Summary: In these next pages, I read about about Mirth (smiling and humor) and Wisdom (the smile of reason, the stoic smile, the saintly smile). In the section about Mirth, it basically explains the difference between smiling and laughter. The main difference is that when we laugh we open our mouth, we show our teeth and we make noise. On the other hand when we smile we do it in a more furtive way. Angus explores the different meanings of a smile and how it is defined today. Something that amazed me was that once to smile meant to drink. As the chapter ends, he talks about the smiley face and how famous it has become. Also that a smiley face is normally used to cheer someone or make them feel better. On the next chapter, Wisdom, he mentions that one smile that shows wisdom is that one of Buddha which shows that death is wonderful. But this started to change as people started to study his smile and interpret it in a different way. Monarchs, kings, and queens usually hardly smile. After the twelfth century, there was something knows as the "Gothic Smile." But there have been doubts whether this smile is a smile at all. As the section comes to an end, he talks about the smile of a baby which is satisfactory and brings happiness to the family. He says that a baby can smile more easily to a person they are familiar with rather than to a person they just met.
Quote: " So while some faces positively scream "idiot" or "murderer," others tend not to reveal a person's qualities of wisdom, wit, humanity, generosity, mercy, or courage. For these instead one must rely upon deportment, words, and actions—in other words, behavior " (Trumble 77).
Reaction: When I saw this quote I felt identified with it because when people meet me they cannot tell my qualities since I can be shy and really quiet at first. As the quote states it people have to rely on the way I behave to know my qualities. At the end they are not surprised because since the first day my quietness show that I am a peaceful person and that I am always in my own bubble. In other words my lack of communication not only shows that I can be a quiet person but also that I am always minding my own business.
Summary: In these pages, I am introduced to Lewdness (rude grinning) and Desire (the coy smile, lipstick). In the section if lewdness, Angus mentioned a group of similar Netherlandish paintings of boys with hens that were understood as a rude joke. In this painting the boy is shown as putting his hand inside the hen's private parts to see is there was an egg on the way. Since back then men have been making sexual connections with jokes that are not intended to do this in the first place. He also mentioned an ornament of a naked female which is known as the sheela. The sheela either gestured with both hands to her exposed genitals, or else had her legs wide apart, thus exposing her vulva as prominently as possible. The sheela is smiling but people that look at it cannot interpret the meaning of it. In the next chapter, he explains how every smile has only one thing is common. That is the chemical reaction that it causes in the brain. He explains how each muscle of our face works with one another to form the smile. Later, he mentions the lipstick and how there are women that feel undressed if they do not wear any. The lipstick serves as a way to enhance the smile together with other cosmetic materials. He also mentions the geisha and how they used the practice of ohaguro, which meant painting their teeth black. There are different explanations on how ohaguro originated. One of them is that it was first adopted in the households of samurai warriors to protect their wives and daughters from being kidnapped.
Quote: " Even a particular joke will stimulate a wide variety of smiles from one of genuine hilarity all the way down to the generous smile by which you attempt to disguise the fact that you have heard it a hundred times before, or that you do not find it remotely funny, or that you just do not get it " (Trumble 51).
Reaction: I automatically laughed when I read this quote because it shows the situation between students and teachers. Most of the jokes that teachers made are really dry (no offense) and students laugh just to make them feel better and not make the situation awkward. Not only this but I felt a connection with it since most of the time I do not get the jokes, at first I laugh because people laugh but then I ask about it because I just simply do not get it. People have told me that I always ruin the joke by not getting it because when they explain it to me I just do not find it funny. But what can I do I have a picky sense of humor.
