Emily Belz's Serious Laughter Summary

Improved Essays
Serious Laughter by Emily Belz was published in World magazine’s October 29, 2016 issue. The article discusses The Babylon Bee, a recently launched site, filled with satire posts from an evangelical Christian, Adam Ford’s perspective. As the title of Emily Belz’s piece implies, the website’s articles are filled with witty and sometimes gritty humor aimed at all from democrats to republicans to the pope to a property gospel preacher. Although some of The Babylon Bee’s posts are written merely to evoke a chuckle from the reader, many are written also with the purpose of making people think- sometimes about topics others are afraid to bring up.
Some say that The Babylon Bee goes too far with its sarcasm. However, when I read Serious Laughter,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    in a stunning case of irony a fictional comic on the “welfare queen” by the onion's fake editorial artist “kelly” has been taken up by the very source of its satire; anti-welfare peddlers. rightfully so, the originally over the top cartoon has now become a representation of all that conservative republicans find wrong with social welfare. However, it goes beyond that,appearing at first like any american editorial cartoon with its simple lines with blatant labels on benign seeming personal attire. This cartoon uses these in an appeal to the emotions from a bystander's point of view in an example of the Pathos form of rhetoric, attempting to take it beyond a normal political cartoon and into the realm of satire . This comic looks and feels…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Caitlin Flanagan’s 2015 The Atlantic articles “that’s Not Funny, “The state, Flanagan suspect, reflects the broader “infantilization” of college students, who must be kept happy and entertained lest they wander off, taking their tuition money with them. She names comedian after comedian forced to sanitize acts or risk being shut out of a lucrative market. One comic Flanagan discusses brings the house down, only to be rejected by most schools when his routine crosses too many racial boundaries. “We’re a very forward-thinking school,” an Iowa student says.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The use of the word comical here is because it is not the person who is, it is the situations the people are in that make it seem comical. Connie Barrett, a parishioner at the church where the bake sale is, talks about how good her pastries are and how everyone says they are so good. This to most people would be just simply someone talking about how good their goodies are, however the way The Onion interprets it, she is just “openly” committing the sin of Pride (Onion 257). Therefore, this shows even the most playful way of having a sense of pride in ones’ work is considered sinning nonetheless. It is amazing that something so satirical is considered a sin not just in the eyes of God but also to the fellow churchgoers.…

    • 1768 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Satire Satire or the use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices is used in many types of stories to entertain the reader in a fun way. There are many different stories that do this by not even talking about it. Authors can do this by saying jokes all throughout a story and they don’t even mention their jokes. This is one of the best ways to make a story because laughter is one of the best feelings.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Final Essay – Peter Barnes Barnes’s Auschwitz, uses black comedy to raise awareness that in a godless world, we have forgotten what it means to be human, and show kindness. In other words, we have lost our humanity. We ended up creating a greedy and hypocritical, thus inhumane society. Davis’, Bentley’s and Sypher’s view on comedy explains the different consequences of an immoral world. Davis’ explains that with an amoral attitude towards comedy it becomes very easy to treat each other like objects.…

    • 1085 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Pathos In The Onion

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the mock press release from The Onion, the author(s) illustrate how products are marketed to consumers by using very bold claims and outlandish customer reviews to portray the message in a satirical fashion. This use of satire sparks pulls on the pathos of the reader and allows for a more engaging experience for the reader. The author(s) of this passage use satire to its fullest effect through outlandish claims. A prime example of these foolish would be, "If the frequency of one’s foot is out of alignment with the Earth, the entire body will suffer." The author(s) use claims such as this one to pull on the pathos of the reader that elicits a humorous response while still portraying a clear message.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alain de Botton once said, “The chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain, but to convey the impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” This quote shows that there is more to writing than just to entertain. Through writing, writers often convey messages that are not easily spoken about, such as criticizing a global trend or idea, by lightening up the topic and underlying messages through the usage of satire and humor. Joshua Ferris uses humor and satire to indirectly share his criticism on social conformity of people in an office and the American Dream.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her article “Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious,” Antonia Peacocke discusses how those who watch the show Family Guy should realize the creators’ jokes should be viewed as what they are intended to be: a harsh reality rather than crude. Peacocke argues that when taken at face value, Family Guy’s humor could potentially be considered offensive. Instead, the creator Seth Macfarlane intelligently uses satire to mock American culture. The article is overall effective with one minor weakness. The article gains a majority of its effectiveness from the author providing her own personal experiences to help the reader relate to the topic at hand, and by pulling examples straight from the show to back up her argument.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Past Tense: a Thing of The Past Underfunding schools have been a debatable topic for years, as many have schools must cut off classes or a certain number of students to keep the school going, even though most of the students left don’t learn much because some of the most interesting classes and programs are gone. In Underfunded Schools by the Onion, the writers use elements of ridicule, clever wordplay, and irony to convey and bring light to the universal truth that schools cut out the necessary and important things in their curriculums based on their financial problems. Usually when someone uses high comedy ridicule is clearly evident in their work. In Underfunded Schools by The Onion, the article uses a heavy amount of sarcasm. In paragraph…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Persepolis Humour Essay

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Iranian Revolution may not seem like the ideal situation for humour to be applied, but humour is seen often in Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis; a book retelling Satrapi’s childhood during the revolution. Although her story is littered with the tragedy and brutality of oppression and war, the horrors she experienced are often combined with funny moments that seem impossible in her situation. The premise of humour may seem out of place in a graphic novel about a terrible time, the addition of laughter actually balances out the heavy events of the book and allows the audience to have a greater understanding of her life and avoiding the romanticization or downplaying of tragedy. Human beings are naturally averse to talking about hard or touchy subjects, humour is used to bring light to tough subjects when a regular conversation would be deemed difficult or strained. Lighthearted parts balance out the dark undertones of the story.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Comedies often provide laughter and entertainment while presenting social, political, philosophical, and theological ideas and problems. Within the comedy genre, satire presents itself in a form of sarcasm, irony and humor. It is the combination of entertainment and critique to criticize the ignorance of a person or society. It has a few elements: entertainment and critical reflection to awaken the audience and to address issues and questions. It does not seek to do harm, but it seeks the truth and its purpose is to create a reform (a change or improvement).…

    • 1786 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “A Rose for Emily” is a southern gothic short story written by William Faulkner. Faulkner was originally inspired by his family and hometown to write. Most of his stories include irony, social issues, and decay, past and present, gruesome and etc.; However, Faulkner also integrates humor in a way that it is often referred as “orthodox and subversive” (Carothers and Sheldon 438). In this story it mainly focuses about a women’s life as a gentility that wants to continue to live by her own free will.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In today’s world, humor is portrayed through many different outlets of society. Whether it be on the radio, in person during stand up, or on television, comedy is an easy way to lighten the mood and make easy conversation out of controversial topics. In Humor as a Technique of Social Influence the author states, “Humor may indeed be used to influence others, and suggest that humor may be a powerful agent of change in everyday life” (O’Quin and Aronoff, 355). Comedy in television is a crucial role in the everyday community when it comes to not only discussing debatable topics, but diffusing them as well. Television uses humor through many different ways including jokes, skits, and embarrassing occasions.…

    • 1960 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is not surprising that Satire has long had a home in politics. Politics affects everyone but accessible resources are often lacking. Satire provided a natural and accessible source for people to view…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Satire In Pride And Prejudice

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited

    Pride and Prejudice and Social Satire." Prezi. N.p., 22 09 2013. Web. 15 Jan 2014.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited
    Improved Essays