Physical Fitness in Aviation

Table of Contents Abstract Background Human Factors Importance of Physical Fitness Maintaining Fitness Conclusion References Abstract Movement is one of the most essential aspects of human life which help in driving the economy of nations. Unfortunately, gaps in human performance usually lead to mistakes which mostly end up in accidents. Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Physical Fitness in Aviation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research has shown that physical fitness of a person reduces chances of a person getting sick since it improves the immune system of the body. Regular exercises have been proofed to increase stamina and body strength thus enabling a person to work for long without getting tired. On the same point, a physically fit person is able to avoid abdominal and back pains associated with sitting for long. In conjunction with that, sharpness of the mind increases when one engages in phys ical exercises regularly thus enabling the person to deal with critical situations effectively besides enhances being alert incase of any emergency. It is depicted that, physical fitness of the entire plane crew highly affects their actions and performance because of the close relationship between physical fitness and human factors in aviation. Since plane crew has little time to access exercise equipments, ways are suggested through which they can be creative and use what they can access in their places of destination to keep their bodies physically fit. Background Many plane accidents that occur today have been associated with the human mistake as opposed to mechanical failure of the craft. Pilots make mistakes of judgment either due to loss of concentration or lack of alertness which leads to the pilots being unable to respond quickly and efficiently when they are required to do so (Salas Maurino 2010). On top of that, the body functioning of a human being highly determines th e degree of responsiveness that the same person will exhibit in any given situation, and this in the end, determines the results that should be expected. While human beings most of the time like to work very much, overworking the body can lead to fatal outcomes which would have been prevented if proper attention was given to the body. Aviation is an aspect that highly depends on the judgment of the people on the crew and the pilot for any outcome therefore, necessitating the importance of one to be careful with the health state of their bodies (Stolzer, Halford Goglia 2010). The human factors which seem minute to some extent are very vital when it comes to aviation because they influence the decision making process of people on whose care the aircraft is entrusted. Advertising Looking for term paper on aviation? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Besides, it has been noted that physical fitness has a far reaching impact on the h uman factors. If one does not have enough exercises for example, the probability of fatigue increases and this may hinder the degree of alertness of the person and this might be a cause of accidents (Rink, Hall Williams 2010). On top of that, it should be noted that the aviation crew does not engage in any active activity and they work for long hours in some cases making their bodies weak therefore their vulnerability to stress and tiredness increases. The correlation between accidents and human factors is therefore very high and many of these accidents can be prevented if attention is paid to human factors. In conjunction with that, the relationship between human factors in aviation and physical fitness of the people involved is very direct and these calls for quick address to help in controlling accidents (Salvendy 2012). Human Factors Human factors are defined as the process of relationship between human beings and the machines with which they work on, the interpersonal relatio nship amongst people, the way people interact with the environment and how they carry out procedures of their duties. It should be noted that, human behavior is also included in the human factors since to some extent it affects the performance of a person (Hoeger W. Hoeger S. 2011). Despite people being very health and perfectly trained, there occurs mistakes that sometimes cause financial losses as well as deaths and these mistakes can be traced back to gaps in human performance caused by otherwise preventable human errors. Furthermore, extreme workload has been known to adversely affect performance, while low levels of workload also encourage laziness meaning that the right amount of workload is essential for maximum output. The most important person in the airplane is the pilot and efforts have been made anciently to ensure that besides being very highly qualified, pilots receive regular training to ensure that they are at their best at all times. But it should be noted that t he airplane crew does not work each person in isolation rather they work as a group and therefore group performance also should be taken into consideration. This has generated interest in coming up with ways of incorporating the group relationships, teamwork and leadership as part of human factors during trainings to enhance cooperation and communication among crew members thus, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness (Salas Maurino 2010). Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Physical Fitness in Aviation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In coherent with that, an effective human factors management should be incorporated in the company processes like training, vacations, quality management and various investigations. This will ensure that at least every member of the company will have a chance of undergoing a refreshing course regularly. It is important to note that, human factors are influenced by several factor s which range from the environment that one is operating in to the physical body state of the person involved. Noise, heat, extreme cold and sometimes vibration are some of the environmental factors that increase the chances of human errors if one is exposed to the same. Unfortunately people have no power over some environmental factors because they are natural but their effects can be controlled by taking precautions in advance and training people on what steps to take incase they are faced with various environmental situations (Carayon 2011). On the same note, it is known that the body works in a systematic way and it does so depending on some factors like the day and night, food times, and other social aspects. Disturbances of the daily body routine affect the biological functioning of a human being making the body ineffective to some extent and this leads to the problems of misjudgment or fatigue. Physical fitness of a person is another determinant of how effective one can be and contributes largely to the human factors. A physically fit person is less likely to be stressed and thus, cause mistakes as compared to a person who does not engage in exercises. Importance of Physical Fitness A person who is physically fit is intellectually and physical ready to take up any task that is assigned to him and will have the energy to keep up with the requirements of the task at hand. On top of that, it has been noted that physical fitness does not only improve ones physical condition but also the mental and the health conditions. Actively involving one’s body in exercises improves the mind‘s ability to endure the daily stress that one goes through in the course of work. Additionally, regular physical exercises decrease the chances of having heart attacks, certain types of cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol (Salvendy 2012). This increases the chances of the crew flying the entire flight without falling sick and not jeopardizing the lives of all the people on board. Advertising Looking for term paper on aviation? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In conjunction with that, engaging in regular exercises has been proved to increase energy and strength making people more capable to carry out physical activities better. In this light, people involved in aviation should also exercise regularly to increase their energy and stamina therefore, allowing them to fly for long hours without feeling bored and fatigued. Furthermore, trying to loose weight by just dieting, is straining the body because the body loses water and muscles in the process thus weakening the body. On the contrary, physically fit person is able to loose weight without loosing water and thus, remain strong while at the same time decrease the amount of fats in the body. It is therefore healthier to loose weight by exercising regularly instead of trying to diet. On top of that, the plane crew most of the time is not involved in physically challenging activities and are therefore prone to gain weight and fats (Stolzer, Halford Goglia 2010). If this is left unchecked i t will lead to body weaknesses and some diseases that are associated with a lot of fats in the body thus, reducing the productivity of the crew besides reducing their readiness to taken on duties as and when they come especially emergencies. On the same note, people flying planes are mostly seated and this in the long run will lead to straining of the abdominal and back muscles. Regular exercises that are meant to improve physical fitness also help in strengthening the abdominal and back muscles thus, making the seating more enjoyable making the crew able to remain active throughout the flight without feeling back pains. Similarly, exercises have been known to improve the immune system of a person besides improving the brain functioning. Good immune system enable one to avoid diseases which otherwise would have reduced the effectiveness of the person (Carayon 2011). On the same note, by increasing the brain functioning exercises help to improve mind sharpness thus, a person can be alert incase of any emergency thus being able to handle the situation effectively besides reducing chances of dementia and Alzheimer’s diseases. It is important to note here that, regular exercises help in improving the sleeping habits of a person because it helps in the relaxing the muscles. People who engage regularly in exercises sleep continuously without waking up in the middle of the night which enables them to wake in the morning feeling fresh than those who do not exercise. This will work well for the plane crew who always are involved in long flights and therefore need a good rest whenever they have time to rest. In addition to that, during exercises some chemicals are released in the brain which helps in reduction of depression feelings, anger, anxiety and stress. These feelings are known to make people to be antisocial and moody as well as hindering good cooperation and fluent communication within the company. Therefore, for improved moods and interrelationships within the company, exercises