Overview

This project will focus on the connections between humor, work, and health. You will be asked to consider your personal experiences and opinions on humor and its impact on everyday life. Then you will be asked to read and annotate texts about humor. Next, you will review instructions for an argument essay. Finally, you will complete activities that will help you plan, draft, and revise an argument about humor.

Consider Your Background Knowledge

To get started on the project, watch (at least) two of the following videos that demonstrate different types of humor:

Then, consider the following questions:

1. Did you think the videos you watched were funny? Why or why not?
2. What makes you laugh? Describe your sense of humor. Give examples of what really pulls out your laughter. (Go ahead and tell some jokes — but keep it clean. You can also include YouTube links to videos you find funny, but make sure the videos won’t offend your classmates.)
3. Next, does everyone laugh at the same thing? Why or why not?
4. How do you think humor can help people? On the other hand, how can humor cause problems?

Build on Your Background Knowledge

Next, complete the following:

• Read about Persuasive Writing
• Read about Introductions and Conclusions
• Read about Avoiding Plagiarism

Licenses and Attributions

• New content developed by Pamela Herrington-Moriarty, Alex Piland, and Alice Trabaudo, license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Video Content (linked)

• “Extremely Funny Video,” License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license.
• “Fire Drill — The Office,” License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license.
• “Nikki Glaser Stand-up,” License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license.