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literature and imagination
How humor is used in literature
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Dave Barry: The Evolution of a Creative Genius
Humor, as a creative effort, has been respected throughout the world, I’m sure, since the beginning of spoken language. There is nothing in the world like conjuring up a joke or some other anecdote that sends a group of people off into a fit of laughter. In fact, throughout time, people have attempted to make humor at least some part of their professional career. Court jesters made the royalty of the castle laugh at his foolish behavior. Playwrights have included humor in their tragic works to provide some comedic relief from all of the terribly sad events. Today is no different. The sheer number of careers available for those interested in making people laugh for a living reflects our society’s great appreciation for novel humor. Comedians, book writers, columnists, actors, television and movie writers, cartoonists, and musicians all attempt to add some laughter to peoples’ lives on a daily basis.
Dave Barry, as a creative humor writer, has proven himself quite successful in the field. As a humorist, he has created in many different fields of humor, his products including a number of very successful books, a weekly column syndicated in several prominent newspapers across the country, and even a musical band. Barry has proven himself a master, and debatably, a maker, in the verbal/linguistic domain of Gardner’s intelligences. His intelligences span beyond that, however, and include proficiency in both the visual/spatial and musical domains.
At the present time, Dave Barry is at the pinnacle of his career, enjoying the sweet success of creating something truly novel that millions of people can enjoy every day. The growing-up and maturation process Barry has gone through over the course of his young, and adult life reflects the transformations in Gardner’s intelligences he has experienced. The relationship between child and adult creator, the relationship between Barry and others in his field, and the relationship between him and his work have all changed in meaning over the course of his life, as reflected by the profound changes he has undergone over the course of his life.
Growing Up
Dave Barry was born in 1947, to a middle class working family in the small town of Armonk, New York.
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.
As it is clear these two versions of Cinderella are very similar but are still different versions. As Stephanie Gilmore said ¨Experiencing different cultures is one of the best things a human can do. It puts your whole world into
In Emerson’s “Nature” nature is referred to as “plantations of god” meaning that nature is sacred. Also mentioned, is that “In the woods is perpetual youth”(#) conveying that nature keeps people young. Therefore, these excerpts show that nature is greatly valued by these transcendentalists. Transcendentalists would likely care significantly about the environment. In contrast, nowadays nature is often and afterthought. Natures’ resources are being depleted for human use, and the beauty of nature is also not as appreciated by modern people as it was by transcendentalists. The threat to nature in modern times contrasts to the great appreciation of nature held by authors like Emerson and
As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s
Humor has become one of the most popular tools for stress relief. Positive effects of laughter include reduced muscle tension, controlled anxiety, the ability to handle unexpected events, and simply the joy of humor. It is important for managers to allow employees to have fun. We spend the majority of our lives at work and we need to enjoy the experience.
There are several definitions for humor (2011), one being “[t]he ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd”. The emission of smiles or laughter does not constitute something or someone is humorous, but is often a reaction to humor also known as mirth. Over the years, there have been several articles written on the use of humor in both the medical and psychological fields. In regard to the psychological field, this body of literature most often covers the definition of therapeutic humor, the benefits of humor in therapy, the risks and limitations associated with the use of humor in therapy, and therapeutic humor techniques with the need for training. The following statements will discuss the trends in the literature regarding these areas.
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
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.
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
There are many things one has learned from the experience, although the twelve versions of Cinderella are similar to each other but yet in some way they are different, which make it unique. Similar plot and similar circumstances however, different author with different minds. They are portraying with similar knowledge but the way the story may be told is different such as the characters names, locations, and the time it was created. No matter what it is I’ve learn that Cinderella will be Cinderella regardless of the different author, different time or different title. These creations of different versions is precisely similar to when one tells another person a story and is passed on to another person than the story will be shorten with less details and added with a few other exaggerations, in which will cause the stories to be different from each other.
A lot of the fairy tale stories that we have seen as young adults and even as adults are original folk tale stories that have been modified and rewritten to accommodate our new cultures. Cinderella happens to be one of these stories that have been changed over the years. There are many different versions of Cinderella, an African Cinderella, a Hungarian Cinderella and even a Chinese version. All of the Cinderella’s are similar in plot, but the author dictates the story’s theme based on the people whom he is writing for which completely changes the story’s tone, mood and other elements. While Perrault's version stresses the values and materialistic worries of his middle-class audience, Grimm’s' focus is on the harsh realities of life associated with the peasant culture. Perrault’s and Grimm’s Cinderella’s have the same plot, but their writing style is different which completely modifies the tale.
Even though the two versions are extremely similar, they contain slightly different morals. When the Grimm Brothers wrote their story, the world was a different place and children did not need to be babied. That is why they chose to write such a cruel ending to their version. In the modern-day Cinderella, there is a profusion of magic and there is no violence, which is a change from the original story. By changing this and the ending, children receive a different message from the story. However, both stories give kids hope that they will live happily ever after.
Counselling gives the young person the opportunity to talk about how they feel within a safe environment. It is sometimes very difficult to talk to those closest to us in fear of upsetting them. That is why talking to someone experienced who is not emotionally involved and who is trained to hear you without judging or giving advice can really make a difference. Speaking to a counsellor away from their social circle, family and school can take away some of the pressure associated with talking about their problems. Being able to talk about their feelings with the counsellor will allow the young person to gain an
One way of preventing dry skin is to spend less time in the bath or shower. Bathe or shower once a day and make sure you are in and out within fifteen minutes. This means your body's natural oils are not stripped. Use gentle cleansers on your skin, preferably ones which contain added moisturizers.
In its own way, it enhances the penetration of your toner, moisturizer and hyaluronic acid by sloughing off the dry, aged and dead skin cells on the surface.