Humorous Essays (Examples)

humorous writing that still makes the reader stop and think about what they are reading.

In "Would Hemingway Get Into Harvard?" The authors, John Katzman, Andy Lutz, and Erik Olson offer up a funny essay about the new SAT writing test. To "test" the test, they use two passages from two of the world's greatest writers, Ernest Hemingway and Shakespeare. Predictably, under the new SAT grading standards, both these writers would have received failing grades on the SAT. The authors are trying to make the point that the test is not a real measure of a person's writing abilities, and they do it in a very funny and yet memorable way. They definitely bring pleasure to others, because this essay is so well written you have to smile when you read it, and when you see the outcome of the test scores.

In "Technology Makes Me Mad," by Patricia Volk…

However, historians tell us that this is actually not the case. Certainly if one reads Dickens one finds that England of the 19th century was far from familial; some of the materials out of the American Colonial periods show that the family was mostly an iron handed parent and rather aloof father. Just as there is no such thing as an ideal family, the fact of the matter is there never was. Instead, there were some great family experiences, and some tragic ones.

The Myth of "Natural" vs. "Unnatural" -- For millennia, certain behaviors were either natural or unnatural based on the particular norms of the society in question. In certain tribes, for instance, marriage is acceptable at young ages, polygamy is part of everyday life, and homosexuality is encouraged among shamans of the tribe. The bottom line is that nothing is natural or unnatural, it is simply part of…

Not that people should make fun of their own situations, no matter how good or bad, but that humans function better when they can see the humor in every day life. When they begin to understand that humor is all around them, and begin to take themselves less seriously, they can begin to open up to the many other wonderful experiences around them when they otherwise may not have been able to. Humor is a key that unlocks a different facet existence.

All great comedians and humorists have one thing in common: they are able to take something humorous, adapt it to their current audience or context, and unite a group of people through laughter. It is this shared pleasurable experience that creates a bond between the audience and the comedian as well as between each audience member themselves. They are all sharing the same experience, and through humor, are…

Another example of scenes -- and characters -- creating both a balance and a contrast between humor and seriousness comes from the Duke and the King. These two characters appear in many scenes of the novel, and their escapades and claims are a definite source of humor (and frustration) in the novel. One of the most poignant scenes in the book, however, is one Huck sees these two finally receive their comeuppance, as each has been tarred and feathered and is being run out of town on a rail. Huck reflects on the senseless cruelty that mankind is capable of, feeling sympathy for his two former companions though they had treated he and Jim abysmally and cheated everyone else they came across, too. The fact that many of the Duke and King's actions are humorous in addition to be dastardly serves to emphasize the cruelty that they experience at the…

..There is reason for concern, therefore, when aggressive acts are presented in a humorous context in the media" (622).

Although it is intended to refer to society and its misdemeanor, satire cannot be considered to be offensive, since there is a small probability that it will produce any resentment in people. A good example of the American society giving birth to something that is funny and enjoyable, despite its satirical character, is Charlie Chaplin. In times when movies were something new to the American public, the English actor succeeded in making it addicted to him and to his movies. His merit is also largely owed to the scriptwriters and to the movie directors that invested hard work in making the respective movies. Even with his obvious success among the American public, there still are a number of critics believing that the characters played by Charlie Chaplin had been too vulgar…

" The differences in these two lines seem to be only a matter of syntax but in actuality, it also differs in the meaning. The King James Bible version makes it seem like the Lord is making the individual do something, as if by force or obligation, while the Puritan version states that the Lord causes the individual to do something, as if out of their own will. This alone relays the message that faith itself is driving the action, not a perceived obligation.

Another distinction between the two translations can be found with the lines "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: / and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (King James Bible) and "Goodness and mercy surely shall / all my days follow me. / and in the Lord's house I shall / dwell so long as days…

David Sedaris

The experience of learning a new language, especially at an adult age, should be both pleasant and rewarding, especially if one has the opportunity to learn it among those who are its native speakers. There is hardly something I can imagine being more pleasant than learning French in Paris. Yet, David Sedaris' essay, Me Talk Pretty One Day, presents an unfortunate experience as a beginner enrolled in a French class in a school in Paris.

Sedaris' enumeration of the places he got a discount for as a consequence of his enrolling in school is announcing a humorous story about the experience a forty-one-year-old has when going back to school to start all over again, just like a six-year-old. Since the discount tickets to puppet shows and Festyland are more appropriate for the latter kind of age, the irony of an adult of forty one still getting them is…

Henshaw's advice. Leigh uses the knowledge he has gained through reading to make an alarm for his lunch box (an endeavor his mother comes to support, as well as his new friend Barry) and finally wins honorable mention in a story contest. The fact that Leigh chooses to do all of these things (with occasional prompting) makes the young reader more likely to feel enthusiastic about reading him or herself. Cleary's humorous examples at the beginning of the book of the resistance to reading and writing on the part of students being given 'assignments' to write book reports or write to their favorite authors shows that she knows that young readers need to discover reading for themselves, and adults cannot compel them to love reading by force.

Question 4

Leigh's parents are lower-middle class and divorced. Leigh and his mother live in a mobile home, and Leigh's father is a…

Do you disagree with any of Pope's opinions or pronouncements in the Heroic Couplets or "An Essay on Man"?

