Hi guys,

Just a reminder of this definition on a metaphor, from the Blog Post 3.2 assignment:

A metaphor is a comparison between two unrelated nouns. Nouns.

So, love (noun) is a battlefield (noun) is a metaphor.

Love is beautiful (adjective) is not. That’s just an example of using the adjective, beautiful, to describe the noun, love.

Sometimes you can use a verb or adjective that doesn’t naturally “belong” with a noun, and thereby suggest a metaphor. For instance, if you say “The carnivorous (adjective) pencil (noun) devoured (verb) the page,” you’re personifying the pencil and thus making (I would argue) a metaphor.  But the surest way to make sure you’re crafting a metaphor is to compare a noun to another noun.

Check your lists to make sure you’re not merely describing a noun with an adjective–especially one that isn’t surprising or doesn’t defamiliarize the noun–since that doesn’t make a metaphor.

Some of the stories in this 60 minute work really captured my attention while others were just begging me to skip them. After listening to all 20, I decided that I most enjoyed “Don’t I know you,” “No, of course I know you,” “Up where the air is clear,” and Act 10, which has no title but is a 2 minute play.

One thing that connects all four stories is that they made me laugh. Especially Act 10. Definitely Act 10.

I sometimes think my sense of humor is quite odd, as I find amusement in some things where few else do, and no enjoyment in things that most people find laughable. Half of the time I spend with my friends is filled with polite smiles or blank expressions as they share some joke that I can’t relate to. The other half is spent trying to cover for my own failed attempts at raising some chuckles from them. In these stories, though, I can see the humor that the authors intended to convey, and I have received it well. That must mean that my own sense of humor isn’t so unusual after all.

That brings me to another connection – I can relate to each of those stories. Okay, I’m not an under-recognized actor who roams the streets of New York everyday, but I have certainly made innocent situations awkward by pure accident before.

The four pieces I chose can each tie into an experience I’ve had in my life; thinking about a strange woman for hours, even days, before finally placing where I’ve met her before; trying to hold a good conversation with someone I have only one thing in common with (and nothing else); and doing an improv act in front of an audience. That’s why I’m able to laugh at these stories – I have some kind of experience that allows me to relate to them and find the humor.

Maybe I’m just taking the chance to laugh not at what the authors placed in my ears, but simply at myself.

Simile
As empty as an eaten bowl of cereal
As weak as a toothpick
Gathered together like pile of snow
As rough as sandpaper
Trembling like a leaf
Praying like a preying mantis
Bouncing like a rubber ball
Smiling like a happy child

Metaphor
Heart of gold
Mountains of Vermont
War is negative
The ocean is blue
The moon is bright
This house of sticks
My love is sincere
Writing is thoughtful

Paragraph
The house of sticks trembled like a leaf; composed of toothpicks.
Piles of snow as soft as feather gathered round the house in support.
Located in the mountains of Vermont, where it snowed continuously, huge drifts of snow lined banks and valleys. The sky was bright blue with sharp rays of sun piercing through.
Skiiers, dressed in heavy winter jackets and ski boots, dragging skis, trudged to the tops of mountains. They flew down mountains through snow at top speed. They gathered at the bottom for hot coffee and tea, chatting and exchanging conversation. Several wrote letters thoughtfully.
When the sun set later in the evening, it was a rainbow of colors over Vermont.
Later that night the sky turned black and filled with stars. Skiiers returned to their cottages , preparing to arise early with the sun for another d

What I don’t appreciate about myself is being unable to read out loud. I just can’t. Maybe it’s because of my voice or something else that is beyond my knowing, a mystery. So whenever I hear someone reciting something, or telling stories, I find myself drawn to that. It’s something that I like as much as  I like reading and writing for pleasure.

I read the script of Act 2 before I listened to it. Honestly speaking, it didn’t sound fun to me at all. However, it turned out very different when I listened to it. Once again my inability of reading out loud or reciting haunted me for the 2^nd time during this semester. And the first time it happened when we’re reading Sofia and Kris’s essay before the spring break. I had read silently both essays before professor Smith read them aloud to our class. So how did I feel when I read both essays to myself? The answer was- not so great. How did I feel listening to professor Smith reading? As she read along, I felt like I was listening to a song that has a very low background music which could only reach my ears. I drew a conclusion from that ” I lack this amazing quality that you people have.”

I liked all the Acts because I simply love listening to stories. Nevertheless, one story that struck me most is ” The Greatest Dog Name in the World.” This story and the two brothers bickering over dog’s name brought me a little sweet memory of my childhood. Like the two brothers, we, my brother and I, used to have little disputes over simple matters. Once my father bought a parrot home for us. He  thought it would make us happy. What he never thought was this parrot could literally create a problem that would destroy our normal peaceful life. My brother and I fought over the parrot’s name.  It wasn’t settled until my father opened the cage of parrot. He let go of the bird. And our fight flew away with it.

