Humour in the story ,CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by R K NARAYAN

Humour in the play ,CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

worksheet that can be used for brainstorming.
  
humour / satire / criticism  ?

subtle / strong / light / superficial / deep / thought provoking / introspective  ?

situations and events.( let the learners select)

The boy blinking and repeating his mistakes deliberately.
The boy is an angel to the the parents but to the teacher he is a gorilla.
The parents giving the teacher  half an hour class on human psychology every day .

The teacher slaps on the boy's face
The teacher appalled and begging the child for mercy.

The teacher made to dance to the tunes of the boy.

The parents declare that the teacher should try to bring up a healthy citizen.
The boy assembling the track.

The teacher hunched up in a corner to take the role of the station master.

The teacher blowing the whistle and crying out instructions to the engine driver.

The teacher running around the garden thrice to catch up with the boy ,then fainting and falling.

The boy hiding behind the parents and requesting the teacher not to give him up

The explanation  by the teacher that he was trying to cheer him up.

The attempt by the teacher to cover up things.

The decision of the teacher to tell the parents the truth.
The parents filling up  the cupboard with plenty of eatables.
The artificial laugh of the teacher when the boy threatens to shoot him(if he were a soldier )

The dialogues
the short dialogues by the child and the writer .......agile / crisp / picked out from real life / tit for tat approach / the long segments of dialogues by  parents full of psychological jargons like contrariness and repression.....


Topics

1.What would happen .............when we lose our patience / when children are bought up with too much affection / if we try to cover up our crimes / when  maths is taught in a dull way /

2.intensive coaching methods through rote memory and mugging up facts./ the challenges of teaching / spare the rod and spoil the child / cajoling -a new approach in education has its limits / the mischief created by loneliness / the social status of a tuition teacher

The irony in the opening ,ending,throughout the story and in the title

1. The teacher begs the student to save him from the boy's parents in the opening part-
the student begs  the teacher to save him from the boy's parents in the end.
2. Begins in a quarrel ; ends in agreement and friendship
3. The crime  becomes no crime but "helping to prepare for a test" , the punishment becomes no punishment but 'playing with the boy to cheer him up'
4.The child orders and the teacher obeys.Still nothing bad happens.
5.The psychological awareness of the parents and their false ambitions -the desire for double promotion and the shortcut method of intensive coaching through mugging up facts.-the teacher and the children become the victims of over parenting
6.Who is mischievous and impatient ? not the boy;not the teacher; but the parents.

phrases /verbs  for practice.
...... adds to the humour /creates laughter/ makes us laugh and think

......is against / criticizes/ attacks / makes fun of  / ridicules / reveals/ provokes our thoughts.....( as a satire )
..........funny / humorous  / creates laughter / a lighter moment ( a humorous situation )
the funniest moment  / a hilarious moment / one of the humorous events / an ironical situation / .....

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