Definition Essay On Humor

Humor most definitely is an instinct that evolved to serve some purpose in everyone’s lives. There is a meaning The story, What Makes Us Laugh by Leon Rappoport thoroughly analyzes the different theories in people’s reactions of humor. Rappoport discusses how certain jokes succeed and fail, why we laugh when we don’t think we should, and why sometimes we might not react to humor. I found this part quite interesting when he was saying certain people react with either boredom or fascination, with boredom being more prevalent. Personally, I would be captivated in this analysis of theories because not only is it interesting, but it also teaches one further about humor than one would not expect, especially the theory of superiority.

Humor impedes good writing in some instances. If the people reading or watching the piece are sensitive, the writer runs the risk of offending the audience. It entirely depends on an individual's

Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions" (Moss 1). Humor is studied by many researchers in sociology, psychology, art, literature, and medicine. When people wonder whether humor aids in areas other than health, a treasure trove of possible benefits to the learning or educational community is opened up. Humor can be used as a tool to promote learning.Research speaks to the many benefits of humor in healing, to its benefits in the classroom or boardroom, from reducing stress of students or employees, to boosting self-esteem and feelings of camaraderie. Additionally, studies show that those who use humor to convey a message are often more favorably perceived. Humor helps deliver the presenter's message to

Comedy is the most significant form of humorous expression. It is a type of communication used to talk about the social and cultural problems in society. They talk about subjects that would make society defensive but do it in a way that lightens a serious subject.Many people see comedy as humorous but there’s more to it then just laughs in America it talks about a lot of problems in society such as politics and racial profiling. Although comedians try to make jokes and entertain the audience, they make you notice the reality of today’s society and problems. Comedy is offensive and known for talking about stereotypes but put into funny stories therefore making the audience laugh and feeling comfortable. Comedy also has a way of discussing

“Humour is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.” The term Humour has been derived from the Greek language, which teaches that humour is the balance of fluids in the human body. Humour is savoured by different taste-buds like: Anecdotal, Blue, Dark/Gallows/Morbid, Epigrammatic, Hyperbolic, Ironic, Satirical, Satirical, Situational and Slapstick. Franz Kafka, the author of the outright existential classic ‘The Metamorphosis’ uses depressing humour to deal with the bitter deathly truths of life.

Throughout time, humorists have been able to pull off a phenomenon, which allows for others to laugh about sensitive, stressful topics. With talent, humorists are able to captivate positive emotion from their audience and allow for society to see delicate issues in an unbiased view. Although humorists are commonly seen as people who only intend to entertain, humorists purposefully say things through their work that allow for hard issues to be spoken or illustrated.

“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious” -Peter Ustinov. Comedy is used in everyday life. It is a way to slip in the truth while decreasing the blow. Comedy allows the hard things to hear, to be said in a way where it is not so hard. The truth can be hard to hear sometimes but comedy uses comedic tactics to slip in the truth that is hard to hear, but needs to be said, into the world. In the excerpt from Live right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) by Dave Barry, is a high comedy excerpt that uses the comedic tactics sarcasm and situational irony to express the truth about growing up and how to live right in a funny manner.

When I first think about why I have a passion for comedy, I think of it as being powerful and special. It is one of those things that can unite people. Laughter doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t matter your ethnicity, religion, political opinion, etc., this is what I believe makes it so captivating. With humor you can as least for a little while forget about everything going on around you, regardless of the simplicity or complexity of the situation. It is a way for us to keep our sanity and gives us the opportunity to come together and put serious issues aside or be able to look at those issues in a less hostile manner. Laughter is one of those things everyone can appreciate, and should have a healthy amount of

Humor is viewed by some people as an important part of life. Most people enjoy amusement, and some turn to humorists as a source for that amusement. Some further view humorists as holding an important position in society because society allows humorists to say things that others can and will not say. Due to their unique position in society, humorists serve a role that is certainly unique and can be important, but not vital. Furthermore, humor can very well have a dangerous side, whether intentional or unintentional, so humorists should try to be careful with their powerful position.

It can be used as a way to communicate to audiences about serious issues in a more approachable way. Humor and irony can be used as pathways to express serious, important issues in way so people can acknowledge and pay attention to them. For example people often lose interest when watching the news but Jon Stewart changed that after he took over “The Daily Show”.Source A notes “...the comedian Jon Stewart took over “The Daily Show,” he did something radical: he took the two formats and reformatted them, creating a series that was not merely useful and funny but emotionally powerful.” With Stewart being a comedian he used his humor and irony to make the news more interesting. Putting a humorous spin on certain topics can make them more open and easy to talk about. Stewart covered segments including touchy serious topics ,“But Stewart’s series also provided a psychic salve, especially during the worst parts of the past few elections and the run-up to the Iraq

Humor is the art of turning something serious, and sometimes even heartbreaking into something that makes people laugh until they can’t breathe. As well as being incredibly entertaining, the skill of making something funny can be used to change the world. In his book Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton correctly argues that the role of humorists as messengers of taboo or restricted topics is vital to society. When presented with a serious topic, many people shy away out of fear of being offensive, but humorists revel in the idea of not only talking about that offensive subject but making jokes about it as well. But why do they get away with it?

First of all, an author must define and identify their audience in regard to their jokes. The essay, "Made You Laugh" by Marc Tyler Nobleman explains in thorough detail the analogy and concept of humor itself. For example, the article states, "Young children prefer slapstick, or silly physical humor" while adults enjoy satirical

Humor can be very powerful, even when it comes to an everyday circumstance. Humor is a person's way of expressing themselves, and everybody has a different way to express it. When trying to express yourself using humor it is very easy to upset another person. One little detail can make a person contemplate on the issue you are referring to or it can make another person sway the other way. In the article it talks about artists mocking assassinations to make a point, however, those mock assassinations offended some. The humor of the audience influenced their reaction to the mock assassination. If they were a serious person they would have taken the mocks as a true threat and thought the situation was taboo. However, if the audience had a dark

Despite this there are some interesting anecdotal evidence that humor was used as a means to express wit and learning. Consider French writer Voltaire or even in relatively modem times Oscar Wilde and his extremely witty characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. These writers used wit and humor to influence people, to stir emotions in their readers and their conversing abilities were fresh and exciting. Humor typically has an element of shock and awe and readers or listeners are shaken beyond their limits of self-control to burst into laughter. Uncontrollable laughter as related to humor was against the strict moral laws of Plato. Even Aristotle seemed to believe in some restrictions on humorous conversation. Humor was suited to a clown in restricted scenarios and serious self-respecting men and women did

According to the Oxford dictionary “Humor,” is defined as: The quality of being amustic or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech, but what truly makes something funny? Comedy has been around for hundreds of years; as it is being examined four concrete theories have been developed to understand the idea of comedy: Superiority, Relief, incongruity, and Benign Violation theory.