How does george s. kaufman use understatement in his play? cite textual evidence to support your answer.

Examples from George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s play You Can’t Take it With You that help establish the world inhabited by the Sycamore-Vanderhof clan generally come from the playwrights’ stage directions, such as those that establish the setting at the beginning of Act I.  Kaufman and Hart describe a setting that mixes the intellectual with the chaotic – a not uncommon formula for genius:

“Scene 1: The home of Martin Vanderhof – just around the corner from Columbia University, but don’t go looking for it.  The room we see is what is customarily described as a living room, but in this house the term is something of an understatement.  The every-man-for-himself room would be more like it.  For here meals are eaten, plays are written, snakes collected, ballet steps practiced, xylophones played, printing presses operated – if there were room enough there would probably be ice skating.  In short, the brood presided over by Martin Vanderhof goes on about the business of living in the fullest sense of the word.”“Oh!  Ed, I got a wonderful idea in the bathroom just now.  I was reading Trotsky.  It’s yours, isn’t it? . . .Anyhow, it struck me it was a great fireworks idea.  Remember ‘The Last Days of Pompeii’?”

With this brief exchange, Kaufman and Hart further cement the notion that this is an incredibly eccentric family with a deeply-imbued sense of intellectual curiosity – a theme that recurs throughout the play.  Leon Trostky, of course, was leading figure of the Bolshevik Revolution and a historical figure not adverse to carrying out acts of violence in the interests of advancing a political agenda.Another example from the script to You Can’t Take it With You that captures the essence of the world these characters inhabit, while injecting yet another of Kaufman’s subtle references to his own repertoire, involves the entrance of Alice, Penny and Paul’s daughter (along with Essie) who represents a hint of sanity in this otherwise tumultuous atmosphere.  Alice’s initial comments, subsequent to her greetings to and from members of her family, captures the world of the Sycamores and Vanderhofs quite well.  Removing her gloves and hat, she comments to those around her:

Again, Kaufman and Hart inject a lot of substance into a quick passage that illuminates the nature of this particular universe.  The reference to Kay Francis is, again, no accident.  Francis was a prominent stage actress of the time who also appeared in the Kaufman-penned Marx Brothers play and film The Cocoanuts.  The quick run-down of the usual activities associated with this house is provided 

Here, then, are several examples of how Kaufman and Hart establish the setting and the atmosphere in which their play takes place. 

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George S. Kaufman uses understatement in the play by having the characters downplay the seriousness of the situation. One of the first uses of understatement in the play is when the bellboy says in a very calm manner, “The hotel is on fire, sir.” Bob’s reaction to this statement is “Well—is it bad?” In reality, a bellboy would not tell hotel guests about a fire so calmly, and the guests would not waste time by asking how bad the fire is. As the fire spreads, Bob remarks, “Yes, that is pretty bad.” The bellboy later says to Ed, “The lower part of the hotel is about gone, sir.” These understatements show how unconcerned the characters are about the fire, parodying British manners with the ridiculousness of the situation.

Explanation:

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1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)