Bruce A, Goebel! Comic Relief: Engaging Students through Humor Writing ches me of high-stakes tests and sebeol accountable, Engi cla roam have Been pasha 1 become ‘mereasingly seas place. Combi ing NCLB pressures with our desires tous liters ture wodosmporane cultura works sing seine, gender, and scale distinc virally bans humor fom the clsroom. Ths Unfreunate fe aurora weane, While ies onthe reationsipLctween homot and leven fe mined, hee is gene ogrement tha When used a ways divecly elated (0 material and objectives eg covered, there i improvement i stenti, losing. and reention. As Cher Nason pines ut, “Huo can dein the anniety and reduce the dheeatening matteo che material by changing the tone ofthe snsrational proces. By erring ane), humor improves stadenteecepevencs 19 alarming or cificule material ad lieaely has 4 sitive let on est preformance” (par 12). la fochee wotds, with tudes fe whom Enis clash Semoe a mul pleat, bese of homo ca hep ake the clascor «nore afore and engage ng place co earn However, while this pycholoucl fee is true foe any contene ate, bamor can pley an ee mote cenual role ia an English claicarn. Many Young adulssdmie people with 2 humors wi, juse a8 chey are ataced to canie media such a6 SNL and The Daly Slaw andthe performances of Innumerble stand-up comedians. The populstiey sf many novels ets fen in hee use of amor from slapstick in the Haery Potter sercn. 10 the ange eons hares in Spkt the sel Sepeescig amor of The Absa Tre Dao of Pat Tie Embedded in stop ten ‘reasons for using humor the claseoum, Goebel describes engrosingamd ‘enriching humorariing activites for students. Indian, While many aspects he Engh curren fm may las erin appeal fr eran eae, Furor stmt almays gets am enthusiastic recep fiom. And humor is aoehing less than che cate and efective use of language. In adiin, in & ‘chool climate inctesinglyconcened with coe: scot ehinking ard finding the vight answer, humor ‘alleges snes a chink doergot creatively, and o welcome am ary of posi (Nsom) Dot mocy-—thi noe an exp impli, you t learn how to be funy. delivering appre 26 one ines at che fg ans fae, he oy hing my sede usoaly fn ny abooe me how Rcble my atempes a being funny ate AIL igh, clas. Yor eh nex activity I'd Ike you 19 Sak in pits, 0€ apes if you'd pref). Rates, rm suggesting miking humor a pert of carricw lum self genera, [ey eo erspese soe tro tear exp nis cng thera in are a 1 kind of comic elie for the serous work we do, bor alo forthe specie ls ehat a9 eplortin {neo bara can impatt—skil 9 vice and syle tnd in what Uke to call “ean Uke a wee ‘These lessons provide stants with «fan way to improve ot rues aed writers and provide st dents with che cre apporunity to expres their Ihumorous sides in an ictesinghy serves cat room space. Th impie laughter and lextaing in English clases evenyahee, now present my en eso for lasing hum in ee classear, ang with sugges ont of some oF my vote himorcbised writing Toe anrangedl the suggested activites from simple to comple, with one ad to ecaed on ring humorous words snd phase hee andfour focused on steegies for humorous sentences aud shoe pasages, andthe semaiaing activites foe cused on longer writing asigomens in various (eares. While I tend to spread thee ehroaphout ‘ny cusicalam, Limagine they could also work well | ont on humor wri adr ierary humor Cue the mut, plese ‘Top Ten Reasons to Use Humor Inthe Classroom 1. Because | Want to Be 8 Jergoraut ‘When | Grow Up Ieonly takesasoment in he school hallway to ee- opine the Love youn als ave foe sang. Fc {0 the creation of sang ap argon whic i wore thy of ire stacy in and of esr veal ts onic porns. I bare moe frequently ed hit setviny in conjonetion with reading MT. Andee se Fed, astral dystopian ove in which the tutor ceates new slang terms to represene both Technological induence on