Debra DelleDonne
Dina Rodrigues
Marc Ennis
The Shaggy dog stories are ones that can definitely keep its readers interested. Their bizarre beginnings pull a reader in until they reach the end where the joke is revealed and hopefully the reader understands it. After reading all the Shaggy dog stories my group and I discovered that all of the stories have very unique features in common. Together we began to list all the common features that we could find. One common feature we found were the different puns in each of the stories. We also determined that all of these puns would not be understood in another language. Say they were written in spanish or german, they would not come out the same and the reader would not find it funny.
Furthermore another feature that is common between all the Shaggy Dog Stories are the conflicts that occur. The string faces the conflict of not being given a beer because he is a string, Robinson Crusoe falls deathly ill, a lawyer and his friend come across two bears in the wild, a panda escapes the zoo and opens fire in a restaurant, and lastly a florist’s business goes under due to friars opening up their own flower shop. All of these stories as you can see have the common feature of having some sort of conflict. Another common feature of all the stories is the type of character within them. All of these characters are very flat, with one dimension. For example, the string is just a string, we don’t know anything about him or what he is. Just that he is in a bar and can’t get a beer. Same thing with the Panda. We don’t know how he escaped the zoo or why. He’s just a panda in a restaurant shooting people for no apparent reason.
Additionally, what we noticed about the set of shaggy dog stories that we read were that all of the stories, had a premise not based in reality. We all know its not possible for a panda to walk into a restaurant and shoot people, just like we know its not possible for a string to order a beer at a bar. You also have to suspend your belief that god would be present as a glowing light, and that a bear would swallow someone whole. On the same issue of unrealistic events being portrayed in the readings there is always a realistic setting with the punchline rationalizing the meaning of the two conflicting scenarios. For example in the string story, we see something unrealistic like a talking string but is set in a realistic setting like going into bar and ordering a beer, and that sets up the basis of the joke. Like most stories, the jokes here all have one or more characters having a conversation with each other. For the shaggy dog stories it seems to be imperative for progressing and setting up the basis of the story that there is some sort of dialog.
Another main feature we found within the shaggy dog stories was that each of the stories has a main character. Each story was focused on the journey of each character which was the focus of the joke. Although we did not learn much about the characters personal lives, we knew just enough about them to understand their emotions. Another feature that we found to reoccur within the stories was the central setting. Each story took place in a specific area that also added to the joke. The characters in each story all had a different setting, but all settings took place in a public area. For instance, the panda in the restaurant, the string in the bar and the friars in the flower shop. Each character was out in public dealing with their personal lives. We were also able to analyze that each story had an ending statement that wrapped up the meaning of the story. This is a very important aspect not only to jokes but to any story, the ending is where the story should make the most sense. The ending of the shaggy dog stories all share the same feature of the ending statement summing up the story.
Also, within the Shaggy Dog Stories, the end of each story ended with a play on words, also known as a pun. For example, in the third story about the string who was repeatedly refused a drink, thus the string tied himself into a bow and unraveling the ends of himself [he’s a string]. The story ends with the string once again ordering his beer and the bartender asking him if he’s the string from before. To quote the story, “The string replied coolly, "Nope, I'm a frayed knot." Here, ”a frayed” sounds like “afraid” and “knot” sounds like “not”. The humor is that both interpretations are accurate to the situation in the story, not to mention that the entire story hinges on that particular pun as if the pun was the focus and the story was then built around it. Seeing as it is the last line and the punch line of the story, the reader is left to giggle on this play on words.
The stories also contain characters with very specific needs and desires with are logical, at least within the context of the story. Those needs and desires are then achieved, even if they seem ridiculous. For example, in the story where the panda is ordering food, the Panda is actually given the food he orders. This is logically explained by the story in that the reader finds out the panda can speak like a normal human being. Also, because of the location, which is New York City, it is explained that the population there has see so many strange things that it would actually be illogical for a New Yorker to panic or to question the presence of a panda in a restaurant. Furthermore, after the panda has its shooting spree, the panda requests that someone look up the definition of a panda, and the other characters present heed that request. In essence, no request is too ridiculous for any character in a Shaggy Dog Story; the request may not be achieved in a conventional way, but it will be achieved.
Lastly, some of the stories have dark humor which is a variant feature. As a variant, dark humor and violence are often the main features of the stories. For example, in the story about the lawyer whose friend was eaten by a bear, the act of being eaten is very violent. Subsequently calling someone to shoot the bear is also very violent. Moreover, the punch line, which is a pun as well [see #4] has an element of dark humor [i.e. "Would you believe a lawyer who told you the Czech was in the male?"]. On the other hand, there are Shaggy Dog stories that do not contain violence or dark humor. In the story about the string who wanted a drink, the string did not resort to violence in order to get a drink nor was any violence commit onto the string. Furthermore, the punch line was an innocent play on words ["Nope, I'm a frayed knot."], making violence and dark humor possible variant to this kind of story/joke telling.
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