Comedic Writing

The Good

Can you and should you craft a comedic argument? When it comes to comedy, there is a right time and a wrong time. For my academic essay that touches on projected food trends of the Cherokee people, individuals that have continuously been subjugated, it probably would be best to stray away from comedic qualities. But, what about a more lighthearted academic essay, like arguing for a weekly pizza party or banning carpet in bathrooms; should comedy have a space in these types of academic essays?

    Laughs can have a place in a place in academic writing. An example of this is “8 Strategies for Critically Engaging Secondary Sources” adapted by Mark Gaipa. The article contains several silly stick figure cartoons, but at the same time, these cartoons are accompanied by text that gives useful advice on how to interact with secondary sources. For example, the second strategy listed says, “Agree with a scholar to gain evidence and authority. Possibly go on to defend the scholar from attack by another scholar, thus resolving a larger controversy,” and to accompany this text there is a cartoon of a little stick figure telling a substantially taller stick figure with a graduation cap that “‘and I’ve read all your books,’” (Gaipa 1). For this article, the comedic elements meshed well with the academic guidance. The humorous cartoons were a unique rhetorical strategy because of their pathos appeal that made an academic-focused article, which can be dull, quite enjoyable.

The Bad

            Although there are instances where comedy can be a great strategy in academic essays, I do think there are times when it should be discouraged. As mentioned before, I don’t believe humor should be in essays about certain subjects like my essay topic, but another area where it should be avoided is counterarguments. In an article titled “Argument” by The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill it states, “When you are summarizing opposing arguments, be charitable. Present each argument fairly and objectively, rather than trying to make it look foolish.” If you add comedy to the counterargument section of your essay, you could fall into this very trap of coming off as someone that believes the opposing argument is nonsense rather than being viewed as an ethical writer that considers the opposing arguments seriously.

The Ugly

            Incorporating humor into an argumentative, academic essay is tricky, and it is something that I and others typically avoid. You are at the risk of not seeming to care about what you are writing or offending someone. However, using comedy is a risk that more people should take because who says that argumentative academic writings can’t be funny? Two things writers should consider in these comedic essays are that the sources should speak to each other and they should be careful with their signal phrases. In “Identifying a Conversation” it says, “There are many ways to put sources together to make a conversation. You might think of it like a puzzle, except that you have some control over how the pieces are shaped,” (Carabelli). It is necessary for writers, especially those that want to incorporate comedy, to have their information from their sources flow into each other like a conversation. Incorporating intertwining information from scholars can boost the credibility of writers that integrate unserious jokes or stories. 

    Lastly, writers that want to incorporate humor into their essays should use signal phrases that make the shift from humorless to humorous clear. A signal phrase is “a phrase, clause, or even sentence which leads into a quotation or statistic” (Hacker). If a writer is quoting something that is designed to be a joke, they should make that clear before the quote via a signal phrase, or a sentence following the quote.  

Works Cited

Carabelli, Jason. “Identifying a Conversation.” Writing Commons, 30 Nov. 2022, https://writingcommons.org/article/identifying-a-conversation/. 

Gaipa, Mark. 8 Strategies for Critically Engaging Secondary Sources.

Hacker, Diana. “Signal Phrases.” Signal Phrases, https://department.monm.edu/english/mew/signal_phrases.htm.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Argument.” The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 14 June 2021, https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/argument/. 

 

 

Code Switching and Paraphrasing

 

Paraphrasing a Language/Dialect

            Paraphrasing dialects and other languages to make them just like “regular” English should be highly discouraged. One day, I randomly watched this television show called Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern where some guy travels to different countries to try unique cuisines from various restaurants and street vendors around the world. In the show, the dialogue of a non-English speaker is repeatedly dubbed by the same two English speakers. The dubbed dialogue is aggravating, not only because their voices are more monotone than Siri, but also because it neglects the viewer from the unique fluctuations and inflections of a potentially foreign language. Instead of dubbing the speech, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern – and any other show that does this – should include the dialogue spoken by chefs and customers and simply add English subtitles. The same should apply to essays. When it comes to paraphrasing a foreign language/dialect, writers should take direct quotes or very cautiously paraphrase without erasing the culture and history that is embedded in the language.

In The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers it says, “Paraphrasing demands that you make your own sense of something,” (Ballenger 111). This idea is very important when you are paraphrasing from an unfamiliar dialect or language. It is important to make sense of what you read, based on prior knowledge and research, in the most courteous way possible. Besides opting for a direct quote, a method of paraphrasing could be to incorporate a blend of “regular” English and the other dialect/language. The writer should then verify that they are correctly interpreting the unfamiliar dialect/language they borrowed from. They could do this by utilizing several online resources or by having someone that speaks the dialect/language read over the material and approve it.

Code-Switching in the Classroom

Blending multiple dialects/languages is not only necessary in essay writing, but it should also be encouraged in classroom dialogue. “The Light Switch of Language: Code Switching” outlines that, “Teachers should teach code-switching to all students because it's already a part of our everyday lives, and it would be easier if students actually understood it,” (Johnson 2). Teachers should teach code-switching (incorporating words of another dialect or language) because as the author mentions it is already prevalent outside of the classroom, but also it will help students with writing their essays. Students understanding that code-switching exists and having knowledge of words/phrases from different dialects will make it easier for students to comprehend media featuring different dialects, such as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Patois (a Jamaican dialect) and languages like Spanish or French, and then properly apply them to their writing.

Final Thoughts

Even though teachers typically do not teach code-switching, I still believe it is vital for writers to expose themselves to media that incorporates dialects and non-English languages to become better-informed writers. Using words from a language that I cannot speak is something I might try in the current research essay I am working on or in future essays, so I must engage with other dialects and languages so that I can present other people's cultures vividly and respectfully.

Works Cited

Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers. Eighth ed., Pearson, 2015. 

Johnson, Cierra. “The Light Switch of Language: Code-Switching.” Emerging Writers, May 2021, https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/emergingwriters/vol4/iss1/6/. 

Research Paper Feelings

   

I feel okay about how the research assignment is going so far. I have found a lot of sources and I am in the process of reading through the sources and taking notes. One thing that I continue to realize is how little knowledge I have of my topic. So, while going through my sources I have come across a lot of interesting nuggets of information that will be useful as basic knowledge even if I don't include the source in my writing. One worry I have about source selection is my primary sources. I think I have found a few, but I am not entirely sure how useful they will be to my paper, and for some of the them I am not entirely sure if they even are primary sources. Overall, I have enjoyed researching my topic and I am looking forward to what comes next. 

Banned Books

A Food Analogy

Search Engines and libraries are increasingly drifting apart in terms of the information they provide. Search engines are like an all-you-can-eat buffet with a different dish getting added every second while libraries are starting to look like a single slice of white bread. The ongoing ban on books on library shelves is a nonsensical way of idolizing United States history especially when our ugly history and its effects can easily be accessed in the palm of our hand.

History

The banning of books makes no sense. Banning these books that oftentimes involve LGBTQ+ themes and stories that have to do with racial issues/racism goes against the “free speech” that the U.S. was supposedly built on. “The Book I Never Got to Read: A Tale of Book Censorship” states, “Teaching history to students allows for past lessons to be understood, lessens the chance of repeating mistakes in history, and creates an opening for students to form their own opinions on history, the current present, and the future,” (Everett 4). Continuously neglecting the stated benefits that come from learning history by banning books is a way to uphold the discriminatory laws, policies, and our very political system by means of ignorant mindsets towards silenced, overpowered people. 

Google it?