Pope is critical of individuals who "cry, if man's unhappy, God's unjust," suggesting that the unhappiest people are people who blame God, rather than themselves for all of their troubles, or who curse God because their lives are imperfect. The need to accept life's imperfections while still working to enact positive changes within the limitations of humanity is a positive message still relevant for people today.

Based on what you have read of "The Rape of the Lock," what do you think the poem's theme or central message is? What or who are the objects of his satire? Does the epic, "The Rape of the Lock" apply in any way to society today? Identify two passages that could serve as satiric commentaries on people's behavior today. Your answer should discuss both…

Villasenor, Victor. Rain of Gold, 1991.

What time period does this book cover? What historical events are referenced in the story?

The book takes the reader through three generations of a Mexican-American family, beginning with the early part of the 20th century, chronicling the Mexican Revolution to the end of Prohibition. As it is a memoir, it also contains references of the author's present day.

Describe and compare the birthplaces of both Victor's mother and his father? What unusual event took place when Lupe was conceived?

Juan Salvador was born in Mexico but soon fled the nation because of the revolution. When he was a child, he found himself going to work in the mines of Arizona. Lupe was born in a mine in Mexico, where significantly gold was discovered.

Who was Lupe's first love and why? How young was she when she met him?

Lupe was still a schoolgirl…

Humor and Health:

The evolutionary benefits of laughing easily

According to Mora-ipoli (2012), the old cliche that laughter is the best medicine is really true: laughter, even in the absence of something that is funny, can actually be healing. "Laughter can lead to direct physiological changes to the muscular, cardiovascular, immune, and neuroendocrine systems, which would have immediate or long-term beneficial effects to the body" (Mora-ipoli 2013:57). Although humor can provoke laughter, the two are not necessarily conjoined and even forced laughter produces positive physiological changes in the body in terms of heart rate, blood pressure, and other critical factors that have benefits for the subject. This suggests that laughter is not a cultural product but an advantageous biological 'adaption' of the human species as a social animal.

The unique benefits of laughter (as opposed to humor or enjoying something entertaining) are tied to its mutuality. Although it is certainly…

This poem is a favorite of mine because it reminds me to slow down and appreciate everything. It does not take long nor does it take much to renew and revive and that is exactly what the poet wishes to communicate.

In Joy Harjo's "Remember," the poet uses imagery and personification to convey points of importance. Because the poet is encouraging someone to remember, she pulls images from experience that will be familiar. She begins by telling the reader to "Remember the sky" (Harjo 1) and to "know each of the star stories" (2). In addition, it is important to know the moon. The poet wants to use images the reader already knows and identifies with in order to stress the importance of connecting with the earth. The importance of remembering one's parents is also important because we are all connected. She tells the reader to remember the "earth whose…

What does this have to do with the rest of paragraph 27?

The individual and the institution of the state cannot flourish when their interests are in competition: one of the 'seeds' must die.

33. In this paragraph, Thoreau talks about how he sees his neighbors in a new light after his night in jail.

After suffering the loss of his liberty, he sees how little his neighbors are willing to risk of their own security to see justice done.

Paraphrase each of these observations:

a. "I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends;"

I saw that the people amongst whom I lived were good in name only -- they spoke about the value of justice, but would not lift a finger to do promote justice.

b. "that their friendship was for summer weather only;"

They did good deeds…

I am amused when I remember my first dance lesson, and the pressure I felt until then because I was practically afraid of interacting with people I did not know. Gradually I learnt that my fear had not been justified and I even became a very sociable person thanks to the fact that I entered the world of break dancing. Not only did I learn how to dance consequent to having become accustomed with this new style of living, but I have also learnt how motivation can be a great helper in any situation. In addition to constantly improving my dance techniques, I also began to get better grades and to become more interested in accumulating information.

It is very probable that break dancing has also gotten me to apply and to be accepted at the University of California San Diego's California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS).…

LENARD VS. PEPSI

In general, the valid elements of a valid and enforceable contract are (1) offer, (2) acceptance, (3) specificity, and (4) meeting of the minds. The Honorable Mayor's plan is extremely dangerous because it could very conceivably be interpreted as an enforceable contract to auction the town on Ebay. In principle, placing the town for auction on Ebay would satisfy all of the elements of a valid contract susceptible to a demand for specific performance in the event of a winning bid by a specific bidder who complies with the applicable rules established by Ebay.

That is because the objective theory of contracts holds that the validity of contractual agreements is not determined by what is actually (or subjectively) in the respective minds of the parties involved; rather, contractual validity is determined by the reasonable (i.e. objective) interpretation of the external circumstances, acts, and statements of the parties…

Learning Model

"Morris goes to School" by B. Wiseman.

Heading:

Your name, whole group, 5th grade, all, 09/03/2012.

Objectives for Lesson

The students will engage in reading and writing activities with reflection and understanding.

The students will be motivated to connect the story to their own particular cultural/ethnic / routine experiences

The students will be encouraged to generate situations and to apply to new circumstances using the story as their base

The students will be encouraged to imagine a recipient of their story and to direct the writing of their story to this recipient.

