Benign violation v4 PDF

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Syllabus du cours d'anglais (Q2 - Partie 1) annoté...

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Benign Violation

Introduction What makes you laugh? My dad’s jokes, my brother, my boyfriend, memes, comedies What are, according to you, the main causes of laughter?

What is benign violation? The benign-violation hypothesis is one of the few models of humor to specify necessary and sufficient conditions for laughter or amusement. Proponents of the hypothesis suggest that people find stimuli funny only when they perceive them as violating a specific norm but in a harmless way. What are the commonest themes in jokes, cartoons, funny stories, comedies and so on? Cartoons → accidents, injuries, falls What is a “meme”? An element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.; An image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations.

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Listening comprehension Fry's English Delight – Puns You can use this link https://youtu.be/-Gab2hR64YA Fill in the gaps. Now then Fry, set the tone: restraint1. Always restraint. There’s going to be no dreadful wordplay in my opening, as it were. I should start as I mean to go on. This is proper. This is British Radio Four, the only station that has a program especially for angry people with bladder problems, crossing /continents. Ha, I couldn’t hold it in, I’m so sorry. But puns as are as British, English perhaps, as a punnet of strawberries at Wimbledon, a punt on the Cam, corporal pun— No, no, we will not be seduced by the cheap and the tawdry2 – not yet anyway. This program attempts to understand why our language and culture groans3 with the weight of puniness. Newspaper headlines, radio and TV programs, shops and businesses, commercial products … Answer the following questions, using sentences and in correct English. Define what a pun is. A play on words; Figure of speech consisting of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, often with humorous intend → homographic (exploit the difference in meaning of words which look alike and usually sound alike) and homophonic puns (exploit the difference in meaning of words which sound alike but are spelled differently). Homonyms are two words that are spelled the same and sound the same but have different meanings. Why is it typically English? Used a lot in the English language Did Fry insult Prof. Richard Wiseman? Explain why (not). Depends on how it is interpreted. Where does the word pun come from? (it’s a *trap*) No one really knows. Give an example of a pun. What must you know to be an auctioneer? Lots. What do you call a knight who is afraid to fight? Sir Render. Exercises 1. Which of the following tend to make you laugh? Which would you never choose to read/watch? 1

Unemotional, dispassionate, or moderate behaviour; self-control Showy but cheap and of poor quality 3 Make a deep inarticulate sound conveying pain, despair, pleasure, etc. 2

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• • • • • • •

A comic book or your favourite cartoon → yes A witty1 column in your favourite newspaper or magazine → yes Old-fashioned slapstick comedians (like Laurel and Hardy) → yes Modern stand-up comedians → yes Comedy films → yes A classic comedy play (e.g. Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde) → I don’t know, I’ve never watched one Articles or sketches sending up some serious contemporary issue or politician → yes

2. The following texts are intended to make people laugh, but the punchlines are missing. Match the punchlines in the box to the texts. 1. “You lose,” replied the great man grimly and relapsed into his customary silence for the rest of the meal. 2. “You're not eating properly.” 3. … marry himself.” 4. … between the land and the sky. 5. No-eye deer. 6. And found that his dream had come true. 7. … off the edge of a cliff. 8. you wouldn't have in your home. a. [said by Frank Sinatra about actor Robert Redford] “Well, at least he has found his true love, what a pity he can't (3) marry himself.” ➔ Putdown b. Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people (8) you wouldn’t have in your home.” ➔ Epigram c. [US President Calvin Coolidge was known as a man of few words. One day, he found himself sitting next to a young lady at a public dinner. Bringing all her charm to bear, the young lady said:] “Mr. President, I have made a bet with my friends that I can make you say at least three words to me during dinner.” (1) “You lose,” replied the great man grimly and relapsed into his customary silence for the rest of the meal. ➔ Anecdote d. − What's the definition of mixed emotions? − Seeing your mother-in-law driving your new car (7) off the edge of a cliff. ➔ Non-p.c. joke e. A man went to the doctor's with a cucumber in his left ear, a carrot in his right ear, and a banana up his 1

Marked by or full of clever humour or wit (= a natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour.)

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nose. “What's wrong with me?” he asked the doctor. “It's simple,” said the doctor. (2) “You're not eating properly.” ➔ Corny joke f.

There once was a man from Peru Who dreamed he was eating his shoe He awoke with a fright In the middle of the night (6) And found that his dream had come true. ➔ Limerick

g.

“What do you call a deer with no eyes?” “(5) No-eye deer” ➔ Pun

h. Mrs Richards:

And another thing – I asked for a room with a view.

Basil:

(to himself) Deaf, mad and blind. (goes to the window) This is the view as far as I can remember, madam. Yes, this is it.

Mrs Richards:

When I pay for a view, I expect something more interesting than that.

Basil:

That is Torquay, madam.

Mrs Richards:

Well, that's not enough.

Basil:

Well... may I ask what you were hoping to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps?

Mrs Richards:

Don't be silly. I expect to be able to see the sea.

