Beyond A Joke Essay

Beyond A Joke Essay
Humor or joke has always been part of the behavioural collection of "modern Homo sapiens for thousands of years" (Polimeni, 2006). Joke or humor,
being its conventional meaning, is the focus of some studies conducted from logical, mental, sociological and linguistic perspectives. While other
researchers working within the first three fields may regard humor as a phenomenon, linguists talk about humour as analysing its semantic and
pragmatic devices which leads to various studies regarding humor. Polimeni (2006) suggested that when we generate and perceive humor or joke, we
undergo biological process which includes a observable cognitive trait that is dependent on both the person who is generating the joke and the linguistic
environment.
The aim of the article "Beyond a Joke" is to help the readers appreciate and be aware about all the possible meaning a conversational humor may have
and familiarise themselves on the topic frequent in...show more content...
Skinner supported this claim by stating that students retain more information when humor is employed, which creates a more positive learning
environment, retains student's attention, and reduces anxiety to students when learning.
Morever, Askildson's (n.d.) study strongly supports the many beneficial effects of humor in teaching. It was indicated in his study that majority of the
participants agreed that humour is an important element of creating an environment conducive to learning, humour reduces anxiety or tension among
the students inside the classroom. Clearly then, humor is perceived as an important component for the learning process among both students and
teachers and must, therefore, be given consideration in evaluation of pedagogical approaches to language
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Humor: An Essentially Social Phenomenon
Humor is an essentially social phenomenon. Humorous jokes and funny performances and scenes in films are a form of communication that is
typically common in social interaction. These humorous jokes and expressions are socially and ethnically made. They often relate to a particular to a
specific time and place. The subjects and issues that an individual may joke about may typically be essential to the social and moral order of society.
(Kuipers, 2007) Humor is the idea that a phenomenon can be conceptualized as originating from juxtaposing two or more conceptualizations that do not
normatively speak or go together. Despite the social characterization in humor, sociology, this is the idea that studies society and human behavior, has
not concerned itself much with humor. Humor is considered as a form of social deviance that can lead to positive sanctions as well as negative
sanctions. Humor allows individuals to discuss controversial or taboo subjects. Humor works as a mechanism to address subject areas that a society
regards as upsetting. These areas have been constructed as a psychologically or socially out of norm. It also allows oppressed social groups to
undermine the ideologies of their oppressor. Humor can be born out of experiences expressing grief and sorrow. It allows individuals to express
contempt towards other individuals, social groups, and societies and allows us to celebrate triumph over enemies. Controversial humor is humor that
can be used to expose and

Humor In Stand Up Comedy
A Discourse Analysis of Maz Jobrani's Stand–up Comedy
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
This is a study of humor in stand–up comedy, focusing on analyzing a script using the Cooperative Principle and Flouting the Maxims by Grice
(1975). Humor is used in our daily life to address social, cultural or political issues in an entertaining manner. Repeatedly, people express their opinion
and ideas with short, funny, exaggerating, dramatic and sarcastic ways to achieve certain effects, thereby they could feel humorous. Also, humor is
practical because without even realizing it, the audience will change their view on matters they were once deeply convinced with. In this article, I will
shed light on the different functions of humor. I will study and analyze the...show more content...
It generally involves two main aspects: definition and pragmatics. In this article, I will only deal with pragmatics. Hancher (1980) explains that humor
comes out by violating speech act in appropriate condition or associated conversational theory of implicature. Raskin (1985) differentiates humor
dialogs from daily normal conversation and proposes the theory of humor's cooperative principle in which listeners do not take the speaker's words at
face value. The speaker is not expected to tell the truth or to give related information. Attardo (1993) explains the substance of humor and shows the
results behind violating Grice's cooperative principle. Many studies and researches attempt to illustrate the analysis of humor form the pragmatics
point of view. However, only few works explore humor with discourse analysis. In this article I will apply the pragmatic theory using the cooperative
principle by Grice (1975) and emphasizing on the four maxims merged with discourse analysis to reveal the result of humor in English in the light of
flouting or non–observance of Grice's cooperative

