Satire blog pt II

The Onion is a website (so it's italicized!) dedicated to writing satirical news articles (whose titles are in quotation marks!). Satire, irony, sarcasm... it's relevant in our culture. It appeals to our humors. Read this article that I think you will find is quite relevant to you. Analyze its satirical elements as you read it.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/girl-moved-to-tears-by-of-mice-and-men-cliffs-note,2029/

Then I want you to accomplish the following:

I. Compose a thesis (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/1/)

II. Write a 2-3 sentence introduction.

III. Identify the elements of satire within the article (irony, sarcasm, paradox, etc.). Then choose one of these elements to focus on. Hone in on 2-3 pieces of evidence (words, phrases or sentences) within the text that utilizes your chosen element. Quote the evidence and explain how the author uses satire to make her point. This will be one paragraph.

IV. Write a 1-2 sentence conclusion that does not merely repeat your introduction. 

This, in effect, should be a miniature timed writing/analytic essay. It will have a brief introduction with a thesis, one analytic body paragraph, and a brief conclusion (there is no minimum word count...focus on your content here). Easy peesy!

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literary devices: speaking of tone...

SATIRE: Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon. (Wikipedia)

One of my absolute favorite devices used in literature is SATIRE. My appreciation for dry and witty humor runs deep in my literary soul. I find that satire is especially ubiquitous (<--look it up!) in our American entertainment culture. Find a current piece of satire (a song, a YouTube video, a show/show clip, a comic, a meme, a website article, etc.). If nothing comes to mind, just trying Googling or YouTubing "satire." As always, make this school appropriate. Post your piece (or a link to your piece) of satire on this blog post. THEN, in ~150+ words, explain your satire. What is it literally? What is it satirizing? What specific elements clue you in to the fact that this is satirical? What is the effect on you, the reader/viewer? 

literary devices: on tone

Read this pericope (<--- look this word up!) from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843). 

As you read, think about the narrator's mood. How do you react to the reading? How does it make you feel? What words or images does it bring to mind? Then identify one or two tone words that most accurately depict this piece (here are some tone words: http://valenciacollege.edu/east/academicsuccess/eap/documents/tonewords.pdf).

After you identify the tone, tell me specifically what diction and imagery (quote evidence from the text... no need to cite) enforces this tone. BE SPECIFIC. The passage makes you feel the way you feel for a reason. Identify those reasons.

Your post should be 100-200 words.

"Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it --oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly --very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this, And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously --cautiously (for the hinges creaked) --I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights --every night just at midnight --but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept."

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