20 Types and Forms of Humor

20 Types and Forms of Humor 20 Types and Forms of Humor 20 Types and Forms of Humor By Mark Nichol Humor comes in many flavors, any of which may appeal to one person but not to another, and which may be enjoyed in alternation or in combination. Here are names and descriptions of the varieties of comic expression: 1. Anecdotal: Named after the word anecdote (which stems from the Greek term meaning â€Å"unpublished†); refers to comic personal stories that may be true or partly true but embellished. 2. Blue: Also called off-color, or risque (from the French word for â€Å"to risk†); relies on impropriety or indecency for comic effect. (The name probably derives from the eighteenth-century use of the word blue to refer to morally strict standards hence the phrase â€Å"blue laws† to refer to ordinances restricting certain behavior on the Sabbath). A related type is broad humor, which refers to unrestrained, unsubtle humor often marked by coarse jokes and sexual situations. 3. Burlesque: Ridicules by imitating with caricature, or exaggerated characterization. The association with striptease is that in a bygone era, mocking skits and ecdysiastic displays were often on the same playbills in certain venues. 4. Dark/Gallows/Morbid: Grim or depressing humor dealing with misfortune and/or death and with a pessimistic outlook. 5. Deadpan/Dry: Delivered with an impassive, expressionless, matter-of-fact presentation. 6. Droll: From the Dutch word meaning â€Å"imp†; utilizes capricious or eccentric humor. 7. Epigrammatic: Humor consisting of a witty saying such as â€Å"Too many people run out of ideas long before they run out of words.† (Not all epigrams are humorous, however.) Two masters of epigrammatic humor are Benjamin Franklin (as the author of Poor Richard’s Almanackand Oscar Wilde. 8. Farcical: Comedy based on improbable coincidences and with satirical elements, punctuated at times with overwrought, frantic action. (It, like screwball comedy see below shares many elements with a comedy of errors.) Movies and plays featuring the Marx Brothers are epitomes of farce. The adjective also refers to incidents or proceedings that seem too ridiculous to be true. 9. High/highbrow: Humor pertaining to cultured, sophisticated themes. 10. Hyperbolic: Comic presentation marked by extravagant exaggeration and outsized characterization. 11. Ironic: Humor involving incongruity and discordance with norms, in which the intended meaning is opposite, or nearly opposite, to the literal meaning. (Not all irony is humorous, however.) 12. Juvenile/sophomoric: Humor involving childish themes such as pranks, name-calling, and other immature behavior. 13. Mordant: Caustic or biting humor (the word stems from a Latin word meaning â€Å"to bite†). Not to be confused with morbid humor (see above). 14. Parodic: Comic imitation often intended to ridicule an author, an artistic endeavor, or a genre. 15. Satirical: Humor that mocks human weaknesses or aspects of society. 16. Screwball: Akin to farce in that it deals with unlikely situations and responses to those situations; distinguished, like farcical humor, by exaggerated characterizations and episodes of fast-paced action. 17. Self-deprecating: Humor in which performers target themselves and their foibles or misfortunes for comic effect. Stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield was a practitioner of self-deprecating humor. 18. Situational: Humor arising out of quotidian situations; it is the basis of sitcoms, or situation comedies. Situational comedies employ elements of farce, screwball, slapstick, and other types of humor. 19. Slapstick: Comedy in which mock violence and simulated bodily harm are staged for comic effect; also called physical comedy. The name derives from a prop consisting of a stick with an attached piece of wood that slapped loudly against it when one comedian struck another with it, enhancing the effect. The Three Stooges were renowned for their slapstick comedy. 20. Stand-up: A form of comedy delivery in which a comic entertains an audience with jokes and humorous stories. A stand-up comedian may employ one or more of the types of humor described here. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Royal Order of Adjectives 50 Synonyms for â€Å"Idea†English Grammar 101: Prepositions

Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essays

Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essays Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essay Heros emerge in a time of conflict Essay Conflict will always be a part of human nature due to our complex make up and conflicting ideas and values. Whilst the inevitability of conflict brings much pain and suffering, it is not always a bad thing as it can allow for true heroes to arise and act in a way that benefits the greater good. Adversity brings out the best and worst in all people this means that there is a very thin line between a hero and a villain. An individuals involvement in conflict is a matter of perspective; this means that one mans hero could be another mans villain. Although these individuals may be heroes during a time of conflict, the emotional suffering that they may have to endure in the aftermath may mean that their actions where done in vain. In a time of conflict it is natural for a group of people to look to an individual for leadership. For the ladies in the Prisoners of War camp in the film Paradise Road this individual was Adrienne. Leadership quality where displayed from Adrienne right from when she firsts arrives in Sumatra when she snaps at Captain Tanana stating that There is a Geneva convention laying down the rules of war. These defiant words In the face of danger portray Adrienne as someone who is willing to stand up for what she believes in. Again heroic qualities are shown by Adrienne In her leadership role In the womens vocal orchestra. By uniting the ladies and providing them with a symbol of hope Adrienne became the hero and the leader that the women needed in a time of great conflict. Adrenalines actions In the face of danger can be compared to that of the father of India, Mahatma Ghanaian. Through his actions and Ideology In the face f conflict, Ghanaian emerged as a hero for the Indian people and a source of inspiration and hope for generations of people all over the world. Shindigs Influence affected millions of lives and was powerful enough to win back his countrys independence without a single act of violence. What makes someone a hero In a time of conflict Is a matter of perspective, whilst one person may deem an Individuals actions In the face of conflict necessary and heroic, It may be deemed evil and cowardly by someone else. An example of this Is the atrocities that organizations Like he Taliban commit during a time of conflict. Although misguided, the young men who are apart of groups Like the Taliban and AY Qaeda are acting with good Intentions. They are under the Impression that they are doing Gods work and acting In the best Interest of their country and their way of life; It Is this mindset that allows them to Justify their actions no matter how devastating the consequences are. Because powerful molesters share the same opinions and values as these terrorist organizations It allows the Individuals within the group and the supporters of the cause to think of these men as heroes. The fine line delving heroes and villains can also be seen In the film Paradise Road. Like the modern terrorist organizations mentioned, the Japanese military are also able to Justify actions that under any other circumstances would be unspeakable. This Is Illustrated by Captain Tanana who describes bombing a ship full of women and children as A matter of regret And A characteristic of war. The lack of remorse Captain Tanana shows portrays that he feels the actions of his Japanese comrades are Justifiable and to some degree could e considered heroic by the right audience. Heroes emerge in a time of conflict By p-force Geneva convention laying down the rules of war. These defiant words in the face of in. Again heroic qualities are shown by Adrienne in her leadership role in the great conflict. Adrenalines actions in the face of danger can be compared to that of the father of India, Mahatma Ghanaian. Through his actions and ideology in the face inspiration and hope for generations of people all over the world. Shindigs influence independence without a single act of violence. What makes someone a hero in a time of conflict is a matter of perspective, whilst one person may deem an individuals actions in the face of conflict necessary and heroic, it may be deemed evil and cowardly by someone else. An example of this is the atrocities that organizations like who are apart of groups like the Taliban and AY Qaeda are acting with good intentions. They are under the impression that they are doing Gods work and acting in the best interest of their country and their way of life; it is this mindset that allows Because powerful minorities share the same opinions and values as these terrorist organizations it allows the individuals within the group and the supporters of the cause to think of these men as heroes. The fine line dividing heroes and villains can also be seen in the film Paradise Road. Like the modern terrorist organizations mentioned, the Japanese military are also able to Justify actions that under any other circumstances would be unspeakable. This is illustrated by Captain Tanana who A characteristic of war. The lack of remorse Captain Tanana shows portrays that he

