In paragraph 5, how does the statement "The humorous story is told gravely" refine the author's main idea?

The statement "The humorous story is told gravely" is simply to conceal the funny aspect from the readers or audience.

The main idea in a text simply means the idea that the author wants to pass to the readers. It's simply what the author wants the readers to know in a story.

Based on the information given, the statement "The humorous story is told gravely" is simply to conceal the fact that the funny aspect from the readers or audience. The purpose is to enable the audience have the last laugh. This was the aim of Mark Twain in using the effect.

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HOW TO TELL A STORY  AND OTHERS  by Mark Twain

Paragraph 5 stated that "The humorous story is told gravely."  This statement narrows the author's main idea on "How to tell a story and others" to how a humorous story can be told.  This means that the author's specific purpose for writing this short story was to explain how to tell a humorous story.  Since this was not stated initially, the author decided to refine his main idea in this paragraph by stating clearly that "the humorous story is told gravely."  This assertion helps the storyteller to conceal the funny aspect from their audience. He then differentiates telling a humorous story from a comic and witting stories.

Explanation:

Mark Twain wrote "How to Tell a Story and Others" in 1897 to inspire writers and other storytellers that in telling their stories they should be mindful of the type of storytelling that their audience like.  Moreover, in the storytelling they must be resilient enough to hide the funny nature of the story while they are narrating it.  The overall purpose is to enable their audience to have the last laugh.  According to him, this makes telling a humorous storytelling a job for an artist.