This is a summary of “A Christmas Story” by Annie Dillard. Every Christmas there was a massive dinner held in a seemingly never-ending dining hall. It was lavish and spacious with a table that was as long as a river and was decorated with many different table cloths and decorations. The ceiling of the hall was covered in chandeliers and the floor was filled with different groupings of people: the sick and injured, the children, to those who wanted to dance or participate in games or various others who gathered in separate sections throughout the hall.
True humor is supposed to be used as way to make people look at situation from a different perspective and to laugh about it. An example of this is from the reading “SantaLand Diaries” where David realized that life was not going as expected. He is thirty –three years old and applying for an elf job. He tries to imagine a whole new world where he is able succeed and accomplish his dreams within three weeks of being in New York. In the reading he says “I’m trying to look on the bright side” he is using this imaginative world to help him get through a really tough time within his life.
The Jungle depicts the Labor Union accurately but also fictionalizes Labor Union as well. In the book, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair accurately depicts labor unions when he talks about how they were always on strike for more pay and equal hours, how they could get replaced so easily, and how the labor union fought to change that. In the more recent chapters, he mentions how the union would go on strike and fight to be able to have more pay and to have more consistent hours. But The Jungle also fictionalizes the Labor Union because he made it seem as if they kept on fighting for better working conditions because they were the worst place to be and the worst conditions that anyone would ever be in.
It’s hard to understand much else about the why’s and how’s of laughter, but they seem to know, simply, that it works. This means that in order for readers to further understand the reality of things like humor in Kesey’s book, oneself should have to ignore their feelings and sacrifice the pleasure and ask questions that help people to discover what it is about humor that is so powerful. Laughter does not only play a major role in the story, but in life as
The use of humor to alleviate the dull reality of life is used in Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which supports the idea that one's own humor creates happiness in others and relieves stress much like in the critically acclaimed Christmas classic, Elf, starring Will Ferrell. Humor is used by Ken Kesey very prominently especially when the patients do not seem to have the ability to laugh at anything nor find anything funny. The patients live a very dull life in which they repeat their monotonous cycle of life in the ward. They no longer have known what it is like in the norm because of the Big Nurse wears them down with the oppressive nature of the Combine.
Humor comes in many shapes in sizes, appealing to different ages, genders, time periods, and even different intellect levels. In the 2011 blockbuster hit “Bridesmaids”, there are comical devices used that attract a crowd through low comedy. This implements comedy through vulgar language and jokes, indecency, and exaggeration. Although, this sort of humor may appeal to millions according to the outstanding ratings and exceptional critiques, this does not excite the same reaction to myself as it may to others. “Full of heart, warmth and enough excrement to fill an all-white bridal shop.”
In the story "Saying Goodbye to Yang," written by Alexander Weinstein, and the story "St. Lucy 's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," written by Karen Russell, there are several ways these stories could be seen as humorous or funny/not funny. Each story that we have read is unique in that they each had some sense of humor about them, whether it be witty humor, dry humor, or maybe even the funny/not funny kind of humor. Different types of humor can be interpreted from each of the stories we have read this semester. Yes, these stories can be seen as a joke but there are serious ideas about them. Each story undoubtedly has important concepts intertwined into them.
The humor she uses allows Jarvis 's intent of the speech to be credible. She wants everyone to find meaning in their tragedy and she shows how she got through her own tragedy by being lighthearted about the subject. She makes a lot of jokes throughout her speech, which keeps her audience engaged and makes what she is hoping to get across to the audience less serious even though it is a serious matter. The audience seems to enjoy the jokes that she makes throughout the speech. Overall the humor that she uses is effective and makes her argument easily
A humorous tone, achieved through the use of diction, allows Pi to see events in such a way that they become amusing, rather than confusing or frightening. For example, after hearing
According to Mark Twain, humorous stories are very different from comic and witty stories. Humor adds amusement and interest in the message that is being delivered. “Cannibalism in the Cars” delivers the humorous message by using irony, satire, and syntax. The irony in the short story is in the way that the senators speak so sophisticated.
In his essay Santaland Diaries that was aired on NPR, David sedaris wanted to accomplish two things. First was spoof the structure and tone of exposes and create an audience for his work, because although he had had slight success in his earlier stories he needed a breakthrough to get him started. In order to accomplish these goals Sedaris included repetition, hyperbole, dark humor, innuendos, and understatements to create an essay that would entertain the audience of his NPR broadcast and get them interested in more of his work. In the beginning when Sedaris is talking about the training process of the different types of elf.
Humor is the ingredient that keeps it all moving, holds the bigger picture, inspires and brings a sense of gratitude for life. Aspiring to these qualities illuminates the lack of them at times. When I hit this kind of wall or low, I turn to the smile and humor to elevate my
One of the most valuable aspects of personality is humor – we value one’s sense of humor and make friends often based on finding certain things funny. But how and why do we consider things to be funny at all? Human beings have strived to uncover fundamental truths about human nature for centuries – even millennia – but humor itself is still yet to be pinpointed. Henri Bergson is only one of many who has attempted this feat, and his essay Laughter: an essay on the meaning of the comic from 1911 breaks down comedy into what he believes to be its essential forms and origins. While Bergson makes many valid points, Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times that was brought to screens only twenty years later seems to contradict many of Bergson’s theories, while Bergson seems to contradict even himself over the course of his essay.
The book I choice to read was, “Brian’s Winter”, by Gary Paulsen. This book is about Brian after the private plane he was flying in crashes in to the rugged forests of Canada. Brian went through many struggles while trying the best he could to survive in the harsh environment. Some of the biggest events in this story include when he is attacked by a bear, during the major storms and some of his questionable encounters with the wolves. If I were telling a friend about the entire story in two minutes I would say, Brian’s parents were divorced leading him to visit his father for the first time in a long time.
Another positive for freedom of speech for comedians is that the jokes made can lighten the mood of the subject. A comedians function in society is to challenge authority, and talk about subjects that may be unacceptable (Hartsell). Comedians are expected to go too far, but when they do, they are disapproved for it. Although, the audiences may only laugh at a joke because of how awkward it is going to be if no one did. “People like to mask their feelings due to not wanting others to really know how they feel—so people may laugh in times of nervousness because they are trying to balance their anxious feelings” (Kaminski).
