Unlocking the Satire Puzzle

Do you have the tools to complete the picture?

Satire Day TAKE TWO

Warm up – Read “Corn Pone

Opinions” on page 717 of L&C

Twain asserts that those who rigidly hold on to “corn-pone opinions” refuse to hear or read opposing viewpoints.

How then does one sway such rigid thinkers to examine their beliefs and reflect on their values?

ROSE PRACTICE

Do you agree with Twain’s assertion that “[I]t is our nature to conform”?

1. Paraphrase/pepper2. State opinion with

general reasons why3. ROSE BOX

Should Adventures in Huckleberry

Finn be taught in public schools?

Catchy title here…• Satire--Literary art of diminishing a subject by making

it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn or indignation.  – Takes its form from the genre it spoofs.

• Horatian satire--After the Roman satirist Horace:  Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty.  The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule the absurdities and follies of human beings, aiming at producing in the reader not the anger of a Juvenal, but a wry smile.

• Juvenalian satire--After the Roman satirist Juvenal:  Formal satire in which the speaker attacks vice and error with contempt and indignation.  Juvenalian satire in its realism and its harshness is in strong contrast to Horatian satire.

Identifying the pieces...

• Burlesque-- A form of comedy characterized by ridiculous exaggeration and distortion. A serious subject may be treated frivolously or a frivolous subject seriously.  The essential quality that makes for burlesque is the discrepancy between subject matter and style.  That is, a style ordinarily dignified may be used for nonsensical matter, or a style very nonsensical may be used to ridicule a weighty subject.

• Parody--A composition that imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular work, or the distinctive style of its maker, and applies the imitation to a lowly or comically inappropriate subject.  Often a parody is more powerful in its influence on affairs of current importance--politics for instance--than its original composition.  It is a variety of burlesque.

• Verbal Irony--Saying one thing and meaning another.

• Hyperbole-- (Inflation) • Understatement (Diminution)

Some Guided Practice...

• Cruelly Treated Wealthy• Raise Awareness for Darfur

• Growing Ranks of Nouveau Rich •NASCAR reveals secrets of Winning!

Homework:

Read in Huck Finn. Find examples of GPS terms while reading – tag in book or on paper

Tag passages that you find effectively satirical for use in later discussions and lessons.

Take notes on REALISM—powerpoint posted on grammarnerd.pbworks.com

All examples and completion of reading by FEBRUARY 4, 2013! (50 pages for 6

nights)

Some Guided Practice

• http://www.theonion.com/content/video/report_nation_s_wealthy_cruelly

• http://www.theonion.com/content/video/how_can_we_raise_awareness_in

• http://www.theonion.com/content/video/report_growing_ranks_of_nouveau

• http://www.theonion.com/content/video/nascar_coach_reveals_winning

The term "corn pone" is sometimes used derogatively to refer to one who possesses certain rural, unsophisticated peculiarities ("he's a corn pone"), or as an adjective to describe particular rural, folksy or "hick" characteristics (e.g., "corn pone" humor).

Corn pone (sometimes referred to as "Indian pone") is a type of cornbread made from a thick, malleable cornmeal dough (which is usually egg-less and milk-less) and baked in a specific type of iron pan over an open fire (such as a frontiersman would use), using butter, margarine, Crisco or cooking oil. Corn pones have been a staple of Southern U.S. cuisine, and have been discussed by many American writers, including Mark Twain.

Corn pone…