Holistic Healing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH5IMv2jeuk

    

      This short clip from the Seinfeld episode entitled "The Heart Attack" depicts George Castanza desiring a more natural form of treatment (with encouragement from Cosmos Kramer), thereby attending the house of a holistic healer. As the healer himself comes out, he proposes a series of (absurd) claims as to why George may be sick and what he MUST do in order to heal himself, taking care to mention the corrupt nature of conventional doctors and hospitals. As George slowly adjusts himself to this process, he opens up by having some tea made of seemingly suspicious and unheard of ingredients, after which he turns purple and is transported to the hospital.

     This scene satirizes the concept of "holistic healing", and more-so the healers themselves, as they claim that the concept of "western medicine" and conventional doctors are corrupt, while they take on every opportunity to diagnose their patients with every absurd phenomenon that comes to mind, merely to convince the patients of their "knowledge" and "wisdom", while simultaneously managing to make a large profit out of them. Their methods of "treatment" are, for the most part, ineffective in every physical way and may only heal the patient through the concept of the placebo effect. 

     The skit mainly makes use of the satirical technique of exaggeration, greatly overemphasizing the insanity of holistic healers and the measures they go through to fool their patients. By depicting the healer, Tor Eckman, engaging in specific tasks such as moving his metal container about in the air and advising George to shower in cold water, the scene exaggerates the extent to which holistic healers make use of what one may claim to be "insensible and useless" tactics, confidently claiming their effectiveness. 

     This use of exaggeration allows for this scene to be particularly effective in its use of satire. The character of the holistic healer as well as his name are fitting to the general stereotype society may place upon him or her. His clothing and home are sufficiently chosen as well. The actions the holistic healer does are accurate enough to be relative to the general concept of the practice yet exaggerated and absurd enough to clearly be understood as satirical and sarcastic. The complete and utter seriousness of the healer himself also allow for the scene to generally increase in humor and satire as the seriousness greatly contrasts with the absurdity of his actions. 

A Mother's Love

Woman Who Cracked 3 Separate iPhone Screens Expecting Baby Boy This August
Source: The Onionhttp://www.theonion.com/articles/woman-who-cracked-3-separate-iphone-screens-expect,32538/?recirc=parenting

      Twenty-nine-year-old Samantha Curtis, a sales clerk from Philadelphia, expecting go give birth to a baby boy this August. She has cracked three different iPhone screens in her lifetime either by dropping the phone, leaving it to come into constant contact with all else in her bag, or having it slip out of her hands while "absentmindedly spinning it on a tabletop" (Woman Who Cracked 3 Separate iPhone Screens Expecting Baby Boy This August). She claims to be overjoyed to be giving birth in August and is very excited for the opportunity. Her last iPhone was in such bad shape as a result of her accidents that the screen could barely be read. She states her anticipation and joy upon the arrival of the baby. Aside from breaking her multiple iPhones, she has dropped her current one on the sidewalk ten times in the past five weeks, and says the last six months of her pregnancy have been magical, as she anxiously waits. Samantha accidentally leaves her iPhone in her car at times, and is thinking about naming the baby either Jason or Gregory; her and her husband, David, are still unsure. Her second iPhone was ruined as she allowed it to slip out of her hands into scorching bath water. Samantha has also been in a few car accidents, leaving significant damages to her car, and she claims that she is sure she will be able to handle the task of taking care of a newborn, aside from its many difficulties, which she acknowledges. Curtis has also been known for "leaving her jacket at bars and restaurants, tripping and spilling the contents of her pursue to the ground, forgetting to cap bottles of detergent, and having a dog who is mostly friendly but has been known to bite" (Woman Who Cracked 3 Separate iPhone Screens Expecting Baby Boy This August). Yet she assures reporters that she will allow no harm to come to her child. Placing her fourth phone in two years on the table, Curtis says she has been reading up on giving birth and child-care, however finds that "at the end of the day the main thing about being a mom is just to give your baby all the love and affection you've got, and everything else will fall into place" (Woman Who Cracked 3 Separate iPhone Screens Expecting Baby Boy This August). That is what she plans to do.
     The significance of this article lies in the beauties of childbirth and of the never-ending loving relationship between mom and child. The story of Samantha Curtis is a clear example that mothers are willing to take on any challenges and devote everything to the raising and nurturing of their child, even if the child is not yet born. Her inspiring story gives all readers hope, determination, courage and confidence, especially when considering to dive into the mirky waters of child-birth. She is a women who gives off a beautiful radiance which just screams "I can do it and so can you!".

     This article manages to satirize women who either have a child while they are clearly not prepared to do so, or who are incapable of caring for a child they already have, as the women can barely take care of themselves. The article makes use of incongruity with the inclusion of situational irony, as one would not normally expect a such an unorganized women who consistently drops/damages important items and causes destruction to other ones to have a child and claim that she herself can take full care of it. Incongruity is also seen within the writing style, as the author adds in small bursts of facts explaining situations in which the women, Samantha, has managed to cause destruction or damage through her acts of carelessness one way or another amongst the general topic of her excitement towards giving birth. It is unexpected to see the unrelated sentences near one another with no flow or direct relation at all, only emphasizing the satire of the writing as a whole and using implications to make it more amusing. Exaggeration is also seen within scenarios depicting the mother-to-be's immaturity and clumsiness, as the article depicts such scenes as her breaking her iPhone several times by acts such as dropping it into very hot water, as well as her constant forgetfulness and unsafe driving habits.