Seminar: Culture and Humor

Guiding Questions: How does culture influence what we find funny?
                  Why do these things often fail to translate across cultures?
Analyze these two articles:

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/read-our-blog/translation-of-humour-across-cultures.html

Include: Kim Jong Un; Kwintessential; universal; The Onion; Mandarin; satire; slapstick; quintessential
http://splitsider.com/2011/04/the-myth-of-universal-humor/

Include: Comedy Tourism; zinger; LaughLab; "grain of salt"; corroborate; "macro topics"

Your analysis of the article needs to include the following:

1. At least one note (key words/ideas)  AND one question per paragraph (can be about word meanings, ideas mentioned, interpretation, or expanding)
2. Describe the most interesting or important point the author made.
3. Summarize the essential of what the author says in 3 sentences or less.
4. Go back and answer questions at the end (you may ask for help).
5. Be prepared to present your findings to the class.

GLArts: Theme comparison

COMPARING THEME in two stories: “The Old Grandfather and His Little Grandson” and “The Wise Old Woman” (Jan 15-16)

the theme of the story is the message that the author is expressing in the story, often taking the form of what characters learn (or what readers can learn from the characters).  In both stories, there are characters who learn an important lesson. What theme do the stories have in common? Describe how the characters learn this lesson in each story, using this difference to show the slight differences in the themes each author is revealing. 

Explain your answer in a well developed paragraph using these elements:

Introduce the stories and question/topic [3 pts], topic sentence [2 pts], evidence from stories (use page and line numbers)[10pts], expansion of themes [5pts] and conclusion [5pts].  [25 points total]

"The Old Grandfather and His Little Grandson"

p470

p472