The Triumph Of Humor Over Human Adversity

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

Humorists are often seen as insignificant contributors of society. People consider humorists no more than just “entertainers”, willing to make fun of anything in order to make a crowd laugh, however, has the audience ever contemplated why humorists are the some of the only people who are allowed to critique anything that crosses their mind without consequences? Alain de Botton, claims the vital role of humorist is, “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” I agree with Alain de Botton’s claims, that humorists do hold an important role in society, which is far more than to entertain. They break the ice on delicate topics, communicating the messages to society. Political cartoons and the Colbert

“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.

Repressed thoughts can re-express and influence soldiers’ conversational interaction. They manifest as gallows humour, which illustrates the soldiers’ tendency to adopt inappropriate dark jokes to release their stress.

Modern society allows humorists to touch upon offensive topics without receiving much criticism. As Alain de Botton claimed in his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, humorists’ role is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” De Botton’s argument proves legitimate. Many humorists, such as cartoonists and television hosts, decide to use their humor as a tool to prove an idea or express a belief that cannot be voiced candidly in public.

Elie Wiesel’s short memoir Night recounts his experience surviving the concentration camps during the Holocaust. In the third chapter of the book, he focuses on describing what it was like to arrive at the first concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and the process the men had to go through to transform from men into prisoners. In addition to lying about his age and occupation, Wiesel lost his hair, his clothing, his mother and sisters, his name, and most importantly, his faith. Elie Wiesel's use of imagery and diction in Night makes readers understand the true atrocities of the Holocaust.

If you ask anybody, they will know about the Holocaust, but if you ask how the prisoners felt, some wouldn’t know how to answer. Some felt an undying love for their family, others an undying hate for the Nazi regime, and many had their view of life completely changed. The latter was what had happened to Eliezer Wiesel, also known as Elie. During his memoir known as Night Elie’s tone continuously darkened throughout the book.

Accepting the possible extermination of your way of life is not easy to comprehend, and many refused to see violence coming out of these suspicious acts. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, Wiesel uses irony to establish the effects of blinding optimism, denial, and while the Jews face the adversity of the Holocaust.

Today, America protects our basic rights through laws such as the rights to life and liberty to create equality for everyone. While economic depression spread through Germany, a new leader named Adolf Hitler came into power and scapegoated the Jews for all of Germany’s problems. Jews and other groups of unconventional beliefs were treated as unequals and were put to work and killed with no regrets. In the short story “From Night”, Elie Wiesel presents his accounts in a concentration camp that him and his father were sent to due to their religious beliefs. Wiesel introduces irony as a literary device to reveal his attempt to maintain hope throughout his struggles in the concentration camp. His repetitive use of irony verifies his view--one must maintain hope to survive.

Starving children. Skinny bodies piled on top of each other. The stench of human bodies being burned. This is what many Jews like Elie Wiesel have gone through, as he describes these horrendous events in his novel the “Night”. Those are just a few of the things the Nazi army have done.

People always say that laughter alleviates tension. If this is the case, then it makes sense that the use of humor when discussing uncomfortable topics can make the conversation easier and more light-hearted. One of Mark Twain’s most frequently used devices in works such as “Advice to Youth”, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is satire, which can provide society a method to bond over uncomfortable topics, and facilitate the ability to sustain that bond through an easier way to create discussion.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, was born November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, the sixth of seven children. An American writer, journalist, and humorist, he is remembered for the novels surrounding the world beside the Mississippi River, 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ' (1876) and always legendary ' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ' (1884). Clemens was lauded the "greatest American humorist of his age" and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature".

“Humor is an anthropological constant and is historically relative.” In spite of different definitions and views of humor and comedy between cultures, humor is universal and found in all cultures during all times. Therefore the reader should anticipate its presence in ancient Israel. The Hebrew language recognizes the existence of humor through two terms meaning “to laugh” - **** and **** - which occur 67 times in the Hebrew Bible.

The title House of Mirth is ironic in itself because even though the book is named as being a fun house, the actual contents prove otherwise. Similar to the physical book itself, the characters inside put on an appearance for everyone else to see while the actual contents are contrasting. They put on the act of a happy marriage but are dispassionate and have affairs. They pretend to be friends, even though they are using each other for their personal gain. They displayed that they were contented with their lives, yet they are miserable. In this way, Edith Wharton uses irony in the House of Mirth as a way to condemn the elitist socialite world and show that money doesn’t buy happiness.

People think of the Bible as this super serious all-holy book with never an ounce of humor. Well, it is serious and holy. But there are a few sections of it that just make me laugh. An example is from the book of Acts: “God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.’ Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, ‘I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” (Acts 19:11-16)