Processing Petroleum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Processing Petroleum - Essay Example The specific molecular makeup of crude oil varies from location to location as mentioned above however the chemical elements required to form crude oil vary over a fairly narrow margin. (Speight, 1999) The major hydrocarbon components of crude oil include paraffins, naphthenes, aromatics and asphaltics which display consistency in their presence in crude oil. The variation in these hydrocarbon components determines the exact properties of the crude oil in question. (Hyne, 2001) Crude oil contains a number of lighter more usable factions such as HFO, LFO, diesel, gasoline and a number of components for isomers of various kinds, asphalt etc. These factions can only be separated if crude oil is subjected to various processes. The processes used to separate factions of crude oil are better known collectively as petroleum refining and fractional distillation is a critical process. Fractional distillation relies on the physical property of different liquids to boil out at specific temperat ures only. Since crude oil is a mixture of various different lighter oils and solids, the constituents all tend to turn to vapour at different temperatures. Once these temperatures are achieved, the particular faction in question is collected downstream and is thus separated from crude oil’s other constituents. Processes carried out in Oil Refineries The crude oil that is brought in from an oil field is separated into various useful constituents through a variety of different techniques. Not only are the constituents of crude oil separated but they are often treated into different other useful products as well. The entire process begins in the crude oil distillation unit (CDU). All forms of oil refineries possess a CDU which intimates the separation. More separation may be carried out after the CDU too. The basic job of the CDU is to distil various larger constituents in crude oil into smaller more easily processed factions. The CDU for most oil refineries is operated at or a round atmospheric pressure (760 mm Hg) so the CDU is also referred to as the atmospheric distillation unit. (Kister, 1992) The crude oil is at ambient temperature when it is introduced into the refining process so it needs to be heated before separation. This is done by heating the crude oil with the lighter fractions of oil that have already been distilled as they already contain a lot of heat. The heated crude oil is then taken through a process where any inorganic salts are removed from it. Typically the crude oil contains a sizable amount of sodium chloride and it is removed. After the salt has been removed from the crude oil, it is then heated again by exchanging heat with other distilled fractions of oil. This stage is better known as pre-heating because the crude oil does not reach a temperature where the fractions begin to separate. The heat required to begin the process of fractional distillation is gathered through a fuel fired furnace in which fuel is combusted to produce large amounts of heat. The heat produced in this manner is generally around 398oC in temperature and the stream is then fed to the bottom most section of the distillation unit or column. As the crude oil is heated and various fractions separate from it there is a need to cool those fractions to liquefy

How and which beliefs can we justified in Descartes who argues for Essay

How and which beliefs can we justified in Descartes who argues for skepticism - Essay Example He believes that images from dreamland are drawn from real experiences. For instance, if an artist draws an imaginary picture of a mermaid, he thinks of images of women and fish. The philosopher thinks that it is very easy to doubt the simplest things in life such as the existence of God. However, he tries pushing these thoughts from his mind by arguing that if he believes that there is no God, then he will be deceived. From the clip in "The Matrix", Neyo is put in a computer program by a hacker who tries to convince him to change his mind about what he believes in. The hacker shows him of his dream world and the real world to manipulate his mind into making Neyo believe in his world of fantasy (Andy and Lana, 1999). In the same way, Descartes sought to overturn people beliefs thoughts into his imaginary world. From the philosopher story, it is crucial to note that no individual can live in skepticism as no one doubts if other people in the surrounding exist. It is believed that Descartes was motivated into doubtful behavior as he was trying to overcome a certain problem, but his believes were always accompanied by arguments to inspire his

Frq Apush Farmers vs Industrialization Essay Example for Free

Frq Apush Farmers vs Industrialization Essay The Gilded Age, a time of industrious growth and a surge of new immigrants. Americans had witnessed the death of rural life dominated by farmers and the birth of an urban and industrial America dominated by bankers, industrialists, and city dwellers. Overproduction led farmers into debt leaving them just an overflow of crops due to the repressed prices. Tariff Policies forced farmers to buy manufactured goods for survival. Farmers lost their status and power due to industrialization. Let’s just say farmers felt betrayed by their government and not letting them have voice. Overproduction was the most vexing problem during this time. The American farmer produced too much for their own good. As levels rise, the use of farm machinery increased it allowed the farmer to grow even more, new farming techniques, and the spread of railroads l made markets full of produce. As more and more crops were in the markets, it made the prices fall for the produce. Farmers were growing more and making less money. Of all the problems a farmer faced, overproduction was the gravest. Not making enough to recoup expenses because of depressed crop values, farmers attempted to compensate by producing more. This made the problem worse. The lack of income drove farmers into ever-deepening debt. Farmers fell victim to a tariff policy of the U.S. during the Gilded Age. It forced them to buy all the manufacture goods they needed for survival on a market protected by tariff legislation at high prices while selling what they produced on an unprotected market at reduced prices because of oversupply and foreign competitors. The government put a tax on the manufactured goods being imported into the U.S. by other manufactures. They hoped to make them more expensive than the American goods. For consumers would buy American goods. During this process it made American rapidly industrialized. Famers felt doubly discriminated against because they felt the tariffs were applied primarily to manufactured goods while their interests were left to fend for themselves. One of the hardest impacts due to industrialization for farmers was that they had to deal with the recognition that rural and agricultural America was given way to an urban and industrialized American. Dominated by the interests of big business, and government. Famers found the major political parties during the time unresponsive to their demands that government deal with their problems. Farmers no longer controlled the social, economic, or political systems. Which was a constant struggle for them to be heard, and did not feel appreciated. Farmers were impacted by industrialization in many ways causing many problems. Making a huge amount of them very unhappy during the Gilded Age.

