The Short Story: The Laugher Quiz Worksheet Part I Last Name ____________________________________ Date ______________ First Name ____________________________________ Period 5 This part is due at the end of the period today! 1. Who is the author of this short story? ______________________ 2. What is the narrator's occupation? ______________________ 3. Why is it difficult for him to explain his job? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 4. How is the job of a laugher different from that of a clown or comedian? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 5. Why is the laugher so much in demand? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 6. What is infectious laughter? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 7. How and when does the laugher use infectious laughter? __________________________________________________________ 8. What kind of a person is the laugher when he is off-duty? __________________________________________________________ 9. What is the meaning of the last line in the story: "So I laugh in many different ways but my own laughter I have never heard? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 10. The story is told from the first person point of view. In other words, the narrator is a character in the story. Why would this story not be as effective if told from an outsider's point of view? Give an example of your reasoning from the story. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 11 From the title of the story what might the reader assume the mood of the story is going to be? ________________ 12. What is the mood of this story? ____________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 13. Irony is the contrast between what appears to be true and what is really true. What is the irony of this story? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Use synonyms, examples, contrast, inference or a dictionary to determine the meaning of each underlined word in the passages below. After you have determined the correct definition, reuse the word in a sentence of your own. 1. Something had occurred to him, something so fantastic and absurd that for a moment he felt like telling the nurse about it and having a good laugh. Definition: ________________________________________ Sentence: ___________________________________________________ 2. They were rich, really rich... which is odious and stuffy and sounds like one's grandparents. Definition ________________________________________ Sentence: ___________________________________________________ 3. I blush and stammer. I who am otherwise known as a man of poise. Definition ________________________________________ Sentence: ___________________________________________________ 4. Oh, if only I had some reason -- aggrandizement, financial gain, seduction -- any of the accepted motives. Definition ________________________________________ Sentence: ___________________________________________________ 5. The engines seem to sing a duet. There is a deep vibrating bass voice, and with it there is a high-pitched tenor. Definition ________________________________________ Sentence: ___________________________________________________ Use a dictionary to find the definitions of each of these words. Write the definition and then an original sentence using some from of the word. These are words from your story. Some of these can be found in your text glossary. 1. blush Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 2. stammer Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 3. tiresome Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 4. portray Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 5. indispensable Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 6. bemoaning Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 7. pessimist Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 8. solemn Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 9. taciturn Definition: ___________________________________ Sentence: _______________________________________________ 10. accordance Definition: ___________________________________ (with) Sentence: _______________________________________________ The Short Story: The Laugher Quiz Worksheet Part II Last Name ____________________________________ Date ________________ First Name ____________________________________ Period 5 this part is due the next day (after part 1 is completed in class) In The Laugher the narrator suggests that people who are tired of their daily occupations usually come home to do the exact opposite of their work or something entirely unrelated: "Candy makers like sour pickles. . . . Bullfighters raise pigeons for a hobby. . . ." Consider the following list of occupations and then write what you think these workers do when "off-duty" to counteract their work. Think opposites or things that might annoy when doing this part of the assignment. Some of these are from your reading, so use the example given in the book when you come to one of these. 1. lumber jack ___________________________________________ 2. train engineer ___________________________________________ 3. tour guide ___________________________________________ 4. mountain climber ___________________________________________ 5. airplane pilot ___________________________________________ 6. fast-food chef ___________________________________________ 7. snow plow driver ___________________________________________ 8. cowhand ___________________________________________ 9. lawyer ___________________________________________ 10. house painter ___________________________________________ 11. gardener ___________________________________________ 12. prison warden ___________________________________________ 13. butcher ___________________________________________ 14. race car driver ___________________________________________ 15. auto mechanic ___________________________________________ 16. sales clerk ___________________________________________ 17. assembly line worker ___________________________________________ 18. bank teller ___________________________________________ 19. newspaper delivery ___________________________________________ 20. garbage collector ___________________________________________ USE YOUR IMAGINATION Being a laugher is an unusual occupation. Use your imagination to make up another strange or unexpected profession. In one paragraph describe this profession and its usefulness: For each of the of the laughing cartoons below, study each expression very carefully and then try to describe each laugh with one or two words only. NOW DRAW YOUR BEST LAUGH ON THIS GUY'S FACE.