Blog 3 shaggy dog stories

Suzy, Kimberly, Maritza

Shaggy Dog Stories

 In our Group we analyzed the effectiveness of a Shaggy Dog Story's punch line. We broke it down into it's various parts to see how the parts relate to make the punch line effective.

      Question: What makes the punch line of a Shaggy Dog story effective?

We analyzed the “Thank Friday, it’s God” story to use as an example of how Shaggy Dog stories (1) must have an audience with prior social knowledge, and (2)use Gee’s tool of intertextuality to make the punch line effective.

Social Language

·         “Robinson Crusoe fell desperately ill” =fell desperately grabs the reader’s attention and implies that he is a sick man…i.e. “before dropping into a comma”.

·         “he called for his man Friday”, “he went back into Crusoe's tent and found his master awake”, and “His helper answered”=all these imply that Friday is a servant or a worker for Robinson
Crusoe.

·         “staring at a beautiful glowing shape at the foot of his bed.”= this can be looked at as a religious symbol; it seems to have a certain significance of God.

            Social Identity

·         “danced and prayed for the gods to come and help his master.”= this shows that Friday has a very close relationship with God. He seems to be performing some sort of religious act by dancing and praying. Many people connect to God in different ways based on their religion. It also shows that he cares for and has a close relationship with his friend Robinson Crusoe.

In considering this language, what sorts of relationships among different Discourses are involved?

·         The relationship between Robinson Crusoe and Friday is that of a master and his servant. This means that Robinson Crusoe has authority over Friday (his helper), and speaks to him in that manner. For example, Crusoe said,. "Friday, get help! Get help!" Crusoe says this in a demanding way. He doesn’t need to ask in a respectful tone because he has that power as a master. When it comes to Friday on the other hand, his role as servant is seen when he replies a simple "Yes!" when his master calls him. He also runs outside not knowing what to do, showing that he knows where he stands as a helper, which is to not ask questions but to do as he is told. In viewing this, these are the roles the play.

 Intertextuality

·         Gee’s tool of “intertextuality” plays a big role in Shaggy Dog stories. The punch line in this story is “His helper answered, "Thank Friday! It's God!"  This is an example of intertextuality because it plays with two meanings. The first is actually within the context of the story where he’s thanking his helper for saving his life/helping him when he needed it the most. Basically
Robinson Crusoe asked for help from Friday because he was sick, and Friday prayed for him and God appeared, implying he was saved. Which is why he said “Thank Friday, it’s God.” The second is a connection outside of the story and falls under Gee’s “Conversation” tool (Big C). This requires prior knowledge of a particular social culture (pop culture) which knows the phrase as “Thank God it’s Friday.” This second meaning implies that people are happy it’s Friday because it’s the end of the work week and they don’t have to work the next couple of days (most people). The people that fall within this social culture are usually excited, relieved and happy to start off the weekend and not have to worry about anything work-related. This is why this culture usually says the phrase, “Thank God it’s Friday.