Analysis of Humor in “Babies in the Jungle”Abstract O. Henry(1862-1910)is one of the greatest short story masters in the world and he is the founder of American modern short story. As a prolific writer, O. Henry has written more than three hundreds stories in his life, and his short stories are especially famous for vivid story design, unique tone and surprising ending.47492

However, the researches about O. Henry’s humorous writing style from home and abroad are quite rare and they usually focus on very few of his works, and the researches on “Babies in the Jungle” still remain a virgin land. This paper aims to do a comprehensive analysis of humor of “Babies in the Jungle” on the basis of the previous researches. 

This paper begins with an introduction of the research background, research states quo and paper structure. In the second chapter, there will be a brief introduction of definition of humor and an overview of humor in O. Henry’s other works, such as “The Cops and the Anthem” and “The Gift of Magi”, as a lead-in. And then the third chapter dedicates to the analysis of the humor in “Babies in the Jungle” from perspectives of title, story design, rhetorical skills, characterization and surprising ending.

As for the conclusion, it makes an objective assessment on the meaning of humor in “Babies in the Jungle” as well as points out the significance of humor in O. Henry’s works, which has been proved to be worthwhile and rewarding in this paper.

Key Words: O. Henry; “Babies in the Jungle”; humor

《丛林中的宝贝》中幽默手法的分析

摘 要欧·亨利（1862－1910）是20世纪初美国著名短篇小说家，美国现代短篇小说创始人。他是一位高产的作家，一生中留下了一部长篇小说和近三百篇的短篇小说。他的短篇小说构思精巧，语言幽默、结局出人意料而闻名于世。

国内外对于欧·亨利幽默写作手法的研究尚在少数，并且几乎集中在个别几部短篇小说的研究，数量非常有限，对于《丛林中的宝贝》的研究更是空白。本文旨在对前人相关研究进行分析讨论的基础上，对《丛林中的宝贝》这部短篇小说进行深入的挖掘。 

本文开篇先介绍了研究背景、研究现状、研究意义和论文结构。接着通过介绍幽默的定义，并介绍欧·亨利其他两部作品《警察与赞美诗》和《麦琪的礼物》中的幽默手法的运用作为主题的引入。本文的第三个章节开始对《丛林中的宝贝》进行幽默手法的分析，主要从故事标题、故事框架、修辞手法、人物刻画和令人意外的结局进行阐述。

最后再总结全文的基础上本文客观的评价了《丛林中的宝贝》中幽默手法的意义，指出了幽默手法在其作品中的地位。

毕业论文关键词：欧·亨利；《丛林中的宝贝》；幽默手法。

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Background of This Study 1

1.2 Previous Studies on O. Henry’s Works 1

1.2.1 Studies at Home 1

1.2.2 Studies Abroad 3

1.3 Significance of This Study 3

1.4 Structure of the Paper 4

2. Humor in O. Henry’s Works 5

2.1 Definition and Classification of Humor 5

2.2 Characteristics of Humor in O. Henry’s Works 6

2.2.1 Humorous Tone 7

2.2.2 Surprising Ending