Crack A Joke

Lead-in

  • What do you think about people who are always trying to be funny? Why?
  • Are you good at telling jokes? Why or why not?
  • How often do you tell jokes?
  • Tell your teacher and classmates a joke. ?
  • In your opinion, is there a type of humor that should be prohibited? 
    • If so, which and why?
    • If not, why?

Presentation

Pre

Pre

  • What is the difference between a joke and an anecdote?

A joke is an amusing story while an anecdote is a short account of a real incident or person, often humorous or interesting.

Source

Top Down

  • Are these texts jokes or anecdotes? Read them and find out.
  1. They are all jokes
  2. Number 1 is a joke 
  3. Number 3 is a joke
  1. They are all anecdotes
  2. Number 1 is an anecdote
  3. Numbers 2 and 3 are anecdotes
  1. They are all jokes
  2. Number 1 is a joke 
  3. Number 3 is a joke
  1. They are all anecdotes
  2. Number 1 is an anecdote
  3. Numbers 2 and 3 are anecdotes

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”
The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?” The boy takes the quarters and leaves.
“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”
Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream parlor.
“Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?”
The boy licked his cone and replied:
“Because the day I take the dollar the game is over!”

Four men are in the hospital waiting room because their wives are having babies. A nurse goes up to the first guy and says, “Congratulations! You’re the father of twins.”
“That’s odd,” answers the man. “I work for the Minnesota Twins!”
A nurse says to the second guy, “Congratulations! You’re the father of triplets!”
“That’s weird,” answers the second man. “I work for the 3M company!”
A nurse tells the third man, “Congratulations! You’re the father of quadruplets!”
“That’s strange,” he answers. “I work for the Four Seasons hotel!”
The last man is groaning and banging his head against the wall. “What’s wrong?”, the others ask.
“I work for 7 Up!”

A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question.
The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the footpath, and stopped inches from a shop window.
For a second, everything was quiet in the cab. Then the driver said, “Look, mate, don’t ever do that again. You scared the living daylights out of me!”
The passenger apologized and said, “I didn’t realize that a little tap would scare you so much.”
The driver replied, “Sorry, it’s not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver — I’ve been driving a funeral van for the last 25 years.”

Bottom Up

  • True or False?

Example: The text only mentions Brazilian food. False

  1. In the first joke, it’s implicit that the boy always knew what the man was doing.
  2. In the second text, the nurse tells the third man that he’s having seven kids and he freaks out!
  3. If someone or something scares the living daylights out of you, it means that they make you feel extremely frightened.
  4. In the third text, the driver apologized to the passenger.
  5. The driver was inside a taxi for the first time in 25 years.
  1. In the first joke, it’s implicit that the boy always knew what the man was doing. True
  2. In the second text, the nurse tells the third man that he’s having seven kids and he freaks out! False
  3. If someone or something scares the living daylights out of you, it means that they make you feel extremely frightened. True
  4. In the third text, the driver apologized to the passenger. True
  5. The driver was inside a taxi for the first time in 25 years. False

Post

  • In your opinion, what is the funniest one?
  • Have you ever felt offended by a joke? Why?
  • What would you say to someone who was feeling offended by a joke?

Target Language

Joke-related Expressions

Useful expressions to talk about jokes:

  • Cracking jokes is my way of breaking the ice in an uncomfortable situation.
  • Chandler always tells jokes when he’s nervous.
  • Is it alright to make jokes about people’s failures?
  • Jenny has a weird sense of humor. No one gets her jokes.
  • Charles is a cool guy, but he can’t take a joke.
  • The students laughed at the teacher’s joke, even though they didn’t like it.
  • I don’t like hanging out with you and your friends from work. You’re so full of in-jokes that I never understand.

Controlled Practice

  • Match the types of comedies to their meaning.
  1. Aggressive humor
  2. Slapstick comedy
  3. Self-enhancing
  4. Self-deprecating
  5. Dark humor
  6. Juvenile humor
  7. Affiliative humor
  8. Satire

(   ) This is being able to laugh at yourself, such as making a joke when something bad has happened to you.

(   ) A comedy that would normally be expected from an adolescent.

(   ) This involves put-downs or insults targeted toward individuals.

(   ) This involves telling jokes about everyday life.

(   ) A form of self-awareness, but the person using that humor only points out what they think are negative things or things they don’t like about themselves, but says it aloud in a funny, joking way. 

(   ) The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

(   ) A style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy, e.g. someone slipping on a banana peel.

(   ) A form of humor that regards human suffering as absurd rather than pitiable, or that considers human existence as ironic and pointless but somehow comic.

  1. Aggressive humor
  2. Slapstick comedy
  3. Self-enhancing
  4. Self-deprecating
  5. Dark humor
  6. Juvenile humor
  7. Affiliative humor
  8. Satire

(3) This is being able to laugh at yourself, such as making a joke when something bad has happened to you.

(6) A comedy that would normally be expected from an adolescent.

(1) This involves put-downs or insults targeted toward individuals.

(7) This involves telling jokes about everyday life.

(4) A form of self-awareness, but the person using that humor only points out what they think are negative things or things they don’t like about themselves, but says it aloud in a funny, joking way. 

(8) The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

(2) A style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy, e.g. someone slipping on a banana peel.

(5) A form of humor that regards human suffering as absurd rather than pitiable, or that considers human existence as ironic and pointless but somehow comic.

Freer Practice

  • Complete the sentences according to your own ideas.
    • I tell jokes when…
    • When someone makes a joke I don’t like…
    • Once, a friend of mine couldn’t take a joke so…
    • My sense of humor is… 
    • I love jokes about…
    • The worst joke I heard was…
    • One thing that always makes me laugh is…

Production

  • Use the target language to tell an anecdote.