play a great role and should be advocated for (Rink, Hall Williams 2010). The plane crew need to work as a group since everybody has a role in ensuring a smooth and successful flight and if people start working as individuals the success of the flight might be hampered. Moreover, happiness and output of a person increases when one is physically fit than when the body is unhealthy. This also improves the interactions of people with others in the work places and reduces the chances of people being angry because conflict resolutions become easy. Additionally, flexibility of a person improves when one exercises regularly and this is important especially for pilots whose coordination is required to be efficient during flights since they have to operate many things (Salvendy 2012). Pilot’s decisions during a flight depend on rational evaluation of the available alternatives and speed of acting giving safety maximum emphasis and it relies to a great er extent the ability of the pilot to take risks. On top of that, the attitude towards risk enables a pilot to assess risks that they may be facing as a flight and make decisions while they remain calm and collected. These characteristics are improved when one is involved regularly in exercises. Maintaining Fitness Before engaging in any activity, one has to determine the right amount of exercises that are healthy for the body. Crew members require a little bit engagement in exercises because they do not engage their bodies in active programs. Healthy management of the body is also very important for pilots who have long hours in job and only have minimal time off duty. Taking a walk in a layover hotel or using the resource available there and take good use of the hotel environment is a good idea because sometimes the hotels might not have equipments for exercises (Salas Maurino 2010). Although some hotels are situated in an environment that is not suitable for one to walk around, some may have stairways which can help in aerobics since one can take a walk on the stair cases. As much as exercises are good for the physical fitness of the body, some situations do not allow for outdoor exercises and crew members should avoid taking the risks of going out. Winter is very cold and chances of accidents occurring are high and this can involve the crew members thus, they should avoid going out. On top of that, it is advisable for the crew members who always get themselves in hotels that do not have training facilities to have their own training equipment so as to improve their chances of training. Unfortunately, when one carries around training equipment only light and portable equipment can help but when they are used properly they will along way to help. However, due to inability to know whether training facilities are available at the layover hotel that one may book during their days off, creativity is important as it helps in coming up with ways of using the av ailable facilities and resources to exercise (Carayon 2011). Conclusion Pilots and all crew members are involved in duties that require their body to be physically fit besides demanding that they be strong and remain active or else put all the people in the plane on risk of being involved in accidents. It is therefore important that physical fitness be observed as these highly influences the human factors that have been broadly depicted as the highest cause of accidents. More importantly, aviation companies should find a way of incorporating physical exercises in their programs such that their members can have a chance of exercising as this improves output besides reducing chances of accidents. References Carayon, P. (2011). Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Hoeger, W. K., Hoeger, S. A. (2011). Principles and Labs for Physical Fitness. Stanford: Cengage Learning. Rink, J. E., Hall, T. J., Williams, L. H. (2010). Sch oolwide Physical Activity. Champaign: Human Kinetics. Salas, E., Maurino, D. E. (2010). Human Factors in Aviation. Waltham: Academic Press. Salvendy, G. (2012). Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics. Hoboken: John Wiley sons. Stolzer, A. J., Halford, C. D., Goglia, J. J. (2010). Safety Management Systems in Aviation. Farnham: Ashgate Publishers. This term paper on Physical Fitness in Aviation was written and submitted by user Makenzie U. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term

Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term By Maeve Maddox A reader questions the positive use of the epithet do-gooder: One use of the language that disturbs me is the use by my local paper of the term â€Å"Do-gooder† [to refer] to people who are indeed doing good deeds by helping or contributing.  However the only definitions I have seen for the term appear to refer to those who are trying to do good, but do so in unrealistic or wrong means. I feel the current use is not considering the older, perhaps archaic, usage. The OED does list one example of the noun Do-Good to mean â€Å"a person who does good,† but the only citation given is dated 1654 and the usage is labeled obsolete. In subsequent usage, the nouns do-good and do-gooder have not been intended as compliments. These OED examples from the 1920s reflect the pejorative usage: 1923 There is nothing the matter with the United States exceptthe parlor socialists, up-lifters, and do-goods. 1925   He could not stand them- no decently constituted American can- nor the uplifters and do-gooders who rule us to-day. The Web offers numerous examples of do-gooder in headlines that introduce stories that make it clear that the term is meant in a positive sense: Ebola-stricken doc described as driven do-gooder Africa [has become] the hottest continent for A-list do-gooders like Bono and Brangelina. Salvation Army honors Mon Valley do-gooders Brooklyn Do Gooder Awards to honor community service The misuse of do-gooder to mean â€Å"one who does genuine good† may have gone too far to reverse. If that’s the case, it’s unfortunate. We need a word that describes a person who acts according to his own idea of what doing good is without considering the consequences that might affect the recipients of the supposed good. For example, a corporation or celebrity might think that giving free shoes and free shirts to every person in a poor village is an excellent way to do good, whereas in reality the act would create worse poverty for the village cobblers, weavers, tailors, and seamstresses. English has other words to describe a person who tries to improve the lives of others. Philanthropist is an obvious choice, but many speakers might share the difficulty of the Wizard of Oz when he tries to use the word: Back where I come from there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called philaer, philaer, yes, er, Good Deed Doers. Ruling out philanthropist as too difficult to pronounce, we still have benefactor, humanitarian, altruist, and social reformer. And, perhaps, â€Å"Good Deed Doer.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with Heart7 Tips for Writing a Film ReviewHow Verbs Become Adjectives

How to Write a Response Essay to an Article

How to Write a Response Essay to an Article How to Write a Response Essay to an Article Essays are mainly done in schools. They begin in the junior schools. Per level of education, different essays are done from the simplest to the complex ones depending on the level that one is in. Different essays are written for different reasons or are normally given under different instructions. Some of them are merely about creative writing while in others one has to do a research. This is where one does a research then after that they draft the essay depending on the research that they came up with. There are other essays that are done however. Essays that tend to respond to a certain article. The teacher gives the students an article then they are asked to answer the question asked in the article in an essay form. Such essays are response essays. The students will just read the article and they will answer according to how they feel mostly it is written in first person. Some of the students are not familiar to the essays so the teachers have to teach the students even if in college how to write a response essay to an article. The teachers mainly insist on the first part of the introduction that the students should read the article and understand it. They should read it at first for the first understanding. This is because this is where their response will be based. They will answer the question depending on how they will understand the article. The second thing that they should do is that they should now read the article thoroughly. Therefore to ensure that they understand the article and they will give the right response, they should read the article a number of times. As they read the article they should be able to make some notes that will help them in their response. They should be able to get some impressions as they tread the article and they should be able to put them in a way that they will help them in their response. Write as many points as you can depending on the impressions that you will get. Then after that, write an outline of those impressions. This will help you know whether you have the right impression or not. After writing the outlines then explain them on the basis of the article that you have. This way you will have the evidence that supports your work. After you have all this work then go ahead and draft your response essay. Whatever you will write then is the best that you could have therefore do not feel ashamed of what you have written. After the writing now you can submit the response. At writing company you can get professional response essay writing help from experts. Custom response essays written from scratch!

Case analysis( Global business) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Case analysis( Global business) - Essay Example As a result, the price of ENTel was one of the less price paid for any telecommunication firm across all the developing countries. Furthermore, the privatization of ENTel resulted in legal duopoly as this would allow two companies to manage the entire telecommunication services. Later on, certain more subsequent events have changed the Argentina telecommunication industry. Sprint offers a wide range of wireless as well as wireline communication services to its customers including business and government users. The ‘Sprint’ tradition started off with the establishment of Brown Telephone Co. by Cleson Brown in the year 1899. With the introduction of long distance service, Sprint was able to seize the opportunity with offering its customers the long distance services; that was way back in 1986. In the year 1990, the company went global with its global subsidiary forms to market the international public data network services. In the year 2004, the company merged with another leading telecommunication firm Nextel leading to Sprint Nextel