A Synthesis Essay: Analysis Of Noah's On Humor

I love comedy just like everyone else. There’s a famous saying that “Laughter is the best medicine.” Laughter sends chemical to our brain called endorphins, boosting our moods throughout the day. However, many people see comedy as merely funny, but beneath the humor lies a layer of social commentary about humanity. Good comics play an important function in society by holding up a mirror and forcing us to confront realities that we would often prefer to ignore. Stand-up comedians regularly receive criticism for being too offensive and too stereotypical, however, it means that comedians are pushing social boundaries through laughter. In a stand-up comedy series, African American, Trevor Noah, a South African comedian talks about his journey of wanting to be black and arriving in America. He shares racial stereotypes he dealt with during childhood and adulthood. He’s called a cultural chameleon because of his adaptiveness of different cultures by being recognized as Black, Mexican, and German. Noah’s work can be analyzed through breaking down their components by using Critchley’s On Humor: Thinking in Action, and Weston’s A Rulebook for Arguments. In this essay, one of Noah’s episode, “Black American” will be used to dissect Noah’s argument. As a South African, he …show more content…
Noah’s argument suggests that his mother dropping him because it was illegal to be with a mixed-race child when there’s a police officer is like dropping a bag of weed because it was illegal to carry it around in front police officers. A Black woman who’s holding a half White and half Black child is illegal under Apartheid, which was a policy of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. Same as weed being illegal as a cannabis. Noah was dropped by her mother because it was illegal. Noah is like a bag of weed. Therefore, Noah’s mother dropped the bag of weed (based on Noah’s statement in his