CSO's or SOLs (WV New Generation Content Standards and Objectives)

Student will:

Engage in reading of the text with understanding and motivation

Apply the story to their own circumstance be able to find launch pads from the story with which they can craft their own informative and meaningful tale.

Participate in collaborative conversation with partners and…

This is perhaps most notable in the punctuating words of the witch. "One midnight gone!" cries the witch at the mid-point of the first act, then sings "It's the last midnight," before she leaves the play. The return to the words and themes of the woods is the only constant of the play. This is because the play is about journeys, not about coming to some final moral conclusion. The woods, unlike the safety of the home, is unpredictable -- not even the witch knows that the spell she weaves to regain her beauty will deprive her of her magic, or that the golden floss first provided by the baker will come from her own beloved, adopted child Rapunzel.

Interestingly enough, Rapunzel is the one character who never says 'Into the Woods,' and when other characters provide often humorous reflections on what they have learned in the woods, such as…

Ad Description:

The color ad chosen from People Magazine advertises Thai Airways Southeast Asia Silk Express, the "fastest service from New York to Bangkok." The headline reads, "Less time flying, More time exploring Asia." What catches the attention is the very strange, actually laughable, juxtaposition between the photograph of the ancient spires of what appears to be the Grand Palace on the left frame and an attractive Caucasian woman with her palms pressed together in Asian form and a gold headdress on the right. Whether or not the marketing department wanted this to appear straight or humorous, it draws the viewer. There is very little white space, with the photographs and copy covering most of the page. The signature THAI: Smooth as silk, runs at the end of the page.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

The 30-year-old People magazine claims 9.8 readers for every issue printed. Circulation is over 3,600,000, and readership is…

Cocoon (Howard, 1985) is a 1985 Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre film directed by Ron Howard, who previously directed such films as Splash and Night Shift. Benefitting from the kindly type of aliens previously seen in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cocoon used the advanced technologies of benevolent aliens to explore aging and the pros/cons of reversing that process. Aided by a veteran cast and superior editing/special effects, Cocoon became a hit film.

General Theme/Overview, Style, Plot and Character Development

The general theme is the exploration of aging and the pros/cons of reversing the process, using the style of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. The plot involves the extraordinary results of humans interacting with kindly, advanced aliens, and the dilemmas caused by those results. Thousands of years ago, aliens from Antarea lived on the island of Atlantis on Earth. The island sank and 20 Antareans stayed behind so other Antareans would have…

Vintage Book Contemporary American Poetry. Those: - Mark Strand's "The Story Our Lives" - Robert Pinsky's "The Hearts," - Frank O'Hara's "Having a Coke ith You," - Galway Kinnel's "After Making Love e Hear Footsteps," - J.

"Having a Coke ith You"

Frank O'Hara's poem "Having a Coke ith You" presents audiences with an intriguing look into the poet's world as he focuses on discussing a topic that appears to be related to love, but that is actually more confusing that one might be inclined to believe. It seems that the poet is partly joking and partly passionate about the topic of love, considering that even though he compares his lover to some of the world's most beautiful concepts, he does not hesitate to introduce humorous lines as being related to the subject that he is discussing.

O'Hara cleverly addresses ideas such as art and life with the purpose of…

Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids

While the title of the essay "Anti-Intellectualism: Why we hate the smart kids" may resonate emotionally with many self-identified nerds, its author Grant Penrod ultimately relies too much on arguments-by-anecdotes to be really persuasive. While there is certainly evidence from modern political life about a strong anti-intellectual current within the American culture, most of Penrod's is based in personal experiences or subjective emotions. The essay opens with a complaint about a football team at one high school that received more school praise than the equally successful science bowl team, the speech and debate team, and the academic decathlon team. Penrod seems to be trying to make a persuasive case to his peers about the persecution of nerds but the essay reads more like a self-serving complaint than a true argument in defense of a persecuted segment of high school or greater American society.…

Close eading of "Look at Your Fish"

Samuel H. Scudder composed "Look at Your Fish" in 1874. The piece is a narrative and anecdote of Scudder's first encounter with Jean Louis odolphe Agassiz. Agassiz, at the time of their meeting, was an accomplished zoologist working at the Harvard University Lawrence Scientific School. Scudder was an entomologist who studied under and was mentored by Agassiz during his time at Harvard. "Look at Your Fish" is Scudder's recollection of his first day in Professor Agassiz's course and the first class exercise in which Professor Agassiz assigned to the class. "Look at Your Fish" is told in a chronological, linear fashion. There are a few groups for whom this piece is the intended audience. One audience could be college students; another group could be professors at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This piece would also be relevant to any teacher or anyone serving…

Third, "Grace Happens" is a humorous bumper sticker for a similar reason as "Evolution is Intelligent." "Grace Happens" is a satire of "S&*^ Happens," which is also a common bumper sticker. However, "Grace Happens" refers to the Christian religion, making it a relevant topic for most people. "Yes, I'm Evil But it's a Part of My Charm" is a humorous bumper sticker because it cleverly makes fun of a deeply relevant philosophical issue. "If you Want Fur, Stop Shaving" is a humorous bumper sticker because the message refers to animal rights in a farcical way rather than simply stating something like "Fur is Murder!" which would not be humorous.

