Comedy is often seen as simple entertainment, but it can also reveal important truths about human nature. According to Aristotle, comedy usually tells the story of an ordinary character whose situation improves over time. Comedy focuses on everyday people and their struggles rather than powerful heroes. 

 The television show The Office is a strong example of how comedy can help audiences understand the human condition.

The Office is a series about employees working at a small paper company. On the surface, the show focuses on awkward situations and workplace humor. Characters like

Michael Scott constantly embarrass themselves, and the employees deal with everyday problems like office gossip, relationships, and boredom at work.

However, the show does more than simply make people laugh. It highlights the realities of ordinary life, which Aristotle believed was a central feature of comedy. 

 The characters are not heroes or villains; they are regular people trying to find meaning in routine jobs. Through humor, the show explores loneliness, ambition, friendship, and the desire for recognition. For example, Michael Scott often acts foolishly, but he also desperately wants to be liked and respected. This reveals something universal about human nature: the need for belonging.

The show also follows the classic comic structure of rising fortune. 

 Characters like Jim and Pam slowly build a relationship and eventually find happiness together. Their story provides the satisfying emotional payoff typical of romantic comedy, where obstacles are eventually overcome.

Because it focuses on ordinary life and relatable struggles, The Office deepens our understanding of how people interact in everyday environments. Instead of presenting grand heroic stories, it shows how humor can reveal truth in simple moments.

For these reasons, comedy should absolutely be considered a meaningful art form. Shows like The Office demonstrate that laughter can be a powerful way to explore human behavior, relationships, and the challenges of everyday life.

One strong example of contemporary satire is the 2021 film Don’t Look Up. The movie follows two scientists who discover a comet that will destroy Earth, but when they try to warn the public, politicians, media personalities, and corporations ignore or distort the information. Instead of taking the threat seriously, leaders turn the crisis into entertainment and political drama.

The film uses several satirical techniques to make its point. One major technique is hyperbole. The characters react in exaggerated ways that highlight real problems in society. For example, news shows treat the end of the world like celebrity gossip rather than a serious issue. This exaggeration mirrors how modern media sometimes prioritizes entertainment over important news. The movie also uses irony. Even though scientists provide clear evidence of the comet, many people refuse to believe it. The irony is that humanity has the knowledge to save itself but fails because of politics, greed, and denial. The film also uses parody by mocking modern talk shows, political campaigns, and tech billionaires.

However, the movie is not simply making fun of politicians or media figures. Instead, it criticizes broader issues in society, especially how people respond to scientific warnings. Many viewers see the comet as a metaphor for real global issues like climate change. The film suggests that society often ignores serious problems until it is too late because leaders focus on profit, popularity, or short-term political gain.

Through humor and exaggeration, Don’t Look Up encourages viewers to think critically about how governments, media, and the public respond to major crises. The satire works because it makes people laugh while also making them uncomfortable about the reality it reflects.

The Office is a satire that follows employees of an “average” branch of a “boring” company that sells paper in Pennsylvania. The TV show is set up as a mockumentary, following the company and how its employees react to the constantly shifting—and ultimately shrinking—world of the paper industry in Pennsylvania. The objectively boring and mundane setting allows The Office to create the perfect environment to subvert the audience’s expectations. Despite the dull setting, the employees who work at the paper company are all unique and interesting characters, which leads to a dynamic story that does the opposite of boring the viewer; instead, it enthralls them.

If you’ve watched The Office, you know it’s a hilarious show, and if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard from other people about how funny it is. Most people think of The Office as a low-stakes comfort show, easy to start and stop at any point. While The Office is an easy watch, with funny, likable characters and equally funny, easy-to-hate characters, if the viewer looks closer, the show tells a deeper story about office life in the United States—particularly office relationships, power dynamics, and the dysfunction of modern nine-to-five life in America.

