Writing
to Amuse Others
Unlike
writing to record memory and discover
oneself, writing to amuse others holds
certain different dimensions. Writing
to amuse others is different from these
writing in the sense that these writing
focus on writing himself/ herself. Whereas
in writing to amuse others we give more
emphasis on the part of audience. We
focus on readers rather than ourselves.
Subject
matter of writing to amuse others
Before getting
started a writer should have the material
or the subject matter to deal with.
The subject matter of writing to amuse
must be that of humorous. But when we
say this, there is still another problem
and the problem is different people
laugh at different things. Circumstances
also determine whether or not something
seems amusing. It is because what seems
funny in the morning could be annoying
in the afternoon. Another problem is
that much humor is topical, related
to a specific cultural context. So an
essay considered being humorous for
one culture may not be so far another.
However, people
mostly find pleasure in imitation that
was the idea of Aristotle too. So while
writing an amusing essay, we can imitate
something imperfection or the weaknesses
that the human beings live with. So
we can examine the essays under writing
to Amuse others in terms of imitation.
Thinking about the Audience
The essay on
writing to amuse turns to be effective
and successful only when it produces
pleasure on the part of audience. So
a writer always needs to take audience
in mind. If the writer fails to produce
pleasure, it is mostly because focusing
up on himself or herself rather than
his or her audience.
Form the above- mentioned principle
we can desire one idea in relation to
audience i.e. the writer must produce
humor to audience in writing is to make
readers enjoy themselves. However it
does not mean that the writer should
ridicule others rather he or she should
laugh with rather than laugh at. Therefore
the writer should help the readers to
laugh about the failure of the people
not at the people.
The
writer’s Position (The Writers
Persona)
The social,
literary, psychological or cultural
mask or personality that a writer constructs
for himself or herself is the persona.
One way to create a persona in this
kind of writing is to make the self
of the writer seem like an average.
Generally writing to amuse consists
of a persona having ugliness or defeat
in himself or herself but that defect
should not be painful or destructive.
By exploiting laughter in audience Aristotle
also had an opinion that a comedy is
an imitation of persona’s inferior
nature. So like a character in a comedy,
comic writers often have some flaws
that we ourselves may have. But they
do not suffer by the flaws. The result
of the flaws produces laugher. We may
smile at the way writers present themselves.
The assumption behind much comic writing
is that if we can make people laugh.
They will change their behaviors to
make correct.
Thinking
about Purpose
The purpose
of writing under writing to amuse others
is to create pleasure on the surface
but beneath it there lies the role of
social corrective ness. So the humor
in such writing works in two levels.
i) Rebellion
ii) Reconciliation
The rebellion is against rigid and artificial
authority, rules or behavior.
The reconciliation is aimed at restoring
a natural sense of community.
Patterns
Comic writers
exploit the idea of a repeated pattern
much more directly to make the essay
funny. Once we notice the repetition,
it becomes predictable and we laugh
when our expectations are fulfilled.
Students may laugh after noticing that
at least twice in every class so a writer
must create some kind of repetition
to produce humor cartoons often depend
heavily up on the principle of predictable
repetition.
Writing
Tips (Some Guidelines to Get Started)
While writing
an amusing essay of our own, we have
to undergo certain tips. Although there
is no hard and fast rule that is guaranteed
to succeed. However that following guidelines
may help us to get started.
i) Choosing Of Topic: - One
can choose a topic or subject matter
by identifying a flaw in the behavior
of people. But the flaw should be easy
to observe.
ii) The use of an Appropriate
Voice: - The writer should
address the readers as members of a
community who share the same values
and suffer from the same problem. The
writer must not sound superior to the
readers.
iii) Experimentation with Wordplay:
- One of the great sources
of humor is the pleasure people derive
from unexpected combinations of words.
The writer can surprise readers with
a pun or a playful variation of a cliché.
One can also invent words that are delightful
simply because of the way they sound.
iv) Repetition: - Deliberate
repetition is useful in writing to amuse.
The repetition may take the form of
someone’s always saying the same
thing or always reacting in a predictable
way.
v) Testing our choice: -
After the completion, the writer can
measure his or her success by reading
the writing aloud to friends. If the
friends laugh then he or she should
understand that the writing is well.
The writer also should ask about the
tone of the writing and the appropriate
suggestion must be taken in to consideration.
A good humored paper should be suitable
for many audiences.
The
difference between writing to amuse
and satire
Both the writing
to amuse and satire deal with a subject
matter of human flaw. But the person
of a satire makes the other people laugh
at the things not laugh with the things.
The satirist usually direct attentions
to the flaws of other people with the
purpose of making people laugh at those
flaws. The result can be very funny,
but it can also be cruel.
In satire the persona stands as a superior
to the audience through a basic bond
between writer and audience exists in
it. Writing to amuse others takes friendly
forms and the persona does not laugh
at the audience rather he or she aims
to laugh with them. |