language ad the "en- lumbening”o oat ce, Using terme ch meg (Coen from mega and megs-bytes) oF 0 go al (Co ‘cause ons bein to smilate «dra anced sare, From maazcion due oa compact vw), Andes son gives his chances unigue voi ehrough which they con tect the sociey im which they lives pointe een tha eee aed ers fonction mck meaphors and serve as « menos fae» changing sociery to describe sel? In ft, Wired Magerin 2 publication dedicaed to new ecronic chnolog, runs column ded "Jargon ‘Warch,*enl he online Urtee Deny documenss curent slang. Thee sources bave included sch ‘seme he following axl socb-—Sereane whe coninsoy is ‘eto hater od, unable w detec being ‘Spoken to andi arama of any oter co Sertion tking pce ard hither (hetpitwwmazbandiconarycom/ define ‘ipterm=Posv snob) ‘Word of mouse— information spread ‘hgh cha rooms ae Blogs (hep ‘rbudiconarycom/deine php erm= ord af+mens) Beepilepay—The suiden sus of enpise pang parson shen a page cll poe ecco vibmce goes off ep ewtbon ‘tionary define plier Bewley) Jangonatat One who seks convent new Jergoa(nepiwwwarbandictonary.com! fine php-teme Jagznau) More impoctanc ace che ways in which much jargon relies on humo for pare ose, So for this civic Tak seadents odo che following: 1 Make ale of ny oxher techies hey have her esta ones thar are Imumoros. 2, Brainstorm ways i which coment technology iene them, oak fr che fd oc humoeous aspects of 3. Cree Five new humorous ern io descebe thar aspect ef thee experince wich techoology 2. Because Belng Booked Is Every English Teacher's Dream Ie Cany Weng Sere: Hat Think Pry, We Fray, Act Fanmy and Gat Paid fr Ut, Melia He lize recommends engaing Prices in “ssaciae ‘ion brnstcrms 4 kind of mencal waer-up. I ‘oe wich etivirg sedents ae given a character in terms of profsion freighter, police office. dog- catcher, atdener—and then asked obioearm as any vets as they can that might meephorilly deste 9 physical or pycholgial condition of ‘har person, For example, in describing bow 2 fre- fighter mighe Fok coming home frm work, ane ‘nigh is bared, oa fred sp, suaning, sod 2 0 fax Asia foc apc. | While many aspects of dener might include ised ‘the English curiculare ‘pote, abd, dy, ane alt | MAY lack a crtal appeal nen lt | ne Tt otc | aman Suomen 2 me [pote er seats [ae seen ee | een Ander tegretol | paientene ete sce ag ae | ce ad andi From sich ‘words, comic sentences that play oF oF maeiple ‘meaning can then be constructed “He shoca birdie on che frees hol; thar pve him one spsrow0 Come nao: Engaging Stidete ough Homer wees, and two sogalls for the day” Sach an sctiviey prompts scuens to szocinte metspocclly and thinkin divetgeat way o uncover maltpe ose bile. le also provides chem with «simple ste- gy forasding x comic touch o any humorous sary or soy they might chase cowie 3. Because When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Tell Jokes to Let OH Steam Normally, clichés are che bane oF readers every= ‘wher, and we sragle to help students recognise ‘hy including oversed phrses weakens het wre lng, This active tempest eur the negative ines A posite, showing sets how te vansoem he oto eectee humorous moments. The prob. lew wich clichés is char chere i 0 moment of surprise o eshmes, 0 we ne 0 ate the eiché {Such 2 ay that se ends with 2 supsise. Bist take a dich thre aphorism ac et you dn acd ya, ‘Then brinecoum serraive endings chac will surprise che eae W,C. Piel fred: at fin you dons ced then gut. There's 0 serena abo fe Ge tn Helier 78) ‘The suprise ending mighe replace pat of the lid or ie might fallow. Lily Tomlin gives us the following Where soe up oust come down, but dest cape etocane down where yo can ite ta Heiee 79) ‘Ac suds igh Bind it ease i they add the won! “i tothe bepinng of the cliché help See up the supe, at my eighth-grade so, Ror sel, does in his example: al ewok sage, hem cao er Have your ures search fr clichfs ronal «Cliché Finder (nap wr wentegsomllche. 