My understanding

In the end, we can see the author mainly talked about the intertwined truth and humor. While in the beginning, the author pointed out "humor is a weapon and best & only tool". Then he listed comic devices: satire, parody, irony, lampoon and nonsense. In the body, author illustrated ample examples to explain what was obverse and positive.

作者认为humor literature 是使用直接的正确的英语表达， 同时，揭示一些日常的“serious hopes”的事实

Vocabulary

satire 讽刺

a way of criticizing people or ideas in a humorous way, or a piece of writing or play that uses this style: 

e.g.political satire

parody 滑稽的模仿

1 writing, music, art, speech, etc. that intentionally copies the style of someone famous or copies a particular situation, making the features or qualities of the original more noticeable in a way that is humorous: 

e.g.There is a hint of self-parody in his later paintings.

2 disapproving something that so obviously fails to achieve the effect that was intended that it is stupid: 不赞同

e.g."It was a parody of a trial," said one observer.

irony 讽刺

a situation in which something which was intended to have a particular result has the opposite or a very different result: 

e.g.The irony (of it) is that the new tax system will burden those it was intended to help.

lampoon 以幽默的方式公开批判某人或某组织

a piece of writing, a drawing, etc. that criticizes a famous person or a public organization in a humorous way, allowing their or its bad qualities to be seen and making them or it seem stupid:

e.g.The magazine is famed for its merciless political lampoons.

nonsense 废话

an idea, something said or written, or behaviour that is silly or stupid:

e.g.This report is nonsense and nothing but a waste of paper.

solemn 庄严

serious and without any humour:

e.g.solemn music

lunacy 疯狂行为（坏结果）

stupid behaviour that will have bad results:

e.g.It would be lunacy to try to climb the mountain in this weather.

Sentence

I'm not a fancier of dead frogs, but I wanted to see if at least a few lessons could be learned by poking about in the innards........

这里dead frogs和poking about in the innards，都是用典。

dead frogs，是指温水煮青蛙的实验

poking about in the innards是指“戳一下内脏”，这里应该是“透过表象看到实质”的意思