Humour

Humour or humor (see spelling differences) is the tendency of particular cognitive

experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives
from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of
fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: humor, "body fluid"),
controlled human health and emotion.

People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to
experience humour�i.e., to be amused, to smile or laugh at something funny�and
thus are considered to have a sense of humour. The hypothetical person lacking a
sense of humour would likely find the behaviour induced by humour to be
inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal
taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a
host of variables, including geographical location, culture, maturity, level of
education, intelligence and context. For example, young children may favour
slapstick such as Punch and Judy puppet shows or cartoons such as Tom and Jerry,
whose purely physical nature makes it more accessible to them. By contrast,
more sophisticated forms of humour such as satire require an understanding of its
social meaning and context, and thus tend to appeal to more mature audiences.

Myth

While common English usage often equates "myth" with "falsehood," scholars use the
term slightly differently. A myth is a traditional tale of deep cultural
significance to a people in terms of etiology, eschatology, ritual practice, or
models of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The myth often (but not always)
DEALS with gods, supernatural beings, or ancestral heroes. The culture creating or
retelling the myth may or may not believe that the myth refers to literal or
factual events, but it values the mythic narrative regardless of its historical
authenticity for its (conscious or unconscious) insights into the human condition
or the model it provides for cultural behavior. See also folklore, legend,
mythography, mythos, and mythology

Dialog

The lines spoken by a character or characters in a play, essay, story, or novel,

especially a conversation between two characters, or a literary work
that takes the form of such a discussion (e.g., Plato's Republic). Bad dialogue is
pointless. Good dialogue either provides characterization or advances
the plot. In plays, dialogue often includes within it hints akin to stage
directions. For instance, if one character asks, "Why are you hitting me?" the
reader can assume that on stage another character is striking the speaker. Noticing
such details is particularly important in classical drama and in Shakespeare's
plays since explicit stage directions are often missing.