Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 221 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations BEFORE we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum.
Monday, May 2, 2016
"Unsafe at Any Speed" and "Mr. Voice"
These two stories do similar things. They're both, in places, very funny. And they're also very site specific, FL for the former and Spokane, WA for the later. I'd like you to think about how they use humor and/or place to their advantage.
I find both stories very funny in places, but I think the humor is more outlandish and earned in "Unsafe." I love the doucheiness of Theo's boss, I love the affair w/ Stacey, esp. the scene where they escape the cops. The story has an extremely cinematic quality--it would make a great comedic film. Part of that, I think, has to do w/ the way Smith establishes place. We feel like we're in FL. The air feels sticky like it's a miserably hot day. I feel as if I smell the exhaust and gasoline of being on the highway.
Both of these places in the story are very indeed funny but what really brings it home is the actual description of the places that are being described in the story. In "Unsafe at any Speed" the description of the wavy streets and how they string all along Florida, like veins in that piece of land that juts out towards the south atlantic is what really got me, and also what helped was the description of the situations which plays also well in both stories. You get pulled into the situations, like Theo's anger, that the humor is like a huge reprieve from that anger and you can't help but laugh along with what he is decribing Florida to be.
In "Mr. Voice", this works really well because it would be simple say his voice booming through the whole house, but why and then when they describe the home and how it felt open, that's when it hits you. You feel sorry for Claude but cannot help but laugh at the dialog of this situation that has lead up from the described place, o cringe but it does a great job of pulling you into that moment.
I find both stories very funny in places, but I think the humor is more outlandish and earned in "Unsafe." I love the doucheiness of Theo's boss, I love the affair w/ Stacey, esp. the scene where they escape the cops. The story has an extremely cinematic quality--it would make a great comedic film. Part of that, I think, has to do w/ the way Smith establishes place. We feel like we're in FL. The air feels sticky like it's a miserably hot day. I feel as if I smell the exhaust and gasoline of being on the highway.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these places in the story are very indeed funny but what really brings it home is the actual description of the places that are being described in the story. In "Unsafe at any Speed" the description of the wavy streets and how they string all along Florida, like veins in that piece of land that juts out towards the south atlantic is what really got me, and also what helped was the description of the situations which plays also well in both stories. You get pulled into the situations, like Theo's anger, that the humor is like a huge reprieve from that anger and you can't help but laugh along with what he is decribing Florida to be.
ReplyDeleteIn "Mr. Voice", this works really well because it would be simple say his voice booming through the whole house, but why and then when they describe the home and how it felt open, that's when it hits you. You feel sorry for Claude but cannot help but laugh at the dialog of this situation that has lead up from the described place, o cringe but it does a great job of pulling you into that moment.
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