Got the Giggles?
Everyday Use:
Imagine a group of men trapped deep in a mine with little to sustain their lives for a handful of days. While they support each other, 14 days pass before their families and countrymen even know they are alive. On August 5, 2010, 33 Chilean miners were victims of a coal mine collapse and were trapped 2,300 feet below the earth’s surface. With little hope and initially thought to be dead, these coal miners survived in the ground for 70 days before being rescued. In relating their means of survival, several miners cited the humor and laughter amongst the group. One miner credited the combination of faith and “pranks” for staying alive. “Yes playing jokes on each other was on of the ways we fought off fear and despair.” Though few if any of us will face such a long and frightening experience, all of us will go through tough times and will need a survival kit of our own. These miners used laughter as a way to survive their dire situation; many of them may look back and chuckle at their experience as means to continue to help them cope with what they went through half mile underground. So perhaps there is truth to the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Causes:
Be it a joke, a comedy, or relating to a humorous event, what makes us laugh is usually not as funny the second time. This fact is important in understanding why we laugh. We find humor in the unexpected. German philosopher Immanuel Kant theorized that laughter is the “non-matching” of what is expected. When we listen to a joke, our brains are trying to predict the conclusion of the story. However, when we are told a different outcome, our brain is flooded with emotions and we find it funny. This humor may cause us to laugh.
Medical/Chemical Reactions:
Medical experts note the many direct health benefits of laughter. Jokingly, many of us say we would rather have a good laugh than do those painful sit-ups and crunches. Ironically, this is not a joke. Laughing is an excellent abdominal exercise. A good laugh works out the diaphragm, contracts the abdominal muscles, and even exercises the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward. The heart also benefits from a good chuckle. When we are under stress our bodies produce high levels of cortisol, epinephrine, and dopamine hormones. These “stress hormones” suppress the immune system, increase the number of blood platelets (which can cause obstructions in arteries) and raise blood pressure. The positive, health-enhancing hormones such as endorphins that are released with laughter work to dilate arteries and thus reduce blood pressure.
Effectively, lower blood pressure increases the natural killer cells that destroy tumors and viruses. Similarly the laughter will increase Gamma-interferon (a disease-fighting protein), T-cells, which play a major role in the immune response, and B-cells, which make disease-destroying antibodies.
Social Benefits:
Humans love to laugh socially, but few understand the psychological benefits of laughter. Is it coincidence that late night television is crammed with our favorite sitcoms? - Not exactly. - In competing for our viewership, television stations take careful aim at a common need in the evening and late night hours. Our stress builds over a day at work, at school, or even managing a family, and laughter is a natural antidote. Laughter provides an escape from our daily worries and fears. It releases endorphins – natural hormones that lead us to feel euphoric, even for a moment. Within a group, laughter can provide a sense of belonging, security, and even hope. The story of the trapped men – a worst-case scenario - serves as great example of this benefit of laughter. Synopsis:
Worldwide, the different languages and dialects are innumerable, but the language of laughter is universal. Everyone enjoys the gift of laughing, and it is a gift we can share with each other. Laughter can bond us and give us a sense of belonging, security, and even a release from stress. More than that, laughter is an absolutely healthy activity. It is a proven blood pressure reducer, and even an effective abdominal exercise. Laughing is a proven tool for one’s personal survival guide. You may not be a miner stuck underground, or have high blood pressure, but either way it doesn’t hurt to laugh once in a while. When it comes to your health and wellbeing, laughter is no joke. Go ahead and have a good chuckle.
Considering the importance of audience and our potential to impact them, why did you choose to incorporate the example of the Chilean miners in with the topic of laughter? At first when I started reading this article I was confused about how a grim experience of the trapped Chilean miners could be tied into the subject of laughter. I think that the use of the Chilean miners is a good example later on in the text to show how laughter overcame the despair that the miners felt, but I am not too sure if starting off with this story could be that strong for your audience. Maybe starting off with a story that leads into a joke could be a good opener to explaining about laughter and why we humans laugh. But if you do choose to stay with the Chilean miners’ story, you could go into the specifics about what kind of “pranks” happened when they were trapped.
ReplyDeleteOverall I think this would be a good article to understand about laughter in general. But I think you could have done more research or more personal knowledge about the kinds of shows that are considered to be funny. Maybe you could make another section for sitcoms and list some examples of shows that are funny and maybe explain why they could be funny. The picture of the office is a good example of a funny TV show, but maybe some people in the audience wouldn’t know the background of the show and couldn’t make the connection of that picture with laughter.
The whole article is a good place to start in understanding laughter, but I think you could add some examples of jokes and have more specific details about funny sitcoms.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lacvien's input in that you should not have opened with the Chilean miners. Since the topic is not seen as happy or laughter inducing, it would have been more appropriate later in the article. If you were to fix this, you would have to begin the entire article with some more scientific and general explanations of laughter. This would set the atmosphere better and make it clear who you are addressing.
ReplyDeleteThe article was otherwise well written, but there are certainly some spots which I do not necessarily like. For example, in the first paragraph when you write "So perhaps there is truth to the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.”". This was effective to keep the reader interested and if provided a fun fact, however it changes the whole audience and the text itself. Our assignment was to create a Wikipedia style article, meaning it involves only factual and unbiased information, and not witty writing to keep the reader reading. I would not expect to find something written like that quote in a Wikipedia article. I would definitely expect something of that sort in a newspaper article. In order to stay close to the assignment guidelines I would try to stay more factual and provide less creative input in this article.
Other than that I enjoyed reading your piece and it was quite informative about laughter.
Grant,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well written piece. When considering your audience and that most expository writing is publically accessible, do you think it was effective to open up with a story about such a traumatizing event? Did you consider how one of the trapped miners, or one of their relatives, might react to reading a story that seemed to distract from the physiological and physical trauma they endured? Could this be revised in a way to acknowledge more so how terrifying it must have been to be trapped underground for so long? I do think it was effective how you tied this introduction to the rest of the piece. With that being said, did you consider a personal experience in which you used laughter as a coping mechanism to deflect the reality of a dire circumstance? If so, considering that, were you able to relate to the implications you made about how the miners reflected upon their experience in a humorous way?
Additionally, you are clearly acknowledging the physiological and psychological effects of laughter. Do you feel as if your title is effective in greeting your reader with a clear and concise introduction to your piece? In what way does your title provide you with the flexibility to structure your piece in a way that makes sense to the reader? Would you consider revising your title? IF so, what could work better, while considering your audience?
Well done Grant.
From: Rebecca Slotta
Hello, Grant.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the comments above. What do you think would be a more relevant and cohesive piece of visual rhetoric (photo) to go with how you commence your text?
D. Kopp