Shaggy Dog Stories

While analyzing story number 3 we came to the conclusion that an older crowd (30-40) would appreciate the joke rather than a younger crowd (18-29). Although the language of this joke is relatively simple and easy for teenagers to understand if you are not familiar with a setting at a bar you will not find this joke amusing or think it makes a lot of sense. This joke is also outdated. Judging from personal experience you do not see many people sitting alone at a bar anymore like you used to. They are usually accompanied by another person (2+). A person between the ages of 30-40 might read this joke and find it funny because they have avid experience in the bar scene and can relate the joke to all different kinds of people they have come across in their life. Someone of an older age might hear this joke and relate it to someone they saw at a bar that examined a similar personality to the string. An older person can relate to this joke a lot better than someone who is younger and does not have the same experiences as the older person.

Gee’s language tools that are relevant to this Shaggy Dog story are intertextuality, social language, discourse, and (C)onversation.

“A ________ walks into a bar” is a statement that we have all heard before. When we hear that statement we automatically assume a joke is going to follow. Gee states about intertextuality that “one text can be incorporated in another text in many different ways”. This statement falls into the category of bar jokes because there are hundreds of bar jokes out there. This quote can most likely be recognized by anyone.

“Bartender, gimme a beer" falls into social language because you normally would not make that statement if you were not at a bar. Being at a bar calls for a certain type of language that you would not exhibit if you were at for example; a five star restaurant. Judging from personal experience at a bar I can conclude that this language is very common when you enter a bar, but hearing someone say “Bartender, gimme a beer” at a another setting is just plain odd.

"I'm sorry sir, we don't serve strings here" is a type of biased statement that falls into the category of (C)onversation, because a bar is a particular social group that is supposed to serve everyone as long as you are 21+. In this particular joke the bartender is not startled by the fact that a string is talking, he just states simply “sorry we do not serve strings here.” If the string is the proper age why can’t he be served? Maybe it’s simply because he’s different.

"Tired and angry, the string walked outside to think. He was a hard-working string. He deserved a beer." When the string walked in the bar the first time he was calm but after a few let downs of not being served he became disappointed and angry. His "discourse" changed from being calm to disappointed and angry when he kept get denied the beer.

 The format of this joke is very repetitive, which is why I stated before that it was simple to understand. With that being said the simplicity of this joke will appeal to adults and young adults, but once the young adults read the joke they will find it boring while older adults would find it more amusing.  The use of intertextuality, social language, and (C)onversation work together to make a joke that is simple to understand and amusing for a crowd that understands the humor of that time