The Office often uses irony to comment on power dynamics in work environments in the United States. One of the main characters, Michael, is the Regional Manager of the Scranton branch of the paper company. As opposed to what one would normally expect from a boss in a work environment, Michael is childish and incompetent. He often abuses his power by putting his employees through comedic and outrageous situations in an attempt to promote the “family” culture of the office. Additionally, Michael’s lack of work ethic, combined with his position of power, frequently places him in comedic situations. For example, there is an episode in which the other employees discover Michael’s salary, which is considerably higher than theirs. Despite having the highest salary, Michael is shown to do the least amount of work, often pushing his responsibilities onto others or simply neglecting them altogether.

While comedic, beneath the surface the ironic humor in the show highlights the absurd power dynamics and dysfunction present in a typical American office. Similarly to real life, many people in positions of power are often incompetent and out of touch with their employees’ needs and wants. They may abuse their authority to enforce what they believe is best for office culture instead of taking feedback from employees or others who are more involved in the workplace community. Michael’s character is also used to comment on unfair pay gaps within office spaces, with bosses in positions of power often earning more for jobs that may be less demanding than entry-level roles.

In the song “Tu Tu Neurotic” by The Hellp on their debut album Vol 1, there are many poetic elements in the lyrics if you look under their surface. Upon listening to the upbeat tempo and production, it can be hard to determine the true message of the song, but when reading deeper into the lyrics and their poetic elements, it speaks of the experiences of a teenage girl from Tennessee, a native american boy, and a homosexual. The song starts off talking about the girl from Tensee, saying

“There’s a young girl, from Tennessee
Does she believe in God or me?
Taste of the vanity, chasing the recipe
Late night, still light”

I believe the song uses a young girl from Tennessee who is meant to be religious to represent an old idea of an American from the 20th century.  I think the choice additionally to talk about a native american boy and a homosexual, for the other characters are meant to represent and speak on on the morphing identity of America and its diverness, the native american boy is meant to represent America’s original form before it was colonized, the girl from Tennessee is intended to represent a 20th-century America finding her identity specifically with the line of believing in God or me which I believe is meant to speak to many americas changing relgious idenity where many people are growing to become unaffiliated from religion. Lastly, I believe the lines about homosexuality is meant to represent America becoming more accepting of other people as they are able to come out of the closet.

“hides outside the closet
Out the house that now’s a college
New knowledge, and burn out friends
Been a puppet, been a jester, had enough of that”

The metaphor of being a puppet and a jester is meant to represent their feelings of being forced to cover up their identity, which they are now able to express with the changing identity of America. The song is able to express this morph through repetition and using these characters to represent greater demographics and groups in the United States.

In the song “Love Yourz” by J. Cole, from the album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, the artist reflects on the idea that true happiness comes from appreciating one’s own life rather than comparing it to others. The speaker addresses both himself and the audience, creating an intimate, reflective tone that encourages listeners to reconsider how they define success. The central message of the song is that fulfillment cannot be found through wealth, fame, or status, but through gratitude and self-acceptance.

One poetic technique J. Cole uses is imagery to highlight the emptiness of material success. When he says, “No such thing as a life that’s better than yours,” the line creates a clear mental contrast between imagined “better” lives and the reality of one’s own, emphasizing how comparison distorts perspective. This imagery reinforces the theme by showing that envy is rooted in illusion, not truth.

Another device is repetition, which J. Cole uses purposefully to strengthen the song’s message. The repeated line “Love yours” acts almost like a mantra, reminding the listener again and again of the song’s core idea. Instead of using repetition for rhythm alone, J. Cole uses it to deepen the emotional impact and ensure the message stays with the audience.

Finally, J. Cole employs direct address, speaking straight to the listener in lines like “Think being broke was better.” This creates a conversational tone that makes the song feel personal and sincere. By speaking directly, he invites listeners to reflect on their own lives rather than judging others. Overall, “Love Yourz” functions as a modern poem that challenges cultural definitions of success and encourages listeners to find value in what they already have.

Solange Knowles “Cranes in the Sky” is the 4th song on her album A Seat at the Table. The song was released on September 30, 2016, by Saint Records and Columbia Records and was deemed the most popular song from the album. The song talks about the many ways people try to distract themselves from sadness and internal conflict. It touches on the importance of properly healing from your hardships and using it to build upon rather than restrict yourself. Through vivid imagery, repetition, and metaphors she shows the unique, slow process of emotional healing.