Bumper stickers like "Yes, I'm evil but its part of my charm," "If you want to wear fur, stop shaving," "You're a Republican, and that's sad," "Caution-Driver is Legally Blonde," and "Come to the Dark Side -- We have cookies!" are…

The sticker "Wheeeeee!" also shows that the driver enjoys going fast; his or her attitude is irreverent much like the individual who sardonically announces that being "evil" is charming. The opposite attitude toward driving is embodied by the bumper sticker "Let Go of My Ears," which suggests either that the driver dislikes tailgating or loud honks. Either way, the driver uses humor to convey his or her personal attitudes toward driving.

Finally, bumper stickers sometimes convey messages of general importance even if those messages are cloaked in humor or sarcasm. For example, the slogan "Trucker's Wife" draws attention to labor issues, lifestyle and gender, all issues of overall importance. The slogan "Evolution is Intelligent" is another example of bumper stickers of general importance. On the one hand, the driver acknowledges the theory of evolution but on the other hand he or she pays homage to the theory of intelligent design.…

To my surprise, he went right pass me with his three-year-old and asked me if I wanted to work in shifts with the kid. Off-course, not every manager would be as kind, but, considering the tension that I had in me as he was heading my direction and the relief that he created, I believe that his humor had been the best I've heard in years.

Consequent to getting a new job at the place where I work, a friend of mine was bragging on about how he was lucky that he lasted here for more than a month. Moreover, he told me that he had a feeling that the economy was improving and that the crisis would soon be over. He told me that the reason for this had been that he asked the manager whether he was going to fire him or not and the latter said that…

Humor in Literature

American literature is unique in that the attitudes of the works tend to reflect the spirit of the nation and of her citizens. One of the trademarks of American literature is that authors display a tone that can be very serious, but that also can be interpreted as humorous. hereas texts from other cultures are usually more concerned with message and in presenting that message in a dry, even stoic manner, American literature is uniquely capable of mixing the honest and the humorous. Even in the most serious and earnest stories, the sensibility of American humor can be detected. Of course, there are different types of humor. Some stories are flat-out ridiculous and make the reader laugh. Other stories are more sarcastic in their approach to humor and the funny moments have to be analyzed to be better understood. Still other tales are anecdotal and function as…

The more absurd the outcome and the more unexpected, the greater the chance the audience will have in finding the situation humorous. Changing the audience's perception of a situation creates humor and the incongruous relationship between human intelligence and mechanical behavior serving as a social corrective helping people recognize behaviors that are inhospitable to human flourishing (Kant, Critique of Judgment I, I, 54).

Completely separate from the above theories is the Theory of Play. Play theories try to classify humor as a theory of play stating that similarities between what is true of play might be true of humor as well.

By looking at laugh triggers, Play Theorists suggest that humor in the behavior of animals such as tickling amongst chimps and even tail wagging amongst dogs is similar to laughing amongst humans. These behaviors are all products of evolutionary development. Meaning that we are born with the instinct to…

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However, as Baender demonstrates, it has to be too much of a fluke to have such "sophisticated" (192) humor. That is, telling the story tongue-in-cheek as such as serious anecdote. Twain, himself, reflected on using this device in "How to tell a story," when he said that the "humorous story is told gravely." And that the teller should "conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects...there is something funny." Even before he wrote the story he said about Coon's delivery: "He was a dull person, and ignorant; he had no gift as a story-teller, and no invention...he was entirely serious, for he was dealing with what to him were austere facts...he saw no humor in his tale..." (Baender 194)

Twain gives hints about his feelings of this seriousness by stating in his first draft of the story: "...the spectacle of a man drifting serenely along through such a queer…

Allen is saying that all of the wonders of technology can never replace tow people connecting and trusting each other. I completely agree with these concepts and given Mr. Allen's wit and comedic sense, am thankful it was made. Finally any film made during a specific period of time can't help but reflect the values of society at the time. The open discussions about sexuality and sex make light of society's open and free attitudes about these areas of the human experience in 1973.

Why Sleeper is a Classic

Sleeper will always be a classic because it combines Mr. Allen's slapstick and vaudevillian comedic approaches while integrating his favorite music, which is jazz and ragtime. In addition the triumph of the human spirit and human emotions, as chaotic and mercurial as they can be, will always be superior to technology. The use of technology as a means to coerce and…

Bumper stickers display a wide range of humorous quips, political opinions, and statements of personal identity. One humorous quip on a bumper sticker reads, "Driver carries no cash: he's married!" The warrant or message underlying this statement implies that wives spend most of their husband's money. In fact, the sticker makes a broader social commentary on gender stereotypes. The warrant on which this sticker is based might be valid on certain occasions but its implication is inherently biased and essentially invalid. Most American families today probably consist of two working parents; the days of the stay-at-home housewife are pretty much over. Most women either choose to work or have to work to help pay the household bills. Moreover, men are just as responsible for spending and squandering money as women are: many men in fact spend more money than their wives. Therefore, "Driver carries no cash: he's married!" deserves a…

On page 157 Dennis wonders if Sir Ambrose is going to be his 'first penitent', even though in actuality Dennis is not even a real cleric as of yet, and does not really intend to be.

