“How to tell a story”, is a very interesting essay in which Mark Twain, reveals that the differences between the humorous story and the comic or witty story lie primarily in the techniques used by their tellers.
HOW TO TELL A STORY
(MARK TWAIN)
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HUMOROUS
STORY
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COMIC
STORY
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WITTY
STORY
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The humorous story is
American.
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The comic story is
English.
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The witty story is
French.
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Depends for its effect
upon the manner of the telling.
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Depends for its effect
upon the
matter of the telling.
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May be spun out to great
length, and may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive nowhere in
particular.
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Must be brief and end
with a point.
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Bubbles gently along.
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Burst.
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Is strictly a work of
art--high and delicate art-- and only an artist can tell it.
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No art is necessary in
telling the comic and the witty story; anybody can do it.
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Is told gravely; the
teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that
there is anything funny about it.
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The teller of the comic
story tells you beforehand that it is one of the funniest things he has ever
heard, then tells it with eager delight, and is the first person to laugh
when he gets through.
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The humorous-story form
takes ten minutes, and is about the funniest thing I have ever listened to.
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It takes only a minute
and a half to tell that in its comic-story form; and isn't worth the telling,
after all.
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To string incongruities
and absurdities together in a wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and
seem innocently unaware that they are absurdities, is the basis of the
American art, if my position is correct. Another feature is the slurring of
the point. A third is the dropping of a studied remark apparently without
knowing it, as if one where thinking aloud. The fourth and last is the pause.
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As I mentioned before, in this essay Mark Twain
explains his point of view about what a humorous, comic and witty story is and the
differences among them.
But, it is necessary to talk about the great writer
behind those letters and his background before making an analysis and giving my
points of view.
MARK
TWAIN –
LIFE AND BACKGROUND
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April
21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and
humorist. He is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876),
and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called
"the Great American Novel."
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later
provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a
printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older
brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he
became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west
to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to
journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which became very popular and brought
nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received. Twain had found
his calling.
He achieved great success as a writer and public
speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a
friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and
he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day
following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the "greatest
American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the
father of American literature."
Mark
Twain has been admired for capturing typical American experiences in a language
which is realistic and charming. A remarkable achievement of his books is Clemens' use of American humor,
folklore, slang, and dialects, especially in The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, 1885.
Twain died in 1910 at Stormfield, the family's home
located near Redding, Conneticut. His autobiography was published posthumously,
and he left behind several unpublished works as well. While Twain's material
was characteristic of the period in which he wrote, it becomes necessary to
examine the individual themes in order to gain a sense of his motives and
convictions. As a Realist, he was
strongly attracted to the mundane elements of American life. His portrayal of the commonplace was both
vivid and detailed, and it is often the characters, as opposed to the plot,
which capture the reader. Much of his material was based on personal
experiences, both as a child growing up in the South, and later as a seasoned
traveler. Critics of Twain often refer to an underlying purpose lurking beneath
the cloak of satire, but many readers are content to accept the improbable
plots and complex interrelationships at mere face value. Nevertheless, Twain did address certain components of American culture
in a manner which undermined these sacred institutions. In so doing, he assumed
the role of social critic. Twain may have realized that in order to make
his brand of brazen independence and pessimistic outlook palatable, he must
assume a position of familiarity and humor. Twain's dedication to his personal beliefs was given precedence over
established social norms, as evidenced by his position on slavery following the
Civil War. According to William Dean Howells, who was a contemporary of
Twain, "No man more perfectly sensed and more entirely abhorred
slavery." (Foner 198) Mark Twain's
commitment to his convictions is exemplary, and modern readers will discover
that his works remain relevant and insightful. For that we are indebted to him.
American humor
American humor refers collectively to the conventions
and common threads that tie together humor in the United States. It is often
defined in comparison to the humor of another country - for example, how it is
different from British humor and Canadian humor. It is, however, difficult to
say what makes a particular type or subject of humor particularly American.
Humor usually concerns aspects of American culture, and depends on the
historical and current development of the country's culture. The extent to
which an individual will personally find something humorous obviously depends
on a host of absolute and relative variables, including, but not limited to
geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, and context.
People of different countries will therefore find different situations funny.
Just as American culture has many aspects which differ from other nations, these
cultural differences may be a barrier to how humor translates to other
countries.
Finally and about Twain… “The realism of his stories, with simple and fun language made him
one of the most influential writers of American literature.
It
was the first great American writer who was not from the East Coast, the first
to use a language that people seemed to speak in real life and, without doubt,
one of the first writers in social analysis allied with simplicity.
"All
American literature begins with him. There was nothing before. Then
nothing," said Ernest Hemingway.
