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“The Duty of Comedy Is to Amuse Men by Correcting Them": Analyzing the Value and Effectiveness of Using Comedy As an Informational Tool

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“The Duty of Comedy Is to Amuse Men by Correcting Them “The Duty of Comedy is to Amuse Men by Correcting Them": Analyzing the Value and Effectiveness of Using Comedy as an Informational Tool A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Communication, Culture, and Technology By David Jacobs Garr, B.A Washington, DC May 1, 2009 Copyright © 2009 by David Jacobs Garr All Rights Reserved ii “The Duty of Comedy is to Amuse Men by Correcting Them": Analyzing the Value and Effectiveness of Using Comedy as an Informational Tool David Jacobs Garr, B.A. Thesis Advisor: Diana Owen, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Often in today’s culture, individuals seek information from comedy sources. From cable television programs to Internet sources, as well as interpersonal communication, the role and prominence of comedy content as a vehicle for news and information has been steadily growing throughout the past decade. Throughout my research I look into the communication areas of news—specifically political news—and education to determine the effectiveness and value of using comedy to convey information. Employing secondary analysis research, communication theory investigation, research in two elementary school classrooms, an online survey, and interviews with prominent members of communication industries, I look into questions of how and why humor is an effective method for conveying information. Among the research findings are that the power of the joke, as well as the attentive nature of comedy, contribute to the effectiveness of comedy as a vehicle of relevant news and information. This research helps expand our knowledge base of comedy and its role and effectiveness in information distribution. KEYWORDS: Comedy, Humor, Communications, Education, Information Distribution iii Acknowledgements I wanted to take a minute to thank the following individuals for their help throughout the thesis-writing process: Shelley and Michael Garr for teaching me never to do anything less than 100%. Dr. Diana Owen for being a fantastic thesis adviser and putting up with the thousands of questions I asked throughout this process. Dr. Jeanine Turner for being a great graduate adviser and second-reader, as well as being so enthusiastic about my research at times when I doubted myself. The CCT front office staff for allowing me to create a mini office in the lounge area. My friends and family (specifically Annette, Ash, Danielle, Monica, and Rach) for not only helping me with editing this thesis, but helping me get through graduate school, and keeping me in my place when I got too full of myself. Elizabeth Garr, Maria Fernandez, and the front office staff at Westbrook Elementary for helping me conduct in-class research. Erik Rydholm, Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, Fr. Paul McCarren, Sarah Vowell, and Peter Rees for taking the time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions. The Marx Brothers and Will Rogers for teaching me that jokes can be wickedly funny, poignant, biting, self-deprecating, and defensive all at the same time. Cartoons of the 80s and early 90s for getting me through my childhood without too many delusions of real life. The makers of Advil iv Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 The Value in Comedy .................................................................................................................................. 5 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................................................... 9 Humor through a Historical Lens ............................................................................................................ 10 Edutainment ............................................................................................................................................... 12 Humor and Cognitive Processing............................................................................................................. 14 Communication Theories .......................................................................................................................... 19 Humor’s Effect on Literature.................................................................................................................... 25 Humor in Persuasive Arguments.............................................................................................................. 27 Current Study of Humor............................................................................................................................ 28 CHAPTER 3: COMEDY AND POLITICAL NEWS.................................................................................. 29 Humor in the 2008 Presidential Election Coverage ............................................................................... 29 Informational Presence on Humorous Programs ................................................................................... 31 Learning News from Comedy Programs.................................................................................................. 36 Communication Theory Perspectives on Humorous Content Effectiveness and Processing ............... 40 Humor’s Effects on Political Interpretation ............................................................................................ 46 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 48 CHAPTER 4: COMEDY AND ITS ROLE IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS............................... 50 Humor as a Teaching Device in Life’s Early Stages............................................................................... 50 Humor as an Educational Tool from Early Development: The Case of Sesame Street........................ 51 Humor as a Component in Classroom Teaching..................................................................................... 53 Using Cartoons as Educational Devices.................................................................................................. 54 Television as a Medium for Social Learning ........................................................................................... 58 Using Humor to Teach Socially Responsible Messages ......................................................................... 60 Comedy in the Classroom Research......................................................................................................... 61 The Goal..................................................................................................................................................... 62 The Classroom Setting .............................................................................................................................. 63 Lesson Plan ................................................................................................................................................ 64 The Process................................................................................................................................................ 65 Classroom Results ..................................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 5: SURVEY DATA....................................................................................................................... 73 I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................. 73 II. SURVEY....................................................................................................................................................... 74 Observations/Data..................................................................................................................................... 74 Survey Design ............................................................................................................................................ 75 III. METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 80 Sample and Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 80 IV. RESULTS .................................................................................................................................................... 83 Data Transformations ............................................................................................................................... 83 Findings...................................................................................................................................................... 84 V. ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................. 92 v Observations on Survey Limitations....................................................................................................... 100 VI. CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................................................
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