Fun, Oh Boy. Fun. You
Could Die from It
By Suzanne Britt
Jordan
Pre-reading
 What expectations do you bring to an
article entitled “Fun, Oh Boy. Fun. You
Could Die from it”? Can ‘fun” actually
harm or kill you? In what ways? Do you
think that Americans are too much of a
“fun” culture? Why or why not?
 Do you think we Taiwanese have a “fun”
culture? Why or why not?
Pre-reading
 Consider the contrasts between, and shades
of difference within, “puritan” (par. 3).
“selfless” (par. 4), and “Licentiousness”
(par. 9). Or between “epitome” (par. 11),
“reverently” (par. 13), and “blaspheme”
(par. 13). What do these words imply about
the essay, the author? What do you guess
the essay is likely to say?
In reading







golly gee (par. 8) definition
Polaroid snapshot (par. 10) definition
Jove (par. 5) definition
swill (par. 10) definition
rough-and-ready (par. 10) definition
to put a damper on sth. (par. 12)
What other rhetorical strategies are used in this
essay? (hint: pars. 8 & 14; pars. 6 & 10)
Vocabulary Building









1. A. something precious
B. by all-powers
C. she fell terrible
D. Gosh
2. A. render unimportant or insighificant
B. failing
C. walking aimlessly or idly
D. drinking greedily or excessively
Gaiety, merriment
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 1. In pars. 1-5, she implies that fun is not easily
come by; it is not something common; it is not
something that necessarily comes daily; and it is
not simply pure pleasure.
 2. We would make it into fun, despite the fact that
it may not have been so. For example, she cites
things that got the reputation of being fun (6):
family outings, sex, education, work, Walt Disney,
church, staying fit.
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 3. By placing “happy faces” on them.
 4. By stepping up “the level of danger or
licentiousness or alcohol or drug
consumption.
 5. Taking Polaroid picture, swilling beer,
buying insurance, mopping the floor,
bowing, taking aspirin (10)
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 6. We usually anticipate the fun so
much on big occasions that we end up
missing it when it finally comes. “It
may even come on a Tuesday” means
that fun may come when we least
expect it, when there is no big
occasion.
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 7. About fun, Jordan says “not much is”
(12). She feels we ought to be more
reverent about fun, to feel it more as a
mystery than as something to which we are
automatically entitled. It may even come
when we are working or performing some
duty, implying that those things can be the
“real fun” in life (13)
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 8. They were about twelve years old. They
had just bought candy—Bit-O-Honey,
malted milk balls, chocolate stars,
Chunkies, M & M’s—and were walking
home together. Pam’s gestures were
especially funny because they were truly
enjoying each other’s friendship—that is,
“having fun.”
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 9. She is regretful about “growing up” and
feeling, therefore, that she has lost “the
kind of day and friendship and occasion”
that she had with Pam. It is difficult to say
how sad or regretful she really is; she
seems more bittersweet than sad, although
some readers might logically question why
growing up precludes having fun
Understanding the Writer’s
Techniques
 1. Fun comes unexpectedly, it is not there for the
asking. Par. 13 provides the key elements of the
thesis.
 2. The first two paragraphs are, in a way,
definitions of “fun.” However, these two
sentences, either singly or together, do not
sufficiently define the abstract concept which is
the subject of the essay: The first (“fun is hard to
have”) simply states the quality of the concepts;
the second (“Fun is a rare jewel.”) makes a
metaphorical comparison.
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 3. In the three paragraphs, Jordan mentions all
sorts of things that are “supposed” to be fun, but
does so in a way to suggest that she certainly
does not think of them as automatically being fun.
For example, in par. 7 she explains how “happy
face” stickers are supposed to make “fun” out of
something like a flunked test. Par. 8 relates a
vignette in which a kid does not respond the right
way to something which his or her parents are
sure would be “fun.” And in par. 9 she becomes
more serious in her irony by indicating that drug
or alcohol abuse is sometimes a negative way of
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 4. The fact that we have accepted some things as
fun mainly because, through advertising or
cultural assimilation, we have come to think of
them as having to be fun although we may not
actually derive any pleasure from them.
 5. Jordan attempts to include in her definition and
analysis the broad spectrum of objects, products,
and activities which we have come to assume are
fun, but may, in fact, not be so.
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 6. The tone is talky and slightly cynical
although essentially it remains a
lighthearted irony through the use of
conversational words and phrases. Among
these are: snakes alive! (3); by Jove (5);
flunking (7); this ain’t fun, ma (8); Golly
gee (8); those rough-and-ready guys (10)
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 7. As in her use of “everyday” and
“everything,” Jordan is attempting to show
us just how many things from so many
different types of activities we take for
granted as having to be fun. In a way, she
is trying to point out to us that we are often
much too unselective in our evaluations of
“fun.” Pars. 6 and 10 are especially
effective for their use of multiple examples.
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 8. Par. 12 serves as a transitional paragraph,
whereas par. 13 is the first one to be mostly
affirmative (“It is a mystery.”) The switch turns
the tone of the essay from ironic or cynical to
more serious and reminiscent of fun times in the
past
 9. Disney World (8); Polaroids (10); Bit-O-Honey,
Chunky, M & M’s (14). By using specific brand
names, she brings specificity and familiarity to
her illustrations.
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 10. Narration is used to illustrate aspects of
the concept of “fun.” Par. 8 is the imagined
story of a kid with his or her parents in
Disney World. Par. 14 narrates a fun time
Jordan had with her childhood friend, Pam.
The narration of her childhood memory
adds a nice, personal touch to the essay.
Understanding the Writer’s ideas
 11. Perhaps she wants her readers to begin
and end this essay with the idea that “fun”
is really quite simple—not so complicated
and busy as all the “things” she describes
in the body of the essay.