4. Because Students Have an inalienable Right to Life Liberty, and the Pusu ofa Good tough ‘While clichés se up eis own expectations, ones thar are ratvely easy to ales, the comic writer fen ha eo to acer strategie to setup the reader for che big supose, Many cat vo the Re of Thr Sisapy pty the weiter crates 4 list or feces of three ideas oF things the Bese Ses the theme che second came it andthe chied wits ic ince & moment of surpese. Woody Allen uses the eae of three equerly. A passage compl jing abou the nator’ declining heath sets op he reader with “My room 8 dap ar ave pee= petal chills and palpitations of the heart,” and hen he surpries the eeaer with "T noticed, oo, the Lam ov of rapkinn, Will caer op"(16) Sherman Alese Fond of wing chi seutegy fora bind of dal comic eect. nis shor story “Te ‘ling. he uses che line. “The Trooper walked up amy father onthe driver’ side cool and ur, bike he mas ordering «hamburger and fies oF making ‘eres 03), surprising with che abu af he fa pose "The hee items can be single words—"He sine my deeam date, disk, and dumb"—shoce hse, o complete sentences tn Te Com Tad Yo: Hoo Be any Been Yor Ne, Jolin Voth secommends on activity ia Which sadene ets Complete the sentence sarter "The things you should (eve) "by Fisting two eapetedanewers ‘nl following thre with tray expected answer (3) For example “Trice things 0 soa ene to your Engh teuher dat havea pe -hisbok boing.” ete ya Fle Fe x prcpne an your eal” Recognising the value of wach surpries and pueticing a bitin vanity of ems wil allow seudenes co work uneypeced humor into thee wring 5. Because Good Writing / Can Emerge from 17 7 Funny Syllables Probbly no poeiy fam sgh more often ha hai Becase is smple o explain od helps ents work on conc and condensed langue, concrete images, and carl word choice. For ately, ese same writing sill can be practiced ‘whccherstadeots follow the cadtonl content cas of matute, season, sad election of tun thie sim comand he comic moments they ee arco them. Wise the formal ruks remain the sime(aha lnes, 57-5 elbow), the gol to fiat wer up + momen, image, or scene ad then ers humans tet ‘You cin find some great examples of humor ‘us conemporary haikas fii eal. Try hating your studens lock at Dan Anderson's dog bait ‘heaping cony/pasyanndoghaiks hr ‘Shobhan Adcock’ edited collesion, Hino Hath, ie another excellene ware hepJwe random house comsbewcny hipstedaikuiensab tr, For a plyfal Zen perspective on the human computer iaeeice, check out "Haku DOS" ac hap ww esp or humeripcery pe ‘ese any clsroom:appropciat topic is fe name for hus, provided chat each hk fellows the form and incldes« humoceus“sepeie” in the secon lf he poem 6. Because Everyone Likes ists (Ose comic fore wih which neat all eacenes are sles fairs he top cen is. Ths ists ely {ete of oni jles bated othe sme theme Dv Leer has mace this 2 staple of the Late Shou: One bei ‘Top TEN SIGNS YOU'RE WATCHING ABAD MONSTER MOVIE 10. Moree comes 29 New York, tke in somes of Jee Boy a foes 9, Hesse pple ust ike he (Pore esta thi is ee Leven) Novice how such He alo elit on sarpise by offering answers char oppose our normal expec: ‘ations. In otber words we have to kaow what sakes 2 good monster movie, co orderstand the ‘monster iim year, inorder co yet the jokes In chis ‘enue the challenge fe ude writers et know the ope well and te then sink ia opposites witha bit of exaggeration, Tauri Hae Andenon uss align dlerent senion of dis amie seatesy ia er fore Spe by Inving th teamed mn character, Mel, poise ut orf the etal ie of high schol Ke “THe FIRST TEN LIS THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL 1 Weaee et dp yon, 2 Yel ave raph me to gto your se ale the el ng 4. The de coe willbe exe 9-6) In thie