Genetic Engineering: Genetic Criticism :: Literature Essays Literary Criticism

Genetic Criticism      Ã‚  Ã‚   Source study is a unique approach to a work of literature because it seems to have little to do with the completed work itself. Source study, or genetic criticism, has as its focus all of those things that influenced, or may have influenced, a literary work. By this branch of criticism, Wilfred Guerin explains, "... we mean the growth and development of a work as seen through a study of the author's manuscripts during the stages of composition of the work, of notebooks, of sources and analogues, and of various other influences (not necessarily sociological or psychological) that lie in the background of the work" (292). A genetic critic hopes to find clues as to the author's intention by noting and examining the choices an author has made during the production of a work. One of the assumptions made by these critics, Guerin adds, is that such research will lead to "a richer, more accurate appreciation of the work" (292). In practice, the light of appreciation , accumulated from such research, shines most brightly on the artist, while the work itself fades into the background.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps this focus on the writer is not such a bad thing. Chauncey Sanders writes that the study of a writer's sources leads to a clearer understanding of an artist's originality or lack of the same (165). While it may be useful to spot literary robbery, Sanders believes that genetic criticism has a more important role: "It should not be confined to the discovery of such plagiarisms . . . but rather it should involve the analyzing of a piece of literature with a view to discovering whence came the inspiration, the material, and the technique whereby the work came into being" (162). Again, though, it is the artist who is the main subject of this type of research. "We must learn and study the sources of a Chaucer or a Shakespeare," writes Sanders, "in order to appreciate the nature and extent of his originality" (364-365). Any greater understanding of the work would result only indirectly from this approach to literature, an approach which seems especially susceptible to becoming a mere celebration of the artist.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John Holmes' analysis of Robert Frost's composition of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" illustrates how genetic criticism tends to reveal more about the poet than the poem.

