Cites examples of surprise combinations of words that give sudden pleasure to a listener or reader.

Humorously discusses the recent practice of rewriting plays so that the leading roles can be played by members of either sex and considers what might happen if poets and novelists follow suit. (EL)

One college faculty member's collection of unprepared students' amusing answers to test questions on French civilization includes errors of information, spelling, and grammar, and student humor. (MSE)

Creating humorous characters is one way to infuse a language arts program with creativity. (Editor)

This syllabus describes a three-credit course entitled "American Humor," offered at the University of New Haven (Connecticut). According to the syllabus, "American Humor" will identify traits of American humor as historical phenomena with relations to national character, business attitudes, regionalism, folk humor, and health;…

Funds supporting the research for this paper was made available by a National Science Foundation Science Development Grant. (VM)

Level of cognitive development was not significantly related to humor appreciation for either novelty or incongruity humor in 30 boys at each of three age levels: 5, 7, and 9. (WY)

Describes and presents examples of work from the Western Michigan school of bad versemakers, a group of nineteenth century poets who strove to give their frontier experiences high seriousness, but achieved, at best, unintentional humor. (MM)

Presents a tongue-in-cheek system for classifying educational administrators into four categories (Artful Dodger, Commander in Chief, Leader of the Pack, and Facilitating Master) according to leadership style and administrator characteristics. A brief sampler survey is included. (JAC)

Of three educational programs, two were manipulated to contain: (1) no humor; or (2) humor in a slow pace, an intermediate pace, or a fast pace. It was found that the presence of humor greatly facilitates selective exposure to an educational television program. (Author/GK)

Presents a short description with examples of the use of cartoons as a motivational and instructional technique for vocabulary study. (AEA)

Provides examples of word play that reading teachers can use to reinforce a variety of skills. (FL)

Indicates some of the pitfalls of using humor in the high school English classroom. Notes the need for striking a balance between serious and humorous classroom discussion. (RL)