Dr. Flores for the Win

        My Spanish professor, Dr. Flores, is a wonderful teacher and a charismatic person.  As many know who have ever taken a language course, the professor needs to be animated and expressive, as it helps students to understand the words that he/she is saying.  While Dr. Flores’s hand motions and facial expressions are quite comical, it is his voice crack that gets me every darn time.

            For example, Dr. Flores’s voice cracked today, thus causing the class to burst into an uproar of laughter.  As he has done multiple times before, he was speaking, when his pitch suddenly changed into that of a six-year-old girl.  He was quick to correct himself by clearing his throat and repeating what he said in a much deeper – I mean, much, much deeper – than normal voice.

            This minor incident was (and still is) funny for multiple reasons.  Like I have discussed many times in various posts, a cognitive shift occurred which caused us all, everyone in the class, to laugh.  You do not expect a man, especially one who is in his sixties, to have a voice crack.  Now, if he was a thirteen-year-old boy, that would be a different story, but he obviously is not.  This shift occurred because we did not expect an elderly man to experience something that usually characterizes adolescent males in puberty.

            In correlation with this cognitive shift, the Superiority Theory came into play.  We were laughing because we were glad that our voices did not crack (which is important for a language class, especially one called “Oral Communication in Spanish”).  Moreover, I think the men in the class experienced the Superiority Theory on a higher level than the women, as they have been – most likely – in Dr. Flores’s situation before. They were particularly happy that it was Dr. Flores’s voice that cracked and – thank heavens – not their own.

           

            In addition to the Superiority Theory, I think the Release Theory is exemplified in Dr. Flores’s voice crack.  Many times (but not all the time), students get bored in class.  They may even get antsy and/or tired.  They have all of this energy built up inside of them, so when something like this happens, that energy is released through laughter.  This, in turn, is good for the class because it refreshes them and usually causes them to be more attentive.

            Another aspect of his voice cracking that is important to point out is that it was definitely a social experience.  As I stated earlier, the whole class, including Dr. Flores, laughed.  Hearing each other laugh inspired more laughter.  Although I think that laughter is not always social, it was in this case.  Seeing my other friends laugh facilitated more laughter from myself.

            In summation, I am lucky enough to experience humorous moments everyday.  Knowing that Dr. Flores’s voice might and most likely will crack in class is just one example of a funny situation.  Because it happens so frequently, I am starting to think that he does this on purpose.  Even if he does, though, I don’t mind a little laughter in my life.