What Makes Things Funny Rhetorical Analysis

“What Makes Things Funny?” Rhetorical Analysis Paper Two men walk into a bar; the third one ducks. Obviously everyone has heard this joke or some kind of joke before. So why do we find this kind of joke funny? Is it the play on words or is it the image of two men walking into a literal bar? Perhaps it is both. Every one has their own definition of what they find to be humorous. Humor can be found in every culture and people of all ages enjoy a good laugh. Humor influences our choices in everything from movies to a person’s choice in friends. Research has even found that humor is beneficial to our health and that laughing can reduce people’s emotional and physical pain. However, the real question is: what makes things funny? In his TED talks speech, Peter McGraw answers this exact question by explaining his Benign Violation Theory to the audience. Overall, McGraw’s speech is effective in persuading his audience that his theory is valid because of his strong ethos factor, extensive use of logos, and his appeal to the audience’s pathos to explain his theory. …show more content…
So McGraw created the Humor Research Lab, or HURL, to discover what it is about humor that people find funny. McGraw and others collectively came up with the Benign Violation Theory to explain the conundrum behind humor. By informing his audience about HURL and the Benign Violation Theory, McGraw builds his appeal to ethos. The audience is now aware that not only has McGraw investigated what makes things funny, but that he and others have proven a theory to back up their investigations. This appeal to ethos validates the rest of McGraw’s speech and opens the door to his strongest