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Beginner
Higher Education
en
Comedy
MIT OpenCourseWare
Platform
· Cambridge, USA
About this course
This undergraduate literature course analyzes what makes things funny and why we laugh. It examines how comedy is characterized on the page, screen, and stage, and explores what the comic can teach us about the self and cultures, especially through its patterns of transgression that confound social norms via jokes and laughter. Beginning with early Greek humorists such as Aristophanes and Plautus, the course traverses genres, periods, and cultures to study various types of humor, including satire, farce, slapstick, romantic comedy, tragicomedy, parody, and screwball comedy.
Prerequisite Skills
Skills you should have before taking this course
English language proficiency
English reading comprehension
basic academic writing
basic literary reading skills
Introductory literature studies
Skills Gained
Skills you will develop by completing this course
Creative Writing
Critical Thinking
critical reading
Close reading
literary analysis
comedy studies
dramatic literature
satire analysis
comparative literature
academic essay writing
American literature
Cultural analysis
Classical literature
Humor theory