“We continue to see evidence of an alarming decline in the quality of our nation's criminals.” This was stated in the article “Not Exactly Razor Sharp” by Dave Barry. In the article “Not Exactly Razor Sharp” the author creates humor for effect and uses it to communicate a universal truth. I will be expanding on that topic and the effects of the article. I will be explaining the level of comedy, and the elements of humor the author uses to send a message. The universal truth of “Not Exactly Razor Sharp” is criminals are unintelligent and foolish. The level of comedy in the article “Not Exactly Razor Sharp” is low-level comedy. Low-level comedy is a type of comedy that everybody can understand. For example in the article paragraph 2, the author states “ The problem was the particular disguise he picked, shaving cream.” The author was talking about a man who tried to rob a minimart and the disguise he picked was shaving cream. When robbing a store, shaving is not the best disguise. There are so many other options and the robber decides to lather shaving cream all over his face. In this example, the author was able to send a humorous and laughable joke that was …show more content…
The author uses many low-level comedy laughable jokes intended to make the audience convulsed with laughter. For example in paragraph 4 “Story does not say whether he tried to make himself invisible by putting his hands over his face.” The author makes connections to the shaving disguise bandit and his stupidity to make a joke about his disguise and foolishness. Another example is in paragraph 3 “What can he do to prevent the citizens from realizing that he is Superman? He can announce I'm wearing contact lenses.” The author uses the advantage of the unintelligent people in Metropolis by saying if Superman ever loses the glasses that disguise him, the citizens are so stupid he can just put on contact glasses so the citizens don't notice he's
“What a disgrace!” he states before labelling those who exhibit unnecessary violent behaviour “sub-human scumbags who deserve to rot” further demonstrating his disgust towards the matter by using emotive and colourful language. These phrases gain reader attention, drawing their focus even deeper into the current topic. Continuing with the informal language, Sawyer claims in simple terms “I don't think it’s Australian”. The casual tone causes readers to feel as though they are in a conversation with the writer rather than reader an article, making them more inclined to be in agreement.
This displays when a canuck attempts to describe themselves; this usually turning into making fun and cases of irony. This presents excellently in Hutcheon's Essay when she states, “Three life sized horses’ rumps that protrude from a wall are clearly a broad visual pun on the idea of a horse’s ass with the threat of a kick never far away. Such are the Great Canadians” (Hutcheon 335-336). This is a perfect example of irony because of the way the author is trying to compare something great or extraordinary with a sculpture of a large animal bottom. Sometimes the situations are not always humorous; in King’s piece he states, “The Activist alone in jail” (King line 31).
Some people might think he is an expert of criminology because of the way he wrote the article. For this reason, it was easier for me to take his opinion more seriously. He understands the need to express himself in a manner that is easy to read and understand. By writing in this way, he can easily persuade someone to his point of view. Jacoby’s description of prison life was a very persuasive emotional appeal.
Police brutality remains one of the most controversial, as well as the most serious human rights’ violations in the United States. By comparing and evaluating persuasive aspects that appeal to the ethos, pathos, and logos of the audience, Stranger Fruit successfully persuades the audience that police violence is a serious national problem in America. In the past year public has heard, read, and witnessed unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, all of which have contributed to the ongoing issue of police brutality in America. Particularly in underprivileged minority communities, police authority has greatly increased during the past 40 years. During the past 40 years, police authority has significantly risen, particularly in underserved minority neighborhoods.
Thirty of these everyday incidents are homicides (Cite). Americans are starting to ask when enough is enough. Although the majority of U.S. citizens are pro gun control, all it takes is a small group of senators to hinder the passing of gun control laws. At first no one questioned anything, but over time more people began to speak up. Through the use of pathos, mockery, sarcasm, situational irony, overstatement, and verbal irony, satirists have begun to criticize
This caused him frustration and his frustration caused him to lash out at Janie. One day a customer named Steve Mixon came in for some tobacco which Janie cut wrong. Mixon began to joke with Janie when he said, “‘Looka heah, Brother Mayor, whut yo’ wife done took and done.’ It was cut comical, so everybody laughed at it. ‘Uh woman and uh knife—no kind of uh knife, don’t b’long tuhgether.’
