1. What is Spoof?
Spoof Text-Definition and Social Function of Spoof Spoof is a text which tells factual story,
happened in the past time with unpredictable andfunny ending. Its social function is to
entertain and share the story.
Generic Structure of Spoof
1. Orientation
2. Events
3. Twist
Language Feature of Spoof
1. Focusing on people, animals or certain things
2. Using action verb; ate, ran, etc
3. Using adverb of time and place
4. Told in chronological order
PENGUIN IN THE PARK
Once a man was walking in a park when he across a penguin. He took it toa policeman and said;
"What should I do?" The policeman replied; "Take itto the zoo!".The next day, the policeman
saw the man in the same park. The man wasstill carrying the penguin. The policeman was
rather surprised and walkedup to the man and asked; "Why are you still carrying the penguin?
Didn'ty o u t a k e i t t o t h e z o o ? " T h e m a n r e p l i e d ; " I c e r t a i n l y d i d . A n d i t w a s
a great idea because the penguin really enjoyed it. So, today I am taking itto the movie".
Generic Structure Analysis
Orientation;introducing participants: "He" and Penguin. They were in the park
Event1; The man tended to take the penguin to the park
Event; The following day, the man were still carrying the penguin
Twist; Even, finally the man would take the penguin to the movies
Language Feature AnalysisFocusing on certain certain participants; He, penguin, policeman
Using action verb; carry, walk up
Using adverb of time and place; once, in the park
2. Told in chronological order; chronological order by days, the next day
THE MOON IN THE WELL
One night Hodja was walking by a well when he had a sudden impulse to look inside of it. To his
amazement he saw the reflection of the moon in the water and exclaimed:
" The moon has fallen into the well! I must save it somehow!"
He looked around an found a rope with a hook on the end of it so he threw it in the well and
shouted:
"Grab the hook, moon, and hold tight! I'll pull you out!"
The rope latched onto a rock inside the well and Hodja pulled back on the rope as hard as he
could. Suddenly the hook broke free from the rock and Hodja fell over on his back. Lying there,
he noticed the moon high up in the sky above. He heaved a sigh of relief and said:
"Well, it wasn't easy, but it's sure a wonderful feeling to know that I've delivered the moon
from the well!"
THANK GOD!
Hadja had lost his donkey. While he was looking for it, he kept repeating, "Thank God!"
"Hodja, why are you thanking God all the time?" people asked.
"I am grateful that I was not on the donkey, otherwise I would be lost too." he answered.
THOSE WHO KNOW AND THOSE WHO DON'T
Friday is the Sabbath for Moslems and it is customary for the hodjas te preach to the
congregation after the midday prayers. Nasreddin Hodja was usually averse to preaching. One
Sabbath, after the prayers, he climbed up to the pulpit and addressing the people said:
"Oh, good people of Akshehir, do you know what I am now about to tell you?"
"No," came the reply.
"Since you don't know about so important a subject, I'd better save my breath."
So saying the Hodja got down the pulpit and walked out the mosque.
3. Next Sabbath, when he put the same question to the congregation:
"Yes," was the reply.
"In that case, there is no reason for my wasting your time," said the Hodja and walked out.
The third Sabbath when confronted with the same question, half the congregation said "Yes"
and the other half "No."
"Well, that's all to the good," said the Hodja this time. "Those of you who know can tell all
about it to those of you who don't."
SELLING BIRD
One day Hodja was wandering in the marketplace, checking out the stands as he always did. On
one of them, he noticed a different bird he had never seen in his life before. A bird with
strange colors. A merchant was shouting out its price.
" One hundred ".
One hundred for a bird !? Having been startled at the price of the bird, probably good for
nothing as he thought, Hodja rushed to his house and fetched his precious turkey over. Finding
a place next to the man selling the bird, he began shouting out :
" Two hundred, two hundred for turkey". People around him started to laugh. An ordinary bird
like turkey could never go for a price like that.
"But, he is selling that weird, useless one for one hundred ", Hodja tried to explain.
