Comparative Literature 105: The Development of Literary Humor

1. Comparative Literature 105:The Development of Literary Humor Class Meeting #1 Tuesday, January 12, 2010

2. Welcome to Comp Lit 105! • Before going into any of the specific requirements, let’s go ahead and get one thing out of the way: you must, must, must have a sense of humor to get anything out of this course. • That means, if you’re very easily offended, you might want to try something more your speed; take, for example, a nice class on Pennsylvania History? The Amish seem a non-offensive lot.

3. Succeeding in this class… • You like reading. Often a whole bunch of pages in one sitting even. You dislike not having anything to read. • Sarcasm is your middle name. • You’re able to write coherently in English without struggling too much with the basic grammar that you learned when you were 8. • You can complete projects, assignments, and readings on time. • You use the extra credit opportunities to make up for missed days, assignments, etc. • You can handle a little technology, use CMS, check email, etc.

4. How not to succeed in this class… • You suck at time-management • You don’t like reading. • You have multiple toons with a 5.1k+ gearscore. • You think you can possibly get an extension on any assignments or make-up something you missed. • You don’t attend class. • You don’t participate fully in your team project.

5. Course Objectives • Read a selection of great works of literature from around the globe, selected for their humorous content. • To understand the principles and “laws” of humor and laughter. • To appreciate the development of literary techniques of humor through the ages. • To recognize the differences and similarities between humorous plots and situations that we see everyday, and those of other ages and cultures. • To develop both critical and imaginative thinking and effective writing on the basis of great literature. • To encourage collaborative learning in the form of group activities targeted at development and exploration of individual interests in areas directly related to humorous literature.

6. Points, your grade and You!

7. Grade Components • Team Project: More details on this will be given later after the add/drop period, so that teams may first be assigned. Teams will be comprised of about 5 people each. The team project will be a substantial project that will either be ‘performed’ in class or through some other technological means. All members of the team will receive the same grade, provided they participated. • Individual Contribution to Team Project: An additional 5 points can be earned on the projects for individual contributions. These are awarded by your teammates when they fill out their peer evaluation forms.

8. Go Team!

9. Grade Components • You also get a point for filling out the peer evaluation forms for your team. • 5 Project Commentaries: After the teams have finished their projects, everyone will be allowed to comment on 5 projects of their choosing via CMS. Each thoughtful commentary will earn a point. • So, you can see that team projects and the associated other assignments make up a total of 41 points, just over 20% of your entire grade. That’s a big chunk.

10. Grade Components • Weekly Quizzes: They will be on CMS and open for you to take anytime you like between Friday and Monday each week, but they are timed, lasting about an hour. They cover all material from Monday to Monday, so some questions may come from assigned reading between the Thursday and following Monday classes. You can earn up to 3 points for each quiz. Format will be multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank and the occasional short answer. • Mini-Essays: You will write 2 mini-essays over the course of the semester, which will be submitted via the drop-box on CMS. The due dates are on the syllabus and they will be due by midnight on that date. Remember, no extensions will be given. The essays should be between 1 and 2 pages (that means more than a page, folks!), be written in a language that resembles English, double-spaced, standard stuff.

11. Grade Components • Attendance: I’ll take attendance 26 times during the semester and you’ll earn ½ point each time. A sign-up sheet will go around. If you miss, you can use extra credit to make up for the missed day, so there’s no need to worry (read: don’t bother) about bringing me an excuse. That’s what the points are there for.

12. Grade Components • Mid-Term Exam: This exam will take place the Thursday before Spring Break, so arrange your travel times appropriately. There is no makeup exam. None. • Final Exam: This exam will take place during the University’s scheduled exam week in a different room to be held jointly with section 2 of this course. Time, date and location will be announced in the coming weeks.

13. So, basically… • The point is that there’s a really streamlined set of assignments that you’ll complete, but because it’s just me versus 55 of you, there’s little room for flexibility. • And it’s not that I don’t care if you’re bleeding out of your cute little forehead – I do! <3 But golly, we’re just going to have to draw the line somewhere and say either you get things done or you don’t! • I’ll make it a point that your assignments come with as long as lead time as possible. Which basically means I’ll give you the Mini-Essay topics about 2 weeks in advance. Otherwise, nothing should be a big surprise.

14. Grade Breakdown by Points

15. And now on to the fun stuff

16. What is Humor? • How can we define “humor”? • What makes something funny? • One of the goals of this class is to come up with a theory of the funny.

17. What is Humor? • Latin: • Umor-em= fluid, moisture

18. What is Humor? • 4 chief fluids in the body: • Blood – sanguine (love, hopefulness, positive) • Yellow bile – choleric (angry, mean spirited) • Black bile – melancholic (sad, irritable) • Phlegm – phlegmatic (calm, rationality, lack of emotion) • When the four are in balance, we’re “in good humor.” It’s the key to health. All other diseases and illnesses are the result of an imbalance. • Not only is that the origin of the word, but many literary characters are based on such imbalances. (Just keep that in mind)

19. What is Humor? • That quality of action, speech, or writing, which excites amusement; oddity, jocularity, facetiousness, comicality, fun; the faculty of perceiving what is ludicrous or amusing. • Can we say anything is universally humorous?

20. Case in point… • I present the world’s oldest joke: • 3,000 years ago in Sumeria someone carved into a tablet: • "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap.“ • Zing!

21. A couple more oldies • 10th Century Anglo-Saxon joke: • “What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole that it’s often poked before?’ Answer: A key.” • 1600 BC – Egypt • "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish.“ • Funnier in the hieroglyphic (Asp jackal ibis? Wiggly line, ankh, feather!) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2479730/The-worlds-oldest-jokes-revealed-by-university-research.html

22. So what’s universally funny and timeless? • Apparently sex and fart jokes. • This is what Dr. Beebee in Comp. Lit – the person who originally designed this course – refers to as his “sex” and “poop” theory of humor.

23. For Thursday • Read Norman Holland, “The Archetypes of Humor” • It’s really short and sets the stage for the rest of the class, so be ready to talk about it then.