My favorite act was undeniably David Sedaris. The content of his writing usually elicits laughs from me. but his matter-of-fact tone added to the humor. In Act 11,  his vocal intonation reflects his writing – he makes grunting noises imitating his sister on the toilet but he stays minimal where others overdo. His description is vivid but he uses adjectives sparingly. While I appreciate high-brow and nerd humor, the teenage boy side of me still digs sophomoric humor. His comfort with the subject matter is a plus as well, it puts the reader at ease and the pacing works.

In Act 18, I enjoyed Klosterman’s methodical writing style and the inane subject matter. As someone who has devoured way too much TV and has a 27,000 song library mostly skewed to 20th century rock and jazz, I especially found his listing style and quick-witted observations entertaining. His quirky tone of voice and the setting in which his friends competitively try to correlate bands with TV shows is comical.

Susan Drury’s Act Three “It’s Commerce That Brings Us Together” was a quaint look at ebay’s predecessor. The thick accents of the callers selling mundane items while host Don straightforwardly announces these listings is strangely enthralling. The variety pf the items got me to laugh the hardest. Lost cows and trampolines without any tarps don’t seem to intrinsically have comedic value but they way they sit within the story makes them funny.

Lastly. Act 16 on the person who sits next to the printer and has his name forgotten quite quickly. As an intern doing “internwork” at a law firm, I can entirely relate. I appreciate the interviews with Matt’s co-workers which reminded me of The Office‘s mockumentary style. The sad trombone music is an amusing touch. Expounding on how the printer plays a large-than-life role for Matt – even appearing in his dreams – makes the story absurdly whimsical.

While most of the stories where enjoyable to listen to in passing, only three made me want to listen to them more than once. Act Seven: Up Where the Air is Clear, told a great twist on the story of the famous Batman villain, Penguin. I was comically surprised at the introduction of Mary Poppins and her eventful hookup with Batman, the turning point of the story was definitely a good curve ball. A good laugh always add life to a story, especially when you can picture the scene taking place. The scene being described in Act Nine: Of Dogs and Men, is easily one of the most hilarious stories of the bunch. The wife testing the dog collar out on her husband, is told so effectively that you could visual it as if it were a video that went viral. Another story that falls into the humorous and “picture this” category is Act Eleven: Etiquette Lessons,  the sisters go to line for disguising her bathroom noises while on the phone almost made me fall out of my seat. Through her change in tone and pitch you are transported onto the other end of the phone and can’t help but feel the same way David Sedaris does, played and dumbfounded.

The three to five most stories, I find most compelling are —

Act 7, “Up Where the Air is Clear”, Act 8, “The Greatest Dog Name in the World”, Act 13, “More Lies”, Act 16, That Guy at the Office”, and Act 20, “The Greatest Moment I Saw on Stage”.

The main quality that I see that they all share is that 4 out of 5 of the stories start in one situation and end in the opposite situation.

In Act 7, the penguin is a poet and dandy. But when he meets Mary Poppins, he feels ludicrous and tongue tied.

In Act 13, two college grads do some babysitting. They get hungry, put grapefruit and black beans in their bags. Both fall out; it is embarrassing and they mention to the parents that they got the food in the cafeteria at school.

In Act 16, Mat is the guy who sits near the printer. When people go to pick up their prints many times a day, they chat with him. In spite of this, nobody knows his name.

In Act 20, a girl steals clothes. She gets caught, and joins a gang to make money. The mother is disappointed, as she did not raise her daughter that way. She enters a detention center, and the girls sing to their mothers apologizing and that they are ready to change. They then give their mothers hearts.

The exception is Act 8, which ends in a compromise. In Act 8, two brothers get a dog, and fight over the name. One wants Pasta, one wants Batman. The mother enters, and declares that the name is Pasta-Batman.

Another quality they share, aside from ending in the opposite situation, is that the endings are rather unexpected; almost an irony.

For example, the penguin, a poet and dandy, becomes tongue-tied; two college grads tell a lie, Mat everyone chats with, but no one knows his name; girls in a detention center sing apologies; an argument between two brothers ends in compromise.

Go to the “Assignments” page of this blog for updated information on the Blog Post 3.2 assignment and all of our work for Unit 3.

Check out this competition, co-sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and now open for entries.

You could submit work written for this class. There’s also a competition for poets.

Chris Rock on Gun Control

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCFrlb6IK84

Louis C.K

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTrCBcrFMCI

http://25.media.tumblr.com/9acb3b8e97837dd86483e942c7c7a454/tumblr_mf2uo4zluG1rudptgo1_500.png

Max Amini

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIJBwBbLMMc