Lesson on Satire Lesson on Satire

Ms. HawkinsMs. Hawkins

AP Structured TutorialsAP Structured Tutorials

Read “A Modest Proposal. Answer the following questions:

1. Who is Swift’s intended audience? 2. What problem does his essay attempt to address? 3. What rhetorical and persuasive devices does he utilize to

achieve that purpose? 4. What’s the “normal” or more traditional approach most

people use, who also would like to address this problem?

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”

WHAT IS THE DATE THE ESSAY WAS PUBLISHED? WHAT CITY IS BEING DISCUSSED? WHICH PARAGRAPH CONTAINS HIS ACTUAL RADICAL SPECIFIC THESIS--HIS "MODEST PROPOSAL"? (Give the number of the paragraph counting each paragraph from the first one.) WHAT IS THE NUMBER OF BABIES HE EXPECTS TO BE SOLD AND EATEN EACH YEAR? WHO WILL EAT THE BABIES? HOW MUCH WILL EACH BABY COST?HOW MANY SERVINGS DOES SWIFT SUGGEST EACH BABY WILL PROVIDE FOR A GOOD TABLE?

WHAT IS THE WEIGHT SWIFT SUGGESTS THE AVERAGE BABY WILL BE WHEN IT IS ONE YEAR OLD?

WHAT TWO PLACES ON EARTH ALSO APPARENTLY DO THIS, ACCORDING TO THE ESSAY?

WHAT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SWIFT'S REAL PROPOSAL TO HELP THE POOR OF IRELAND? (Again, count the paragraphs from the first--or use the paragraph numbers if provided.)

LIST THE NUMBERS OF PARAGRAPHS FOR EACH OF THE FIVE SECTIONS OF THE ESSAY:Introduction__________ Radical thesis—__________ Support for radical thesis—__________ Actual thesis to help the poor—__________ Reiteration (repeating main points of the radical thesis)—________

Homework: Only AFTER you read “A Modest Proposal,” take notes over Swift’s biography- you may do internet research.

Guiding Questions for each example: Please answer all four questions for each

video: A. Who is the intended audience? B. What problem does the video attempt to

address? C. What rhetorical and persuasive devices

does he utilize to achieve that purpose? D. Suggest your own solution to this issue.

Holding up the dark glass to some of the less flattering aspects of American culture:

Ketchup Soup Feed the Children with Sally Struthers Graphic Interpretation of “Baby cakes”

by Neil Gaiman

“A Modest Proposal” addresses starvation in 1729; let’s look at a couple of different approaches to the same problem:

Dove Evolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Slob Evolution

Slob Evolution (thank you, Jennifer LaRue, Shelby Co HS)

Child Earns Clock Radio For 78 Hours Of Work U.S. High School Get Raw End Of Student Exchange Report: TV Helps Build Valuable Looking Skills Obam a’s Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy Girl Moved To Tears By 'Of Mice And Men' Cliffs Notes Police: iPhone Left In Hot Car For Three Hours Nation Shudders at Large Block of Uninterrupted Text Wealthy Teen Nearly Experiences Consequence MySpace Outage Leaves Millions Friendless World's Scientists Admit They Just Don't Like Mice Even CEO Can't Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business

The Onion

After 5 Years In U.S., Terrorist Cell Too Complacent To Carry Out Attack

Middle East Conflict Intensifies As Blah Blah Blah, Etc. Etc. Majority Of Parents Abuse Children, Children Report Rhetorical Pleasantry Elicits 45-Minute Response All 7 Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake Sale Johnson & Johnson Introduces 'Nothing But Tears' Shampo

o To Toughen Up Newborns

Saturday Night Live Weekend Update with Set

h– Really?!? Michael Phelps

Lindsay Lohan eHarmony Ad Not Your Father ’s Taliban (New Yorker spoof)

More Cultural Satire Resources

Pre-AP I or II English Introduction to Satire:

Exploring Satire With Shrek (then compose an original satirized fairy tale)Common Elements of Fairy Tales

NCTE’S ReadWriteThink Lesson Plans

NCTE’s ReadWriteThink:

The Simpsons Lesson Plan

The New York Times: The Learning Network:

‘Me Fail Eng lish? That’s Unpossible’: Study ing Literature w ith ‘The Sim psons’

The Simpsons: American Satire

The Simpsons Recast Three Classics

Terry Gross Interviews Jon Stewart on Fresh Air

(October 4, 2010) Jon Stewart Parodies Glenn Beck Jon Stewart Interviews Jim Cramer Jon Stew art’s “Rally to Restore Sanity /Fear”

Closing Speech Room for Debate (thank you, Chris Crouch, Highlands

HS)

TIME Cartoons of the Week

Political Satire Resources

Applied Practice in Satire Selections (Pre-AP/AP): Multiple Choice & Free-Response Practice on the following:

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”Henry David Thoreau’s “The Battle of the Ants”Samuel L. Clemens’ “Advice to Youth”Voltaire’s CandideBenjamin Franklin’s Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be

Reduced to a Small OneGeorge Eliot’s MiddlemarchMark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Additional Resources

Humor Man (Dixie Dellinger, AP English list-serve) McSw eeney ’s.net I Want A Wife New Yorker Cartoons Satire and Parody (Karla Olson, AP English list-serve)