Comedy has become a part of a vast majority of television shows, especially satirical comedy, rising to the top with shows such as: The Daily Show, Chappelle’s Show and Saturday Night Live to name a few. These satirical comedies have had a vast and continuing impact on the discourse in today’s society. By examining “Black White Supremacy,” by Dave Chappelle and “Conservative Libertarian,” by Jon Steward, through their use of satire, we can see that skits such as these have a lasting impact on society by creating discourse on the objects being mocked. “A Black White Supremacist,” by Dave Chappelle highlights the absurdity of racism by parodying members of white supremacy groups such as the KKK. Whereas, Chappelle is addressing a social justice
Rhetorical Analysis Mortimer B. Zuckerman argues that we need to change the way our criminal justice system operates. He explains that there are more prisoners in a cell than the amount it was originally created for. Zuckerman also acknowledges the fact that incarceration rates are extremely high and that the vast majority of prisoners are nonviolent. The author believes that the way nonviolent criminals are dealt with today brings about negative consequences that could easily be avoided (Zuckerman). Zuckerman successfully convinces the reader that reform is needed in the criminal justice system by using several tactics such as eradicating common myths about incarceration, talking about the problem and solution while using logos, and appealing
However, in order to craft his suggested solution in this excerpt, he discreetly and tactfully places phrases of emotional appeal in conjunction with statements of fact in order to reel his audience into the clear-cut reality of the issue he is discussing. Brooks begins his article with “The pattern by now is numbingly familiar" (Brooks, 1). “Pattern” is in reference to the pattern of mass shootings, and the events that preceded and followed them in the United States over the past few decades. The word "numbingly" implies that this is a pattern that we have become desensitized to. This appeals to pathos because it deals with our [the government's] lack of proactive sympathy towards a sensitive issue which is now reflected through our submissive behavior that has allowed these acts to continue- in simpler terms, we’ve done nothing.
Over the past last two decades the support of the death penalty has been declining dramatically in America. In the op-ed article “Most Americans Support the death penalty” published in the Washington Post News on the 17th of April, reporter Mark Berman composes an overview on the feelings most Americans have towards the death penalty. This was accomplished through the division of various sizeable groups between gender, race, and political views. On this specific subject the reporter of this article, Mark Berman, demands that “there is still some risk that an innocent person will be put to death” (Berman, p. 1). Throughout Berman’s op-ed article he portrays his demand through two out of the three appeals, pathos, logos as well as the feedback
The U.S.’ prison population has increased by 500% from 1972 to 2003, accounting for a rise of 200,000 incarcerated persons to over 2,000,000, which is significantly higher than other developed countries. Growth in this population according to Mauer seems to be fueled by periods of rising crime rates, which the media loves to distort and blow out of proportion in order to instill fear in its citizens. Rather than addressing more important issues such as the underlying causes of crime, the media plays on its viewers’ fear by focusing on news such as gang violence, shootings, and drug activity. This reflects one of Mauer’s themes, the ‘dumbing-down of America’, where due to the controlling educational system, obedient media, and oppression; Americans
This enables the reader to feel more engaged in the work, trying to understand and answer the questions Joker is asking. The significance of this passage is that Joker is staring at himself in the hollowed mirror but appears as if he is staring right at the reader. By asking the why although the world is “a black, awful joke, … but you can’t see the funny side”. The joke he refers to here has a negative connotation, possibly indicating the actual killing of people, hence the title of the book The Killing Joke. As Joker is asking himself the questions through the mirror, he notices the defense of absurd
In the article “Even Prisoners Must Have Hope”, Richard Stratton (the author) talks about his thoughts on the federal prison system in America. Stratton himself had served 8 years in jail for smuggling marijuana. He strongly advises not to make the prisons even worse than they already are. The harsh conditions and other peoples’ vengeful attitudes toward criminals only make the violence and crime continue. According to Stratton, instead of improving the harsh conditions and trying to rehabilitate and help prisoners that could lead to peace, our society inflicts more pain and punishment, enforcing a violent cycle.
Dave Barry In society today, people are becoming more and more easily offended. A simple joke is often times blown way out of proportion instead of being laughed off and taken as just that. Dave Barry, a comedic essayist, understands that idea, which is why he uses self-deprecating humor to distract the readers from the fact that he is making fun of them. Along with the use of sarcasm and hyperboles, this form of humor is, at times, relatable and allows him to get certain points across without offending his readers.
The uncalled for joke may trigger feelings of anxiousness and nervousness. Simultaneously, stand up comedy takes dark subjects and makes light of them. “In 2014, Louis CK remarked on NPR that comedy is intended to ‘go to a scary place and laugh’, to defuse and demystify that fear. It is part of the darkness, uncertainty, and ineffability of this ‘scariness]’ that allows comics to connect with a deeper, human truth” (Henry). By doing this, it makes the subject manageable.