I tried to drink it away
I tried to put one in the air
I tried to dance it away
I tried to change it with my hair

I ran my credit card bill up
Thought a new dress make it better
I tried to work it away
But that just made me even sadder

Solange starts the song off by naming multiple things she’d done in attempts to distract herself from her feelings. She emphasizes how she kept cycling through different ways to avoid her feelings but nothing seemed to work. This is being used to show that covering up your feelings is easy but truly being able to sit and deal with them is the more challenging part. The repetition of “I tried to” shows the constant attempts to run from her emotions which only made her feelings deeper. The singer actually said she’d just went through a tough breakup when she was writing this song, naturally she was distraught and forced to deal with the emotions of losing someone she was close to.

Away, away, away, away, away
Away, away, away, away, away

But it’s like cranes in the sky
Sometimes I don’t wanna feel those metal clouds

The repetition of “away” appears multiple times throughout the song to show her trying to push her negative emotions away. The repetition almost serves as a plea to get away from the distractions and the urge to want to work on yourself. She gets louder with each repetition which shows her growing strength towards fighting for her well-being while also giving a soft, graceful delivery. “Cranes in the sky” could have a couple different meanings. To me I took this line literally as in the crane birds in the sky. Cranes are said to represent longevity, peace, and fortune across many cultures so using this could show her need to find ground after facing constant distractions. Cranes in this line could also be referring to tower cranes which are also used in construction sites. This could also explain the next line “sometimes I don’t wanna feel those metal clouds”. Her emotions are big and inescapable, forcing her to work on herself and towering over her like cranes at a construction site. She uses this analogy to represent the constant changes that goes on in our everyday lives but the ability to sit back and watch growth happen if you let it.

In the song ¨Strangers” by Elton John released in his 1978 album, A Single Man reminds me of many of his classic songs. his iconic piano, acoustics, and vocals are what make this seemingly upbeat song so catchy. the lyrics speak about a sadder truth about failed relationships, and the process of living after losing a partner.

We’ve made the long and the lonely climb
And now we’ve reached the part
Where we find we’re strangers
We were strangers from the start

Elton uses a comparison of a ¨lonely climb¨ to getting through the loneliness of a tough breakup. as they reach the peak of the climb both parties can see that they were never really meant for each other.  when starting relationships, the start can seem like you guys are perfect for each other or the ¨honeymoon¨ phase but as time goes on Elton goes into how they find out they are not very compatible in their relationship. 

We were strangers from the start
Two people caught in the tide
On the edge of love and pride
And both afraid to approach the side
And fall again 

in these lines Elton uses the paradox of loving and being prideful and compares it to a tide which represents the partners coming together. as a tide moves it pushes and pulls and Elton has the two strangers on the edge of ¨love¨ and as the tide pushes them in to love each other they quickly get pulled apart by their ¨pride¨, or tide pulling back. due to past experiences both parties have learned to become afraid of relationships and wont ¨fall again¨. this song emphasizes the struggle of starting a relationship with someone new, and how many times even in a new relationship they still feel like strangers, 

Two people caught on a string
A high-wire act above the center ring
While the audience is wondering
If we’ll make it back
Two people up on a wire

finally Elton uses specific phrases like ¨ A high-wire act above a center ring¨ and ¨Two people up on a wire¨ both common things to find in circus. he compares relationships to a circus and how it just looks like a show to people from the outside, but for the ¨performers¨ their relationship is on the line. The ¨audience¨ in this section refers to peers and family all wondering if the relationship will stand. this shows another pressure many couples feel while already dealing with their own ¨high-wire acts¨. Although very straight forward this song does a good job poetically summarizing what relationships can feel like for both parties. 

Kid Cudi’s “Mr Rager” from Man on the Moon 2 dives into the feeling of wanting to escape your problems. The title ties straight into the lyrics when Kid Cudi says “Oh Mr. Rager tell me where your going,” it shows the speaker chasing a reckless and adventurous version of himself.

