Writing humorously

13. Humour is something we all look for and are afraid of once in a while. Writing with humour depends either on the quality of the situation or on the skill of the author. Various techniques can be used here. One of the most basic ones is the pun or, simply, play on words. Read a short story by John Lennon entitled “The Wrestling Dog” and decide whether it is – well – funny.

The wrestling dog

One upon a tom in a far off distant land far across the sea miles away from anyway over the hills as the crow barks 39 peoble lived miles away from anywhere on a little island on a distant land.

When harvest time came along all the people celebrated with a mighty feast and dancing and that. It was Perry’s (for Perry was the Loud mayor) job to provide (and Perry’s great pleasure I might add) a new and exciting (and it usually was) thrill and spectacular performer (sometimes a dwarf was used), this year Perry had surpassed himselve by getting a Wrestling Dog! But who would fight this wondrous beast? I wouldn’t for a kick off.

14. Study all the unusual words/phrase you came across in the above text. Analyze their pun-tential.

15. Read the translation made by a professional, A. Kubbanovsky. Do you find it altogether fitting? Why (not)? In small groups, produce your own version.

Как-то раз, в незапамятные бремена, далеко-далеко, на краю земли, за холмами да за морями, куда и вороне не залететь, жили-были 39 человек на маленьком островке в да­леком и чужом краю.

Когда наступало у них время заражайное, тут уж все весе­лились как могли: пировали, плясовали и все остальное-прочее. А Перри (который был у них Лорд-Мурлом) должен был к празднику отрыть (тут-то он и показывал свою прыть) какую-нибудь новую забаву (вот смеху-то бывало!), аттрак­цион или артиста (как-то раз он пригласил гнома). Но уж в этот год Перри превзошел самого себя — раздобыл нату­рального Пса-Борца! Но только кто же рискнет сразиться с этим чудо-юдом? Да ну его на фиг!

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Project suggestions (Stories 1 – 5)

Work in small groups. Recollect a multi-meaningful title of a famous book. Make it the title of your project that may take the form of a book presentation. For example, you choose The War of the Worlds, Wells’ celebrated novel title. Consequently, you might like to describe the conflicts that take place between teachers and students in the school. Another title may give you a whole new set of ideas. So, start doing a library search!

Sara’s rapid

THINKING AHEAD

Have you ever considered sport a risky business? What are the most dangerous sports, in your opinion? Why do people persist going in for sport when their health and life are at stake?

A WORD ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Schmidt is an investigative reporter with the Wall Street Journal. She is best known for her work at The Washington Post, where she worked from 1983 until recently. While at the Post, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 2006. But her creative activities are not limited within politics. She regularly contributes to various publications writing human-interest stories. Her stories for teenagers are remarkable for her insight into her characters` psychology.

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

1. In small groups discuss what can possibly be called “sport for fun” and “sport for challenge”. What are the pluses and minuses of both?

2. What kind of sport appeals to you? Why?

3. Discuss the problem of chances and opportunity in sport and in life. Are they similar in nature? Can one have a second chance in sport (or in life)?

READING ACTIVITIES

4. Read the first part of the story and pay special attention to the way the author depicts the major character’s mood. What does the character’s phrase “I didn’t even try” imply?

Sara lay in the bow of the raft and stared into the blue-green water. Tomorrow we'll be at the car, she thought. The river trip will be over, and school starts in a week. Junior high. She sighed.

"The map shows calm water from here on out," her dad said. His voice sounded loud in the stillness. Sara sat up and ran her hand through her short blond hair, mak­ing it stand up in spikes above her green eyes. "You mean the rapid we just did, the one called House Rock, was the last white water on the river?" Her dad nodded.

Sara's stomach sank. Now I have to tell everyone I just rode in the raft the whole trip, she thought. All I talked about last year was kayaking on the big Salmon River in the Idaho wilderness. What a joke! Sara heard a splash and turned to see her older brother, Mick, pad­dling his orange kayak toward her. He had a big grin on his face, and his nose was smeared with white sun lotion.

"Hey, Sara," he called. "Hop in your kayak. That last rapid was great."

Sara stared at her hands clenched in her lap.

"Just 'cause that wave knocked you over on the first day is no rea­son to wimp out totally," Mick said.

"I'm not a wimp." She felt her throat tighten. "If you had almost drowned the first day, you wouldn't want to kayak either."

"You didn't almost drown. You were in the water about two min­utes before Dad pulled you into the raft."

"That's enough," their dad inter­rupted. "Sara doesn't have to kayak if she doesn't want to." Mick threw himself to one side, and his kayak flipped. His body disappeared beneath the water. He brought his paddle to the surface and swept it toward the rear of his boat in a wide arc. He instantly rolled back up, completing an Es­kimo Roll. "See you later, chicken," he called and paddled away.

Sara leaned against one of the wooden food boxes near the bow of the raft. I'm not chicken, she thought. But she closed her eyes and remembered the wave crash­ing down on her, knocking her into the cold water. I didn't try to do an Eskimo Roll, she thought. I just came out of my boat right away. I didn't even try.

5. Go on reading. Comment on Sara’s actions.

"Dad," she said, opening her eyes, "head toward shore. I want to kayak."

With trembling fingers she put on her life jacket, snapped her helmet strap under her chin, and paddled away from shore. Her hands were sweaty where they gripped the paddle. I feel like I could tip over any second, she thought. But she kept paddling, and as she glided by the low brown-gold cliffs, her arms began to relax. She heard a canyon wren sing suddenly, shrilly, and then heard a faint sound like wind in the trees. She stopped paddling, listening. She could see Mick in the distance. The white blades of his paddle flashed in the sunlight.

