A Modest Proposal

I'm glad I had the chance to read "A Modest Proposal," finally. I read "Gulliver's Travels" for my novel class last semester and never realized how cleverly satirical Swift was and how people reading "Gulliver's Travels," could easily miss his meaning. I wrote a research paper on the book because I really enjoyed analyzing his work. Every little detail seemed to have been so cleverly crafted, for example, even the name Gulliver alludes to the nature of Swift's intentions. "Gull" is considered a dupe or fool and "ver" might signify veracity or truth. Therefore, "Gulliver" is the "dupe of truth." I found these same kind of crafty satirical aspects in "A Modest Proposal." To anyone that has not read "Gulliver's Travels," I would HIGHLY recommend it, especially to those that liked "A Modest Proposal." The whole idea of Swift's proposal, eating the poor children so they are beneficial to society, seems absolutely ridiculous but so keenly funny at the same time. Swift is so clever and I enjoy reading him very much because he appeals to my type of satirical/dry sarcastic humor; a type of humor less blatant like slapstick that requires thinking.

Twain Readings

In reading Twain's "Roughing It," I came across several difficulties in reading chapters 7 and 24. I did not find them so much as humorous as I did "cute." They were both stories in which I did not laugh at all throughout reading but after I could manage breathing out a "hah." However, I did enjoy reading chapter 47 and it was because of the qualities we brought up in class. I did notice that it was not a tall-tale and was definitely less slap-stick. I tend to enjoy humor more when it is more rhetorically-based, as opposed to the slap-stick in chapters 7 and 24. I find it also more true to life because my parents grew up in West Virginia and they have their own sayings that I don't understand and I'm sure I say things that I pick up from being in the city and around other people my age that they don't understand. When the priest and Scotty are talking and Scotty says that "they've scooped him," meaning death had come for Fanshaw, and the priest doesn't understand what that means, it reminds me of those kind of regional sayings that are still in existence today all over the country.

Modern Times

I thought Modern Times was very interesting, mostly because it was not what I expected at all. I think someone already brought it up in class, but I definitely noticed how unexpectedly dark it was. It covered poverty, hunger, murder, riots, etc., which were subjects that would have come to mind last upon hearing Charlie Chaplin. However, it was still humorous in a Murphy's law kind of funny. In other words, I could somewhat predict what was going to happen because I could always assume something was going to go wrong. For example, when the boss tests the machine that feeds workers so they do not have to take lunch breaks and could continue working while being fed, it was safe to assume that the machine would humorously mess up on Charlie. I was pleasantly surprised about the deeper content of the humor involved in Modern Times and although I was hesitant to watch it at first, I am glad that I did!

First Posting

This being my first post, I am searching for things to write about since I'm very new at blogging. At first I was unsure about how I felt about having to blog for the class, but I think once I'm all done at the end of the semester, it will be interesting to look back on. Upon watching the George Carlin video in class, I got to looking for my favorite online clips of some of my favorite shows and I want to share my absolute favorite. I don't know if anyone in the class is a RENO 911 fan or a Nick Swardson fan, but I'm in love with both!
I've embedded the video in this blog below but if it doesn't work on your computer, try this link... http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=174499&title=terrysparole,-part-2

RENO 911!

Terry's Parole, Part 2

More Funny Videos
Comedians on Tour

Get Funny Ringtones
Stand-Up Comedy

Anyways, I'm already enjoying the class very much. I haven't had very many classes in which I laugh everyday, but I've managed to genuinely laugh everyday so far.

I'm about to watch Modern Times, so hopefully I'll have more insightful things to talk about on the next post!