which aims to be no one in customer experience. As of now, Sprint is going to market its EVO 4G in Argentina. This analysis is done to evaluate its probability of success in Argentina. This would be done evaluating the company’s success in US, product attributes and the prospective barriers which can on the way to success. A conclusion would be fetched from the entire analysis. As in US, at the end of the year 2010 the organization has catered over 48.9 million customers. The organization is known for its impressive success in developing, engineering as well as introducing innovative technologies. The company is the first national carrier in US to come up with wireless 4G service, providing mobile data services, prominent brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Assurance Wireless Boost Mobile. Furthermore, the company has also offered instant national as well as

SCHOOLS & SOCIETY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SCHOOLS & SOCIETY - Essay Example NECAP clearly ‘represent critical learning targets for literacy and numeracy† (maine.gov). The NECAP covered the following states: New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. According to the department of education website, its main objective is to assess reading, writing and mathematics from grades 3-8. The third document is the Common Core Standards which is actually a set of core academic standards for mathematics and English Language Arts. Unlike NECAP, literacy in the following areas were also addressed by the core standards: history/social studies, science and technical subjects. In fact, Maine has already been implementing this set of core standards since last school year. The first document is Maine’s Initial Certification Standards. The document is in a pdf format and serves as a quick reference for those who are interested in acquiring teacher certification in Maine. The document is only two pages long but contains precise requirements (teaching skills) tha t a person must possess to become a teacher. There are 10 general objectives with specific details on how to accomplish the objectives aforementioned. There is no subject area mentioned because this document is a general reference for all entry-level teachers. The objectives do not only cover skills but also expected behavioral outcomes. For example, the ninth objective states that teachers must be aware of their legal and ethical commitments. The general objective is further elaborated by defining five abilities that they must possess to show their commitment. One of these abilities include â€Å"maintaining confidentiality in their dealings with parents, students, teachers and school personnel† (MICS). An interested applicant would surely find the document very helpful because the expectations are stated clearly. The NECAP (also known as Grade Level Expectations) is important in assessing the performance of students from grades 3-8. The NECAP results are part of the Stateâ €™s Accountability Standards that is integrated under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The GLE covers reading, mathematics and writing. The document that was browsed was NECAP Mathematics, which fully states the desired learning outcomes that each grade level must attain. The document is in pdf format and thirteen pages long, which requires familiarity with teaching concepts in mathematics education. Teachers who are math majors can fully benefit from reading these set of guidelines developed for the state of Maine. The last document is Common Core Standards of Maine which was promulgated by Public Law 647, â€Å"An Act to Adopt the Common Core State Standards Initiative†. This set of core standards is applicable to Kindergarten to grade 12, which includes â€Å"rigorous grade-level expectations in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing to prepare all students to be college and career ready, including English language learners†( Common Core mai ne.gov). So the standards have been implemented last year for mathematics and reading. The document is sixty-six pages long and in a pdf format. Teachers can greatly benefit from the standards because it illustrates the standards for each grade level. Furthermore, teachers can use the standard to help them plan their lessons and teaching strategies so learners can comply with the given standards. Similarity of Documents All three documents are crucial to

Interrelationship Between Systems of the Human Body

Interrelationship Between Systems of the Human Body Introduction This essay will consider the structure and function of the 11 systems within the human body. It will detail the interrelationship between the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system and between the circulatory system and the lymphatic system. It will then explain the roles of the circulatory and lymphatic systems in the immune response and the role of hormones in metabolism. Human Body Systems The human body is made up of 11 separate but interconnected systems (Sherwood, 2007). These are the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, excretory, nervous, integumentary, immune, endocrine and reproductive systems. The success and survival of the human body is dependent on the ability of separate body systems to work together. The skeletal system provides structure for the human body, stores minerals, produces blood cells and provides protection for delicate organs (Kelly, 2004). 