Topic Proposal #3

For this essay I will be doing a news article for The Onion. My article will be down-playing the issue of global warming and all the attention it has been getting in recent news. The essay will cover how I don't think it is important and how it does not seem to be happening as quickly as scientists suggest. I will be talking against articles that explain the importance of paying attention to global warming.

SWA # 5

1. Say by John Mayer

Take all of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems
Better put them in quotations

Say what you need to say (8x)

Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you’d be better off instead
If you could only

Say what you need to say (8x)

Have no fear for giving in
Have no fear for giving over
You better know that in the end
It’s better to say too much
Than never to say what you need to say again

Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open

Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218&feature=related

Topic Proposal for Essay #2

Issue: What negative affects have blood doping and the use of EPO had on the sport of professional cycling?

Terms of Issue: The issue is concerned only with blood doping and not the issue of anabolic steroids or HGH. The issue is however concerned with EPO or Erythropoietin, which is a protein hormone normally produced by the kidney that stimulates the production of red blood cells. Also by “professional cycling” I mean those athletes who are sponsored by teams and compete in professional races.

Sources:

1. “The Circus Formerly Known as Cycling” Author: Austin Murphy. Sports Illustrated. Academic Search Premier.

The article, written in May of 2007, goes into details of the current state of the sport of cycling. The article discusses former riders who had been caught cheating and goes into the troubles that they have faced. The article talks about how the personal lives of the athletes were splashed across the media amidst the blood doping scandal.

2. “Cycling Team Loses Another Sponsor” Author: Sal Ruibal. USA Today. Academic Search Premier.

The article explains the financial problems that have come as an aftershock to the numerous blood doping scandals that have recently rocked the world of professional cycling. Team that had been sponsored for 16 years were forced to drop because they had their sponsorship pulled.

3. “Zipp Speed Weaponry tied to tainted sport: recent blood doping allegations in cycling could spill onto Speedway accessories manufacturer.” Author: Anthony Schoettle. Indianapolis Business Journal. Health & Wellness Resource.

This article explains how a manufacturing company, of bike parts, is in danger of being pulled into the blood doping scandal. The products of the company seem tainted since the spokesman for the company was implicated into the abuse scandal. The article brings up the issue of tainting the image of the company by sponsoring riders to get their product seen, but at what cost, since some of their riders have been implicated in the scandal.

4. “Tour of California Ramps Up Testing” Author: Sal Ruibal. USA Today. Academic Search Premier.

The article talks about the recent crack down in Tours other than the Tour de France. The Tour of California is happening in the next coming months and the article talks about the stricter testing for doping that will take place.

5. “Anti-doping Agency Seeks a Better EPO Test” Author: Elizabeth Rosenthal. New York Times.

The newspaper article discusses how the test being used for EPO has been deemed faulty, and do not always work properly. It now has to fund projects to create a new test and must work quickly.

essay topics:

1. blood doping in Cycling
2. artificial reefs
3. should we dump iron in the ocean

Topic Proposal #1

Topic Proposal
Light-Bulb Jokes: Charting an Era

For the first essay I have chosen to write about the article from Laughing Matters titled Light-Bulb Jokes: Charting an Era, written by Daniel Harris. In this essay the author sets out to show the importance of humor in society and how it has adapted over time. The author forms his argument around the ever popular Light-Bulb joke. By opening his argument with a timeline of these jokes and giving more examples throughout the work, the author shows that no social class, culture, or technology is ever free from ridicule. The essay also argues that through slight manipulation of the joke the insulted can easily become the insulter. The essay also shows how jokes and humor change from generation to generation, and the content often relies on what is occurring in that era.

The questions I plan to use in order to formulate my essay are as follows:

1. What is the purpose of the argument? What does it hope to achieve?
2. Who is the audience for this argument?
3. What shape does the argument take? How is the argument presented or arranged? What media does the argument use?
4. How does the language or style of the argument work to persuade an audience?

SWA #2 January 27, 2009

Out of the three chapters in Comedy Writing Series I found that the concepts discussed in chapter 3 surprised me the most. The concept discussed here was that of the recipe for humor includes six essential ingredients and they are represented by the acronym THREES. THREES stands for target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise. Target represents the audience of the humor and your humor must be suitable for your audience. Hostility is the second ingredient and its presence shows that humor is cruel. The next two ingredients are the antithesis of each other, but they are both needed for good humor. Since “good humor is a paradox.” The next ingredient emotion is important for building tension in your audience and can often be used as a trick. The last key ingredient is surprise, since surprise is one of the primary reasons why people laugh.
The book claims that if any one ingredient is missing that the humor will most likely be ruined. At first I found this concept hard to wrap my mind around, it seemed impossible to have all six of these components present in a simple sketch or joke. However, the more I though about the things that I found funny the more I found that indeed all of them were present, more often then not. In looking at things I found funny, I found that one my favorite comedy skits from Monty Python’s Flying Circus did indeed fit into the THREES model for ingredients of humor. I found that the more I practiced using the model the easier it became to identify each part of humor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piWCBOsJr-w&NR=1

Reading Response #1

Chapter one in Comedy Writing Secrets gave an overview of why humor writing is important. The chapter explains how comedy writing is something that can be taught and is very useful in everyday life. The chapter gives many exercises to help one become a better humor writer and to use ones imagination more. One example of these exercises is to collect cartoon strips and then to analyze who the humor is targeting and why the joke is funny. The chapter also shows how humor can bring fame and fortune to those who have mastered the art. Along with those rewards humor can also allow someone to gain respect from others. One important fundamental that is talked about in chapter one is the MAP acronym. MAP stands for material, audience, and performer. This acronym is important for understanding the dynamics of comedy and humor writing. It shows that no matter what type of humor is being used the audience is always the most important piece of the puzzle. The audience is the ones trying to be persuaded; therefore the humor must always try to match their ideas and interests.

The first reading out of Laughing Matters also discusses what makes good humor writing. The chapter brings up and interesting point on how humor is completely a human element. So that when we find things other than humans to have humor it is because we have noticed human characteristics in that thing. The writing also talks about how the more natural something is the more funny it will be. The second section in Laughing Matters explains how humor often comes from out perception of the world and not by fitting into a model. The other uses his own life experiences to illustrate his point. A suggestion is also made in this writing, similar to Comedy Writing Secrets, to keep a journal of things one finds funny to help improve ones humor writing. The writings in this book were much wordier than those in Comedy Writing Secrets and it was often hard to follow the authors’ train of thought.

I found both of the assigned reading to be extremely insightful. However, I found that the Comedy Writing Secrets book was much easier to follow and held my attention better. I thought the exercises given, as well as the many quotes to be very helpful and fun. The thing that surprised me the most was how much time and effort comedians and humorists put into their work. I always thought that humor was something that came naturally to a person and not that it was something that could be studied and learned. I found the information on the importance of audience to be very true. I fell that both books will help greatly in becoming a better comic writer.

Question: Is comedy and humor strictly a learned ability or is it something that can also be inherited?