Me Talk Pretty One Day

How did Sedaris take a potentially boring experience, auditing a beginner’s language class, and turn it into a humorous essay? An interviewer once wrote that Sedaris’s signature is “deadpan” humor. What is dead pan humor? Identify- and characterize the effectiveness of examples of it in “me Talk pretty one day.”

Sedaris turned a boring experience into something the reader can relate to. Many people have gone through similar experiences in which they have been extremely confused and frustrated. Being in a beginner’s language class, Sedaris should not have been so confused. He was able to turn his frustration into a humorous event. Not only does he point out his flaws, he shares his classmate’s flaws. The reader will often take pleasure in the misfortune of others.
Deadpan humor is when someone says something funny without meaning to be funny. They do not change their tone or expression. They simply tell things straightforwardly and as they are. Deadpan humor is similar to dry humor.
We get a sense of this humor when he repeats what the teacher’s announcements were. Instead of just telling us that he could only understand half of what the teacher says, he uses a quote to show exactly what her voice sounded like, “If you have not meimslsxp or lgpdmurct by this time, then you should not be in this room.” Another example of deadpan humor is when Sedaris justifies himself after making a mistake in class. Many people already know learning a new language can be difficult, but Sedaris provides examples on why it is challenging. He uses humor to get his message across, “Why refer to Lady Crack Pipe or Good Sir Dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied?”

Describe how Sedaris reveals parts of himself throughout the story. By the end we know a fair amount about the speaker, how do we gain this knowledge?

Sedaris slowly reveals parts of himself throughout the story. He uses events and other’s actions to reveal information about himself. He starts off by giving background information about himself such as his age and the reason for moving to Paris. Being in the same situation as others, Sedaris often compares himself, “As an added discomfort, they were all young, attractive, and well dressed, causing me to feel not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show.” Sedaris used the context of the story to show his likes and dislikes. Instead of just stating the questions his teacher asked, he gives his exact response. Sedaris also shares how he felt emotionally in his class, “Call me sensitive, but I couldn’t help but take it personally.” When the speaker concludes with what he learned from the class, we know he is hopefully and gained confidence in his abilities. However, his last sentence, “I know the thing that you speak exact now. Talk me more, you, plus, please, plus.” shows that he is still not perfect and always learning.