Definition Essay On Humor
Humor is one of the most important part of anyone's life. Humor can be different to everyone but to me humor is something you can laugh at and
feel relatively happy by doing so. Humor appears every day between people that you see very often or people you only see passing by every once in a
while.
There are plenty of different aspects of humor such as dark humor, light humor, and, my favorite, sarcastic humor. Dark humor is often considered to
be called black comedy which is due to its style. Dark humor typically makes fun of the morbid, depressing things or situations in life. I was told once
that people with dark humor are often considered "square eggs" partly due to the only people who find their humor funny are those who always have
dark humor as their dominant humor style.
Light humor is the most common aspect of humor. It is typically funny to everyone and the subjects aren't very taboo like dark humor. Light humor is
used in every day conversations between family, friends, and even strangers. It is a way to be funny without offending someone and not getting too
personal or close to comfort. Light humor is so impersonal because it is strictly casual. Sarcastic humor is a happy, perfect medium between dark
humor and light humor. It has the potential to be offensive but not overly offensive and uses...show more content...
It combined all three aspects to catch a wide variety of audience. It had light humor where the boss checked up on the workers at the radio station. It
had a lot of sarcastic humor in the dialogue between all the cast. Most of the sarcastic humor was in words and not necessarily actions. The dark
humor came into play at the end where the live turkeys were dropped from the helicopter, implying they ended up injured, or dead. It ended with a
light note with the boss saying that he thought turkeys could fly when it is a wide known fact that turkeys are one of the only birds that cannot

What Is Humor?
The concept humor refers to the state of funniness and for people to be humorous they should find a particular action or state of affairs funny. Social
life, gender, age, race, educational level, political attitudes, and mood of an individual influence humor. This terminology can be subjective as well as
objective. In this respect, the definition of what constitutes humor is unlimited (Clark 20–23). According to Aristotle, humor is handy in political
moderation, for it makes one's character moderate. Humor can remind us of what is important in life, it makes one laugh at what looks funnily odd. In
this respect, the laughter is mocking. Furthermore, one gets to learn about what invokes emotions and amusement. In life, anything that brings joy to the
heart counts a lot to human survival. "In Goscinny's scenario, the Gauls learn about Caesar's praise when they notice that the Romans in the camps
near their village are happy and light–hearted because they are grateful to return alive from their campaigns against the Belgae" (Vines 1228–1229)
...show more content...
Moreover, sarcasm is also related to humor in the sense that one may laugh as a way of mocking a person for doing something that is believed to be
awkward. Ridicule of this nature may leave people thinking that what they did is right when it is not (Clark 21–23). Humor is also connected to satire
in the sense that the later invokes amusement, thus leading to induced laughter. The condition that is created makes part of the pre–requisite conditions
for humor. The nature by which a society understands a given subject can make it humorous. Therefore, culture and social setting can determine how a
particular people react to a given situation of action. Satirical statements must be understood from their correct context, thus the importance of the
settings in which one operates (Vines

Humor Definition Essay
What's wrong with this picture, and why does it seem odd–looking? It's that feeling when something seems so wrong it's funny. It's that expression
made about the absurdities, an interesting phenomenon is called humor. Though it doesn't just appear out of the blue, it is the product of the form
comedy. Through comedy, humor can be expressed using different techniques such as sarcasm and irony. All in all, the importance it serves in society
acts as refuge from life's difficult challenges. Without it, life would become dull.
To understand the mechanisms, it's best to firstly define the terms. So what is humor? Why do people laugh about it? To be best described, it's a
feeling of joy received usually in the moment, or something that changes...show more content...
Sarcasm is one of the more common types of humor, typically the response to something that is already obvious, and can be used to hurt or offend
or can be used for comic effect. Irony is the expression of an idea only to mean another, or something totally unexpected to what is already known.
An example could be expressed as 'a dentist giving out candy on halloween.' A pun is a form of humor that takes a word's meanings expressed
differently or creates a double meaning. For example, a double meaning can be seen in the statement, "I really wanted a camouflage shirt, but I couldn't
find one." Self–deprecating humor is a form that exploits someone's weaknesses, but they aren't afraid to show them in a comic sense. This kind of
humor is used when something normally avoided becomes a joke and gets brushed off by the victim of the joke. Finally, dark humor is a kind of
humor that touches on more morbid or offensive material. It's not a form that's used often, but when utilized, its something so absurdly horrible that it
becomes funny. For example, A man went into a library and asked for a book on suicide, only for the librarian to respond "not gonna happen, you
won't bring it back." These among many other techniques are used in comedy all the time by comedians and average joe's