"No!", they said. " it is a parrot ".
" Well, so what ? What does a parrot do ? " asked Hodja.
" Don't you know Hodja " they replied all at once " a parrot speaks ".
Never have expected an answer like this, Hodja paused for a moment and as if he wasn't
impressed at all and he went on
" If a parrot speaks, a turkey meditates ".
4. DEBT COLLECTOR
Ragil was playing with a coin when he by accident swallowed it. He went crying to his mom,
choking on the coin. They took him to a doctor, who said that the coin was impossible to
remove without surgery. precision
They consulted a specialist who had the same opinion.
Then came a man who said that he could get the money out easily. He turned Ragil upside
down and patted him with great precision on the back of neck and, sure enough, the coin rolled
out.
Everyone was amazed. The father said " you must be an expert!"
The man replied." No, sir, I'm just a debt collector."
DOCTOR AND LAWYER
As they were talking, they were interrupted by people describing their health problems and
asking the doctor for medical advice.
After an hour of this, the doctor asked the lawyer,"What do you do to stop people asking you
for legal advice when you are out of office?"
The lawyer replied,"I give them the advice, and then the next day I send them a bill for the
advice. They pay the bill, and never ask me for advice outside the office again."
The doctor was surprised but decided to try it.
The next day while the doctor was preparing the new bills, the postman pushed a letter into his
letter box. The doctor opened the enveloped and inside found a bill from the lawyer.
AREN’T YOU HIS MOTHER
Orientation:
(who, when, where)
A young boy was playing with a ball in the street.He kicked it too had, and it broke the window
of a house and fell inside. A lady came to the window with the ball and shouted at theyoung
boy, so he ran away, but he still wanted his ball back.
5. Event 1:
A few minutes later he returned and knocked at the door of the house. When the lady
answered it, he said,"My father's going to come and fix your window very soon."
Event 2:
After a few more minutes a man came to the door with the tools in his hand, so the lady let the
boy take his ball away.
Event 3:
When the man finished the window, he said to the lady,"That wil cost you exactly ten dollars.
Twist (the funny part):
"But aren't you the father of that young boy?"the woman asked looking surprised,"No." he
answered, equally surprised,"Aren't you his mother?"
READ YOURSELF
A man brought a letter to the Hodja: Hodja, could you read this letter?
Hodja looked at the letter which was all in arabic. He was unable to read and give it back to
man. Take this to someone else, i couldn't read. said the Hodja.
How come? you are wearing the turban of a learned man yet you can't read a letter...
The Hodja took off his turban and placed it in front of the man
Ok, if it is skill of a turban, put it on and read your letter yourself!
TRY IT YOURSELVES
While working on the roof of his house Hoca had a dizzy spell and suddenly found himself on
the ground. The neighbours came running concerned and began to shout questions;
-What happened, Hoca?
-Did you hurt yourself?
-You should have paid attention...
-How do you feel, Hoca?
Hoca groaned
6. -Instead of standing around pestering me, you should climb onto my roof and roll over the
ledge head first, then you would have all your answers.
TIGER POWDER
One day Molla Nasreddin was sprinkling some powder on the ground around his house.
-Molla, what are you doing? a neighbor asked.
-I want to keep the tigers away.
-But there are no tigers within hundreds of miles.
-Effective, isn't it? Molla replied
The Moon or the Sun?
People ask Hoca;
-Hoca, is the moon or the sun more useful?
-Of course the Moon, replies Hoca. "While the sun enlightens the earth during daytimes, the
moon enlightens during the nights. "
NASREDDIN STORY
Most of Nasreddin’s neighbours were pleasant people, who were always ready to help each
other when they were in trouble, but there was one woman who lived in his street who was
disliked by everybody because she was always interfering in other people’s business, and
because she was always borrowing things from people and then forgetting to give them back
Early one morning, Nasreddin heard a knock at his front door, and, when he opened it, found
this woman outside. “Good morning, Nasreddin,” she said. “I have to take some things to my
sister’s house in the town today, and I have not got a donkey, as you know. Will you lend me
yours ? I will bring it back this evening.”
