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Sophomoric Humor
Sophomoric humor is that which is juvenile and puerile. It is a type of comedy that often includes toilet humor and gags that are based on an appeal to a silly sense of immaturity. The word sophomoric, an adjective dating from 1813, is used to refer to and describe something or someone that is conceited, overconfident, poorly informed and immature, as characterized by a stereotypical sophomore. The phrase can be derisive, but is also used to refer to a style or vein of comedic act. Examples American film director Judd Apatow's work, including ''The 40 Year Old Virgin'', '' Knocked Up'' and '' Funny People'', has been described as using sophomoric humor, drawing laughs for jokes about sex, penises, and bodily functions. A critique of John Steinbeck's '' The Short Reign of Pippin IV'' by Peter Lisca describes the story as lacking the burlesque humor of ''Tortilla Flat'', the Rabelaisian humor of " St. Katy the Virgin," the folk humor of ''The Grapes of Wrath'', the tender humor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speed Hump
Speed bumps (also called traffic thresholds, speed breakers or sleeping policemen) are the common name for a class of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions. Variations include the speed hump, speed cushion, and speed table. The use of vertical deflection devices is widespread around the world, and they are most commonly used to enforce a low speed limit, under or lower. Although speed bumps are effective in keeping vehicle speeds down, their use is sometimes controversial—as they can increase traffic noise, may damage vehicles if traversed at too great a speed, and slow emergency vehicles. Poorly-designed speed bumps that stand too tall or with too-sharp an angle can be disruptive for drivers, and may be difficult to navigate for vehicles with low ground clearance, even at very low speeds. Many sports cars have this problem with such speed bumps. Speed bumps can also pose serious hazards to mot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tortilla Flat
''Tortilla Flat'' (1935) is an early John Steinbeck novel set in Monterey, California. The novel was the author's first clear critical and commercial success. The book portrays a group of 'paisanos'—literally, countrymen—a small band of errant friends enjoying life and wine in the days after the end of World War I. ''Tortilla Flat'' was made into a film in 1942. Steinbeck later returned to some of the panhandling locals of Monterey (though not the Mexican paisanos of the Flat) in his novel ''Cannery Row'' (1945). Plot Above the town of Monterey on the California coast lies the shabby district of Tortilla Flat, inhabited by a loose gang of jobless locals of Mexican-Indian- Spanish-Caucasian descent (who typically claim pure Spanish blood). The central character Danny inherits two houses from his grandfather where he and his friends go to live. Danny's house, and Danny's friends, Steinbeck compares to the Round Table, and the Knights of the Round Table. Most of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, science, and mathematics. For '' Gravity's Rainbow'', Pynchon won the 1973 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction."National Book Awards – 1974" National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-29. (With essays by Casey Hicks and Chad Post from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog. The mock acceptance speech by Irwin Corey is not reprinted by NBF.) Hailing from |
The Wayward Bus
''The Wayward Bus'' is a novel by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1947. The novel's epigraph is a passage from 15th-century English play ''Everyman'', with its archaic English intact; the quotation refers to the transitory nature of humanity. Although considered one of Steinbeck's weaker novels at the time of its original publication, ''The Wayward Bus'' was financially more successful than any of his previous works. Steinbeck dedicated this novel to "Gwyn", thought to be a reference to his second wife Gwyndolyn Conger. The couple divorced less than a year after the book was published. Plot summary No single character dominates ''The Wayward Bus''. The viewpoint shifts frequently from one character to another, often taking the form of internal monologue so that we are experiencing a given character's thoughts. Much of the novel's length is simply devoted to establishing and delineating the various characters. This novel takes place firmly within the "Steinbeck coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift". Swift is remembered for works such as '' A Tale of a Tub'' (1704), '' An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity'' (1712), '' Gulliver's Travels'' (1726), and '' A Modest Proposal'' (1729). He is regarded by the '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' as the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M. B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in '' A Modest Proposal'', has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian". Biogra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannery Row (novel)
''Cannery Row'' is a novel by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1945. It is set during the Great Depression in Monterey, California, on a street lined with sardine canneries that is known as Cannery Row. The story revolves around the people living there: Lee Chong, the local grocer; Doc, a marine biologist; and Mack, the leader of a group of derelict people. The actual location Steinbeck was writing about, Ocean View Avenue in Monterey, was later renamed "Cannery Row" in honor of the book. A film version was released in 1982 and a stage version was produced in 1995. Plot ''Cannery Row'' has a simple premise: Mack and his friends are to do something nice for their friend Doc, who has been good to them without asking for reward. Mack hits on the idea that they should throw a thank-you party, and the entire community quickly becomes involved. Unfortunately, the party rages out of control, and Doc's lab and home are ruined—and so is Doc's mood. In an effort to return ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Grapes Of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes, and bank foreclosures forcing tenant farmers out of work. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California along with thousands of other " Okies" seeking jobs, land, dignity, and a future. ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes due to its historical context and enduring legacy. A celebrated Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was released in 1940. Plot The narrat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Long Valley
''The Long Valley'' is a collection of short stories written by the American author John Steinbeck. The collection was first published in 1938.The Long Valley, Western Washington University Accessed November 2007 It comprises 12 short stories. The short stories were written over several years and are set in Steinbeck's birthplace, the in California. They include the prize-winning tale ''The Murder''; ''The Chrysanthemums''; the representation of lynch mob violence in ''The Vigilante'', inspired by the lynching of the confessed murderers of |
The Short Reign Of Pippin IV
''The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication'' is a novel by John Steinbeck published in 1957; his only political satire, the book pokes fun at French politics. Plot summary ''Pippin IV'' explores the life of Pippin Héristal, an amateur astronomer in 1950s France, who is suddenly proclaimed the King of France. Unknowingly appointed to give the Communists a monarchy to revolt against, Pippin is chosen because he was descended from the famous king Charlemagne. Unhappy with his lack of privacy, alteration of family life, uncomfortable housings at the Palace of Versailles and his lack of power as a constitutional monarch, the protagonist spends a portion of the novel dressing up as a commoner, often riding a motorscooter, to avoid the constrained life of a king. Pippin eventually receives his wish of dethronement after the people of France enact the rebellion Pippin's kingship was destined to receive. He returns to his home in Paris to find that nothing has really changed. Charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toilet Humour
Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It sees substantial crossover with sexual humour, such as dick jokes. Toilet humour is commonly an interest of children and young teenagers, for whom cultural taboos related to acknowledgement of waste excretion still have a degree of novelty. The humour comes from the rejection of such taboos, and is a part of modern culture. Music Toilet humour is sometimes found in song and rhyme, particularly schoolboy songs. Examples of this are found in Mozart and scatology, and variants of the German folk schoolboys' song known as the ''Scheiße-Lied'' (English: "Shit-Song") which is indexed in the German ''Volksliederarchiv''. A children's Spanish musical duo, Enrique y Ana, made a song called "Caca Culo Pedo Pis", which literally translates to "Poo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception." He has been called "a giant of American letters." During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels ''Tortilla Flat'' (1935) and ''Cannery Row'' (1945), the multi-generation epic '' East of Eden'' (1952), and the novellas ''The Red Pony'' (1933) and '' Of Mice and Men'' (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. In the first 75 years after it was published, it sold 14 million copies. Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
