Course description:
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Black Humor: Dark Comedy
According to Dictionary.com, dark comedy is a form of humor that regards human suffering as absurd rather than pitiable, or that considers human existence as ironic and pointless but somehow comic. “So it goes,” writes Kurt Vonnegut. Therefore, in the dark winter days, we will laugh with Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. In the spring marking period, we will revel in Thomas Berger’s Neighbors: A novel and Terry Southern’s The Magic Christian - and watch Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Southern wrote the screenplay with Kubrick). We will also read essays, short stories, and a couple plays. Course questions: Why do we laugh when we should cry? What does dark comedy offer us? When does black humor cross the line? How do we find humor in the face of life’s challenges? Not to be crass, I offer a Vonnegut quote as a conclusion: “S#!* happens, and it's awful, but it's also okay. We deal with it because we have to."
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My hope is that this course will offer a little light amidst the dark winter of Northeast Ohio.
And engage seniors in reading that is both entertaining and enlightening - and worthwhile once they are accepted into college.
Any thoughts?
Please share suggested readings, links, essays, articles, etc.
_________
Black Humor: Dark Comedy
According to Dictionary.com, dark comedy is a form of humor that regards human suffering as absurd rather than pitiable, or that considers human existence as ironic and pointless but somehow comic. “So it goes,” writes Kurt Vonnegut. Therefore, in the dark winter days, we will laugh with Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. In the spring marking period, we will revel in Thomas Berger’s Neighbors: A novel and Terry Southern’s The Magic Christian - and watch Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Southern wrote the screenplay with Kubrick). We will also read essays, short stories, and a couple plays. Course questions: Why do we laugh when we should cry? What does dark comedy offer us? When does black humor cross the line? How do we find humor in the face of life’s challenges? Not to be crass, I offer a Vonnegut quote as a conclusion: “S#!* happens, and it's awful, but it's also okay. We deal with it because we have to."
________
My hope is that this course will offer a little light amidst the dark winter of Northeast Ohio.
And engage seniors in reading that is both entertaining and enlightening - and worthwhile once they are accepted into college.
Any thoughts?
Please share suggested readings, links, essays, articles, etc.
