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Irony in everyday use
Situational irony for everyday use
Situational irony essay
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The Humorists Job In Alain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety, he argues that the aim of humorists is not solely entertainment, but also to convey a message that isn’t always okay to state directly. There are many places where his argument can apply. Even with humor, some topics are still too controversial to joke about; However, in most cases, humor can lighten things up and make it easier to discuss topics that otherwise would not be as easy to talk about without heavy arguments. There are many cases that would make his argument true. There are many examples that support his argument, and that help to show the importance of humor in arguing, including cartoons, comics, works of literature, and also when thinking of hosts of television programs. …show more content…
The artists behind the cartoons more than likely would not openly say what they put into their cartoons. They are shielded by their comical art, which allows them to share their full and true opinion in the form of humorful art. If the artist openly expressed their thoughts like they do in their cartoons in public, they might be looked down upon by their peers, or even end up fighting with their peers over which opinion is correct. With the help of comical drawings, people are able to express their opinions freely, and without the worry of others opinions. It shows that lightening up the mood through humor is something that can help to make the idea more acceptable or drive the audience to be more open to what to what the author or artist is trying to say. The importance of humor when it comes to politics is a great one. Humor in politics is almost a necessity when you want to keep from a major argument over controversial topics, yet there is a time and place for the humor to be used. If used in the right time and place the humor can be almost unrecognizable, but will still do its job of lightening the …show more content…
Many politically based talk shows focus on controversial topics. Their shows aim to cause discussion over many politically controversial topics. The shows cause people from both sides of politics to argue over topics that usually both sides strongly believe in their opinion. The shows begin to turn into a screaming fest, where one side, of the argument, tries to talk over the other side, while the other does the same thing. It shows that without humor or something else being there to lighten the mood a small debate can turn into a fully heated argument. This shows the power of context and diction. Through the use of a humorful tone, when used in the right time and place, people are able to calmly talk about topics that without it would be a full on argument. Through a comedian’s humorful word choice, he is able to make his points usually without completely enraging his audience. Those who don’t use humor or something else to lighten the mood, end up creating an argument that just grows and grows until both sides are screaming at and denying everything the other side says. However, eventually something is said that lightens the mood. This is usually something somewhat comical that both sides can relate to. Whatever it was that was said becomes the thing that both sides can agrees on, and as a result makes the argument
According to Aristotle, “Comedy can be any colloquy or performance generally intended to amuse or stimulate laughter”. In modern times, comedy can be found in different forms, such as television, movies, theatres and stand-up comedy.
For example, the comedy shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon expresses satirical humor concerning politics. His show also demonstrates political satire by telling jokes and even impersonating political figures for the audience. He creates humor through sarcasm that focuses on real issues. His sarcastic humor causes others to feel more confident in their criticism toward politicians. For example, “Jimmy Fallon expresses his humor about Donald Trump, impersonating his appearance and imitating his voice while talking about politics. He uses his humor by impersonating Donald Trump and his sweeping generalizations with Madea (Rogo).” Jimmy Fallon shows people his views through humor and it creates a sense of community to express their agreeable and disagreeable views. As we discussed some ideas about satirical humor that affects political changes, it was important to reveal their feelings about changes in life and drove them to look upon their society or government more
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
“Everyone has a sense of humor. If you don't laugh at jokes, you probably laugh at opinions.” Once said an American poet, essayist, and existentialist philosopher Criss Jami, Killosophy. I also believe that humor and laugh play a big role in our lives. However, there are two types of people’s personality; people who understand humor and more open minded, and those who just cannot get it, and that, in my opinion, just makes their live harder. The article, “That’s Not Funny” by Caitlin Flanagan, is talking about college students that are not allowed to joke because of comedians restrictiveness in what they are talking
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument.” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture, satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor.
