Essay 1 Rough Draft

In the Rhetoric of Humor, In the article, “Native American Stand-up Comedy.” It’s

fascinating to know that comedian’s objectives are more than just to make people laugh, they

also use their humor to influence others to acknowledge the true realities of what goes on in the

world today. Using humor, especially irony and sarcasm, it helps advocate critical thinking to

open debates about serious situations that are not discussed openly. Often, a comedian may use

topics such as racial inequalities in their act to spread awareness on racism.

Take Comedian Dave Chapelle for example, in his show, “The Chapelle’s show,” he

exemplifies humor as a tool of social advocacy in response to the climate and the historical

legacy of racism in the United States. In this quote, he states, “The only way you can know where

the line is, is if you cross it.” And it is true, in order to spread awareness on an issue, you have

to push boundaries, you have to make the people uncomfortable. It’s the only way that makes

people think because it forces them to look in the mirror and confront the realities that we’d

usually prefer to ignore.

In the article, “Perspectives on Comedy and Performance as Radical Disability

Activism,” The writer has chosen comedy and humor as a way of bonding with an audience to

promote critical thinking and dialogue around the meaning of disability. He talks about the

unemployment rates of people who suffer with impairments and disabilities and explains how