“I am sorry,” answered Nasreddin. “If my donkey was here, I would of course lend it to you very
willingly, but it is not.”
“Oh?” said the woman. “It was here last night, because I saw it behind your house. Where is it
now?”
7. “My wife took into town early this morning,” answered Nasreddin. Just then the donkey brayed
loudly.
“You’re not telling the truth, Nasreddin!” the woman said angrily. “I can hear your donkey. You
should be ashamed of yourself, telling lies to a neighbour!”
“You are the one who should be ashamed, not me!” shouted Nasreddin. “Is it good manners to
believe a donkey’s word rather than that of one of one’s neighbour?”
WHAT TIME IS IT?
A tramp lie down and sleep in the park. He had been sleeping for about 5 minutes when a
couple walked by. The man stopped, woke the tramp up , and asked him, "Excuse me.
Do you know what the time is?" The tramp replied, "I'm sorry - I don't have a watch, so I don't
know the time." The man apologized for waking the tramp and the couple walked away.
The tramp lay down again, and after a few minutes went back to sleep. Just then, a woman,
who was out walking her dog, shook the tramp's shoulder until he woke up again.
The woman said, "I'm sorry to trouble you, but I'm afraid I've lost my watch - do you happen to
know the time?" The tramp was a little annoyed at being woken up again, but he politely told
the woman that he didn't have a watch and didn't know the time.
After the woman had gone, the tramp had an idea.
He opened the bag that contained all his possessions and got out a pen, a piece of paper and
some string. On the paper, he wrote down, 'I do not have a watch. I do not know the time'.
He then hung the paper round his neck and eventually dropped off again.
After about 15 minutes, a policeman who was walking through the park noticed the tramp
asleep on the bench, and the sign around his neck. He woke the tramp up and said, "I read your
sign. I thought you'd like to know that it's 2:30 p.m."
8. THE BOSS AND THE TRAINEE
A Man joined a big Multi National Company as a trainee. On his first day he dialed the pantry
and shouted into the phone, "Get me a coffee quickly!"
The voice from the other side responded, "You fool you've dialed the wrong extension! Do you
know who you're talking to, dumbo?"
No", replied the trainee.
"It's the Managing Director of the company, you fool!" The man shouted back, "And do you
know who YOU are talking to, you fool?" "No", replied the Managing Director. "Thats Good!",
replied the trainee and put down the phone!
NASREDDIN AND THE THIEF
Every Saturday, Nasreddin went to the market to buy food and other things. He put them in a
big basket, but he was old and weak, so he always paid another man to carry the basket home
for him. But one Saturday, while he was walking home in front of the man with the basket, the
man ran away with it.
The next Saturday, when Nasreddin went to the market again, a friend of his said, ‘Look,
there he is! That man stole your things last week!’ Nasreddin at once hid behind a shop, and
stayed there until the man left the market.
His friend was very surprised. ‘Why did you do that? He asked.
‘Well,’ said Nasreddin, ‘that man was carrying my basket whe he left me a week ago. He will
want me to pay him for seven days’ work, and that will cost me more than a basket full of
things!’
PRIVATE CONVERSATION;
Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very interesting. I did
not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting behind me. They were talking
very loudly. I got very angry. I could not hear the actors. I turned around. I looked at the man
and the young woman angrily. They did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not bear it.
9. I turned around again. “I could not hear a word” I said angrily.“It’s none of your business” the
young man said rudely. “This is a private conversation” (From: English New Concept)
Generic Structure Analysis
Orientation: introducing a writes as point of view “I” which is in a theatre last week
Event 1: the other theatergoers, young man and young woman, were talking noisily.
Event 2: the writer used physical language by turning around to the young man and young
woman talk to not to make noisy.
Event 3: the write used verbal language by saying “I could not hear a word”.
Twister: the young man misunderstood the writer’s word and said; “It’s none of your business.
It’s a private conversation”.