Example: Once I was walking and it started to rain, so the funniest thing happened: I…

Homework

Stories have seven different elements. Besides plot and climax, unscramble the letters to remember the other five. 

  1. gitestn
  2. hatcarscre
  3. pintiooxse
  4. cionltfc
  5. outsrelnio
  1. setting
  2. characters
  3. exposition
  4. conflict
  5. resolution

Read the excerpts and identify the proper story element. 

Example:  “The Ugly Duckling tells the story of the last baby bird to hatch from a mother duck’s eggs. This baby bird is different from the others and for that he is bullied and mocked by the group. […] The bird then finds a flock of swans who welcome the “ugly bird”, because this bird is in fact a swan. Now the bird feels loved.”
Element: Plot
  1. “The American Revolution took place in British America between the years of 1765 and 1791.” > Element: 
  2. “Peter Parker and Mary Jane first met at the cafeteria…” > Element: 
  3. “Thus the story ends, with both Romeo and Juliet dead and their families mourning this tragedy.” > Element:  
  4. “The highest point of the movie is when Thanos snaps his fingers.” > Element: 
  5. “In Cast Away (2000, director Robert Zemeckis), what keeps the movie going forward is Tom Hanks character’s will to survive and to go back home.” > Element:  
  1. “The American Revolution took place in British America between the years of 1765 and 1791.” > Element: setting
  2. “Peter Parker and Mary Jane first met at the cafeteria…” > Element: characters
  3. “Thus the story ends, with both Romeo and Juliet dead and their families mourning this tragedy.” > Element: resolution
  4. “The highest point of the movie is when Thanos snaps his fingers.” > Element: climax
  5. “In Cast Away (2000, director Robert Zemeckis), what keeps the movie going forward is Tom Hanks character’s will to survive and to go back home.” > Element: conflict

Put these word chunks in order and match them with their concepts. 

Example: or subject / production with / movie, or television / with a serious tone / A play, > A play, movie, or television production with a serious tone or subject.
Concept: drama.
A) engaging. / involving the characters / that make / The problems / the story
Concept: 
B) moment / in a story. / most exciting / The
Concept: 
C) when the / end of a / conflicts are solved. / Refers to the / story
Concept:
D) place and time / happens. / Refers to the / story / in which the 
Concept:
E) of events / of the whole / story / The sequence / in a story; / summary 
Concept:
F) on the setting, / Refers to / period or characters. / background information 
Concept:
G) creatures, animals, / the story. / who plays / The people, / a part in / or anyone else
Concept: 
  • Characters
  • Exposition
  • Climax
  • Conflict
  • Plot
  • Resolution
  • Setting
  1. The problems involving the characters that make the story engaging. > Concept: conflict.
  2. The most exciting moment in a story. > Concept: climax.
  3. Refers to the end of a story, when the conflicts are solved. > Concept: resolution.
  4. Refers to the place and time in which the story happens. > Concept: setting. 
  5. The sequence of events in a story; summary of the whole story. > Concept: plot. 
  6. Refers to background information on the setting, period or characters. > Concept: exposition. 
  7. The people, creatures, animals, or anyone else who plays a part in the story. > Concept: characters. 

These are sentences from great writers. Conjugate the bracketed verbs in the Past Perfect.

Example: He had ____  in her arms, with his face dropped on her breast. (sink) > He had sunk in her arms, with his face dropped on her breast. 
(A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens.) 
  1. A lad of fourteen, with a bright, keen face, ________ the summons of the manager. (obey) – (The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
  2. It was obvious that he _________ a word Jem said. (not / follow) – (To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee)
  3. She wouldn’t talk about what  ______, and made the bumpy trip in a pickup truck in silence. (happen) – (The female of the species, Lionel Shriver)
  4. Some minutes of silent work  _____ , and the haggard eyes  ____ up again. (pass / look) – (A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens.) 
  1. A lad of fourteen, with a bright, keen face, had obeyed the summons of the manager. (obey) – (The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
  2. It was obvious that he had not followed a word Jem said. (not / follow) – (To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee)
  3. She wouldn’t talk about what had happened, and made the bumpy trip in a pickup truck in silence. (happen) – (The female of the species, Lionel Shriver)
  4. Some minutes of silent work had passed, and the haggard eyes had looked up again. (pass / look) – (A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens.) 

Reorganize the words. Conjugate the Past Continuous (from lesson Chill Out). Identify the narrative element.  

Example: was  The zombies. a a tells story people into movie of turn that pandemic > The movie tells a story of a pandemic that was turning people into zombies. 
Element: plot
  1. very hair her sing ever liked was lighthearted grow. and a woman. Rapunzel was to She > Element: 
  2. was the celebrate of his the victory, And movie. sang song Emperor when final then, choir the the > Element: 
  3. year was between was The tension 814. Scandinavian In clans bigger. the get Gotland two Island, > Element:
  4. his work, to liked was Neo sleeping. not free time spend he When > Element:
  5. The He play was the Also, Grasshopper elegant. violin time. was he was joyful. very all the > Element:
  1. Rapunzel was a very lighthearted woman. She liked to sing and her hair ever-growing. > Element: character 
  2. And then, when the Emperor was celebrating his victory, the choir sang the final song of the movie. > Element: resolution
  3. The year was 814. In Gotland Island, the tension between two Scandinavian clans was getting bigger. > Element: setting
  4. When he was not working, Neo liked to spend his free time sleeping. > Element: exposition 
  5. The Grasshopper was joyful. He was playing the violin all the time. Also, he was very elegant. > Element: character  

Writing

Use the elements of a story and the target language to write and analyze a joke you know. 

Example: In this joke the characters are…