Humor Definition Essay

Comedy can be defined as any act or narrative that makes a target audience to laugh or feel amused. That is the definition of comedy. However, what I find as comedy may not necessarily be any act or story that makes people laugh. What makes you laugh, may not make me to laugh. I may even derive offense in the joke being relayed as comedy. Therefore, two things are important: the target audience and the message behind the joke.

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.

The sun’s rays somehow find a way to penetrate the clouds on a dismal Saturday morning. When I turn to see what time it is, a sharp pain hits me like a truck. The lower left-hand side of my body is purple and blue, with the ugly yellowing of the skin. The clouds somehow symbolize what the bruise looks like. It’s about the size of a small apple, an upside to being the size of a softball a week ago. As I walk to the bathroom to check it in the mirror, I make sure that my brother and mom are still asleep so I can have my privacy.

Humor’s foundations are made up of seeds of truth, from which comedy and laughter can grow from. Within these seeds different types of issues are found that cast a wide array of topics in which are discussed or given question to by humorists. As the evolution of humor continues to grow it can be seen that it will continue down a darker road, as history has

Humor, for many, is a cheap laugh and a way to brighten someone's day. But for others, humor goes beyond that. Often times in today's world, humor is used to convey messages about dangerous or impossible to state topics. Society allows humorists to speak about unpalatable topics since the delivery of the message is masked. Humorists take difficult messages and use creative humor to make them more accepted into society.

In Jenny Allen's essay "The Trouble With Nature" humor is utilized in order to entertain the reader and inform them, and let them know that in nature no matter what you try to dodge and ignore there is always going to be something else. This is because nature goes as it pleases and there really is no boudaries or rules that it has to go by.

Humor affects how people relate to one another. As “much humor draws on the sophisticated use of grammar and lexicon, as well as culture-specific references, genres, and discourse patterns,” (Shively 1), it is considered the height of knowledge of the language to understand its humor. Humor is a type of ludic language play, or using words for one’s own enjoyment or amusement.

Humour means understanding not only the language and words but their use, meaning, subtle nuances, the underlying culture, implications and unwritten messages.

Laughing is a state of mind, a happy state of mind that is. Without laughter in one’s life the world is dark and damp. A snicker once in awhile can illuminate your life. Laughter is a very important part of someone's day, right? Its healthy and it helps live an exceptional lifestyle. Of course it is, imagine going through a day without a laugh! Wow I can’t even imagine how that would go. Luckily I have good friends that make me chuckle once in awhile.

5. Nearly 2000 years ago, the physician Galen stated that cheerful women were less likely to get cancer than those women who were depressed (Simonton 1978). Prov. 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. Laughter is a fascinating phenomena that works like a medicine. Although most drugs effect everyone differently, laughter is always the same. It exercises your entire body causing you to feel relaxed and pain free. The fact that laughter is good for one's health should be quite evident. So why not laugh? When one laughs, it is like taking a drug, yet there is no such thing as an overdose or, "laughter toxicity," as Kataria says. Maybe we can now say "A laugh a day keeps the doctor away."

Humor plays a very important role in coping with stressful and adverse life circumstances. Gross and Munoz (1995) stated that humor can be viewed as an important emotional regulation mechanism contributing to one’s mental health. According to Fredrickson (2001), the positive emotion of mirth accompanying humor alleviates the negative feelings of anxiety, anger and depression. It enables an individual to think in a broader and flexible manner and engage in creative problem solving.

The aim for satirical humor is to provoke readers and even listeners to criticize the words and actions of the people who lead them, they can be politicians and even divine figures but when those words and actions are offensive or harmful to those whom they profess to lead, it can cause chaos, disruption and pain. Warburton writes about the difference between giving and taking offence and that were supposed to accept the fact that satirical humour is supposed to make us uncomfortable and that were not supposed to take offense to it but let’s not forget that exercising these liberties includes duties and responsibilities according to Ali Mohamed. Our right should be practiced and used to advocate against government corruption, for equal rights, social justice and many other things that actually matter and have value to all of us and bring us together and help us move forward as a society.

There are numerous explanations as to why humor may have been better recalled than non-humorous material. One explanation is that the effects of humor are a result of physiological arousal and the activation the sympathetic nervous system (McGhee, 1983). Thus, one can postulate that the emotional arousal of humor enhances ones ability to recall humorous material.

There is less emphasis on ironies; therefore, our humor tends to be more open and displayed. Also, we enjoy a style of humor that involves exaggerated physical expressions and actions. We tend to use more physical and sexual humor, and our jokes are more obvious and to the point. We can occasionally use sarcasm in our jokes, but it tends to be more subtle and rare. Practical jokes, wise cracks and pranking are very common but not to the extent of injury.

Before receiving a license or a school permit, a person has to take a Drivers Education class. A few months before I turned fifteen I decided that I would get ahead of the game and take the class. As an avid learner I had nothing but excitement for the class. The first day I showed up in good spirits expecting to take a class that I would enjoy. Little did I know that my instructor would loathe my work ethic and abhor my drive to overachieve.