Question

Look at the introductory stage directions on page 1 of Passage 2. Then look at Mom's line of dialogue underlined on page 2. Why is what Mom says humorous for the audience?

a) The audience knows that Jan is preparing to write an essay about what she does best.
b) The audience sees Jan's bracelet and understands that weaving is her strongest talent.
c) The audience has seen Jan dance awkwardly and then trip.
d) The audience has heard Jan's singing and knows she sings off-key.

Answer 1

Humor emerges when the audience knows something that contrasts with a character's words, often through prior observation of a character's actions that contradict the spoken lines.

Step-by-step explanation:

The humor in Mom's line of dialogue arises from the audience's prior knowledge or witness of events that contradict what she says. If the audience saw Jan dance awkwardly and then trip, it would find Mom's statement humorous because it contrasts starkly with what they have observed. Similarly, if the audience had heard Jan sing off-key, Mom's oblivious commendation of Jan's singing would be the source of humor. Since the exact content of the introductory stage directions and Mom's dialogue are missing, a definitive answer to which option is the humorous reason cannot be provided without further context. However, the mechanism for humor in this scenario relies on the incongruity theory, which proposes that humor arises when there is a discrepancy between what is expected and what actually occurs.