Satire & A Modest Proposal
Satire has ancient origins. Although it's specific start is not well-known, Ancient Greek & Roman writers (such as Aristophanes and Horace) wrote satire. From there, to medieval English ballads to twelfth-century verses, to the eighteenth century "Age of Satire" to today's additions like Animal Farm, The Crucible, The Colbert Report, The Office, The Simpsons & South Park, satire has been around for a while and continues to evolve.
Objectives for this Unit (what you will learn):
Satire includes several devices: mockery, sarcasm, overstatement, understatement, parody, irony, pathos, & mock-heroic. Use this chart to help explain the forms of satire. Some forms of satire, however, are hard to categorize. For example, Mean Girls is a social commentary that encompasses parody, irony, pathos, sarcasm, mockery, overstatement & understatement elements in it's depiction of the social hierarchy created by teenage girls.
Max Gets provides many examples of Satire in his Prezi Presentation found here. As a class, we will view the presentation & you will have time to work on the assessment with a partner.
Jonathan Swift was an elaborate writer of satire. In his work, "A Modest Proposal," Swift satirizes the English government's treatment of the Irish. Although Ireland was technically a "free" state, the English owned much of the land and were oppressive landlords to the Irish people. The Irish, being a predominately Catholic bunch, had large families and few resources to make money. This lead to overpopulation and lots of poor, starving children. Swift, addressing the way the Irish were treated like cattle by their English overlords, suggested the Irish become more like cattle, engaging in a buying and selling for consumption market. This widely publicized political essay showed that the Irish could make money & decrease the population by selling infants to the English as a delicacy.
After reading "A Modest Proposal" in your textbooks, your task will be to write your own Modest Proposal. See this handout for more information.
Objectives for this Unit (what you will learn):
- terms, styles & techniques of satire
- demonstrate how satire works both visually and in prose
- identify and use satire visually & in writing
Satire includes several devices: mockery, sarcasm, overstatement, understatement, parody, irony, pathos, & mock-heroic. Use this chart to help explain the forms of satire. Some forms of satire, however, are hard to categorize. For example, Mean Girls is a social commentary that encompasses parody, irony, pathos, sarcasm, mockery, overstatement & understatement elements in it's depiction of the social hierarchy created by teenage girls.
Max Gets provides many examples of Satire in his Prezi Presentation found here. As a class, we will view the presentation & you will have time to work on the assessment with a partner.
Jonathan Swift was an elaborate writer of satire. In his work, "A Modest Proposal," Swift satirizes the English government's treatment of the Irish. Although Ireland was technically a "free" state, the English owned much of the land and were oppressive landlords to the Irish people. The Irish, being a predominately Catholic bunch, had large families and few resources to make money. This lead to overpopulation and lots of poor, starving children. Swift, addressing the way the Irish were treated like cattle by their English overlords, suggested the Irish become more like cattle, engaging in a buying and selling for consumption market. This widely publicized political essay showed that the Irish could make money & decrease the population by selling infants to the English as a delicacy.
After reading "A Modest Proposal" in your textbooks, your task will be to write your own Modest Proposal. See this handout for more information.
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