Twain himself said,

"Humorists of the 'mere' sort cannot survive. . . .  Humor must not
professedly teach and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if
it would live forever. . . . I have always preached."

(_Autobiography_, 273 in Neider's version, which is all I have at hand).

I think that you and Mark are right on target about the value of humor.  The
stand-up comedians who "teach" and "preach," making us laugh so hard that we
scarcely notice, will endure.   Twain loved the "stand-up" comics of his own
day, Birch, Backus, Billy Rice and others, and though we may have difficulty
today piecing together what they did, their impact on him was significant,
and in him, they've endured.

And to Mark Coburn:   I love your anecdote about Dr. Swift.  I had a
freshman last year who took Swift's "Proposal" quite literally, arguing that
the good dean was a reactionary cannibal who should have been given a taste
of his own medicine.  It took awhile to get him to see the humor, but we
finally broke through.

Sharon McCoy