Final Reading Post

For my last reading post of the semester I decided to go back and talk about one of my favorite books from this semester. If you had asked at the beginning of the class to predict my favorite book of the course I would have immediately said The 50 Funniest American Writers. Surprisingly the excerpt we read from only joking may have been my favorite and judging from the final presentations I think the rest of the class enjoyed it as well.

The reading refreshed my memory of all the theories of humor we had learned earlier in the semester but in a much more painless and humorous manner than Morreall. The theories of humor were one of the most interesting aspects of the entire class and provided a great base for everything we would look at for the rest of the semester. It was just difficult to get remain interested in the topic while reading Morreall. Only Joking was amusing and informative, exactly what I expected from a book about humor.

Only Joking also reinforced one of the other main points I learned during the semester, that the quickest way to kill a joke is by explaining why it’s funny. The authors of Only Joking pointed this out several times and would even warn the reader before they were going to dissect a joke and inevitably kill its humor. Most of the jokes they dissected were actually pretty funny but after reading about the same joke for several pages I was over it. My favorite part of the book was the jokes located at the bottom of every page. They were almost all hilarious and best of all I did not have to read an obvious explanation of why they were funny. These rare moments in the readings where a joke was left untouched and allowed to speak for itself provided the most genuine humor. While Morreall was still educational, I think it was more entertaining to read about the theories of humor as explained by two comedians.

Final Conversation

                I met with my conversation partner Tiffany for the final time Wednesday in Union Grounds.  I wasn't sure where this particular conversation would go but I had a feeling finals and summer would come up in the conversation somewhere. I was a little worried that these last few conversations would be awkward and a bit repetitive after a whole semester of meeting and exploring most of topics.  Luckily this wasn't the case. For me, the later conversations with Tiffany were actually less awkward than the initial conversations because we knew more about each other and she seemed more comfortable and willing to share about her thoughts.

                Our conversation started out about how thankful we were to have finally reached the last day of classes for the semester. We had also both noticed the semester had gone especially after spring break.  Tiffany took one of her finals this week so besides her ESL classes she only has one final left and is already relieved that she is almost done with everything. I could tell she was very excited about getting back to China to finally see her family and friends. She said as soon as she gets back to China the first thing she is going to do is get some real Chinese food as soon as possible.  Her flight back to China leaves Sunday and her dorm is letting her stay a little bit later so she has a place to stay over the weekend.

We had touched on humor in Chinese culture earlier in the semester but I decided to ask Tiffany about it again to see if any of her opinions had changed since the beginning of the semester. She said that from her observations, humor seems to be pretty universal and the people in America laugh at the same things her friends would laugh at back in China. She cited funny TV shows and movies of examples of humorous thing that are similar in American and Chinese cultures.

After our brief discussion of humor , we started discussing the biggest adjustments we had to make for our first year of college and what we had learned in the past year. Tiffany said the biggest adjustment for her was the independence. In China is she ever had a problem or needed something done she could look to her parents for advice or to help but in college on the other side of the ocean she was really on her own. I agreed that this new found independence was a big change but a good one. Tiffany said that so far college has been a lot less stressful than high school in China was. She explained that in China there was constant pressure from her parents and teachers to do well on her tests and the school days lasted from 7 AM to 5 PM.  She has really enjoyed the more relaxed schedule and lower number of tests.  

After a whole semester of conversations I am glad I got to know Tiffany and I had the opportunity for this unique learning opportunity outside the classroom. It was an eye-opening experience to see how Chinese culture differs from American culture especially compared to what I had previously thought about China. I also have a greater understanding of the challenges that a foreign exchange student faces as they go through on a day to day basis as they not only receive a higher education, but adapt to an entirely new culture.

Mark Twain’s Advice for Finals Week

As finals week lies on the horizon and I already can feel the tension between studying and procrastination setting in, I decided to look to Mark Twain for wisdom on the upcoming week. After reading the wit and wisdom of Mark Twain I was sure he would have something to say about the next week.  Oddly enough Mark seemed to be on both sides of the issue. The first quote I came across that caught my attention was

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

Just as I saw in my first round of reading Twain, he is right on the money with this one. Once I get started on studying or an assignment I usually find it is not that difficult and goes by quickly. Some days this is my attitude on studying and I can get quite a bit accomplished, but I can also put off studying for hours or even days if it does not seem urgent. As I was still pondering this piece of advice I found another quote that seemed to support the opposite opinion.

“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

I know for me, most of the time this thought will cross my mind before the first Twain quote and studying will often get pushed back. It is reassuring to see that even Mark Twain valued the practicality of procrastination. Ultimately studying over the next week will be a mix of these two strategies, starting early on all the urgent studying and saving everything else for the day after tomorrow….or maybe the day after that.

The last quote Mark Twain quote I found to get me through finals week was a convenient piece of advice for our final paper in LitCiv,

“Substitute 'd**n' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

I don’t know that I would recommend this exact strategy but it’s apparent Twain likes the four letter word that doesn’t exist just as much as Professor Williams.

What's funny?? Kmart Commercial

I realize I already have all my "what's funny" posts are done for the semester but I still had to post this one. I don't have to explain this one too much, the humor in this commercial is pretty straightforward. The obvious play on words here is "shipping your pants" which is repeated many times throughout the commercial. The clever use of words here reminds me a lot of the kinds of things we read all semester in Anguished English, except in this case it is done on purpose for the sake of humor.But enough with the analyzing, enjoy the commercial.

Conversation 6

           I was able to meet with my ESL partner Tiffany again yesterday afternoon at Union Grounds during a short break between classes. Our conversation began again with a few brief remarks on the ridiculous weather which seems to be a different extreme every time we meet. This particular day it was ridiculously cold and had caught us off guard. After that our conversation shifted to our hectic schedules for the end of the year and the impending doom that is finals week.

Tiffany is only taking two classes but has finals for her ESL classes as well. The finals for these classes are a lot longer and have writing, speaking, and listening sections on them, which did not sound like a good time to me.  My finals week is nothing out of the ordinary, five finals in four days each worth twenty or thirty percent of my grade. Tiffany asked me if I had any test or projects during the last of week of classes. I thought for a moment and said “Yep, one in every single class,” as I was just realizing this fact myself.  Most of them were more on the enjoyable side so I wasn’t really complaining. Tiffany had a project due that week for her Survey of Music class but it was just a report on her favorite music so she was looking forward to it. She wanted to know what sorts of projects I had to do for engineering so I explained that right now we are building bridges out of magnetic sticks to see whose can hold the most weight. After that the conversation shifted to the different majors at TCU and Tiffany’s plan for the next year.

Tiffany isn’t completely sure yet but thinks she wants to be a business major. She explained that she still has quite a bit of time to decide because she has a lot of core classes she still needs to take and next semester she will still be taking several ESL classes. She was already nervous for the possible interview she would have to do to get into the business school down the road. A brief discussion about possible electives for the fall turned the conversation to the subject of religion. Tiffany was particularly nervous about this elective because she didn’t belong to a particular religion and imagined a class about religion in America would be quite different from what she had been exposed to in China because most people there she knew were Buddhists. I assured her you didn’t have to be an overly religious person to do well in a religion elective and that world religions might be a good choice for her. She had several questions about Christianity and wanted to know how often I had to go to church which I was glad to answer. She had gone to church with several of her American friends one week and said her favorite part of the experience was all the music even though she wasn’t sure what was going on the rest of the time.  My brother plays piano in Church so as terrible as it sounds I have been sick of “Church music” from an early age because he was constantly practicing in our house. Our conversation on religion helped me to realize how important TCU’s core requirements can be in exposing every student to a diverse set of subjects that they otherwise might not have taken. I glanced at the clock and it was already time for my next class so we both left and agreed to try and meet at least once more before the summer.

Mark Twain

The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain was not what I expected it to be but I enjoyed it anyway. The book is structured as a dictionary of quotes arranged alphabetically by topic. The book includes topics relating to nearly every aspect of life so you are almost guaranteed to find something that interests you. After reading through many of the quotes you can really get a sense of the sharp wit and satire Mark Twain is known for. Each quote isn’t exactly what you might expect it to be which offers a cognitive shift and they are almost all clever in their own way. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book so far:

“Circumstances make man, not man circumstances.”

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

Each of these quotes offers Twain’s perspective on certain parts of life. They each point out a truth about the human condition that we ourselves often overlook or are unable to see. The first quote is about how people are often a product of their experiences in life and I have also found this to be true.  Each struggle or success has an impact on that person, their character, and how they will choose to live the rest of their life. The second quote involves thinking for yourself and not being afraid to question the status quo. Often times it is easy to just go along with what everyone else says or thinks but is important to step back and ask yourself if you really feel the same way.

I also picked out a few quotes that offer more of a cognitive shift:

“Never waste a lie; you never know when you might need it.”

“Always obey you parents, when they are present”

Again this is solid life advice except this time it comes with a bonus cognitive shift. With the first quote, most readers are expecting Twain to denounce being dishonest but instead he acknowledges how useful lies can be. In the second quote, the reader is used to hearing “always obey your parents” and by adding “when they are present” Twain says out loud what we usually think in the back of our mind when we are told to obey our parents.

The last quote I chose involves what we have been studying all semester:

“Humor is mankind’s greatest gift.”

From what we have learned this semester, I would agree with Mark on this one. Humor keeps life interesting and enjoyable and perhaps no one knew this more than Mark Twain.

What's Funny? Uncle Drew

For my next what’s funny I decided to pick a Pepsi Max advertisement from last year with Kyrie Irving. The series of advertisements is named after the character Kyrie Irving plays in the commercials, Uncle Drew. For the video, Irving is dressed up and wearing makeup that make him look like a sixty year old man instead of an NBA all-star point guard. Uncle Drew then goes to a park to watch his “nephew” and his friends play a pick-up game of basketball. When one of the players gets hurt, the nephew says Uncle Drew can still play and invited him out on the court. It’s obvious the nephew knows what’s going on and the person who got “hurt” probably does too but all of the other players really think Uncle Drew is an old man. At first Uncle Drew can barely get up and down the court and his shots are nowhere close to going in. By the end of the video Uncle Drew is crossing over defenders, draining threes, and throwing alley-oops to himself of the backboard.

The humor in this video lies in the fact that the other players have no idea who Uncle Drew really is. Initially they’re entertained by how bad he is and that he is actually trying to play at that age. Their reactions slowly change and they are beyond confused about what is going on. Another aspect that makes this video funny is the incongruity between Uncle Drew’s age ad his basketball skill. Ordinarily we would expect an old man to not be athletic so we are amused when we see Uncle Drew dunking.  

One key to the video is how well Irving pulls of his role. He walks and talks just like we would expect a person that age to and he really makes the whole video believable and hilarious.