In case you couldn’t tell, I’ve become fascinated with the constituents of a good story. Whether it’s the way it’s told or to whom it’s addressed, I love the idea of every moment being a storyable one. This partly stems from my studies in Communication, but also from my trip abroad, my opinions columns and, come to think of it, everything I’ve ever done. I mean, all our experiences add up to who we are now, right? I’m rambling, so I’ll defer to a man who is considered to be one of the greatest storytellers of all time: Mark Twain. Man how I would have loved to have met him!
In How to Tell a Story and Other Essays, Twain says, “The art of telling a humorous story–understand, I mean by word of mouth, not print –was created in America, and has remained at home.”
He claims that there are witty stories (told by the French), comic stories (English), and humorous stories. The latter is specific to the United States and is the most difficult form to successfully deliver.
The writing in itself is hilarious. Twain picks apart others’ forms of humor as “pathetic,” “depressing,” and so bad that it “makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life.”
His commentary is so interesting because it critiques so many different (Western) cultural values. My Oral Narrative professor said today that humor is dependent upon structure and content, but especially social context. There are so many different types of humor; Twain’s analysis shows again that it takes a well-traveled, critical eye to find what makes for the best of anything.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to travel around and keep an astute eye on what makes people tick.
If you’d like to read some of my more in-depth, philosophical analyses of daily observations, read my Isocratean reflections page. I’ll soon be writing a piece on the topic of comedy.
A.M.Roth 