This study delineates eighteen different grades of laughter in six categori
es - from the incipient or "inner and inaudible" laugh (the simper and smir
k) to the loud and unrestrained hocl, yowl, shriek, and Olympian laugh. It
discusses the origins of each, draws distinctions, considers each in terms
of tenor and intensity, illustrates the significance of each in key, repres
entative works of modern American literature, and demonstrates the function
of in terms of T. S. Eliot's objective correlative.