The Core Assessment (Rod A. Martin; The Psychology of Humor and John Morreall; Comic
Relief). SIX (6) page paper (not counting title and reference pages). Papers must include
academic research and appropriate documentation.
The Core Assessment Paper must apply the ethical and psychological theories of humor learned
in these books (Rod A. Martin; The Psychology of Humor and John Morreall; Comic Relief) in
an analytical examination and interdisciplinary discussion of one or more examples of humor in
the today’s culture. The paper should synthesize perspectives from multiple disciplines and
present an analytical viewpoint of the example(s) being used for the paper. Here are some ideas
to get started. Identify interdisciplinary uses of humor in your professional life or future career goals,
and formulate a plan for responsible and ethical applications of and responses to humor in
your career setting. Consider writing about the ethical and responsible uses of humor in
organizational settings. How does humor affect the workplace and power structure?
How will you put the theories we have learned to use in your career? What theories of
humor do you see in ‘inside jokes’ or cartoons in your professional journals? Do you work fulltime in an office? Analyze the type of humor most often observed in
your workplace. What theories are evident in the jokes in your meetings or break rooms?
What have we learned in Martin’s book about the psychology of these behaviors? What
plan do you have now for going forward? Do you work in a customer-contact setting, such as retail or sales? How does humor
affect those interactions? Apply our theories to your experiences and discuss responsible
ways to use humor in the future. Create and synthesize a concept for globally responsible values and attitudes toward
humor in social media, Pop Culture (television and movies) or other venues that have
diverse audience demographics. Bloom’s Taxonomy in your own life? Aside from movies or television, where do you most often see humor used in your daily
life? At work? In class? On Facebook? Share an example and identify how it violates
one of Grice’s Rules of Conversation Are there differences in the types of humor you see in one part of your daily life versus
another (work compared to sports, for example)? What social elements seem to
contribute to the contrasts in humor? How comfortable are the participants with each
other? Pay attention to all the things that make you laugh in the next 24 hours. Share some
examples and what theories those examples illustrate. The Core Assessment is to be an academic paper demonstrating sophisticated, integrative and
interdisciplinary learning about the theories, ethics and psychology of humor in real-world
environments. Although the paper may briefly reference comedic cinema, humorous books,
comedic television programs or other Pop Culture vehicles, the paper is not to be a ‘movie
review’ or ‘summary’ of an entertainment vehicle.
How many references will I need to use? You will need at least FIVE (5) outside references, in addition to the required textbooks
for this course (Rod A. Martin; The Psychology of Humor and John Morreall; Comic
Relief). Do NOT use Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers, or other non-academic sources.