The main idea is that running from reality can be tempting even if leading to somewhere dark because you think it feels better than what your currently facing. this song contains a lot of imagery, really putting you into his shoes. an example of this is when he says “I’m on my way to heaven.” he is using heaven as a place to escape to from his problems. he also uses lots of symbolism with the character of Mr. Rager who represents the exciting and thrill seeking version of himself.

Overall the story conveys a personal struggle into a relatable, poetic song that shows the urge to run, even when you don’t know where you’re going.

Beloved, written by Toni Morrison, is a book that is well known as a challenging read. The non-linear narrative and constant flashbacks challenge the reader to fully engage with the characters and story in a way other books don’t. While reading Beloved, at certain points, I was confused by Morrison’s writing style and wasn’t able to fully grasp what was happening to the characters. However, after reading, I was able to appreciate why Morrison might have chosen to lead the reader down this path.

The writing style paired with the powerful message of the story is intentional to give the reader a sliver of the perspective of Sethe and other formerly enslaved characters. Morrison wrote Beloved to explore the complex traumas of life during and after slavery. By writing in such a non-linear way, Morrison is able to emphasize throughout the novel how difficult it is for Sethe to process the world around her due to her traumas. This is shown with flashbacks, flashbacks in flashbacks, and other complicated combinations. What can be hard to understand at first, is really a thoughtful writting style used to challenge the reader to empathize further with the characters.

I loved the theme of migration in Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. There were several quotes that stuck with me deeply and I’ve gathered them here:

Everyone migrates, even if we stay in the same houses our whole lives, because we can’t help it. We are all migrants through time.

Our eternally impending ending does not put a stop to our transient beginnings and middles until the instant when it does.

When the tension receded there was calm, the calm that is called the calm before the storm, but is in reality the foundation of a human life, waiting there for us between the steps of our march to our mortality, when we are compelled to pause and not act but be.

To love is to enter into the inevitability of one day not being able to protect what is most valuable to you.

We are all children who lose our parents, all of us, every man and woman and boy and girl, and we too will all be lost by those who come after us and love us, and this loss unites humanity, unites every human being, the temporary nature of our being-ness, and our shared sorrow, the heartache we each carry and yet too often refuse to acknowledge in one another.

Finally my favorite:

That is the way of things, for when we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind.

Loved it cause not only across countries but even if you just move from one city to another, so much gets left behind. I think a big part of the novel and migration too is the unspoken part of the journey of migration. Because of the fact that it isn’t just about the journey its all the other factors that play into it. Hamid doesn’t focus on the things like boats and traveling great distances, he focuses on the quite reality of displacement. In a time like now i don’t think this book could be more powerful with its meaning. This impacted me because it made me think of my dad because he migrated to the United States. I never thought about any of these things unit reading this.

In Beloved, Toni Morrison shows that freedom does not mean the past disappears. Sethe may escape slavery physically, but the trauma she carries continues to shape her identity and choices. The character of Beloved represents how unresolved pain can return and demand to be acknowledged rather than ignored. Sethe’s memories are so powerful that they blur the line between past and present, showing how trauma lives on inside a person long after the events themselves are over (Morrison 43). This connects to the larger idea that healing cannot happen without confronting painful history. Morrison also suggests that silence can be just as damaging as violence, especially when communities refuse to speak about shared suffering. This idea relates to contemporary culture, where discussions about historical trauma and generational pain are often uncomfortable but necessary. By forcing both characters and readers to face these memories, Beloved argues that true freedom requires remembrance, not forgetting.

In Exit West, Mohsin Hamid explores how trust becomes both fragile and essential when people are forced to leave everything familiar behind. Nadia and Saeed must trust not only each other, but also strangers, new communities, and even the mysterious doors that carry them across borders. These doors remove physical distance, but they do not erase fear, suspicion, or prejudice, which shows that borders are not just geographical—they are emotional and social as well. Trust is tested as the couple moves from place to place, especially when their experiences begin to change them in different ways (Hamid ##). Saeed leans toward tradition and familiarity, while Nadia becomes more independent, highlighting how migration can reshape identity. This connects to contemporary culture because many modern societies struggle with trusting immigrants and refugees, even when displacement is caused by violence and instability. Hamid suggests that survival in a globalized world depends on empathy and openness rather than fear. Ultimately, Exit West argues that trust is not guaranteed, but it is necessary if people hope to coexist in an increasingly interconnected world.