A Divine Image: a Direct Contrast to the Humanitarian Idealism Essay

In his 1932 article, â€Å"An Interpretation of Blake’s â€Å"‘A Divine Image,'† Stephen Larrabee views the entire poem as a direct contrast to the â€Å"humanitarian idealism† (307) of â€Å"The Divine Image,† with the author making direct line-by-line comparisons of the two. Not until 1959, however, does a critic actually examine Blake’s â€Å"virtues of delight.† In his The Piper & the Bard: A Study of William Blake, Robert Gleckner traces the psychological roots of each of those virtues, while asserting that Mercy, Pity, and Peace are each a part of, but distinct from, the fourth and greatest virtue – Love. Gleckner finally affirms the â€Å"human form divine† as a composite of all of the four virtues. Gleckner returns in 1961 with a comparison between â€Å"The Divine Image† and â€Å"The Human Abstract.† While primarily concerned with â€Å"The Human Abstract,† Gleckner does position the unity o f humanity and divinity in the four virtues of â€Å"The Divine Image† against the fall into fragmentation of the later poem. Gleckner also dismisses â€Å"A Divine Image,† the poem sometimes compared with â€Å"The Divine Image,† as a work with no subtlety of theme. Another comparison between â€Å"The Divine Image† and â€Å"The Human Abstract† occurs in Harold Bloom’s 1963 text, Blake’s Apocalypse: A Study in Poetic Argument. Here, Bloom asserts the deliberate incompleteness of â€Å"The Divine Image† by arguing that its God is a â€Å"monster of abstractions, formed out of the supposedly human element in each of Innocence’s four prime virtues† (41). Bloom continues by exploring the changes in the virtues from one poem to the other, finally exposing them as â€Å"founded upon the exploiting selfishness of natural man† (143). â€Å"The Divine Image† receives due critical recognition for the first time in 1964, when E. D. Hirsch asserts the centrality of the poem to the Songs of Innocence and of Experience by proposing as its them e the divinity of humanity and the humanity of divinity. Hirsch theorizes that Blake’s choice of virtues reveals his identification with God the Son (the New Testament God) over God the Father (the Old Testament God). In his 1967 discussion of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Sir Geoffrey Keynes concerns himself primarily with the plate of â€Å"The Divine Image.† Keynes first affirms the theme of the poem as â€Å"the identification of man with God† (Plate 18), and he then continues by arguing that the decoration on the plate – â€Å"a strange flame-like growth, half vegetable and half fire† (Plate 18) – is a symbol of human life. Meanwhile, David J. Smith returns to a comparison between â€Å"The Divine Image† and â€Å"A Divine Image† in a 1967 article entitled, appropriately enough, â€Å"Blake’s ‘The Divine Image.'† According to Smith, the less definite â€Å"A† in the title â€Å"A Divine Image† allows him to compare that poem’s remotely situated God with the immanent God of â€Å"The Divine Image.† Smith continues by placing the poetic speaker of â€Å"The Divine Image† in a state of innocence, thus explaining the â€Å"simplistic† unity of the virtues in the poem. John Holloway enters the critical discussion concerning â€Å"The Divine Image† in his 1968 text, Blake: The Lyric Poetry. In his rather straight, new-critical reading of Blake’s poems, Holloway compares the diction and meter of â€Å"The Divine Image† with that of hymns of the period. Holloway asserts that the poem contains no visionary quality because it is too neatly constructed – and because that neat construction invites a retort by the reader. Eben Bass’s 1970 article, â€Å"Songs of Innocence and of Experience: The Thrust of Design,† contains a narrow discussion of the relationship between the reversed â€Å"S† curve of the flame-plant in the plate of â€Å"The Divine Image† and Blake’s dramatization of the â€Å"two contrary statesà ¢â‚¬  of humanity. Robert Gleckner returns to the critical conversation in 1977 with his note concerning â€Å"Blake and the Four Daughters of God.† In this brief article, Gleckner argues that the allegory of the Four Daughters of God may be a source for Blake’s four virtues in â€Å"The Divine Image.† Gleckner continues by positing that Blake’s replacement of two of the â€Å"daughters† – Truth and Justice – with the virtues of Pity and Love might reveal his affirmation of the unity of divinity and humanity, for Truth and Justice may be viewed as Old Testament moral virtues that are bypassed by the New Testament Christ. Zachary Leader approaches the plate of â€Å"The Divine Image† from a different angle when he asserts in 1981 that the plate reinforces the poem’s theme (God as both transcendent and immanent) by positioning a Christ figure at the plate’s bottom (Earth) and angelic figures at the plate’s top (Heaven). Leader argues that the abstract quality of the poem reflects Blake’s dilemma in dealing with the qualities of an abstract God. Heather Gle n’s thorough examination of â€Å"The Divine Image† in her 1983 work, Vision and Disenchantment: Blake’s Songs and Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads, posits Blake’s poem as an â€Å"exploration of the dynamics of prayer† (150) by comparing it with Alexander Pope’s â€Å"The Universal Prayer.† Glen demonstrates the similarities between the structure of â€Å"The Divine Image† and the structure of a scientific experiment. She then proves that the poem moves from the abstraction of the four virtues to their embodiment in the human form divine. Finally, Glen reveals the two-edged nature of the virtues of Mercy and Pity by arguing that each contains a presumption of inequality within itself (an argument somewhat similar to that made by Bloom in Blake’s Apocalypse). Stanley Gardner briefly notes the plate of â€Å"The Divine Image† in his 1986 text, Blake’s Innocence and Experience Retraced. Gardner asserts that the design of the plate deals with the â€Å"ideal of reconciliation derived from the fulfillment of Christian compassion† (54). David Lindsay also concerns himself with the abstract virtues of â€Å"The Divine Image† in his 1989 work, Reading Blake’s Songs. Lindsay demonstrates the transforming power that â€Å"The Human Abstract† has upon the virtues of â€Å"The Divine Image† by asserting that the idolatry of the concepts of pity and mercy â€Å"propagates the suffering on which its idols thrive† (80). Finally (and perhaps fittingly), E. P. Thompson positions â€Å"The Divine Image† as the â€Å"axle upon which the Songs of Innocence turn† (146) in his 1993 text, Witness against the Beast: William Blake and the Moral Law. Thompson continues by exposing the â€Å"egalitarian humanism† (153) that underlies â€Å"The Divine Image.† According to Thompson, the poem concerns not divine humanity, but human divinity. Thompson does assert (like Hirsch) that Blake emphasizes the humanity of God the Son over the divinity of God the Father, but he concludes by demonstrating that the poet does not elevate Christ above the rest of the moral creation that shares in the same divine essence.