One of the funniest parts of the book comes at the very end. Earlier, Dennis had quoted a number of fine examples of the cards that were delivered on a yearly basis to the owners of the pets being interred, buried or burned at the Happier Hunting Grounds. It was as if little Fifi was returning from the dead on an annual pilgrimage of thankfulness for the care and love of former employers.

Upon discovering that Aimee in a fit of despair had taken her own life, and that neither he nor Mr. Joyboy would be able to have a further communications with her, Dennis accomplishes the ultimate in English irony which was to…

This 'floating' use of body parts and fluid use of human and mouse anatomical characteristics is another distinct feature of the graphic style of Maus.

Frame 6

In this frame, we discover the source of the father's displeasure with Mala. Mala was putting Artie's coat on a wire hanger. The petty nature of this tantrum indicates the stress under which Artie's father labors. He is angry about small things, despite having recently suffered some permanent tragedies (heart problems and the suicide of his wife) and tragedies in the past. This suggest that the father projects his frustrations and anger about the past into the present and gets angry at relatively minor matters because of his inability to deal with his past experiences. It also is a clue as to why he has heart trouble.

The father's irascible character traits are underlined in the explanatory voice-over by the narrator Artie, who…

Sentimental Journey

Q1: How did you react to A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, on its own, or in comparison to previous works on the course? (eg. I enjoyed reading...)

I enjoyed reading Sterne's A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy and found it to be altogether very humorous. Yorick is the kind of person I sometimes imagine myself to be so I could very easily identify with him -- from his initial reaction to the monk begging for donations (Sterne 16) -- Yorick refuses and then instantly regrets being so discourteous to the monk -- to the way in which he procures a passport in Versailles, unwittingly coming off as the king's jester. There are many humorous episodes like this throughout the book, so it was a pleasure to read and a nice diversion from my own life -- which has too few such humorous episodes. Even expressions…

The death that occurs at the end of the Cherry Orchard -- that of the serf-turned-servant, Fiers -- is far more comic than the death of Konstantin, however, and that is why this death occurs onstage rather than out of sight of the audience. Much of the Cherry Orchard is focused on the inability of many of the characters to see beyond the ends of their own noses and immediate interests; with better foresight and acknowledgement of others, many of the bad things that befall the characters could have been averted. This is definitely a dark form of comedy, but the repeated nature of this trope throughout the play makes it ultimately comedic. The idea that Fiers decides to curl up on a couch in an old house and die, having been forgotten by his family and former masters, is the final punch-line of the play and must be seen…

Gradien spin-echo, echo-planar sequence which is sensitive to blood-oxygen level-dependent contrast (T2*) was used to collect the functional brain images.

Conclusion

The analysis of the data provided evidence that humor detection and humor appreciation do indeed use separate neural pathways within the brain. Humor detection was linked with increased activity in the left inferior frontal cortex and the posterior temporal cortex. Humor appreciation, however, showed increased brain activity in separate areas, including the bilateral regions of the insular cortex as well as the amygdala, well-known for its role in emotional processing and responding. Thus, in order for humans to appreciate humor, and derive the emotional benefits from a funny situation, they must first cognitive process the situation in a way that makes sense of the humor, or rather detects the humorous situation.

The areas related to humor detection have previously been linked to language tasks that involve retrieval and appraisal…

As a child, Golding's habit of 'thinking' is really a habit of questioning assumptions, while his teachers, friends, and parents do not. His is a broad and humorous use of the word thinking stands in contrast to the notion of thought or philosophical introspection in the Robinson piece. Robinson offers a very specific definition of thinking: "we shall consider mind chiefly as conscious knowledge and intelligence, as what we know and our attitude toward it -- our disposition to increase our information, classify it, criticize it and apply it."

In Golding's essay, 'thinking' can mean everything from learning, to listening, to showing consideration before acting. "I know what I think!" cries his bully of a schoolteacher, while Golding's implication is that the man has not 'thought' -- that is, deeply reflected -- upon anything in his life, he merely transmits received truths. But Golding is less interested in showing the…

Sedaris then uses exaggeration to reinforce the threat of failure by describing the need to "... dodge chalk and protect our heads and stomachs whenever she approached us with a question."

The literal image is, of course, exaggerated for humor, but the fear of inevitable failure in the eyes of an authority figure who probably prefers our failures to our successes because of the opportunity they represent to chastise us is identifiable to most readers. Likewise, despite the exaggerated imagery, Sedaris also reminds us of the connection between anxiety from the fear of failure (particularly in front of an audience) and abdominal discomfort.

Sedaris continues in that direction, culminating in his description of the teacher's accidentally stabbing the shy Korean student in the eye with a "freshly sharpened pencil," also adding the humor in the sarcasm of the author's observation "in fairness" that the pencil attack was at least unintentional.…

She is so vulnerable, confessing that she "bloomed under the warmth of [Adam's] interest" (Keyes 111). Her family is so kooky we wonder if they will actually help her regain her crushed self-esteem. Yet, we somehow know that Claire will bee all right. She is too funny, too optimistic, and too likeable for Keyes to destroy by giving her anything but a happy ending. As readers, we may not be able to guess how the book will end, but we feel confident that the ending will be a satisfying one and that Claire's problems will be brought to resolution.