In Beloved, Beloved becomes a more and more prominent character. It’s clear that Toni Morrison wants Beloved to mean something to the readers rather than just a ghost in the story. Initially, when Beloved first came out of the water, I thought that it was a sort of fever dream from Sethe. The whole thing didn’t quite make sense, and the lack of description of her facial features led to a slightly otherworldly sense of what was happening. [Take all of this with a grain of salt, I’m only on page 166]. This also combines with when she plays with Sethe in the shack or pantry, and Sethe sees just emptiness for her face. When I put these two descriptions together and some other scenes where she appears I feel she’s some sort of parasite. Not a literal parasite, but a symbol of grief. In the way that she has taken over the home and has had malicious intent towards everyone in it. Painful experiences are often intentionally suppressed by people, and they try to fill their minds with other things. However, other experiences and feelings can resurface when triggered by something. There a very clear example in this book when Beloved approaches Paul D in the shack. There the book states that his “tobacco can” or “tin can,” the rust fell off, and everything came back. That is why we get tangents of him from sweet home and escaping slavery with the Hi Man.

in the book The Stranger, Albert Camus brings the sun to life and makes it the main antagonist of the story. any time the main character Meursault is forced to deal with a serious situation a looming prescience of the sun, and its heat is always there. a great example is at the very start of the book when Meursault is dealing with the death of his mother, and despite his very calm state he is in the only thing that seems to bother him at the time is the heat. i feel like seeing such an odd fixation on the sun and the heat around him adds onto Meursaults overall mysteriousness. it only seems to affect him in situations where anyone else would be feeling strong emotions like fear, sadness, anxiety, but for some reason he just feels the sun. another example of him mentioning the sun during a emotion provoking time is when his group is being attacked by the Arabs, in almost every sentence he mentions the heat of the sun while they are at the beach. in such a tense moment where he is watching the people he is fond of fight for their lives, he is concerned about how the sun is hitting him. Meursaults point of view of the sun is almost as if he sees it as the antagonist of the story. he portrays it as strong and very hot for him, and never mentions anyone physical in these ways.

The novel Exit West by Mohsin Hamid explores the theme of immigration throughout the story. The main characters, Saeed and Nadia, are forced to leave their home when the war completely takes over their city. Hamid uses their departure from the place they’ve lived in their entire lives to show how difficult it can be to let go of the place you come from. Hamid also uses magical doors as a symbol for migration, representing how people move in search of safety and opportunity. The magical doors also make immigration feel universal, changing the way the reader imagines who immigrants are by showing how people everywhere share the same desire for a better life.

Hamid also shows how immigration changes people physically and emotionally, by having Saeed and Nadia face challenges that test their relationship and sense of self. The book works to encourage readers to view immigrants as individuals with dreams and fears instead of simply foreigners, and it challenges readers to instead judge immigrants not based on their journey, but based on who they were before they left and who they are now.

Throughout Exit West, by Moshin Hamid, the concept of home changes quite a bit. When we are first introduced to Nadia, she lives in her apartment by herself, and Saeed lives in his house with his parents. After Saeed’s mother is killed, Nadia leaves home and moves in with Saeed. Shortly after, Nadia and Saeed are forced to leave their city through a door due to the increasing violence and lack of safety. They find themselves in a less-than-comfortable refugee camp where they quickly realize that all they have is each other, and they ought to stick together.

They travel through another door and realize that they are in London. Nadia and Saeed both associate themselves with other groups of people. Nadia with the Nigerians, and Saeed with the people from their home country. They get into a few arguments in London, and both understand that their relationship might be deteriorating. By this point, Nadia has left her independence behind and is now reliant on Saeed, and Saeed on Nadia. Their concept of home is not a house or apartment; it is with each other. They have gone through so much together that it seems hard to imagine them separated.