206 bones are connected with ligaments, muscles and tendons, with cartilage, a softer cushion like material, providing protection in jointed areas. Body movements are controlled by the muscular system, with these muscles being connected to bones via tendons (Adams, 2004). Stimulation of these muscles by the nervous system causes contraction and the resulting movement of bones to which they are attached. A number of involuntary muscles ensure the respiratory and circulatory systems continue with contraction of the heart and lungs (Adams, 2004). The heart is central to the circulatory system and acts as to pump blood through arteries, veins and capillaries. The circulatory system is responsible for delivering nutrients and oxygen to cells as well as removing waste products and aiding the immune system through the circulation of whit e blood cells (Jacab, 2006). The immune system is comprised of lymph organs, such as the spleen and thymus, and the skin, all of which are responsible for protecting the body against invading pathogens (Parham, 2005). The circulatory system and the respiratory system are closely interconnected with the latter bringing fresh oxygen into the body through the alveoli of the lungs (Johnson, 2004). The respiratory system is closely connected with the excretory system as it is responsible for the removal of carbon dioxide and other waste gases through exhalation. The excretory system eliminates both solid and liquid wastes in addition to these gaseous products, and is made up of a number of specialist tissues along with the large intestine, bladder, kidneys, rectum, lungs and skin (Sherwood, 2007). The physical and chemical breakdown of food into energy is carried out by the digestive system. This system commences with the mouth, teeth and salivary glands then passes through the oesophagus to the stomach and small intestine for digestion. The liver, pancreas and large intestine are also involved, through the production of digestive enzymes and bile and the processing of nutrients (Windelspecht, 2004). The nervous system is responsible for sending messages to and from the brain through neurons. The nervous system controls all bodily functions by sending electrochemical signals through the neural network (Llamas, 1998). The endocrine system acts as a communication network but uses hormones as chemical messengers which travel through the bloodstream (Klosterman, 2009). The hormones have specific target organs and carry signals to start or stop performing a specific function. Finally, the reproductive system is responsible for the production of children and reproductive hormones cause our bodies to develop into sexual maturity. Relationship between the nervous and musculoskeletal system Muscle is a contractile tissue that can be histologically divided into three types. These are: striated or skeletal muscle, which are under direct nervous control; cardiac muscle, which is also striated but is a specialist form that is confined specifically to the heart; and smooth or visceral muscle, which is not under direct nervous control (Nair and Peate, 2013). This latter form can be found in the walls of blood vessels and the alimentary tract and in arrector pili. Smooth muscle is usually in the form of flat sheets and forms circular and longitudinal layers, or can be arranged as a sphincter in order to control passage through a tube, for example the anus (Ikebe, 1996). Skeletal muscle is usually attached to two separate bones via tendon, fleshy or aponeurosis connections. Muscle action control is carried out by the nervous system (Stein, 1982). Contact between nerves and muscles often occurs through chemical stimulus conveyed by motor end plates, which instruct muscles to contract. Signals can also be sent through tendons via specific receptors that are able to measure the stretch of the tendon (Stein, 1982). Messages from nerves are referred to as efferent when they take a message to a specific tissue and afferent when they are taking the message to the spinal cord and brain (Craig, 2005). As such the nervous system comprises two separate but combined systems. These are the central and peripheral nervous systems, with the former being made up of the brain and spinal cord, and the latter comprising the remaining neural network (Cervero, 1988). This neural network comprises 12 pairs of head nerves connected to the brain and 31 pairs of spinal nerves connected to the spinal cord. Nerves which transfer information from receptors within the body to the ce ntral nervous system are sensoric nerves, whilst nerves that transport information from the CNS to muscle fibres are motoric nerves (Cervero, 1988). As such, the peripheral nervous system comprises collections of nerves, their insulating myelin sheaths, Schwann cells and connective tissue. The majority of these nerve cells are able to carry out efferent and afferent cell processes (Craig, 2005). Figure 1 shows the organisation of a neuron, with the body being the axon and the smaller projections being known as dendrites. The neuron uses the dendrites to obtain and pass information from and to other neurons (Spruston, 2008). The axon passes the information to other cells particularly muscle cells. The information is then passed along the neuron through voltage changes within the cell membrane. This is known as the action potential (Bean, 2007). Information transfer between individual nerve cells occurs through chemical agents which are released when the action potential has reached the end of an axon.

