characteristics of humor

7/28/2019 Characteristics of Humor

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Characteristics

of Humor


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Hyperbole/Exaggeration A figure of speech (a form of irony) in which

exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; anextravagant statement


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Satire Human ridiculousness we want to avoid

Can also be called scornful comedy

Usually centers around a moral/social injustice to

prove how it is wrong Satire doesn't have to be political, but it has to cut

to the core of the hypocrisy/idiocy of its real-lifetarget in a way such that the most frequent targetsare stupid political or social viewpoints.


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Sarcasm a remark made usually to hurt someone's feelings or

show scorn

Sarcasm is often used in satire.


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Parody To mock or humorously imitate an existing work

Examples:o Shrek=fairy tales parody

o Weird Al Yankovich songs (Beat It Like a Surgeon)


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Examples of Parody Popular movies that fall under the parody category

include:

Police Academy (spoof on police movies of the1980s)

Austin Powers (spoof on James Bond movies)

Blazing Saddles (spoof on American Westernmovies)

Scary Movie (spoof on horror movies)


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Irony(we know it isnt on the notes sheet, add it to the bottom)

3 types: dramatic, situational, verbal

Dramatic: audience knows something characterdoes not

Situational: audience expectations differ from whatactually occurs

Verbal: what is said is opposite of what is meant


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PunoA play on words

oSometimes on different

senses of the same word

oSometimes on the similar

sense or sound of differentwords.


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Examples of Puns To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

He said I was average - but he was just being

mean.

A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebraclass because it was a weapon of math disruption.


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The purpose of puns The pun-user may play with words in any

way necessary to fit purpose:o Jokes

o To fit a theme

o To show the archetypal smart character (uses clever sayings, often toprovide comic relief in tragedies)

o To make an ALLUSION to a well known work (foreshadowing)


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Pun Purpose

To fit a theme

Opening Scene ofShark Tale

City is modeledafter New York City

Purpose-To makeeverything in Times

Square fit anunderwater/oceantheme

Katie Current=Katie Courick

Gup Store=Gap

Martha SturgeonsFlowers=Martha Stewart

Fish King=Burger King

Walk of Fame~CodStewart=Rod Stewart,Mussell Crowe=RussellCrowe, Jessica

Shrimpson=Jessica Simpson,Seal=a seal, the animal, plopsonto star

Prawn Shop=Pawn Shop

Shell Phones=Cell Phones

Scallop Poll=Gallup Poll
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020lSywlMwVUAl_qJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBqNzNhb3I1BHBvcwMyMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-/SIG=1iobni2lv/EXP=1275796690/**http:/images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=shark+tale&b=21&ni=20&ei=utf-8&xargs=0&pstart=1&fr=yfp-t-929&w=358&h=529&imgurl=www.antoniogenna.net/doppiaggio/film/sharktale.jpg&rurl=http://www.antoniogenna.net/doppiaggio/film/sharktale.htm&size=31k&name=sharktale+jpg&p=shark+tale&oid=f3d543c16411274e&fr2=&no=21&tt=23345&b=21&ni=20&sigr=11p0cg29l&sigi=11ik5273c&sigb=13bvrsvg8http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020ksywlMvxQASTuJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBpc2ozM2gzBHBvcwM0BHNlYwNzcgR2dGlkAw--/SIG=1hkqsurb1/EXP=1275796652/**http:/images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=shark+tale&ei=utf-8&fr=yfp-t-929&w=340&h=492&imgurl=images3.souq.com/uploaded/1208/7c5b67e47aae82141b9244d9eb1a7d1d_12530105811229715755.jpg&rurl=http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1734408&size=56k&name=7c5b67e47aae8214...&p=shark+tale&oid=442d0a8565882316&fr2=&no=4&tt=23348&sigr=11jgcf669&sigi=12o1ijc34&sigb=12fqu62ic


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Pun PurposeTo makean allusion/foreshadow

Simpsons Episode: "TheCrepes of Wrath punsSteinbecks The Grapesof Wrath

o Foreshadows thatthe setting will be inFrance (crepes) andthat a character(Bart, in this case) will

experience GreatDepression-likecircumstances

Fresh Prince of Bel-AirEpisode: I Know Whythe Caged BirdScreams punsAngelous I Know why

the Caged Bird Sings

o Foreshadows thatthere will be acaged bird in the

episode-Carlton, inpeacock mascotsuit, gets capturedby rival school


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Joke something said or done to provoke laughter or

cause amusement, as a witticism, a short andamusing anecdote, or a prankish act


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Joke Examples Can't you retain anything in your head overnight?

Of course, I've had this cold in my head for twodays!

Are you in the top half of your class?No, I'm one of the students who make the top halfpossible!

The picture of the horse is good, but where is thewagon?The horse will draw it


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Caricature a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating

the peculiarities or defects of persons or things


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Example of Caricature


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Example of Caricature


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Anecdote short account (or narrative) of an interesting or

amusing incident, often intended to illustrate orsupport some point


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Example of an anecdote Here's one:

Growing up in California, Kevin Spacey was adifficult child. Years later, he was asked why, at theage of 14, his parents had shipped him off to military

academy following an incident. "I won't tell youexactly what the incident was that made myparents send me to military school," Spacey replied."Let's just say it involved my sister's tree-house and

some matches."


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What is this? There was the person who sent

an e-mail with ten different

puns to his friends, with thehope that at least one of the

puns would make them laugh.

No pun in ten did.

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