Humor And Its Effect On My Life
Humor is essential in order to live life to the fullest, and this is because of laughter. Laughing is so imperative because "the ability to laugh easily and
frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health"
(Smith 1). Humor has been a huge part of my life because it has helped me out of countless awkward situations, been apart of every inside joke, made
bad times good, and good times better. Although I enjoy mostly all humor, I associate my favorite types of humor with movies or videos. Sarcasm
is when someone uses irony or even mocking to make a joke. I find sarcasm to be humorous because it tends to confuse others. Sarcasm can
sometimes be misleading. In most cases when sarcasm is used, the audience is unsure if you are actually joking or not. This typically gives you a
good laugh just by looking at their facial expressions. I am also fond of sarcasm because it is an excellent ice breaker in uncomfortable situations.
It allows one to get to know another person quickly. If you use sarcasm you can tell if someone has a sensitive personality or a playful one. A
couple of of actors I find to have good sarcastic humor is Melissa McCarthy and Mathew Perry. Melissa McCarthy stars in multiple movies and
television shows such as The Heat and Bridesmaids. I find her use of sarcasm in the movie The Heat to be specifically entertaining. Mathew Perry is
most sarcastic in the television show

Definition Essay: A Sense Of Humor
Kalee Ewald
David Becker
English 101
17 December 2015
A Sense of Humor Humor is the tendency to look at things from a lighter side. It is a way that makes something funny or amusing. It is the ability to
recognize, appreciate, or talk about what is hilarious or laughable. Humor is the source of laughter and the substance of smiles. Humor is the flash that
illuminates our eyes as well as the cause of uncontrollable tears that never gets old. Humor is a state of mind. We all have a tendency to respect a
cunning sense of humor as the distinction of a person who is kind hearted and nice, someone people feel comfortable around. They can usually be the
"life of the party" we always want to invite or the friend who always has a joke to tell. Everyone

Example Of A Humorous Research Paper
Matthew Slonaker
Mr. Turner
Philosophy 2367
September 30, 2014 The Meaning behind Jokes. Some researcher say that laughter is the best medicine a human can get. There are many different
ways to get a good laugh. Whether it's from seeing a funny movie, watching funny videos on the internet, or telling jokes with your friends.
Personally, my favorite way to get a quick laugh is to exchange funny jokes between my friends. Some of the best jokes are the ones that might come
off a little racist if said to the wrong person. It is the racism that makes many of these jokes funny. For instance; many polish jokes can easily be
change into moron jokes, but when delivered has a moron joke it's not all that funny. So the racism in the joke is meant to come...show more content...
Therefore, this suggest that racist humor is the same thing as a put–down. Many people laugh at these because put–downs are funny, even when the put
down is directed at them, mainly because they realize that the tendency of it is relative harmless. Most people find it to be a great stress reliever
when they join others in a good laugh about oneself. A philosopher by the name of Michael Philips would agree with the point stated above. He
would say "that not all the jokes that are directed towards a certain ethnic group are racist. That we need to be able to distinguish the humor that is
morally unobjectionable and the humor that is not."(Philips) It all depends who the audience is during the telling of a joke. Some people might think
that the joke that is being presented is racist, while someone else might find it funny and not racist at all. What I'm trying to say is that it all