Humor and Irony in British Literature

The comic novel is a very English kind of fiction and does not always settles down in other national literatures well. Certainly the English novel tradition is remarkable for the number of comic novels among its classics from the work of Fielding, and Sterne and Smollett in the eighteenth century, through Jane Austen and Dickens in the nineteenth to Evelyn Waugh, Arnold Bennett and David Lodge in the twentieth.Even novelists whose primary intention is not to write funny novels such as George Eliot, Thomas Hardy and E.  M. Forster have scenes in their fiction which make us laugh aloud. In this work we will define on the example of literary texts of British literature the notion of humor and irony both of which are based on the comic element.Comedy in fiction would appear to have two primary sources, though they are intimately connected: situation (which entails character – a situation that is comic for one character wouldn’t necessarily be so for another) and style.Bot h dependent upon timing, that is to say, the order in which the words, and the information they carry, are arranged. The principle can be illustrated by a single sentence from Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall. At the beginning of the novel, the shy, unassuming hero, Paul Pennyfeather, an Oxford undergraduate, is divested of his trousers by a party of drunken aristocratic hearties, and with monstrous injustice is sent down from the University for indecent behavior.The first chapter concludes: â€Å"God damn and blast them all to hell,† and Paul Pennyfeather meekly to himself as he drove to the station, and then he felt rather ashamed, because he rarely swore. (Waugh, 1929) We laugh at this because of the delayed appearance of the word â€Å"meekly†: what appears, as the sentence begins, to be a long-overdue explosion of righteous anger by the victimized hero turns out to be no such thing but a further exemplification of his timidity and passiveness.Lucky Jim of Ki ngsley Amis exhibits all properties of comic fiction in a highly polished form. As a temporary assistant lecturer at a province university, Jim Dixon is totally dependent for the continuance of his employment on his absent-minded professor’s patronage, which itself requires that Jim should demonstrate his professional competence by publishing a scholarly article. Jim despises both his professor and the rituals of academic scholarship, but cannot afford to say so.His resentment is therefore interiorized, sometimes in fantasies of violence: â€Å"to tie Welch up in his chair and beat him about the head and shoulders with a bottle until he disclosed why, without being French himself, he’d given his sons French names† (Amis) and at the other times, as here, in satirical mental commentary upon the behavior, discourses and institutional codes which oppress him. The style of Lucky Jim is full of little surprises, qualifications and reversals which satirically deconstru ct cliches. Jim’s powerlessness is physically epitomized by his being a passenger in Welch’s car, and a helpless victim of his appalling driving.The banal and apparently superfluous sentence â€Å"Dixon looked out of the window at the fields wheeling past, bright green after a wet April† (Amis) in fact proves to have a function. Looking from the same window moments later, Jim is startled to find â€Å"a man’s face staring in his from about nine inches away† Surprise is combined with conformity to Welch’s incompetence. â€Å"The face, which filled with alarm as he gazed, belonged to the driver of a van which Welch had elected to pass on a sharp bend between two stone walls.† (Amis) A slow motion effect is created by the leisurely precision of the language: â€Å"about nine inches away†, â€Å"filled with alarm†, â€Å"had elected to pass† contrasting comically with the speed with which the imminent collision approa ches. The reader is not told immediately what is happening, but made to infer it, re-enacting the character’s surprise and alarm. Another stylistic device based on humorous effect it creates is irony. Irony consists in saying the opposite of what you mean or inviting an interpretation different from the surface meaning of your words. Unlike other figures of speech – metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche etc.– irony is not distinguished from literal statement by any peculiarity of verbal form. An ironic statement is recognized as such in the act of interpretation. When, for example, the authorial narrator of Pride and Prejudice says â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a fortune, must be in want of a wife,† (Austen, Chapter I) the reader, alerted by the false logic of the proposition about single men with fortunes, interprets the â€Å"universal† generalization as an ironic comment on a particular social group obsessed with matchmaking.The same rule applies to action in narrative. When the reader is made aware of a disparity between the facts of a situation and the characters’ understanding of it, an effect called â€Å"dramatic irony† is generated. (Lodge, 179) Arnold Bennett in his The Old Wives’ Tale employs two different methods to put his characters’ behavior in an ironic