SOPH EXTRA CREDIT-The Story of the Bad Little Boy
Read the entry and complete the assignment that follows for four points extra credit.Follow this link to read The Story of the Bad Little Boy, a Mark Twain parody of a Sunday school story.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Sunday School stories were moral tales written for the little boys and girls who learned the difference between right and wrong at their local churches in Sunday School.
These stories always ended with a good dose of poetic justice. The good boys and girls were rewarded; the not-so-good boys and girls were summarily punished, learned the error of their ways, and turned out to be model boys and girls themselves.
Mark Twain pokes fun at these stories in The Story of the Bad Little Boy.
Assignment
For extra credit, answer these questions:
1. Define a parody. How is The Story of the Bad Little Boy a parody of the stories in Sunday School books.
2. What details contribute to the humor of The Story of the Bad Little Boy?
3. What details contribute to the serious theme of The Story of the Bad Little Boy?
4. What storytelling "tricks" does Twain use to make the story entertaining, if not humorous?
posted by JTF @ 9:49 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
1. parody- A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.
The Story of the Bad Little Boy is a parody of the Sunday School books because it compares to how Jim is just like a bad James but with luck and never got in trouble. Twain's story of Jim has the boy commit actions just like James would in Sunday School Books but wouldn't get caught nor get in trouble. Jim would have others get in trouble had a mother unlike the mothers in Sunday School Stories. The Story Of the Bad Little Boy imitates the Bad Little Boy Sunday School stories about little boys name James.
2. The details that contribute to the humor of this story is that how the story compares the two different stories of the little boys and how the story says that if James did this he would get in trouble but oh not Jim he wouldn't get in trouble at all. Also how Twain would say what usually would happen to James but thats not how the Jim story would go.
3. The details that contribute to the serious theme of the story is how his mother treated Jim,and also how Twain calls Jim a bad, neglected boy.
4.The story telling tricks Twain uses to create enternament and humor is how he explains the James story then says no; or oh no; and then explains how Jim's story would go. Also, how he ends almost every paragraph with a sentence about how his twist of a story was nothing like what happened in the Sunday School Stories.
1. Parody: noun; a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing. The Story of the Bad Little Boy is a parody of the stories in Sunday School books because Mark Twain is mocking the point of the story. He is making fun of the Stories to ridicule them.
2. Details that contribute to the humor of The Story of the Bad Little Boy are that whenever you think that Jim is going to learn a lesson he gets away with it by luck. All the sins he committed are never found out. Also, the good boy gets punished for what he did not do, and Jim gets away. He also gets the fairytale ending for his life.
3. Details that contribute to the serious theme of The Story of the Bad Little Boy are when he killed his family and became the most respected man in the village.
4. Some Storytelling “tricks” Mark Twain used to make the story entertaining was that he used the Sunday School books as a background and just mocked it. He also used a little bit of irony at the end and made the unexpected happened.
1.A parody is a humorous imitation of a serious piece of literature. The story of the bad little boy is a parody of the Sunday school books because it takes everything that the bad little boy does and tells us how it turned out fine for him while the bad boys in the Sunday school books got struck by lightning.
2.The fact that Jim never gets caught doing any of his bad deeds and how he is untouchable makes the story humorous.
3.The story of the bad little boy gets serious when the story talks about the Sunday school books and how the bad little boys in those books were never as lucky as Jim.
4.Twain uses the complete opposite events to make the story funny. When you hear that Jim went fishing on the Sabbath and was totally fine, and then in the next sentence the bad boys of the Sunday school books are being struck by lightning for doing the same thing as Jim, it ads humor.
1. Parody- n.the genre of literary composition represented by such imitations. v. to imitate (a composition, author, etc.) for purposes of ridicule or satire. This is a parody on the sunday books because Jim was supposed to be the James but completely opposite to make the book fun rather then meaningful.
2." drunk as a piper,"
"brained them all with an axe""wealthy by all manner of cheating and rascality;""infernalist wickedest scoundrel in his native village" Jim said he was "down on them milk-sops." Such was the coarse language of this bad, neglected boy."
3."So you see there never was a bad James in the Sunday-school books that had such a streak of luck as this sinful Jim with the charmed life." "but still it was true that this one was called Jim."
"This Jim bore a charmed life - that must have been the way of it. Nothing could hurt him."
4. he uses irony, and imagination, comparisons, funny lines, creativity, and local color.
1. A parody is a literary work that is ridiculous and has some comic effect. The story is a parody because it has a comical outline and its ironic. It's basically a story of the bad winning over good.
2. The details that make it funny are that everything that happens to bad boys doesnt happen to Jim, he gets away with everything.
3. The details that are serious are when he frames another little boy and he gets in trouble and whipped. He kills his family, hurts a dog and steals, all very serious.
4.He tries to make it entertaining by comparing his situations to other bad boys. It mocks and makes fun of the situations and the sunday school books.
1. A parody is a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing. The Story of the Bad Little Boy is a parody of the stories in Sunday School books because the Sundays School books are religious stories that try to teach little children right from wrong and the The Story of the Bad Little Boy does the complete opposite by having the bad little boy feel no remorse and end up having a good life.
2. One of the things that contribute to the humor in the story is how Mark Twain retells what would really happen in the Sunday School books. He goes through every detail then says no that’s not how it happened to Jimmy. It was also interesting how he mad such a big deal out of the name Jimmy verses the name James.
3. At the end of the story I got the feeling that Mark Twain wrote the story to teach about real life. In real life the person that did something wrong is not always going to do the right thing. Twain wanted them to realize that bad things do happen and life still goes on.
4. A"trick" that Twain uses to make the story entertaining is the way he constantly lists everything that would happen in the Sunday School books then is just like no he didn't feel bad, he got away with it, and everything was great. His tone is so nonchalant, like the other way is just stupid.
1. Parody- a humorous or satricial imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing.
This story is a parody of the Sunday School books because it criticizes what normally happens in those books and tells a story of everything opposite of what the school boys do in the Sunday School books.
2. The details that contribute to the humor of the bad little boy are that he always cheated, and did bad things but he always got out of it and didn't get in trouble and nothing happened to him like what was supposed to happen to him since he was "bad".
3. The details that contibute to the seriousness of the story are that this story is more "real". Those who cheat and sin don't always get in trouble, and usually find a way to get out of it or blame someone else who then gets in trouble for their actions.
4. He uses tricks such as turning the original stories completely opposite of what they were first written. He changes it and makes it humorous by having the bad little boy never get caught or in trouble or have his bad actions come back to him in the end. He makes it so you keep wanting to read it and wanting to know what will happen to the little boy.
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