he humerous surpie depends on the reader recognizing the incongruity beeween che claim and Melia sera experences iy being selective sboue the pe, a teacher as eur this nto a incepretiveaesiviey—Top Ten Signs the Old Man Has Besa Our to Set Too longo an omminerion of igh scbeat cucare— ‘neo the best may to Siler Darah tips metas School Dance—or an explo- | How Iiteary craft works ‘ncn oli to have them write The ‘Tip Ten Ways You emblatios of ate Know Your Cong! adopting the form and Senator President Is. Male ing Promises ‘Thar Won'c Be Kept. Fora change af ace, odenes might wane forty thet hands a¢ humorous rlkple-coice ‘questions tha fellow enentilly the seme forma ‘with dhe question providing che topic and the four sramers providing the burs: providing content. 7. Because to Whe wth Humor, and There Perchance to Be Fury, oF to Remain Dul, ‘That ithe Question (One ofthe bese ways eo help student andere how lierary rot works ic have hem wae em lation of tex, adopting the form and syle of har tutor while peoviding contenc Such emlaions an teach moh abou am anchors spicier pring, for ample, Hemingway's peofrnce for ehe Simple sectence 0° Alesis penchant foc the ele of ‘here and they can teach mach abot the formal aspects short moroas pieces. ‘Wie novel ha contain humor, I equeely tsk sates todo the allowing 1 Leafy de anni passage 2 Explain why sci funny. $3 Writes Ie cexcpon of “how ra write a usage ike his 44 Wines te emlaion che eapuce the Jer and syle of tbe choeen pase wile sing conten of chev cheasing ‘With vex shar ate a humor, {give rae ects the appertamity fo eansorm serous pieces into humerous oo, mong us othe enteraning ‘world of pred: Many people mitperceive parody as lah Jour! style of that author while “of frivolous exerci, yet to doit well, oe bas ro red caeflly and pay arenton to such ‘echnical fatuer ax ayomctcal perms, word choice, sentence and ie length, meter, thyme acd tone. When ake odo eis in serio way, most seodencs cringe, bur when given the opporcity rake fan ofthe author and the woe, chose it ‘eansfored into en opportunity. "The erick i co chooe teas that are dating: sive ingle and form, Sern hat have uni ae ‘ator voices work wel ethene acy om Ane ted Holden, authors thar have ex idenccble tape, ot pasnges that are marked by a prcclat ltery element, for example, the mesa laden Short chapers of The Hs on Mango Set. ‘The eases cece ro emulate or parody, bow. vet ane pons, By thie sate, poems present + ‘more complicated challenge in’ which Fo be- comes as iyportant as syle im creating a good imi ‘acon. Io addon, chet ae anchologies of poem ares thas mighe serve a8 springboacts for the Assignment, Jus we Google co search fra famous posts name Glloved by the word “prndy” and {yon will nd plenty of examples. One of my favor ite models is Py for Gat, which retells elasic Poems throug che eves ofa at persona. As Ham levees ‘Togs ovstle and he peach 87 ‘Oc roman mahi: hate queso CB ‘To begin such an activity, I gery ask ee eats co make utube ofthe fra am sepliic feature of te poem —number of lines line length, reer, shyme acheme, syneatc pcr, ef¢—ae tell ao idoneiy any importane phrss #0 resin to make clear the source of the parody. Studenes ‘hen use cis Hat a pide or rae, ang 1 ie (be requirement use surpesing, humecs con rent i relation tote ogi 8. Because a Meeting of Minds Is 2 Terble Thing to Mis ‘Atos of young al ones frequen car 0 fire person martin bees it ers the apport ty vo capeue che dicctve may i which ado. lesen think an pe by incorporating babi of speeth, favorite work and poses, ard ways of thinking. As wich che previous ecivicy, cis one sks students to emule ot parody oder ees, but ith «focus on voice, If the nator of choice it orally fancy I rimply ark seudeats to capeure thar voice bac in difsenc context—wrting abo co's choo, perhaps alo