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Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Train of Thought: Cold to Kramer

It was a cold day today. The kind of cold day that started bearably and then became face freezing suddenly so it somehow felt colder. My room was blowing cold air most of the day so I had this core temperature issue that was difficult to resolve. It reminded me of a Seinfeld episode from my college days when Kramer's core temperature drops after falling asleep in a hot tub after the heater breaks. He goes days unable to get warm.

This is the kind of thing that would only happen to a character like Kramer. This thought led me to a realization that within my realistic fiction unit with students, I could create a believable character while still have unbelievable situations occur for the purpose of humor and tone. I laughed to myself as I thought about creating a Kramer-like character who slides into entries, kicks up his legs in greeting, and wears eight sweaters when he's cold. A quirky yet loveable character. My students are so eager to get creative and step outside the rules of our unit of study we might just need a character like Kramer to help break the mold.

Also, I think I need more sweaters.


3 comments:

  1. The more believable the character, the better unbelievable situations work. I wonder how the other way around work? Unbelievable characters in mundane situations.

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  2. I wonder if you can find a digital media clip from that episode that you could show to students. If not, maybe another clip of him just walking (er, sliding) into Jerry's apartment time after time.

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Thanks for the comment love!