’ themes have made them timeless, being able to apply to the past, the present, and the future. Within the first fifteen essays of this collection, the themes: the present is made from events in the past, strength can be stemmed from bad surroundings, and judgment is inevitable from those around us, are evident and important for readers to discover in order to understand the historic credibility behind them.

Mark Twain and James Thurber use conflict and figurative language to develop and enhance their humorous writing. Although conflict can be humorous in itself, the way conflict is presented and the author's tone used with the conflict can greatly increase the humorous effect. Mark Twain's short story, "A Toast to the Oldest Inhabitant: The Weather of New England," pokes fun at the uncertainty of New England weather, while Thurber's short story, "The Dog That Bit People," explores the adventures of a unique, matchless dog. Both authors have a very relaxed, casual, and sometimes satirical tone. The tone expressed by Twain and Thurber leads to very humorous moods in these two short stories.

Use the guided analysis exercises within the lesson as a model for this part of the assignment.