Post by Tiffany Dempsey from ,,The Nasty Stepmother''

Dahl
Roald Dahl's version of "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" was published originally in 1982 in "Revolting Rhymes."

Based on this information and on Shavit's Method, it is easier to tell that the intended audience for the poem is most likely a teenage/adult contemporary audience. The effectiveness of the humor in the twist is the assumed reader's knowledge of the original version. The plot takes on a humorous twist when the wolf tries to correct Red Riding Hood on the questions she asks. In response to his attempted dinner she whips out a gun and kills him and makes a fur coat out of him.

This contemporary twist of the gun and fur coat as well as the wolf telling Red what she is supposed to say lets the reader know that the intended audience is an older reader who would understand the humor. The title of the book it was published in also illustrates this idea. The main argument for believing he intended the reader to be older is that he is assuming the reader knows the Grimm brothers' wording. One would presumably have gained this knowledge in one's childhood and therefore could understand the humor in an altered version later in life.
Posted by Tiffany at 7:07 PM