Suddenly, Mick turned his boat upstream and lifted his paddle over his head. "Sara, Sara," he yelled. He raised and lowered his paddle three times.

That means rapid ahead. Sara frowned. But Dad said there weren't any rapids, she thought. Mick's just trying to scare me. He's trying to make me go to shore so he can call me a chicken again.

Sara felt the current becoming faster, stronger. Mick began pad­dling hard upstream, heading for shore. The faint sound she had first heard had grown into a deep thrumming. Sara glanced nervously toward the distant shore. Downstream, the river disappeared as though it just dropped off the end of the world.

"Rapid!" she heard her dad call. She looked back upstream and saw him standing in the raft waving. Sara gulped. It's a rapid, a real one, she thought, and her stomach turned upside down.

Again Mick waved his paddle overhead. "Go back!" he yelled and suddenly lost his balance. His kayak flipped. "Roll back up," Sara pleaded. "Roll back up." Every muscle in her body was screaming to paddle for shore, but she had to see if Mick was O.K. Mick surfaced a few feet from his boat, swimming. Below him, Sara could see white water shooting into the air. He disappeared.

"Mick!" Sara screamed and started after him into the rapid.

6. Read the story to the end. Do you think it’s predictable? What your own version of the ending might have been?

There were rocks to her right and left, but straight ahead was a clear channel of smooth water. She aimed for it. White water cascaded over a two-foot ledge, crashing into a pool of boiling foam. A towering wave at the bottom curled toward her. Sara shot over the ledge, fell through the air, and smacked into the wave. It hit like a cold fist, but she kept paddling and burst through into the calm water below.

She saw Mick swimming down­stream. Quickly, she closed the gap between them. "Grab my boat," she yelled. Mick reached for the rope tied to the bow of her kayak. Just as his fingers touched the loop, her kayak slammed into a rock just be­neath the surface. Over she went into the cold water. I've got to roll, she thought, and she swept her paddle back, snapped her hips, and rolled up into the sunlight.

Mick grabbed hold of the rope, and Sara dragged him through the water toward a calm pool where his kayak floated. She stubbed the nose of her kayak on the sandy beach and climbed out. Mick staggered onto shore.

Their dad rowed toward shore with a worried frown on his face. He jumped out of the raft as it hit the beach and hugged them both. "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Yeah," Mick mumbled.

Sara could feel Mick trembling next to her. He wouldn't have flipped if he hadn't tried to warn me, she thought. And I didn't even believe him.

"Let's get some dry clothes on you, Mick," their dad said and walked toward the raft.

"I'm sorry, Mick," Sara said.

"I'm sorry I didn't go right to shore. I thought you were just trying to scare me."

"Sorry? If it hadn't been for you, I'd still be swimming."

"I saw the rescue," their dad said, walking back from the raft with Mick's clothes. "Great job, Sara!"

Sara felt a warm glow spread through her. "What rapid was that anyway?" she asked. "You said there weren't any."

"It looks like a new one," her dad said, pointing across the river. The opposite bank was bare where rocks, mud, and trees had slid into the river, creating a rapid. "Caused by a rock slide. It sure isn't on the map."

"You mean it doesn't have a name?" Sara asked. "I was hoping it had a really neat name like Devil's Hole or something."

Mick looked at Sara with a tired smile. "I think we should call it Sara's Rapid. She's probably the first person who ever kayaked it."

"O.K. by me," Sara said and lay back on the warm beach, locking her hands behind her head. "I suppose the rest of the trip will be pretty boring."

Mick and her dad burst out laughing. Sara grinned, feeling strong.

AFTER-READING ACTIVITIES

7. Answer the following questions.

• Do you think it was Sara’s fear of ‘crashing rapids’ that made her so depressed or something else? What was it exactly?

• Did Sara’s family sympathize with her worries? Can you give any relevant examples on the matter from the text?

• If you had almost drowned the first day of your camping trip, would you ever try to kayak once again? Why? Why not?

• If not the need to rescue her brother, would Sara overcome her fears? What could possibly help her, in your opinion?

• Was Sara aware of the risk while saving Mick or were her actions totally impulsive?

• Does one need challenging situations like the one Sara experienced to regain the former strength and courage?

• How would you describe Sara’s state and mood after the rescue?

• How does ‘Sara’s Rapid’ sound to you? What other names would you give to the rapid kayaked that day?

8. What do you know about the sport the characters of the story went in for? Is it possible to practice it in Belarus? With your desk partner make a list of terms related to this kind of sport. Is it hard to guess their meaning?

9. Let us describe the characters of the story with the help of their remarks. Find out whom this remark belongs to and make a brief description of their character.

• “Hey, Sara… That last rapid was great!”

• “Just ‘cause that wave knocked you over on the first day is no reason to wimp out totally”.

• “… Go back!”

• “Great job, Sara!”

• “I think we call it Sara’s Rapid. She’s probably the first person who ever kayaked it”.

• "That's enough," "Sara doesn't have to kayak if she doesn't want to."

• "I was hoping it had a really neat name like Devil's Hole or something."

10. Study the psychological portraits of ‘Sara before’ and ‘Sara after’ the rescue. In what way are they different? Prove your point of view with the examples from the text.

11. Let us focus on style. Read the definition of a stylistic device and find its examples in the story.

Humour is a device used in fiction and intended to cause laughter. The object of humour may be a funny incident or an odd feature of human character. The essence of humour is generally warmth, sympathy, fellow feeling.

12. Imagine you are Sara 20 years after the accident telling the story to her children. In what way would you retell it? Write down your version of the events (20 sentences).