Traits of American Humour, Vol. 1 of 3

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.9
Word count
348K words
Chapters
35

Tags

English Originals Folk Literature Portrait GalleryComplex HumanityLight ReadingHumor ReliefAmerican HumorSatirical StyleFrontier TalesPopular NarrativeRegional WritingFolk Customs

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Traits of American Humour, Vol. 1 of 3 by Thomas Chandler HaliburtonAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Sep 3, 2015

Editor's review

This is the first volume of the three-volume Traits of American Humour, compiled by Thomas Chandler Haliburton and released as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Its value lies not in offering a systematic theory of humour but in preserving original textual samples of nineteenth-century North American English humour literature, covering anecdotes, essays, and local character sketches, allowing readers direct contact with the narrative voice and linguistic habits of early American humour. For readers studying American literary history, the English humour tradition, or nineteenth-century English prose, this volume provides citable primary material; for general readers, it can serve as a selected reader for understanding early North American social manners and folk wit. A caveat: the language bears clear marks of its era, and some cultural allusions and dialect spellings require notes or background knowledge, so it is not suitable as a light joke collection. It is best used selectively and as a documentary source rather than read straight through for entertainment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and editor's notes first, then select pieces of similar form to read in clusters rather than plodding through from start to finish.
  2. Mark dialect spellings or historical allusions and look up background after finishing a piece, to keep the reading rhythm.
  3. Read in comparison with Volume 2 to observe similarities and differences in selection and style within the same editorial framework.
  4. When taking notes, record the correspondence between humorous techniques and historical context for later writing or research citation.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35

FAQ

Is this book a complete work or an anthology? It is the first volume of the three-volume Traits of American Humour, an anthology compiled by Haliburton that collects multiple texts exemplifying American humour rather than a long work by a single author.
What English proficiency is needed to read it? The text is nineteenth-century English with dialect spellings, old-fashioned syntax, and cultural allusions. Fairly proficient English reading ability is recommended, along with the use of reference works or background materials for difficult points; otherwise reading can be laborious.
Where does the electronic edition come from, and is it free? The book is released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook resource and is generally available free of charge. Specific formats and download methods are as provided on the Project Gutenberg page.
Is it suitable as classroom teaching material? It can be used as supplementary selected reading for courses in American literature or English prose, but teachers need to supply historical background and language notes; it is not recommended as a primary textbook, since the anthology format and period language increase the difficulty of organizing instruction.

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About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

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