This Charming Man is a foray into the problem of domestic violence. The character who gives the book its title is Paddy de Courcy, a political figure who may call to mind John F. Kennedy -- handsome, charming, and popular with ladies. It is a departure from atermelon in that the…

e all delight in Don Giovanni's 'badness,' Leporello's actions suggest. Don Giovanni does what many of us wish we could do, but dare not. The Don loves women and leaves them, without any care for social conventions. hile Leporello's decision to not engage in transgressions with women may be class-based in some instances, even the Don's higher-born counterparts do not openly defy conventional sexual wisdom to the same degree as he does. The celebratory and openly joyous nature of the "Madamina" aria is a kind of celebration of sexuality members of the audience may wish to engage in, but do not. Despite the literal word-painting of the appearance of the blondes and brunettes, there is a stark contrast between the 'mind in the gutter' literal wordings of Leporello's leering commentary with the agile beauty of Mozart's music.

Elvira is silent throughout the aria, conveying her sense of resistance and disgust.…

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And as to Foxworthy and Engvall using material that ertainly would be onsidered in bad taste in some soial environments, Kant writes, "...The judgement of taste is not a ognitive judgement...and hene, also, is not grounded on onepts, nor yet intentionally direted to them." The judgement of taste on the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" is that whih produes laughs, not that whih neessarily mathes up with the values expounded by syndiated radio host "Dr. Laura" or "Miss Manners" in the newspapers.

James P.T. Fatt, "Why do we laugh?" Communiation World 15.9 (1998): 12-15.

Jeroen Vandaele, "Humor Mehanisms in Film Comedy: Inongruity and Superiority," Poetis Today 23.2 (2002): 221-228.

John Morreall, Taking Laughter Seriously (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1983) 15-16.

Jeffry H. Goldstein & Paul E. MGhee, The Psyhology of Humor (New York: Aademi Press, 1972) 10-11.

Franis Hutheson, "Refletions Upon Laughter," Eighteenth Century British Aesthetis, ed.…

Domestic Prison

Gender oles and Marriage

The Domestic Prison: James Thurber's "Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"

James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) and "The Story of an Hour" (1894) by Kate Chopin depict marriage as a prison for both men and women from which the main characters fantasize about escaping. Louise Mallard is similar to the unnamed narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is that they are literally imprisoned in a domestic world from which there is no escape but death or insanity. As in all of this early feminist fiction, the women characters are defined as 'sick', either physically or mentally, for even imaging a situation on which they might be free, for they are allowed no lives of their own. Louise Mallard was overjoyed when she heard that her husband was killed in an accident,…

Southern Humor" by Roy Blount, Jr., the author discusses the concept of humor in the American culture as unique to a given portion of that culture. His thesis is that the work of the southern humorists all possess similar characteristics which reflect the opinions and perspectives of that geographical location.

"At the bottom of Southern humor lies this fundamental truth: that nothing is less humorous, or less Southern, than making a genuine, good-faith effort to define and explain humor, particularly Southern humor" (Blount 156). Blount explains that he is often questioned to define humor, particularly that from the Southern region. Humor is something that is very hard to define. Something either is humorous or it is not and it is in the attempting to explain or to analyze that drains something of any humor it had once possessed. Once the joke is made, it is either understood or it is…

adaptation a french Novel Zazie dans le Metro

It is quite clear from even a cursory analysis of chapters of 18 and 19 of aymond Queneau's Zazie dans le Metro, described as one of the most laughable books originally written in French (Vincendeau, 2011), that the author is describing the events that take place in them in a humorous way. As such, the reader can infer that the actions described in these two chapters, and probably through the remainder of the novel, are not literal and are meant to poke fun at a greater concept. The author's humor is certainly understated, which is why these chapters read more like a satire than a straightforward novel to produce an overall "fun" effect (No author, 1999). It is highly important that in both chapters, a good deal of the humor revolves around women. A closer examination of the author's diction and tone…

And Sellers plays the repressed social engineer Strangelove, the timid Merkin Muffley, and the persevering Mandrake -- all with mechanical precision. Kubrick's unflinching camera acts as a character, too, slyly observing the exposition of humanity in all its grimly humorous glory.

This film belongs to a culture that has rejected the status quo -- the quaint picturesque comedies of the 1940s and 1950s; it belongs to a culture that is bordering on nihilism, anarchy, revolution -- anything that will help it to get away from the culture that has brought us the faceless, nameless idiots running the ar Room in Dr. Strangelove. The film offers no solutions -- it only asks us to present ourselves to world with fresh eyes, a pure soul able and willing to laugh at its human foibles and failings, and begin to meditate upon a new direction, a new solution perhaps to the problem of…

Ancient Philosophy

Though it is acknowledged that the words and ideas of Socrates have been filtered though the thoughts of those that followed him, namely Plato, as Socrates wrote nothing himself, it is also clear that the interpretation garnered by the ancients has been profoundly felt throughout western culture. It is also clear that the body of work that survives in fragmentation recorded as prior to the Socratic philosophical revolution is a strong basis for that which followed, it can also be described as simpler or at least less complex. The main difference according to the writings of the post Socratic philosophers between Socratic ethics and pre-Socratic ethics are twofold. On the one hand the idea that philosophical questions are not and cannot be seen as finite and on the other the establishment of Socrates as the supreme model of the philosophical life and all its trappings. The impact that…

Uncle Daniel and Lester Ballard

Proper characterization is one of the greatest skills that a writer possesses because often times poor development of characters or their inapt portrayal can completely destroy even the most perfect of stories. It has been noticed that while most writers pay close attention to evolution of their characters, they do tend to go overboard with negative or positive characterization on some occasions. Despite their good intentions, they get carried away with a desire to create unusual characters that cannot be related to easily. A writer's ability to develop realistic characters tend to add to the overall impact and popularity of their works and similarly a poorly developed or unrealistic character can destroy an otherwise good plot. However in some rare cases, even a seemingly unreal character manages to leave a lasting impact because of the sheer creative genius of the authors. This is exactly what…

teacher influence the reading-writing program at his/Her school?

