Humorous Literature Ask the Author
Assignment 4
3. Farewell, My Appetizer, by S.J. Perelman
My question to the author would be:
• When you parody another author’s work, are you complimenting or critiquing it or both? Please explain your answer.
• When you worked with the Marx Brothers on Monkey Business and Horsefeathers, did you find inspiration for any stories that you saved and wrote later?
The assignment I would give to the class would be:
4. Choose a favorite film or book noir and identify 3 characteristics that define that noir; character, theme, plot, setting, etc. Then, use the selected characteristics to discuss different ways to apply them in a humorous way; parody, satire, irony, slapstick, etc.
The House of Mirth, by Peter De Vries
Questions I’d ask Mr. De Vries:
• What was the reason you made the wife so dull and flat?
• Did you hope the audience would feel the husband’s absurdity through the wife or that the audience would feel the wife was absurd for playing along as much as she did?
• Did you come up with your ideas for your stories or did the magazines you worked for suggest ideas for your stories?
• How many drafts of The House of Mirth did you write, before you wrote your final version?
4) What is the most absurd characteristic a friend or family member has and how would you represent it by using humor?
It’s So Hard, by Wanda Sykes
• Where did you find inspiration for this and is any, a lot or all of it subjective for you in some way; are you comfortable making jokes about your personal life or do you prefer using other peoples life traumas or does it make any difference to you? If so, what’s the difference?
4) What/who would they choose to make a humorous statement about; external or internal, personal, celebrity, political, daily life, school, work, play?
3. Farewell, My Appetizer, by S.J. Perelman
My question to the author would be:
• When you parody another author’s work, are you complimenting or critiquing it or both? Please explain your answer.
• When you worked with the Marx Brothers on Monkey Business and Horsefeathers, did you find inspiration for any stories that you saved and wrote later?
The assignment I would give to the class would be:
4. Choose a favorite film or book noir and identify 3 characteristics that define that noir; character, theme, plot, setting, etc. Then, use the selected characteristics to discuss different ways to apply them in a humorous way; parody, satire, irony, slapstick, etc.
The House of Mirth, by Peter De Vries
Questions I’d ask Mr. De Vries:
• What was the reason you made the wife so dull and flat?
• Did you hope the audience would feel the husband’s absurdity through the wife or that the audience would feel the wife was absurd for playing along as much as she did?
• Did you come up with your ideas for your stories or did the magazines you worked for suggest ideas for your stories?
• How many drafts of The House of Mirth did you write, before you wrote your final version?
4) What is the most absurd characteristic a friend or family member has and how would you represent it by using humor?
It’s So Hard, by Wanda Sykes
• Where did you find inspiration for this and is any, a lot or all of it subjective for you in some way; are you comfortable making jokes about your personal life or do you prefer using other peoples life traumas or does it make any difference to you? If so, what’s the difference?
4) What/who would they choose to make a humorous statement about; external or internal, personal, celebrity, political, daily life, school, work, play?