Death Humor of James Thorson and Allen Klein Essay

Death Humor of James Thorson and Allen Klein - Essay Example Thorson. It was published in the Journal of Popular American Culture. Vol. 16:2. It revolves around gallows humor and covers different aspects of the topic. It covers the history and various other types of gallows humor. According to the Oxford Dictionary, Gallows Humor is grim and ironic humor in a desperate or hopeless situation. (The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2008) It refers to humor that is directed towards something or some event that is frightening in real life. Getting electrocuted at a yogurt dispensing machine at National Institute of Health makes us realize how unpredictable this life is. It makes us realize that it can end any time without us knowing it which makes it very frightening. Still we smile at the unexpected pattern of circumstances. I agree with James A. Thorson when he says that there is a cognitive shift in the way we perceive this event. I agree with James A. Thorson when he says that smiling at frightening and unfortunate events, like when a man gets electrocuted while dispensing yogurt at a National Institute of Health cannot be put under the heading of 'gallows humor'. Gallows humor is something that is intentionally created in order to help people cope with death and its anxieties. This event that I described above was not intentional. It is just a combination of a lot of unexpected events being put together. On the other hand gallows humor is there for a reason. It has motive of helping people cope with death better. What supports gallows humor and makes it so acceptable The fact that no one can escape death creates a lot of anxiety but gallows humor allows us to accept it which, as a result, decreases the anxiety that everyone in this world goes through.Jokes regarding war and combat also help us ignore the ugly reality of war itself. We just concentrate on the humorous aspect of it and ignore war as a bloody, loud and violent event. In war jokes, the real situation is ignored and put aside. In my opinion, Sigmund Freud was right when he stated that we make fun of death as a defense mechanism. Even though this results in pushing us away from what is real and distorting reality, but at least it allows us to live happily whatever time we have.However, when one laughs at someone else's death makes it unethical, prejudice and inhumane. Terms used by medical officers like Trainwreck and Gork for their patients are clearly just a result of these medical officers being sick of their jobs. Making fun of others death just makes us feel better because it reassures us that we are not like them. We start to consider them as outsiders, a term which refers to people who are not a part your group. We make fun of the outsiders and this makes us prejudice towards them.Also those people who are oppressed by others use humor as a weapon against political repression. This point was put forward by Antonin Obrdlik, a sociologist who studied the Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Humor helped them feel better about them selves and these people used it against their enemies. Similarly, gallows humor is used by people to help them feel better about themselves and not so insignificant. It helps with deal with death and all other harsh realities emotionally. It is like psychological reassurance and could also be considered as passive-aggression. We have a natural tendency to make fun of

Grunert's Total Food Quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Grunert's Total Food Quality - Essay Example Furthermore, very well taste being free from Bovine Spongiform Enciphalopathy, genetic amendment and food additives are incentives for buying food. According to the Grunert's Total Food Quality Model the propensity towards augmented consumption of food can be correlated to a broader concern as regard to environmental issues. The major reasons that thwart consumers from purchasing food are: high price, be deficient in availability, gratification with conventional food, lack of reliance, the inadequate choice and paucity of perceived value. Although a number of consumers have shown curiosity in food, the food options of comparatively few people have been affected. Hence, expressed curiosity in food does not play a momentous role in food purchase and a disparity between positive attitude and behaviour is evident. Thus, acquaintance of consumers' cognitive structures and their impact on the purchase decision will indeed shed light on consumers' food purchases verdict that facilitates UK food firms in devising their marketing strategies. Economic theory has shown some confine in explaining the intricacy and multidimensionality of consumer activities. These bounds not only relate to the supposition of consumer rationality (that is utility exploiting behaviour) and flawless information. The majority of economic models use relative prices and disposable income or budget as illustrative variables of consumer deeds and treat every other sway (for instance social, economic and cultural factors) as cloaked or latent variables: quality inspection is one of them. The analysis of Grunert's Total Food Quality Model guides United Kingdom food firms devising marketing strategies that how consumer attitude deals primarily with predilections and how predilections are formed in the mind of the consumer. Marketing approaches to consumer attitude may be eminent as cognitive versus behavioural. According to Grunert the cognitive approaches underscore constructs dealing with cerebral structures and thinking processes; behavioural approaches stress upon direct links among the characteristics of the environment and behaviour. Both approaches are broadly accepted and accredited ways of analysing behaviour, with a high degree of complement. In this analysis one will ponder on the first approach and concentrate on consumer product knowledge, engagement and eagerness in the case of organic products. From a cognitive perspective, one can define consumer behaviour as the activities that people engross in when deciding, purchasing, and using goods and services to gratify desires. Such activities involve cerebral and emotional processes, besides physical actions. The cognitive approach is based on consumer acquaintance, product perception and the desires consumers want to gratify. Cognition is referred to as the dynamic cerebral constructs and processes involved in thinking, discerning and interpreting stimuli and events from the environment. It includes the information, sense and values that consumers have developed from their practice and stored in their memories. Whilst several aspects of cognition are sentient