Question: How does the language used in Shaggy Dog stories affect its overall meaning?
*Analysis will cover the Panda story.
Significance: How is this piece of language being used to make certain things significant or not and in what ways?
-"A giant panda escapes from the zoo in New York." Not just any old panda, but a giant panda had escaped the zoo and entered into New York. This first sentence sets the initial mood of the story and is significant to the reader/listener.
-"Eventually, he found his way downtown and walked into a restaurant, where he found a seat at an empty table." The jokester follows the dangerous scenario of a wild animal roaming around New York with something totally out of the ordinary. By stating this sentence, the joke teller is down playing the significance by giving the lost panda human characteristics (i.e. "found his way downtown", "walked into a restaurant", and "found a seat").
-"The maitre d', being a native New Yorker figure he's seen stranger things." Again, the jokester is lessening the significance of the occasion by stating that this isn't the craziest thing he has ever seen.
*These events are purposely placed to build up the suspense in the story.
Patterns:
-The panda escaped a zoo in New York-->The panda finds his way into a nice restaurant, where he seats himself and orders food.
-The panda eats, then calmly gets up, pulls out a gun and shoots patrons and waiters-->Maitre d' asks the panda a question, rather than running for cover.
*These are two instances of conflict and resolve, which add suspense to the story.
-"eats shoots and leaves" plays a major part in the reader's/listener's understanding of the story. "Eats shoots and leaves" means the panda is munching away on bamboo. On the other hand, "eats, shoots, and leaves" is exactly what occurred in the story.
Relationship: What sort of relationship or relationships is this piece of language seeking to enact with others?
Being that the Panda story is set in New York and ends with a play on grammar, we would assume that the jokester is telling the joke to someone who knows English (scholar, writer, editor, grammarian, etc.) and New York's reputation.
-"A giant panda escaped from the zoo in New York." The listener or reader would have to understand that New York has a zoo (Bronx), despite being the a city.
-"[The panda] found his way downtown" contains the word "downtown," which is associated with New York terminology.
-"The maitre d', being a native New Yorker figures he's seen stranger things than this" references New York and its reputation. New York is eccentric.
-The panda tells the maitre d' to look up the definition of a panda. This action relates to someone looking up a word in a dictionary, encyclopedia, or any other reference device.
-The rookie cop retrieves an Encyclopedia Brittanica, volume P. Again, this suggests a relationship with someone scholarly (i.e. grammarian, scholar).
-The final sentence says, "Giant panda, lives in China, eats shoots and leaves." This last sentence is a play on punctuation. Again the relationship of this sentence points at grammarians, scholars, and/or someone with knowledge of the English language.
Conversations:
-Although the reader/listener might not believe this ridiculous story about a panda dining in a fancy New York restaurant, from what people know about New York, the story isn't far fetched from the type of people and events that go on in the big city.
Intertextuality:
This Shaggy Dog stories touches upon familiar contexts; thus, the actions of the panda can be seen as being "gangster". The way the panda "blows away several customers and a couple of the waiters"is reminiscent of gangster movies we have all seen on television or the movies. The story's final sentence, "eats shoots and leaves"is also the title of a New York Times bestseller called Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.
Analysis: How does the language used in Shaggy Dog stories affect its overall meaning?
In order for the joke teller to make the panda story effective the jokester must build up the story, connect the themes contained within the story with facts about New York, and add emphasis on the last line.
The jokester builds up suspense by sequencing the events within this joke. For example, the giant panda escapes a zoo in New York. Ideally, this event is dangerous since a wild animal on the loose can kill humans. However, he down plays the scenario when he informs the reader/listener about the panda's arrival at a restaurant. The suspense then builds up again when the panda "blows away several customers and a couple of the waiters." Again, the story teller stifles the suspense by including the maitre d's conversation with the panda. After the panda leaves, the maitre d' tells the police what happened and what the panda said before he left. The staging of events contained within this story is important because it suspends the reader/listener in limbo (what will happen next?) until the final sentence. However, the sequencing of events isn't the only tool the jokester uses to make the joke effective. He/she also uses themes that connect with New York and its denizens.
Being that the panda story is set in New York adds to the joke's punch line. As most of the American population know, New York is bizarre. With that said, we can clearly see this in the story when the maitre d' notices the panda enter the restaurant: "The maitre d', being a native New Yorker figures he's seen stranger things than this." Although, this idea is absurd, it connects the reader/listener to the story.
Now that the jokester has set up the story with sequencing and connections, he or she could deliver the punch line: "Giant panda, lives in China, eats shoots and leaves." This last sentence is very important because it can be interpreted in two ways. "Eats shoots and leaves" means the panda was eating a healthy dose of bamboo. On the other hand, "eats, shoots, and leaves" is what occurred in the story. The punctuations or emphasis on the words within the punch line make all the difference on how the joke comes across to its audience.
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