Basil: You can see the sea. It's over there (4) between the land and the sky. ➔ Scene from a sitcom 3. The following words and phrases describe the different text types. Match the descriptions to the texts. An anecdote A corny joke A non-p.c. joke

A put-down A limerick An epigram

A pun A scene from a sitcom

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4. Complete the gaps laugh, cry or tears. a) a shoulder to cry on b) to be in floods of tears c) to have the last laugh d) to cry your eyes out e) to be bored to tears f) it's no laughing matter g) to burst out laughing/crying h) to burst into tears i) to laugh your head off j) to be close to tears 5. Replace the phrase in bold with one of the idioms with laugh, cry and tears. 1) I'm not sure you realize just how serious the parking situation is around here. It's a very serious problem. → It's no laughing matter. 2) I don't know what the matter was, but when I went past her room, she was crying a lot. Poor Linda! → She was crying her eyes out. 3) Despite that bad reviews from the critics, the show was a great success, so Pinter was proved right in the end. → He had the last laugh. 4) When I asked Bill where Tara was, he began crying suddenly. → He burst into tears. 5) Jenny was upset when her father died, and Tom was very sympathetic. I think he gave her support when she was depressed. → He gave her a shoulder to cry on. 6) I really enjoyed taking my nephew to the cinema. He laughed and laughed and laughed at all the jokes. → He laughed his head off. 7) We tried to stay serious, but when we saw Ella wearing that ridiculous hat, we couldn't help it: we looked at each other and suddenly started laughing. → We burst out laughing. 8) The way John read the elegy was very moving – many people listening were nearly crying. → They were close to tears. 9) It's such a sad story – I cried and cried at the end. → I was in flood of tears. 10) I wish our teachers had made more effort at school to make maths lessons more interesting. I was always completely bored. → I was bored to tears. Short Reading Why do we laugh? It might be difficult to explain laughter to a visitor from another planet. To start with, if we look at it objectively there's something rather particular about the activity itself – the repetitive noise, and the strange expressions that go with it. On top of that, there is something paradoxical about the causes of laughter – because if we catalogue the things that we laugh at, they don't seem to be all “funny”. What are the commonest themes in jokes, cartoons, funny stories, comedies, and so on? Death, violence, accidents and misfortunes? Madness, stupidity, mistakes, misunderstandings. Getting drunk. Love and sex. Unhappy marriages. Anger and aggression. Oppressive authorities: presidents, kings, queens, politicians, policemen, teachers, priests. Religion. The “unmentionable” bodily functions – going to the 5

lavatory. Surprises and shocks. Human imperfection; the failure of ambition. Unexpected and incongruous1 events. In an old silent comedy film – with Chaplin and Keaton, say – or in a modern cartoon about cats and mice, the things that make us laugh would mostly be unpleasant or even tragic if they happened in real life. Perhaps this is the point. Humour, like art and literature, often seems to have the function of helping us to cope with our lives. Since the beginning of history, man has been trying to control his environment, to make it tamer and less threatening. Things we can't control – like death, strong emotions, natural disasters – frighten us. Loss of control over ourselves is disturbing, so madness, drunkenness, even stupid mistakes make us feel insecure. Jokes are a way of dealing with the things that frighten us: by putting them in stories or pictures and laughing at them, we are able in a sense to dominate them. Perhaps this is why so much humour depends on the unexpected. Our main way of controlling the world is with our intellect – by explaining, analysing, putting into categories, and predicting. When – as in our dreams - categories break down, things are not what or where we expect, we can get very disturbed or frightened. If laughter is related to fear, it’s not surprising that so many jokes involve incongruity of some sort, or that almost all “funny stories” depend for their effect on an unexpected ending – the “punchline”. 6. Find the words in the text that correspond to the following definitions: 1. not fierce or wild; trained to live with people: tame 2. strange or unusual, esp. in a troubling or displeasing way: disturbing 3. the main idea contained is sth said or done, which gives meaning to all of it as in “that's the ____” or “besides the ____”: the point 4. to deal with successfully: to cope 5. (esp. of machinery) to stop working, to fail: to break down 6. the last few lines of a joke or story, that give meaning to the whole and cause amusement or surprise: the punchline 7. Match each word in column A with its partner in column B to form common collocations connected with humour.

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Dry

Joke

Practical

Line

Punch

Stock

Double

Entendre

Laughing

Stick

Slap

Humour

Double

Comedy

To laugh

Act

Black

Laughing

To burst out

Your head off

Inappropriate

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Closing thought Why did the chicken cross the road? Plato: For the greater good. Aristotle: To fulfil its nature on the other side. Karl Marx: It was a historical inevitability. Timothy Leary: Because that's the only kind of trip the Establishment would let it take. Douglas Adams: Forty-two. Nietzsche: Because if you gaze too long across the Road, the Road gazes also across you. Carl Jung: The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical juncture, and therefore synchronicitously brought such occurrences into being. Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference. Aristotle: To actualize its potential. Buddha: If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken-nature. Darwin: It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees. Werner Heisenberg: We are not sure which side of the road the chicken was on, but it was moving very fast. Mark Twain: The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated. Hamlet: That is not the question. CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road. Dr Seuss: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told. Freud: An die andere Seite zu kommen. (Much laughter)

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