La función de la anécdota

Anecdote

An anecdote is a short and amusing but serious account, which may depict a real/fake incident or character.

An anecdote is always presented as based in a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place.

he word 'anecdote' (in Greek: ἀνέκδοτον "unpublished", literally "not given out") comes from Procopius of Caesarea, the biographer of Justinian I, who produced a work entitled Ἀνέκδοτα (Anekdota, variously translated as Unpublished Memoirs or Secret History), which is primarily a collection of short incidents from the private life of the Byzantine court. Gradually, the term anecdote came to be applied to any short tale utilized to emphasize or illustrate whatever point the author wished to make.

Function of Anecdote

Anecdotes and humorous pieces are not only jokes, but exquisite literary devices as well. Their major purposes are to stir up laughter, to disclose a truth in a general way, or to describe a feature of a character in such a way that it becomes humorous and at the same time gives us a better understanding of the character.

Types of Anecdote

There are several types of anecdotes. Amusing anecdotes are often used in literature, family reunions, wedding receptions and other get-togethers. Teachers tell anecdotes to their students in classrooms about eminent people and celebrities. Writers and poets use them in their literary works.

How to craft an anecdote

told about one experience, which only lasted over the course of several minutes. Most anecdotes only capture a little moment in time.

chose a moment that was an example of the larger point of her essay. In this case, this moment showed us the type of silly interactions that seal their friendship.

set the scene using descriptive language and details (blueberry pancakes, IHOP, crayon); and told us the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, and why).

included a little snippet of dialogue to give it a fiction-like style.

described a moment that had some action, and involved a problem (the crayon hit a stranger) to create drama.

wrote in the first-person (I, we, us).

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