Movie Segments for Warm-ups and Follow-ups: The Good Lie & Home: Jokes

The Good Lie is one of my favorite movies. It is a touching story and the drama the characters are involved with is food for thought. Home is animated movie that everyone must see. It is funny and the music is just wonderful. I recommend them both.

Jokes are a form of verbal humor, including one-liners, riddles, and other things that make us laugh. It is a funny, made-up story with a punchline told by one person.

It is distinguished from an anecdote, which may be a funny story and have a punchline, but is about a real or true incident. Because it is a form of story, it has some of the attributes of a story, such as a beginning, middle, and end.

Adapted from: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-joke.htm

Jokes structures:

adapted from http://www.creatingacomic.com/2009/how-to-write-a-joke-joke-structure/

The Setup — Establishes the premise of the joke by providing the audience with the necessary background info. The setup should be as tight as possible.

The Punchline — Wham! The laugh line. The setup led the audience in one direction, and you surprised them by suddenly going off in a different direction. That twist, that element of surprise, is a punchline’s chief ingredient.

Pragmatics:

Understanding a joke involves background knowledge necessary for making the inferences to get the joke (a matter of pragmatics). If the listener does not understand the culture, behavior or the context of the joke, he/she may not understand it.

I. Watch the movie segment from the great movie The Good Lie and answer the questions that follow.

The Good Lie

1. What is the setup of the joke?

2. What is the punchline?

3. Did the characters understand the joke? Were they familiar with the pragmatics of the joke?

4. In your opinion, is this joke funny? (Why (not)?

II. Watch the movie segment from the movie Home and answer the questions that follow.

Home

1. What is the setup of the joke?

2. What is the punchline?

3. Did the ET understand the joke? Was he familiar with the pragmatics of the joke?

4. In your opinion, is this joke funny? (Why (not)?

III. Write down a joke you know (or invent one) and tell it to the class. Don't worry if it is not funny at all. However, you must include the setup and the punchline.

EX: