Reflection of Inquiry Project

The inquiry paper was by far the hardest paper I have written in this class, and maybe even since I have been in college.   I had never written an “inquiry” paper before or ever really even heard of one.  The hardest part for me was coming up with a topic, and then an argument to go along with it.  It took me a while to come up with my topic of sarcasm, but I am glad that I chose to use it.  I learned a lot about a topic that I had always had interest in, and that related a lot to my personality.  It wasn’t very easy finding research on my topic, but I luckily found a couple things that worked perfectly.  I was surprisingly very pleased with how my rough draft turned out, which usually is not the case.  I felt as if I was on the right track, and with the help of you and my peers, I feel as if my paper turned out a lot better than expected.

At first, the inquiry blog was a very difficult thing for me to get used to.  I had never made a blog before, and not being the most computer savvy person it was hard to start.  Once I got started and understood most of Blogger I really ended up enjoying using the blog.  It was an interesting way to connect with our classmates and it added some more creativity to our writing.  I really liked the fact that we could comment on each other pages, and help each other out along the way. I feel as if I benefited a lot out of making this blog, and it helped me organize the craziness of the whole inquiry project. 

The Use and Effects of Sarcasm

The Use and Effects of Sarcasm

Sarcasm, described as a single word or action that can have so many different meanings and interpretations in language and literature.  Some people consider sarcasm a hurtful and demeaning thing, while others like myself find it very comical and a playful use of language.  Known author Oscar Wilde sees sarcasm as “the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence."  There is not one exact definition of sarcasm, but most dictionaries define sarcasm as “mocking, or ironic language intended to convey scorn or insult” (Dictionary).  The subject of sarcasm is complex because many factors are involved.  The following factors affect the presence, or degree, of sarcasm in everyday language:  exaggeration, the nature of the speaker, relationship of speaker to victim, level of the criticism, and whether or not the criticism is being made in private or in front of an audience (Dauphin).  In other words, everyone takes and reacts to sarcasm in a different ways, females especially reacting more negatively to it.

The origin of sarcasm in literature cannot be set back to one certain date, or period of time.  Even though, it has long been a huge impact in literature as a source of humor, or just simply to prove a point using a different technique.  Many biblical scholars say that sarcasm was even used in the Bible, in verse 11:9 of Ecclesiastes (Freeman).  The verse reads "Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things".  The biblical scholars say that this can be interpreted into "if you want to be judged by God, do whatever you want (Freeman)."  This is considered to be sarcasm because it is saying you should go ahead and do something seen as negative, even though knowing you are going to be judged in the end.  Along with the bible, sarcasm has been used in many other famous and ancient literature, from authors such as William Shakespeare, and Geoffrey Chaucer.  More recently, some famous authors include Mark Twain and Matt Groening (Writer of The Simpsons).  Even though nowadays, we see sarcasm in almost every novel and television show that we watch.

Sarcastic transactions used in everyday conversation break down into six forms such as: social control, declaration of allegiance, establishing social solidarity and social distance, venting frustration, and humorous aggression (Dauphin).  In social control, sarcasm is used as a control mechanism to reprimand members of a certain group when undesired behavior is used.  An example would be congratulating a member of a sports team after a severe loss.  Declaration of allegiance is when sarcasm is used and directed at yourself, like telling yourself “Great Job”, after missing an easy basket in a basketball game.  Venting frustration is pretty self-explanatory, and is used in disapproval or anger about something.  For example, saying “This is the best steak I have ever had” even though it was bleeding red when you ordered it well done.  Social solidarity and social distance is directed more at others, and used in the sense of “not being good enough for someone or something.” Saying things such as “Look at that fabulous shirt,” even though you think it is completely hideous. Humorous aggression is the one I see most commonly used, and it is sarcasm that is used to be funny and express humor by stating the opposite of a belief, or the truth.  An example would be saying “Did you see that amazing win last night?” even though you were talking about the Gamecocks who lost terribly. I see all these types of sarcasm used in my everyday life, whether it being me using it or hearing it from the people around me.

With sarcasm now being a part of our everyday lives, from the annoying commercials we watch to the elaborated magazines we read, it affects almost all of us.  Personally as a very sarcastic person, I never take any offense to the witty and derogatory comments that people may say, or that I read about.  That being said, when I am the one saying or writing the sarcastic comment, I usually don’t mean any serious harm.  This coming from a female might sound kind of strange, because multiple studies show that sarcasm affects females in more of a negative way than it does males.  Even though being a female, I do agree that females do react more negative to the use of sarcasm.

Along with gender, there are many other social and cultural factors that impact how you interpret a sarcastic comment.  Things such as your occupation, social class, family structure, and ability to make/maintain relationships can affect your reaction (Blasko, 186).  With all these factors in mind, still in everyday usage, males make sarcastic remarks almost twice as much as females do.  With that being said, studies show it is more common for males to understand sarcastic remarks and interpret them in a positive manner (Blasko, 187).  Since females do have a harder time interpreting sarcasm in the correct form, it usually results in a negative reaction to the sarcasm used.

Another study was conducted at The University of Pennsylvania with thirty different people being surveyed, and the surveyed group consisted of fifteen males and fifteen females.  The goal of the study was to gain insight on peoples experiences and perspectives about sarcasm in different types of relationships (Dauphin).  The study asked questions such as “Is Sarcasm a Negative Thing?”, and also if sarcasm can end both friendships and relationships.  Surprisingly enough, no males found sarcasm to be a negative thing to the four girls that answered yes.  Fourteen out of the fifteen males surveyed thought sarcasm to be just lighthearted humor, while the female responses were all across the board.  Females also admit that they either would be or have been emotionally hurt to a greater extent by other females than males admit to having been emotionally hurt by other males (Dauphin).  67% of females also say that they would be sad and concerned if a good female friend made sarcastic remarks to them, while only 40% of males said they would be concerned or upset(Dauphin).  Overall this study shows us that females react more emotionally than males to all types of sarcasm, which makes females more prone to be negatively affected by it.

Apart from all the studies conducted, and the facts written, I also agree with this argument based on personal experiences.  I have had sarcastic interactions with both male and female friends growing up, and as I still do now.  Being the sarcastic person that I am, I have always noticed a difference in the way different genders react to my sarcasm as well as to others.  A perfect example of this was my first day in one of my classes this semester.  We had to get in small groups, and do the overplayed thing where you introduce yourself and say a few things about yourself.  Not knowing anyone and being a bit shy, I introduced myself and said few comments, one of them being over the top sarcastic about the class.  The two males in my group laughed, while I got the strangest and dirtiest looks from my female group members.  It didn’t take me long to realize that the females were very offended by what I had said, and from then on out had a negative attitude towards me. This personal experience relates back perfectly to the study done at The University of Pennsylvania that stated less than half of females saw everyday sarcasm as lighthearted humor, which I was intending (Dauphin).

With both factual knowledge and personal experiences combined I strongly believe that sarcasm plays a huge role in today’s society.  You can barely make it through the day without hearing someone mocking another, or the cheesy sarcastic television commercials.  Even though sarcasm does play a role in both genders, it is apparent to say that females do react more negatively to the use of sarcasm.  I see how sarcasm affects females more negativity in my everyday life; from my own personal experiences, to the things I watch on television, and read in books.  All you have to do is take a second and really look at female’s reactions to sarcasm, and you will soon agree.

 

Works Citied Page

Blasko, Dawn, Katz, Albert , Kazmerski, Victoria. Saying What You Don't Mean: Social Influences on Sarcastic Language Processing. Blackwell Publishing, 2012.

Dauphin, Valerie. "APPENDIX C." SARCASM IN RELATIONSHIPS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov.           2012.             <http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/communication/valerie.htm>.

Freeman, Shanna. "How Sarcasm Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.             <http://people.howstuffworks.com/sarcasm2.htm>.

"Sarcasm." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins

Publishers. 29 Nov. 2012. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sarcasm>.

Annotated Bibliography

Blasko, Dawn, Albert Katz, and Kazmerski Victoria. Saying What You Don't Mean: Social Influences on Sarcastic Language Processing. N.p.: Blackwell, 2012. Print.

This book talks a lot about sarcasm, and how it compares to literal contexts.  It does studies to show what the brain looks like, and how it reacts to both literal and sarcastic comments.  It talks about how people interpret different types of comments, and all the factors that contribute to it.  It consists of both social and cultural factors, including things like gender, and occupation.  The main point this book looks at is that sarcasm is used when you say one thing but actually mean something else, and how that affects communication.  I would consider this book a reliable source because it has a lot of quality information that relates to my topic.  Some of the information in this book is confusing to understand, such as the pictures and descriptions of the brain.  Along with that, much of the information is very scattered throughout the book making it difficult to connect everything.   Besides that I think this will be a useful source in my final paper.

Camp, Elisabeth. Sarcasm, Pretense, and The Semantics/ Pragmatics Distinction. N.p.: Sage  Productions,2004. Print.

This document talks a lot about the history of sarcasm, and where the “theory” of sarcasm stemmed from.   It looks at sarcasm from different points of view, and compares all of them together.  It says that sarcasm may not be a type of speaker meaning at all, but more of an attitude towards something.  This book looks at sarcasm in a different way than all the other sources I have looked at, which makes this very interesting.  The document is very biased though, which makes it harder to use with my topic and overall argument.  Overall, I feel as if I can get some many good points from this source that will work well in my final paper.

 

Dauphin, Valerie. "APPENDIX C." SARCASM IN RELATIONSHIPS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

This article talks about sarcasm as a whole, but also goes in slight detail about the different forms of sarcasm and how we use it.  It goes into good detail about sarcasm in relationships, especially between males and females.  The author did studies between genders on things such as which gender uses sarcasm more, how it affects romantic relationships, and how males/females react to it.  They also compared if sarcasm was used more between younger or older people.  I found this source very useful because it included the exact information that I needed.  The studies shown on this website were very easy to understand, and very reliable.  I also liked this source because it wasn’t biased at all, and everything in this source was factual.  I feel like this will be my main source of information for my final paper.

 

Haiman, John. Talk Is Cheap: Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language. Oxford: University,1998. Print.

This book shows and talks about language as a whole, and how sarcasm plays a role in it.  It goes in great detail about how sarcasm is considered “cheap talk”, and how it correlates with other types of language.  The author uses many examples of sarcasm in literature, and how it connects to mass media today.  He does a very good job of tying everything together, and making good connections between opposites.   The book is a strong resource because it is written with the knowledge of language, and that plays a huge role in it.  The only thing I didn’t like was that part of the authors writing had a sarcastic tone to it, which made some things harder to understand.  I feel as it might be a tough source to use on my final paper because the use of sarcasm in it.

 Note: I copied and pasted this from Word where the sources were indented, and it is not showing up the same.  I have tried to fix it on here but it will not let me do it without messing up the whole source. Sorry, just letting you know!