“Michelle, I have to go to work
today. I have so much to do. But I will be back later,” Grandma said.
“But Grandma, don’t you want to do
something today?” Michelle quipped.
“Yes! What do you want to do? I’m
free all day!” Grandma eagerly said.
“Grandma, can we please bake
cookies today?” the young girl said. Michelle, a young girl with rainbow eyes
shouted at the top of her lungs.
“If you want to of course. I will
not be home until three o’clock this afternoon so we can only make them when I
come home later.”
“How does 1 o’clock this afternoon work then?’ the
young girl questioned.
“That is perfect! What kind of
cookies do you want to make today, Michelle?” Grandma asked.
“Why don’t we make rainbow
cookies?” Michelle suggested.
“What are rainbow cookies? You mean to do dye the cookies different
colors?” Grandma was confused.
“No, I mean to put every food ever
evented in the cookie!” Michelle explained.
“Michelle, don’t you think that is
a little difficult considering there are so many foods?”
“Moof! Moof! It is highly possible
to do this! We just need to make a list for the market.” Michelle said as she
grabbed a piece of watermelon and a piece of licorice to write down the list.
“What is Moof! Moof!? Grandma
asked.
“You have never heard this word? It
is very common in the English language.” Michelle insisted.
“What does it mean?” (Grandma
believed her and was entirely serious.)
“It means “Don’t say that!” Someone
famous invented it,” said Michelle. (Little did Grandma know that Michelle had
made this up completely on the spot, but Grandma was gullible and believed her
instantly.)
Michelle and her grandmother went
to the grocery store to gather all their ingredients. When they returned home,
they began to make the cookies.
“We must add this! Spinach is a
must for all cookies!” said Michelle.
“Well, then if we add Spinach, then
we must sprinkle a little bit of honey in the batter too! You know spinach and
honey is a common combination!” Grandma exclaimed.
One by one, they kept dropping different
items (food or not) into the huge bowl.
“How about this chair? That chair
looks like it would be a good addition! And chairs are a nutritious food!”
Michelle proudly stated.
“Yes, but who knows maybe there are
too many ingredients in them? Do you think there are too many?” Grandma said with
concern.
“No, there are never too many ingredients! I
think we need a fruit however, what about spaghetti?” Michelle exclaimed as she
looked for the spaghetti.
“Good idea. You can never eat too
much fruit,” said Grandma.
“Grandma, do you want to give them
to people in your office at work?” Michelle asked.
“I would love to, Michelle, but the
people in my office have terrible diets. They wouldn’t want these cookies; they
only eat junk food like vegetables. It is really terrible!”
“Oh Grandma, how horrible! I am so
lucky you force me to eat protein like cookies and donuts. What would I do
without you?” said Michelle.
“Michelle, you are so sweet. The
cookies have to bake for approximately 5 hours. So do you want to take them out
tomorrow? I know that is over 5 hours, but I think they should be a little
crispy?” Grandma questioned.
“I think that is great! I can’t
wait to taste them! Let us set the timer!” said Michelle.
They counted in order, “1, 2, 3, 8,
20, 5, 89, 5, “Perfect! 5 hours is set, and now we wait!” they both said.
I really enjoyed this nonsense story! The kind of nonsense that is going on in this piece reminds me of the conversations that the characters in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ have with each other. The two characters here, Michelle and Grandma, exchange dialogue but never actually understand what the other is saying. For example, the Grandma says, “…I will not be home until three o’clock this afternoon….” However, Michelle replied by saying “How does 1 o’clock this afternoon work then?” Not only do the two characters misunderstand each other but it is evident that the Grandma, herself, does not understand what she is saying because she then responds by saying “This is perfect!” Just as we saw in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ meaning is lost in the conversation because of the discrepancy of understanding between the characters and even within one character itself.This is further highlighted when Michelle uses “moof,” and the Grandma asks what the meaning of it is. Although it is made up, Michelle imposes her own meaning onto it, which the Grandma believes. By adding this bit here, it further plays on the nonsensical nature of the language and meaning. Not only this, but there are nonsensical elements such as those illustrated by “Spinach is a must for cookies!” and then adding a chair as an ingredient for the cookies as well. This does not align with our normal expectation with ingredients for an edible dessert—thus adding to the nonsensical nature of this story. It also added to the comical aspect of this piece. Overall, this was a very enjoyable story in creating two interesting characters and a conversation full of nonsense!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great representation of nonsense in that the conversation and the actions both lacked sensibility while the characters were completely serious about their statements. Similar to what we saw in Alice in Wonderland, we see a character questioning the sense of another character. This is seen when the granddaughter uses the word 'moof'. We also have this change from the grandmother being extremely busy to being completely available then back to being busy. It made me wonder what her schedule for the day was. The granddaughter's suggestion that the grandmother bring their 'rainbow' cookies to work reminded me that she was not even supposed to be there at the time. It was utterly nonsense when the contemplation with the chair wasn't that you can't bake a chair but rather that there may have been too many ingredients. It was hilarious when they said spinach was good for cookies, stated that cookies were healthy, but then referred to vegetables as unhealthy. There was absolutely no logic in the cookie making process. I overall found this piece very entertaining!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other two comments. Much like Alice in Wonderland, the dialogue between the characters is grammatically correct, but it is the content itself that does not make sense. I also like how, much like Lewis Carroll, everything the characters say is presented as and interpreted as logical truth. For instance, the granddaughter asks for "rainbow cookies," and the Grandma asks if she means dyeing the cookies different colors, but the granddaughter really means putting every type of food imaginable in the cookies. This is also an example of how a word or phrase can be interpreted two very different ways. The Grandma thinks that the cookies literally look colorful like a rainbow, whereas the granddaughter interprets a "rainbow cookie" as a cookie that contains a "rainbow" of different foods. By juxtaposing the opinions of two different generations, this conversation demonstrates the way children view the world versus adults, much in the same way that Alice and Wonderland presents the way children may interpret language differently than adults. I could easily see this piece of nonsense working well as a children's book.
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