An enthusiastic teacher with a strong voice who is excellent at classroom structure can create students' interest in stories -- even before a reading lesson begins. First, there is no substitute for a good relationship with your students. Let them know you genuinely care about them that you're not just up there because you're getting paid to be up there. This sounds very basic and fundamental, but by empowering them, they know you're listening and that you care. "If kids like you, they'll perform for you," according to teacher Charlene Christopher in Norfolk, Virginia (nea.org). "I'm respectful to my students, and in turn, they know that if they're disrespectful, I'll call them it," said teacher Jim McNeil in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. "Also, I use a lot of humor -- that works for me" (nea.org).

hat is one strategy or activity that you could…

But getting out of bed is problematic, and it is a humorous picture when a reader imagines what it must have looked like as he hears someone from his office arriving and he "…almost froze while his small limbs only danced around all the faster" (Kafka, 10).

It is also tragic that the apple that his father threw at him has caused inflammation; it is tragic that his room is now a dumping area; it is tragic that the new lodgers threaten to sue and that Gregor's sister thinks they should get rid of Gregor because he was driving away the renters. The incident in which Gregor's mother fainted and was "perhaps near death, thanks to him" (Kafka, 48) is tragic. Add to that the fact that broken glass wounded Gregor in the face and some "corrosive medicine dripped over him" -- and this is ironic and tragic. Medicine on…

Attraction to Violence in the Media

Violence on Films and in Television

Filmmakers Technique to Grab the Audience

Violence Made to Swindle the Viewers

Making Violence Funny

Health Concerns

It is clear that one of the worthy changes in the social environment today is the advent and fullness of television. In this new setting, television, radio, videos, movies, computer networks and video games, have presumed central roles in people's day-to-day lives. Rather it be good or bad, it seems that the mass media are having some kind of a huge impact on people's standards, beliefs, and behavior. Regrettably, the consequences of one specific element of the mass media exposure has for the most part damaging effects on those that are watching' and others' health. There is much Research evidence that has been accumulating over a lot of ears that being exposed to violence on television and in video games does…

Goya and Redon
Francisco Goya was an 18th-19th century Spanish painter and printmaker. Odilon Redon was a 19th-20th century painter and printmaker. The two artists, though separated by a century, share a similar style and perspective. Goya lived through the Romantic-Enlightenment era and saw the unraveling of society on the Continent as the Old World values were swept away be Enlightenment philosophy and Romantic dreams. Redon lived to reflect the aftermath of that era: his symbolist paintings show a world that is half-mad, yet totally focused on itself and its grandiose ideas. Together, Goya and Redon cover three centuries of thought and activity in Europe. Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son (1819-1823) and Redon’s The Smiling Spider (1887) both show strangeness in the extreme and depict a frightening aspect of the world that is at once nightmarish and bizarrely humorous. This paper will provide an analysis of Goya’s and Redon’s respective…

This continuing trading out of one tyranny for another is also built into a recurring theme in the text.

Multiculturalism

Early on in the novel, a scene of mob violence -- that is, of a white mob practicing violence upon black students, including with the use of a baseball bat -- is described, and Puttbutt's reaction to the scene is prompted and recorded by the ubiquitous television media. Puttbutt describes the problem as one that the black students themselves have created and perpetuated, with the help of the black faculty agitators, not simply acting as an apologist for the white students but actually blaming the victims for their differences. Though Puttbutt is also angling for tenure and security, there is a sense of irony and staire in his speech that cannot be ignored.

Specifically, when he refers to the "poor white students" who let things like affirmative action and quotas…

It shows that children, who we expect to be innocent and trusting, can have a very dark side, and that can be horrifying, although I wouldn't really call this a "horror" film, either. I would call this a psychological thriller with a twisted ending. This film doesn't have a lot of the elements of many horror films, although Rhoda could certainly be seen as a monster stalking her prey, anyone who has something she wants. The real focus of the film is her mother, Christine, who can't face what her daughter has done, or do the right thing, such as turning her in to the authorities. Instead, she blames herself, tries to kill her daughter with sleeping pills, and then tries to commit suicide. No wonder the daughter has problems!

Like the other films, this film has a message, too, and it has to do with children and what they're…

" The subject describes how his mother also adamantly refused to consent to the use of Novocain or any other anesthetic when he visited the dentist (despite his pleas and pleas from the dentist) because of her distrust of "chemicals."

