For our humor unit, we read various works of literature ranging from a play set in Victorian Age London to the battlefield of World War II in Europe, aliens included of course. We also read a play where people turn into rhinos for seemingly no reason. Curious? Read on to learn how these different, yet distinctly similar works were woven into our English class.
In addition to reading, we also created our own humor pieces toward the end of the unit. I chose to write and perform a stand up act that I’ll talk in detail about below.
In class we dedicated a large amount of time to learning about and analyzing humor techniques. These techniques can range from satire and irony, to anecdotes and epigrams. We read The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Evidently, all three works were different, each having their own focus or play on a topic. A common thread was how all of them used various humor techniques to critique or make fun of society.
Humor Project
For my humor project I chose to write and perform a stand up piece. I chose this because I enjoy watching stand up comedians and figured now was the time to try my hand at it. Two stand-up comedians I used as inspiration are John Mulaney and Chris Rock. My topic originated from a phrase a friend of mine and I came up with during senior year, “Exactly what I wanted”. If you read that in a sarcastic tone, you would be spot on.
A lot of things happen in life that we didn’t plan for or straight up did not want, especially in 2020. But instead of dwelling on all the bad, we decided to spin small accidents or mistakes in a humorous light to ease our conscious. My stand up piece goes over a couple times I felt my life embodied the phrase.
Honors Comparison Essay
I did my comparison essay on The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I focused on how even though both works are worlds apart, both emphasize ill-conceived notions society has and how they end up harming society.