like eo giv he asign- ‘mene an sd ewist by aking srudens co write in he form of a shor riderheaze piece i which two charsters with discintive woes bs rom df= ferent novel met. The ies is 9 choose two cae acter whowe voices ate 0 difeenr and. whose ‘ttnudes ad views ofthe wold are 40 concing har this meeting iahereuy Becomes ane of comic recall are ofthe mat sucesfil responses 10 this activity ited Anne of Gren Gables with Holden Caulls. Ana’ earnest and facial ake on the world ran heeding into Holden’ sarcasm sd sccnation of phonies. ‘Srudents can also give this sciviey slight parodieewist by moving anraors for one book 0 nother What happemn tothe deuma when we te write a xene fom Hane using the fst penen ‘ice of Philp Metiowe fom Ty Mala Raln? 9, Because a Ple of Humorous Stoves Is Simply ‘More Fun o Read Io tome may, allo the previous aces lad up 1 ting comic raraivs. In the face of sate ‘rising tet thar demand improvement in expos- tory and persuasive weitng, fton wating bas lose touch of the raring i once had in the regular English lsomn Tiss ashame snc ling tor esi one ofthe fundamental aspect of harman ie (aod. gee way co get dates), Vath offers sever ick prewriting suggestions for cei bare fs etree in elton to comic characters and sonic. “To crewe comic carats, Vorhaus sugges. hae che write neds to deerme Fe hing = araeter> comie perpestive, a cbaraca’s favs, be exaggeried outcome of hose laws, and a cic. sezers “baranity” 42) Fer eample, ve might frente « progonist wich che followin outline: Chace John Cando Comic espetive: wats lage the wold Flaws: of, ach of a il ‘Bxaggercion wildly impaliv mines many sl uoningrom this bref descripcion, we can aciipate ‘how suh a character might respond wo other chi ase ad wo canis dhe nigh aie. nse ta ents ive seed cn & characte, they can begin Tbainecarming posable comic moments and con- Fecha might cxcur Bras fee Aw “To create conics, Vorhas suggest thinking in terms of thew eypes:elcbal, lel, and inet (22-29; Ghat 4 Nl cc i comic wall (Cherian the Caan Fa, Bach the Fate) 1+ Comic cbc in cma wd (Each om Baler ay Of) 1 Gomi chatter chance (Te Pik Pan Gar Smart) + omic chance. emi chance (Dam and Demi FSi Inner Conflict 1+ Chur cd tn come someone ose ‘hing te Paty Priya Ah) enitying end combining confice with the protagonist decrprion will aie eudent in mk fog. an atin ofthe pan the ikelycomie mo- rents the protagonist might encounter slong the ‘vay. creating arbi fortes stories cecher ‘might a the dil learned fom eater comic le Som: the we of thereof eee, the ewisting of = cliché he coining of word, and diseineive comic race A. Goebel 10, Because You'l Know What's Furey When You See it “Thi ase ones for your students to comple: Hove your class ep am ee ou or wha’ Fan. Ask stu= Senes to bring sn easrcom-appropriate examples ‘of chings they Bd Fanny an give them the oppor tnicy to hace them along with their aalyis of tehat makes i army Give humor a space i your dassteon, ad i jnt might lead heener sen interest in the fa langage works, Pd perhaps a Be of omic leFalong che way. vtec Se ne te ek tate dn Ya beer 1 a ce oat Ss ect one Seater seins ae rao coral es ie, leanceteteract oe wii a ith es ios arte Enea nt ee en sei cmt cnn son pt cu a al aetna (crs gen iE ay Pe agen ‘tomas mie hol ngage as ech andthe author of Ree Mie Ame Urata A Tscrs Gui Bruce Goebel now ts fo be any th Ergiks dpariner at estar Washngan Unvented Nin at free cores 0 READWRITETHINK CONNECTION oye Beat RYT Geb pms ut at any sro ie Decne ecg sous ae 0 ght sing rd ‘he accom inet gos slong wine eas for wf ea parody the wing caso at a Some Interest and haror to engin ResantetPn prover another appr fo suds to wor wit [Srgere in tteray Pardes apogee tye ugh fan” scents explore the language Beer enine oaeieateecseas epee | Ait rnwa eauntttinkorlesun enon ew ape 839