Humor is more than just amusing entertainment to pass the time. Though jokes and witty banter can be shallow, humor can go deeper than surface level to convey messages to audiences who would otherwise be close-minded about certain ideas. Humor is a great tool to get audiences to change the way they think, feel, and act. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Alexander Weinstein uses humor to criticize some of society’s faults such as the way it has become heavily reliant on technology, racially insensitive, and judgmental.
Similarly, it can create a bond with the audience. This is a unique opportunity for the persuader to connect with its audience. However, when used improperly, it could lead to driving away the audience. Removing the ability of the persuader to recover. When a persuader is applying the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, humor can be an effective means of causing or removing cognitive dissonance while avoiding leaving the audience feeling offended. By using humor to create the dissonance, especially when using ironic humor, the persuader may be able to create the dissonance and increase the target's trust without risking the chance of the audience being offended. Humor can be highly useful when considering the Social Judgment Theory. Humor can decrease the likelihood of counter arguments. Using irony is practical in this scenario because it leads the audience to think about the irony, as opposed the possible counter argument. Using irony effectively is hard to accomplish in certain situations, but, when used properly, it could expand the efficacy of an argument to a larger more diverse
Claudia Ramos Professor: Sean Wilkinson English 100 19 September 2017 The Efficacy of Humor News is a vital piece of information obtained from reliable research with facts given to the people. Some may make political decisions based on how accurate the information is. Society tends to stay informed with what is trending around the world by watching Fox news, CNN news. People have also begun to view satirical news show, Like the Saturday Night Live Show and The Daily Show in order to get political and current event news.
Political comedy has been a popular subgenre for a long time. With all of the ire that the cable news outlets get, many people more easily gravitate towards satirical news programs to learn about current events, along with a bit of levity. Late night comedy shows see a great deal of success by giving their light-hearted takes on the news. Arguably the most acclaimed of these programs was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For a time, the Comedy Central production was lauded for its humorous yet insightful witticisms about politics and news for well over a decade.
James Conroy argues that laughter in serious topics has been regarded through the ages as dangerous, deviant, and subversive; yet equally as refreshing, challenging, and constructive. Political humor is extensively used in almost all countries, but political satire is perceived differently from one country to another. The research question is as follows: what factors make political satire an effective tool that affects politics and policy? I argue that humor is more influential when blended with serious topics, such as international relations or politics. Laughter is a great means to put serious topics under the lenses of critical thinking. The use of humor, and political satire specifically can bring about serious political change. Humor can play all sorts of roles in the political process through being informative, educational and influential while keeping its captive entertaining
In this regard, satire and political comedy are specifically alleged to serve as control mechanisms of the morally identified as negative conducts of such players. This means that the fields in which political comedy and satire are expected to be committed to are all kinds of corruption, mismanagement, incompetence, arrogance, deception, dishonesty, and caricaturistic physical appearances of the players in
Pictures are not made without a reason. Every visual construct has some underlying purpose. Often times this purpose is to express the thoughts or emotions of its constructer. Political cartoons are used to this effect. These cartoons speak volumes about a period or event in time. If a picture truly is worth a thousand words, a political cartoon is worth one thousand one. Political cartoons are almost always drawn from the ideas of the public. Because of their significance to an event in time, they can be examined to reveal the opinion of the people during the time frame. Cartoonists are voices of the public and Greenberg is not an exception.
If there is one way to bring a smile to someone’s face, it is laughter. Funny jokes, comical stunts, sarcasm- Every person is different when it comes to what makes them laugh. Some find dry humor comical. Others think sarcasm or joke-filled ranting are the best. ‘Comedy’ is such a broad term, broad enough to allow everyone to find something they find comical. In fact, ‘comedy’ includes a specific type of drama, one where the protagonist is joyful and happy endings are expected. Comedy is like a drug; it allows you to escape reality. When we say the word ‘comedy’ in the present, we are generally referring to a type of performance which provides humor. However, in its broadest sense, comedy has only one purpose: comedy makes people smile and
Humor has been the source of entertainment throughout history. Today humor is practiced in movies, plays, songs, television shows and radio. Humor has brought fame and fortune to those who have mastered its power.