English Essay

Holt tells us that caper books became routine after the first wiz was published in English in 1484. Jokes remained fairly lowbrow until the substance of the 19th century when with especiall(a)y the clever retort became prized in English culture. A typical joke concerned a hefty lumberjack rushing to Florence late one so faring. He asked a peasant Do you think Ill be sufficient to make it through the urban center gate? The man replied, Why if a cart of hay stomach make it through, you can, tooNo one embodied this shift punter than Oscar Wilde. Holt tells us that in the 1890s, poet Sir Lewis Morris complained to Wilde be become he was non to be named Englands poet laureate. Its a complete conspiracy of conquer against me, Morris said, a conspiracy of silence What ought I to do, Oscar? Join it Wilde replied. While detailing this history, Holt discusses the three major theories of humor. The transcendence theory, propounded by Plato and Groucho Marx, sees the essence of humor in mockery and derision, in the sudden glory we feel when those we dislike be leveled whether they be the blue and mighty or members of religious and ethnic groups.After researching round unhomogeneous television shows I found this joke from Friends, episodes two hundred and two. It is a dialogue between Chandler and Joey who ar asking their friend hum about breastfeeding. Chandler asks chirp, Carol I was just wondering if Joey could ask you questions about breastfeeding? Carol replies, Sure. Joey then asked her, Uh, does it hurt? Carol said, Well, at first but not any more than. Joey then says, Oh. Chandler? Chandler then asked Carol, So uh, how often can you do it? Carol replied, As much as he needs. Joey then said, Oh okay I got one. Uh if he blows into one does the other one get bigger? on that point are topical jokes, perennial jokes, cultural jokes, and universal joint jokes like, I was so unpopular when I was little, even my imaginary friend played with the kids ac ross the street. There are jokes about groups of people, jokes appropriate for polite company, and jokes that are dirty bountiful to be somewhat scandalous such as, George H. W. bushs favorite How do you titillate an ocelot? You oscillate its tits a lot. Then there are the political jokes, geographical jokes as sanitary as jokes of various lengths one-liners, two-liners, long jokes, shaggy dog jokes, and even jokes of solitary(prenominal) two words Pretentious? Moi? As with so many philosophic issues these days, perhaps only because of our current fashions of research, humor may simply fare down to the neurological.Using an electric probe to try to find the cause of a patients seizures, doctors stimulated a part of her leftover frontal lobe, eliciting a laugh. It happened over and over, and it was not just a upright physical reflex. She really did find things funny, whether she was looking at the operating team, or at a picture of a horse they showed her. Put a little current to the L-spot of the brain, and everything becomes a joke. There is little risk that neurosurgical procedures are going to impair the activities of joke-tellers, however telling a joke is a simpler way of getting a laugh than doing brain probes, and anyway, whatever the design of jokes is, it probably cannot be accomplished in such an electromechanical way. wish many things, jokes are probably best appreciated for themselves and not for any thinking that they might cheer.Holts little volume will inspire some thinking, but it also contains more than its share of good along with some bad jokes, including one that he has traced back in divergent forms which people have been laughing at for fifteen centuries. And he even includes a personal favorite of mine, a meta-joke A priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender says, What is this, a joke? fit to Holts essay I found this joke from Friends to be a universal joke because it is appropriate for polite company. Ever yone knows that men have no clue about babies or at least women are more experienced on that subject. This is what made the joke from Friends so funny to me because it allows all viewers to relate to Chandler and Joeys curiosity regarding breastfeeding.Family type jokes such as this one allow shows like Friends to become such a success. The joke regarding breastfeeding is a great example of Holts definition of a universal joke. I find universal jokes to be the funniest because they are funny enough to be able to enjoy with your family and in my opinion being able to have a good laugh with your family is a very weighty part of life.