Attempting to save their relationship, they move to Marin. They both like the area, but it doesn’t seem as though they have the same spark that they did when they met. After some time there, they decide it is best for Nadia to leave. Now, Nadia is going back to her independent roots and has realized she does not need to rely on Saeed anymore. Her idea of home is to be discovered, rather than wherever Saeed is.

The novel “The Stranger” explores the idea that life itself has no inherent meaning, and that humans must confront the indifference of the universe without relying on illusions of purpose or order. It suggests that truth and freedom come from accepting this meaninglessness honestly, rather than trying to escape it through emotion, religion, or societal expectations. This idea is developed through the detached tone of the narration, the focus on sensory details rather than emotions, and the rejection of conventional moral judgments. The events surrounding death, judgment, and punishment all highlight the absurdity of seeking meaning in a world that offers none, ultimately revealing the tension between human desire for significance and the universe’s silence.

I know this is Literature and poetry class but to be completely honest when i came into litt i thought it was all going to be non fiction reading. Analyzing historic text and readings and not so much complex fiction novels. With that being said i wanted to share a non fiction book that is very interesting and informative in my opinion. The book in mind is guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1997 book by Jared Diamond. It argues that Euro-Asian countries dominated due to environmental factors and geological advantages and not racial differences. That it gave certain civilizations advantages in food production, technology, and disease resistance. Allowing them to develop complex societies and conquer others. One of the cool not so cool facts i learned was, that diseased derived from domestic animals in Europe and Asia and they were exposed to disease like small pox and others at a young age and developed significant immunities. When on their conquest to the Americas to conquer the Incas and Aztecs they actually used their germs against the natives and it decimated the population. I think its really cool how they used biological warfare way before it was even given a name. I also find it very cool how it played a bigger part in their conquest than guns. This book has many other cool facts or arguments about the development of and reign or Euro-Asian empires happened.

Salamano, Mersault’s neighbor, serves as a subtle reflection of the human tendency towards attachment in The Stranger. Although he expresses violence and cruelty towards his dog, his behavior conceals his loneliness and dependence. Through Salamano, Camus illustrates how people often cling to relationships, even when they are unhealthy. The strength of this point is brought out through Salamano’s reminiscences about his time with his dog, despite the fact that, if his dog were with him, he would likely continue mistreating it. His brief storyline contrasts Meursault’s lack of emotional expression, which reveals how different people cope with the absurdity of the world they inhabit. Unlike Salamano, Mersault fails and refuses to cling to the emotional illusions. Where Salamano mourns the loss of his dog, Mersault accepts his mother’s death with unsettling ease. This strong contrast emphasizes Meursault’s rejection of the societal constructs that the rest of the world follow.

           Jessica Benjamin’s theory about subjectivity and power focuses on the importance of recognition in human development. Instead of seeing growth as simply becoming independent, she argues that true individuality comes from mutual acknowledgment between both people. Power happens when someone refuses to recognize another person’s subjectivity, treating them like an object to gain control. This is often visible in gender relationships, where society tends to value independence in men while devaluing characteristics often associated with women. Benjamin explains that power is not automatically bad, but it becomes harmful when exercised without recognizing others. Identity is shaped not in isolation, but through ongoing negotiation between independence and respect for others. By thinking about psychological and social development as relational rather than hierarchical, Benjamin shows how domination, recognition, and subjectivity are connected in both close relationships and larger social systems. Her ideas highlight the potential for equality when people relate through connection instead of control.

            Benjamin’s ideas change how personal and social conflicts are understood by highlighting the role of recognition. Conflict often happens when someone feels ignored or dismissed, showing that the balance of subjectivity is off. On a larger scale, her theory helps explain why marginalized groups face inequality when their perspectives are not acknowledged. Applying this idea encourages approaching relationships more thoughtfully, making sure both one’s own perspective and others’ subjectivity are valued. In the bigger picture, progress in gender, racial, and class issues depends on creating spaces where recognition is mutual, not one-sided. Understanding this inspires a focus on connection and respect rather than control or self-protection, suggesting that building connections can be a practical step toward reducing domination and promoting equality.