There is likely a direct connection between the subject's development of a highly abrasive and uncontrollable on-air persona and the degree to which the subject's control over basic aspects of his life was denied to him throughout his formative years (Casement, 1998; Mitchell & Black, 1995). More specifically, the subject was denied the right to express himself and he was often forced to abide by very conservative rules of proper conduct both in the home and also outside the home, such as by his mother's repeated warning that he was her "representative" outside the home. The self that developed seems to reflect both the explicit absorption of certain ideas from…

Yet perhaps no American author embraced the grotesque with the same enthusiasm as the Southern Flannery O'Connor. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor uses the example of a family annihilated by the side of the road by an outlaw named the Misfit to show the bankruptcy of American life. Instead of an evil serial killer, the Misfit is portrayed as a kind of force of divine justice, who unintentionally allows the grandmother of the family to experience grace. She says that she believes the man is like one of own her children before he kills her. In O'Connor's stories, the characters do not fight for their insight, rather it is given in mysterious, often deadly ways, and it always originates with the divine, not with the human will.

If O'Connor represents the most extreme version of grotesque American literature, Ralph Ellison represents perhaps the most balanced use…

There is an almost pitiable desperation to challenge her sensibilities, indeed to teach her a lesson, that is overtly self-serving. And so we see, in the resolution of O'Connor's story, that Julian will suffer the consequences of his illusions. In no way does Julian's behavior absolve the deplorable belief system espoused by his mother and the great many of her ilk. However, it does demonstrate the smallness of all its subjects. The humorous moments leading to the climax -- in which Julian's mother and the portly black woman on the bus are revealed to be wearing the same hat about which such a fuss had been pitched in the story's opening sequence -- imply a sort of likeness between the women. The two are irreparably segregated from one another by a prejudice inbuilt to centuries of intolerance, mistreatment and mis-education. And for Julian's mother, racism is a natural worldview derived…

The irony here is that the crime he failed to commit -- the killing of this cat -- led to the narrator's doom. The irony is heightened in "The Cask of Amontillado" because the entire time the narrator, who is looking back on the incident fifty years later, evinces no lack of confidence or surety until the very end, where his feelings of guilt become suddenly and drastically clear. Even though the ultimate end of the story is pretty much foretold at the beginning as far as plot is concerned, the internal effects on the narrator create an ending that is ironically more unnerving than his external actions (Henninger 35).

Both of these stories also clearly illustrate the way guilt and punishment necessarily follow crime. The narrators of both stories end up feeling guilty for their actions, and both are surprised by their fates. In "The Black Cat," the narrator…

That is why Venus and Adonis is chosen, as opposed to some of Titan's other creations. hile the story of Venus and Adonis is tragic, and thus fitting the subject of the book, on first glance, especially for someone not very familiar with the painting or the myth, the central image on the cover is anything but tragic -- it is merely eye-catching. To find out why the painting is tragic, the viewer would have to read the book.

The fact that the painting is being used to arouse interest, rather than awe or pity is reinforced by the fact that the image has been cropped on the cover. This is so the viewer's eyes are drawn directly to Venus's nudity, not the entire, narrative sprawl of the painting. Because the figure of Adonis is only shown in part, the fact that he is dressed in warlike clothing is less…

It is thus that he helps to establish the truly tragic abstractions that characterize the family's individual experiences. here a broad, unilateral overview of the story might direct the reader's focus to the burial plot, an objective set of narratives articulated by the character's themselves suggests that Faulkner intends the story more as a lamentation for the living.

In As I Lay Dying, Faulkner delivers a treatise on the American condition too often unconsidered in either the literary or the public forums. The Bundrens can be considered less a family comprised of actual individuals as a unit of caricatures. The characters are altogether conflicted by selfishness and emotional ambivalence, divided by an unrefined sense of loyalty and an incapacity to truly experience mourning and relentlessly driven to their goal even as they are guided by cloudy ambitions. In this regard, it is difficult to even determine that Faulkner finds redemption…

Different individuals may be capable of using the economic advantage accrued to them because of their superior knowledge with greater alacrity than others.

Another limit is the multicausal nature of behavior and shifts in the culture. The drop in crime can be attributed to so many factors, to draw an easy correlation between the abortion rate and a drop in crime is almost impossible, given that it was accompanied by an increase in material wealth during this period that spread to poorer segments of society, an increase in more effective policing, even a degrease in the prestige of criminal activity and a greater respect for authority in the culture. Human beings do not live in the laboratory, and the examples cited by Leavitt and Dubner tend to reduce most of human behavior to a singular causal framework. Regardless, the book is provoking and challenging in its analysis, although it is…

Diaz del Castillo has an undoubted ideological bias in stressing how that the small band of Spanish soldiers, barely numbering in the several hundreds, could never have defeated the mighty Mexican army, but his account gives the reader pause. Diaz del Castillo's account, even if one allows for a certain amount of exaggeration here and there, to have a ring of authenticity, as he portrays his own people as well as the Aztecs warts and all, including their squabbling about gold: "now all men covet gold, and the more we have the more we want, yet several recognizable pieces were missing from the heaps" (Del Castillo 274)

Morally speaking, can the Spanish conquest be 'wrong' and yet the way of life of the conquered morally abhorrent? The Conquest of New Spain raises many troubling ethical questions for a critical reader, reading with a post-colonial, post-modern mindset. Although it was not…