perspective. Sophia, the beautiful passionate but inexperienced daughter of a draper in the Potteries, is sufficiently dazzled by Gerald Scales, a handsome commercial traveler who has inherited a small fortune, to elope with him.The embrace described in the passage below is their first in the privacy of their London lodgings. Her face, view so close that he could see the almost imperceptible down on those fruit-like cheeks, was astonishingly beautiful; †¦[and] he could feel the secret loyalty of her soul ascending to him. She was very slightly taller than her lover; but somehow she hung from him, her body curved backwards, and her bosom pressed against his, so that instead of looking up at her gaze he looked down at it. He preferred that; perfectly proportioned though he was, his stature was a delicate point with him.(Bennett, 278) What should be a moment of erotic rapture and emotional unity is revealed as the physical conjunction of two people whose thoughts are running on quite different tacks. Gerald in fact intends to seduce Sophia, though in the event he lacks the self-assurance to carry out his plan. Even in this embrace he is at first nervous and tentative, â€Å"perceiving that her ardour was exceeding his. † (Bennett, 278) But as the intimate contact continues he becomes more confident and masterful: â€Å"His fears slipped away; he began to be very satisfied with himself† (Bennett, 278).There is probably a sexual pun hidden in â€Å"His spirits rose by the uplift of his senses†, for Bennett frequently hinted in this fashion at things he dared not describe explicitly. Gerald sexual arousal has nothing to do with love, or even lust. It is a function of his vanity and self-esteem. â€Å"Something in him had forced her to lay her modesty on the altar of his desire†. Like â€Å"the secret loyalty of her soul ascending to him† (Bennett, 279) earlier, this florid metaphor mocks the complacent thought it expresses.The use of the word â€Å"altar† carries an extra ironic charge since at this point Gerald has no intention of leading Sophia to the altar of marriage. Up to this point, Bennett keeps to Gerald’s point of view, and uses the kind of language appropriate to that perspective, thus implying an ironic assessment of Gerald’s character. â€Å"So he kissed her yet more ardently, and with the slightest touch of a victor’s condescension; and her burning response more than restored the self-confidence which he had been losing.† (Bennett, 279) The description of his timidity, vanity and complacency – so very different from what he ought to be feeling in this situation is enough to condemn him in reader’s eyes. In the next paragraph Bennett uses the convention of the omniscient intrusive author to switch to Sophia’s point of view, and to comment explicitly on her misconceptions, adding to the layers of irony in the scene. Sophia’s words are more creditable than Gerald’s, but her words, â€Å"I’ve got no on but you now† , are partly calculated to endear him to her.This merely reveals her naivety, however. â€Å"She fancied in her ignorance that the expression of this sentiment would please him. She was not aware that a man is usually rather chilled by it, because it proves to him that the other is thinking about his responsibilities and not about his privileges. †¦ [He] smiled vaguely. † (Bennett, 279) As the â€Å"burning† Sophia utters this sentiment in a â€Å"meltingâ₠¬  voice, Gerald is â€Å"chilled† by the reminder of his responsibilities.He responds with non-committal smile, which the infatuated Sophia finds charming, but which, the narrator assures us, was an index of his unreliability and a portent of disillusionment to come: â€Å"A less innocent girl than Sophia might have divined from that adorable half-feminine smile that she could do anything with Gerald except rely on him. But Sophia had to learn. † (Bennett, 279) The reader is supplied with knowledge that helps to feel pity for Sophia and contempt for Gerald. This type of irony leaves us with little work of inference or interpretation to do; on the contrary, we are the passive recipients of the author’s wisdom.To conclude it is necessary to note the main difference between humor and irony. These two devices while both based on comic element apply different approaches to their object. Irony the funny object is hidden beyond the mask of seriousness, and the negati ve, derisive attitude to the object is expressed. The different is humor, where the serious thing is hidden beyond the mask of ridiculous and the attitude to the object of derision is predominantly positive. Works Cited List: Amis, Kinsley. Lucky Jim. London: Gollancz, 1954.Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Reissue edition, Bantam Classics, 1983. Bennett, Arnold. The Old Wives’ Tale. New York Hodder & Stoughton, 1909. Carens, James F. , The Satiric Art of Evelyn Waugh. Seattle and London, University of Washington Press, 1966. Lodge, David & Wood, Nigel Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader. Harlow: Pearson, 2000 Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor in Eighteenth-and Nineteenth-Century British Literature. A Reference Guide, 1998. Waugh, Evelyn. Decline and Fall. London: Chapman & Hall, 1928.