The banning of books really makes no sense. I get (but don’t agree with) that people in power want to silence the voices of subjugated groups to uphold the racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. backbone of our political system by banning books, but what about the internet? With the internet, anyone can access the atrocities of the U.S. past, present horrors, and also progress that continues to be made. The banned books can be delivered by Amazon in a day and the information they disclose can be further studied with a simple search. So, at this point, it seems like books are getting banned just to piss us off. 

Internet Education

If libraries are going to continue to starve students of reality, I think it is important to teach students how to properly do online research. One useful place to conduct research is library databases. In The Curious Research: A Guide to Writing Research Papers it states, “An advantage that libraries have over the Web is that information in libraries is more organized. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there is so much information to organize that librarians had to develop a special language for searching it,” (Ballenger 53). Students must understand this language so that they can access books, videos, articles, etc. that are available at their institution's library or (if it is not available) another institution's library. Another way of researching online is through search engines. Being able to properly find appropriate sources is useful for not only research essays but also for answering everyday questions. Because banning books that are a little too realistic for people to handle does not seem like it is coming to an end, therefore, students must be taught how to educate themselves through more open-ended online capacities. 

Works Cited

Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers. Eighth ed., Pearson, 2015. 

Everett, Courtney. “The Book I Never Got to Read: A Tale of Book Censorship.” Emerging Writers, 2022, https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/emergingwriters/vol5/iss1/7/. 

Indecisiveness, Curiosity, and Research

Indecisive People

Doing research for a paper is great for indecisive people like me. Research papers are my favorite genre of writing because the sources you find help you decide on the topic you want to write about. You start off exploring a relatively broad subject and after sifting through subtopics, the more niche inquiry becomes clear. This is the opposite of a personal essay where you have to dissect foggy memories and debate on what life moments are worth writing about. 

Curious People

Research is also great for curious people which in my case goes hand-in-hand with my indecisiveness. Because I am curious about many things, from the taste of a new ice cream flavor to the behind-the-scenes of a television show, I sometimes have difficulty making a choice or delegating the time I spend. Curiosity is great when I am researching because I rarely get bored and I’m usually committed to finding answers. However, being overly immersed in research can be a problem, as highlighted in The Art of Creative Research by Phillip Gerrard, which states, “The great trap of research is that it can seduce you into spending months and years in pursuit of facts and evidence and dampen the urgency to write. Researching is great fun, and it offers lots of moments of instant gratification. Writing is hard and seems to take a long time to produce even a grudging sense of satisfaction, let alone publication, fame, and glory,” (7). Although I have not had a research project assignment where I had more than a couple of months to complete it, I can relate to this statement. I like to research a lot more than write. For our class's upcoming research assignment, I need to make sure that I balance the research parts with my writing. 

Planning for Research

Finding Curiosity

In The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers by Bruce Ballenger, the author highlights the importance of well…being curious. It states, “What kept me going was my own curiosity. If your research assignment is going to be successful, you need to get curious, too,” (Ballenger 22). One thing that will be important for my research is selecting a topic that I am curious about that, of course, connects to the ZMA project. 

Sources

Another goal/strategy I want to pursue is to find lots of primary sources. A primary source “provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art,” (Ithaca College Library). I want to find many primary sources because, in past research projects, I typically looked for secondary sources. Primary sources are also somewhat more interesting to look at, in my opinion, because they provide a direct connection to the source that is less common to come across. 

Organize

An additional goal I have is to organize my research. Doing this will help me comb the sources I want to use for my paper and also cite my sources at the end. I could use one of the software mentioned in Table 1.1 of The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers like Zotero or Mendeley, or I could create my own system (Ballenger 37).  

Works Cited

Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers. Eighth ed., Pearson, 2015. 

Gerard, Philip. “The Art of Creative Research.” Association of Writers and Writing Programs, 2006, https://williamwolff.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/gerard-research-2006.pdf. 

Ithaca College Library. “Primary and Secondary Sources.” Ithaca College Library, https://library.ithaca.edu/r101/primary.php.