Hamlet As A Comedy, Witness The Dark Humor
While Hamlet is considered a tragedy the humor that is displayed can change it from a tragedy to a tragi–comedy. Hamlet has been called one of
William Shakespeare's greatest works (Draudt, 85). Death is sad but the dark humor gives it a different satire to the event. The language of the play is
used to create comedy with wit that is meant to be pleasing to the audience and define what kind of characters are in the play. Hamlet the person plays
many parts the clown, the fool and the madman. Hamlet is his own dramatis persons within an ironic tragic–comedy mocking the corrupt court of
Denmark (Lamont, 382). Dark humor is the kind of comedy that does not embody criticism of human folly; it embraces imagination and human
freedom (Thompson, 219). This essay is designed to give a brief synopsis for the reader to see Hamlet as a comedy, witness the dark humor.
The emotions involved in the heroic plot are due to the nature of the tragi–comedy that has two distinct components. The first is usurpation and the
second is the invasion or threat/defense/death. The usurpation involves the rightful leader being removed from his position of authority illegitimately.
The ruler is sent into exile and nearly dies, is the most common form of this plot. The invasion focuses on the conflict with in the society, the royal
family (Hogan, 35). Hogan's theory of a tragic–comedy outlines why and how Hamlet is a comedy. One of Hamlet's good characteristics is that he is
subtle and constant ability

Does Humor Restore Conflict
1 OPENING Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. The topic of today's debate is That humor can help to restore conflict and give perspective. I
have defined the key words as: Humor – The feeling and action of being amused, both comically and mentally. Restore – To replace something.
Conflict – A large–scale disagreement, usually involving two or more groups of people. Perspective – A visual outlook or aid, which can apply both
physically and mentally. 2 OUTLINE Now I'll begin my case for the affirmative; which will demonstrate that... Humor can help to replace, conflict and
improve a person's attitude. I will argue two key points. Firstly, Laughter improves self–esteem during stressful times and creates a better individual
image. Secondly,...show more content...
26 SECOND POINT Now to my second argument. Humor assists in consolidating individuals, societies and their similarities. As stated by Professor
Susan Labott, department of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, "Humor appears to buffer a group against the negative effects of
stress". In the world, there's numerous countries with different people, and if we want to minimise disagreements with them, we should act responsibly,
but also find similarities with each other, in fact we must. But sometimes we don't know each others' similarities, sometimes we don't know each other's
differences, sometimes, we can't connect. Yes, we can have serious business talks and conversations– but I would ask this: does it really ever evolve
into a true friendship? Well, there is one facet that DOES allow a true friendship, and that's humor– plain, have existed, but possibly longer, as our
ancestors laughed too". It's an amazing aspect, history, but it also, clearly, clearly shows that humor has been around since the dawn of time– and you
know what that means? Humor is a basic human trait, which means every single person, every single person in this room right now can experience
it at any time. So, I'll go back to our international communications again. If we can have a laugh generally about a topic, not only can we find our
similarities and bond, we can easily make a new friend. Take for example, James Scobie, when on page 110 of the

Sense of Humour Essay
English 1104| Sense of Humor| [Type the document subtitle]| | Joshua Bombard| 10/27/2012|
|
I love the phrase "sense of humor" because it can have several meanings to it. The book definition is "the trait of appreciating (and being able to
express) the humorous". Which I believe is correct. This term is so fun because everyone has their own definition of humor and sense of humor. I
believe I have a great sense of humor. I am someone who can find something funny in every situation. I can take a joke, and I can understand jokes
pretty easily. However, this is not the case for everyone. Most of my friends have the same sense of humor. This is probably one of the main reasons
we all get along so well. The only...show more content...
I always hated my sense of humor when I was being punished or yelled at. I always had trouble with keeping my smile and laughter held in when
my mom or teacher was staring at me and lecturing. I cannot take anything serious if I see something that is truly funny, but when it comes to it if
the situation is serious enough I can behave. I also am the type of person to put full effort into a joke or prank. If I have to keep a straight face for
the joke to be pulled off, I can definitely do just that. I enjoy being known as the jokester. Most of the times if a joke or prank must be pulled off, my
friends call on me to do the job. In conclusion I believe that the definition of the phrase "sense of humor" is pretty accurate. Everyone has their own
definition and view point of what sense of humor may actually mean. I believe the definition of sense of humor is being someone who finds any
situation hilarious. It is someone who understands the true beauty in a joke and the pure genius behind every clever punch

