Questions and Exercises

  1. What is the source of humor in a humorous story?
  2. When should the teacher laugh with the school? When should she not do so?
  3. How does the response of the school to a laughable incident reflect the leadership of the teacher?
  4. What can be done to bring more or better humor into the school?
  5. Compare as companions those whom you know who exhibit a sense of humor with those who do not.
  6. Compare their influence on others.
  7. What can be done to bring humor into essays written by the students?
  8. Distinguish between wit and humor. Does wit or humor cause most of the laughter in school?
  9. What is meant by an “aptitude for vicariousness”?
  10. How did Lincoln make use of humor? Is there any humor in the Gettysburg speech? Why?
  11. What is the relation of pathos to humor?
  12. Give an example from the writings of Mark Twain that shows him a philosopher as well as a humorist.
  13. What books could you read to the pupils to enliven some of the subjects that you teach?

CHAPTER XX