Blog #3

Write a list of features of what makes a shaggy dog story a shaggy dog story.

To do this, you will need to:

1. Analyze all the jokes
2. Identify (name & list) their features
3. State which features all 4 jokes have in common.

“Only you can stop forest fires” (From Class Blog)

1. stories start out rational (innocent)
2. then build to the ending
3. readers need cultural knowledge to "get" the joke in terms of
the punchline
what a friar is
why "MacTaggart" would be a likely name for a bully ( this is a Scottish name - in NJ the cliché would be to expect an Italian name - right? so why Scottish?)
4. the punchline sounds like a garbled version of a famous phrase
5. the punchline elements are set up VERY early in the joke (except HUGH which is more toward the end)
6. punchline elements are repeated & emphasized
7. gives clues to the listener that it is a joke (the line about asking the mother to speak to the priests)
8. formal language - connects to storytelling (as if a narrator is telling it)
9. rule of three

Giant Panda

1. Must have prior knowledge of location and words in story (NYC/ maitre d')
2. Comedy is used
3. Joke at the end
4. Progressive story/ climax/ falling action/ punch line
5. Joke introduced in same sequence of story
6. Violence is used
7. Irony
8. Double meaning of words (shoots/ leaves)
9. Specific location of story
10. Story is another way of introducing fact in encyclopedia
11. Irrational story
12. Dialogue

String Joke

1. Common American joke
2. Repetition
3. Irrational story
4. Joke introduced as a definition (a bow with frazzled ends)
5. Two words that sound the same with different meanings and spellings
6. Dialogue
7. Specific Location
8. Joke at the end
9. Progressive story to build on punch line

TGIF

1. Background knowledge of Robinson Cruscoe/ Religion
2. Dialogue
3. Irony
4. Specific Location
5. Words of common saying given spread out throughout the conversation
6. TGIF

Check in the Mail

1. Violence Comedy
2. Double meaning of words that sound the same but are different (Check and Mail)
3. Dialogue
4. Time (summer) and location given
5. Punchline at the end of the story
6. Specific characters

Common Features of a Shaggy Dog Story

1. Punchline at end
2. Specific Characters
3. Some kind of dialogue (direct or indirect)
4. Specific location
5. Words used in punch line sound the same as common saying or joke but are spelt the same and have different meanings
6. Story form
7. Progressive storytelling
8. Components of joke are given in sequence within the story
9. Comedy and or violence used
10. All American jokes/ common sayings