Psychology Of Humor Essay
Humor has a vital part to play in consistently life as well as in psychology and ethical subtleties. Giggling humor and bitterness are all piece of obvious
human conduct. Although the immense majority worth humoring, philosophers have said little in regards to it, and what they have said is usually
discerning. Three conservative conjectures of laughter and humor are the most contributive to the psychology of humor and are seen on taking a glance
at comprehension humor as play helps counter the usual complaints to it and uncovers some of its advantages, incorporating those it conveys to
level–headedness.
At the point when individuals are asked what is essential in their lives, they often specify humor. Couples posting the attributes they prize in their
companions for the most part put "sense of humor" at or close to the top. Philosophers are concerned with what is essential in life, so two things are
amazing about what they have said in regards to humor. The main one is how little they have said. From antiquated times to the twentieth century, the
most that any well–known logician illustrated on giggling or humor was simply a couple of critical talks leaving the most recognizable some piece of
humor in psychology to be comprehended and acknowledged . The word humor did not employ as a part of its current sense of cleverness until the
eighteenth century, we ought to note, that customary dialogues were about delight or drama. Significant philosophers like Plato, Hobbes, and

The Superiority Theory Of Humor
There are many ways that people use humor. It has been used both in positive and negative ways. The negative, or more aggressive, view of humor is
"evident in ancient writings" and "in the merciless teasing that children inflict on one another.", However, in modern times, humor is now commonly
seen as a positive aspect and that the laughter that arises is the "expression [an] incongruity." Because of these two conflicting view of humor, there
have been multiple theories proposed to explain it.
There are two major theories in explaining humor. The first is the superiority theory. In line with the past views on humor, the superiority theory takes
on a much more negative, serious, and intense take on how humor functions and why we laugh. The...show more content...
This theory focuses "more specifically on the cognition and [gives] less attention to the social and emotional aspects of humor." The
incongruity–resolution theory can be applied to many forms of humor. One example is visual incongruities. We laugh when we see a young child try to
act like an adult around an even younger child. The incongruity is we expect the young child to still act immaturely around the small child but does not.
The resolution is that the young child is playing make–believe or somehow trying to impress the younger child.
The second type of incongruity is through wordplay. Prime examples are puns. For example, George Carlin said, "Atheism is a non–prophet
institution." The incongruity is found in the meaning of non–prophet and nonprofit. Atheism is known as the lack of belief or denial of a higher being
/God/religion. So, non–prophet relates to the meaning of atheism. However, non–prophet also sounds a lot like nonprofit. In the pun, atheism is called
an institution. Based off how prophet and profit sound the same, atheism could also be considered a nonprofit institution. It is, in the pun, both an
institution that does not believe in God and an institution whose primary goal is not to make money. Unlike the superiority theory, the
incongruity–resolution theory makes it explicit that these examples of humor are all in a safe environment or

Humor Style Observation
Procedure Participants arrived to a classroom setting, where an experimenter greeted them. They then provided the experimenter with informed
consent, after which 17 different paper–and–pencil questionnaires were administered. Of interest to this study, participants were asked to complete the
Rosenberg Self–Esteem Inventory (Rosenberg, 1965; see Appendix A) on which they gave themselves a rating of 1 to 9 on items designed to measure
self–esteem. Next, Participants completed the 32–item Humor Styles Questionnaire (Martin et al., 2003; see Appendix B) designed to obtain a score
for each of the four humor styles (affiliative, self–enhancing, aggressive, and self–defeating). Finally, participants were fully debriefed and dismissed.
The entire

Definition Essay On Humor
Humor is found across the world to make people happier, but humor can also contain some deeper meanings. Whether it's in a skit, film, or even
cartoon, humorists quite often hint at more mature topics. Serious topics are easier to talk about when they are surrounded by humor.
One way to present those topics is through satire. Making fun of something with a deeper meaning is very common. An example would be the
presidential debates on SNL. The debates featured two people acting as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as they made fun of each other and
exaggerated their flaws. Through this skit, the audience will notice how neither presidential candidate is qualified, or good enough, for office. "A
Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is another example

Positive Functions Of Humour
of their data. In addition to more humour, word repetition to show support is also a humour response identified in Hay (2001). What significant of
Hay's study is also her finding that laughter can offer a wide range options in response to failed humour, such as fake laughs and groaning. These
responses can display unappreciated hearers as competent interlocutors. In other words, hearers can on the one hand show their acknowledgement to the
humour attempts, and on the other hand imply that the humour is not appreciated (Sacks et al., 1974). Rather than laughter, speakers can also
explicitly produce statement of recognition (Norwick 1993), ironic comment of enjoyment or silence to signal different levels of not appreciating
humour (Hay, 2001).
5.4. Functions of humour
It is not surprising that humour is generally considered as something positive and has various benefits one's physical and mental health according to
scientific research. The positive effect of humour, laughter has been characterised with the abilities to relax muscles, improve circulation, respiration
and even acting as pain tolerant agent. Although in humorous communication, creating laughter and amusement is ideal, it is crucial to note that humour
is not a homogeneous concept that serves both positive and negative functions that go beyond amusement.
5.4.1. Psychological functions of humour
Humour is seen as a means to relieve stress, reduce negative emotions (Alston, 2007) such as anxiety, tension, depression

Explaining Humor Theories
In academic writing for this semester had the primary focus to identify and explain humor theories. In class, we would have power point that
introduced new humor theories and go in depth about how each literary term would go back to humor. When writing, I not only keep the prompt in
my mind, but also humor theory. The progress I have made with my reading skills in terms of identifying main idea, major support, and minor
support is by separating them a part. For example, when identify a main idea, it is usually the first or last sentence of a paragraph as well as the author
giving supporting information to the main idea. This also gives the reader the knowledge of where the major support sentences are since it sheds light
upon the main idea.

Laughing And Sense Of Humor Essay
Laughing and Sense of Humor
"What is it that differentiates human beings most revealingly? Some say it is their varying degrees of compassion; others say it is amounts of
prudence; still others, people's differing appreciations of beauty, or whatever makes them angry.
And there are other possibilities worth considering. But in truth nothing is so revealing as a person's sense of humor."
It is not very hard to notice the many differences between people.
There are thousands of things that differentiate us. Appearance is of course the most obvious but in reality appearance does little to actually distinguish
people outside of identifying them. Having blue eyes does not say anything about my attitude, my...show more content...
What some people find hilarious, others find offensive. What some people think is stupid, others think it is amusing. This is why it is so revealing.
What makes people laugh or smile can say a lot about their intelligence, their convictions and their social standing. Of course these are just a few of
the facets of human life that a sense of humor can reveal.
People have differing degrees of wit. Certain television shows and movies are obviously made to cater to different audiences. There have always been
certain jokes that "are over someone's head." A person's sense of humor can give real insight to their educational background and "intelligence." A lone
high school drop–out in a group of archaeologists may feel to see the humor in many of their jokes. Chances are they may not laugh at the same
shows or life situations. By no means am I saying that this is a cut and dry scenario though. The uneducated can very easily find the same things as
funny as an MBA does. However humor seems to typify itself in social groups, and those with the same educational background and intelligence often
share a similar sense of humor. From this one can make a quick judgment on another's educational background. Racist jokes are extremely common in
modern society. Almost everyone laughs at them. While it may not be always fair to say so there is often real racism behind the laughter.

Beyond A Joke Essay

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Beyond A Joke Essay