Archives for January 4, 2017

1. Slaughterhouse Five–Read and annotate Chapter One! Get ready for a wild literary ride! Keep in mind our interpretations must be informed by:

• Irony
• Vonnegut’s atheism and humanism
• Free Will/Determinism/Fatalism
• Vonnegut’s personal life

How the above shape your interpretation is left to your discretion.

Also, please be able to discuss his life and the bombing of Dresden.

2. The Alanis Morissette Project (Finalized version of the song due 1/9)–You and your group have been hired by Leonzi Beats Enterprise (yeah, I know…cool…) to rewrite the song incorporating REAL irony into the tune. Tonight, you should work on your assigned section of the song. Keep a few things in mind:

* Try your best to stay true to the beat of the original (Count the syllables per line. You should be sure to be within 2 syllables for each line. So, for instance, if line one has 5 syllables, your rewrite should be between 3-7 syllables. This will allow you to maintain the beat. If you can match the original syllable for syllable that would be ideal.) However, as you have creative freedom here and feel as though changing the beat is necessary for your revision, go for it. Remember, rhythm is important…as this will be “performed.” 🙂

* Don’t feel as though you must cram one ironic episode into each line. You can use each stanza to retell an ironic story, giving you more freedom to establish the irony.

* Of course you must have a chorus.

* Feel free to maintain some of the original song if you would like; just be sure not to retain any of the faux ironies.

* I would like a typed copy from each group on the due date (1/9). Be sure to list off the names of all group members.

* All groups will present their revision: You can sing it, rap it, deliver via spoken word, slam it, etc.

* The groups who do best on this will have a song full of original, CREATIVE, Clever, well thought out examples of irony.

* Most importantly, display knowledge of irony and have fun with this. Ideally, we will be in stitches after each presentation (or at least smiling).

Presentations begin Jan. 9!!

3. Satire/Parody Project (Due 1/26)

par·o·dy noun \ˈper-ə-dē, ˈpa-rə-\

: a piece of writing, music, etc., that imitates the style/form of someone or something else in an amusing way

sat·ire noun \ˈsa-ˌtī(-ə)r\

: a way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc. : humor that shows the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government, society, etc.

1. Prospectus due Wednesday (01/11)–Per thefreedictionary.com a prospectus is a formal summary of a proposed venture or project. So, in one TYPED (single-spaced) page detail your idea for your parody/satire. Here are the options:

A) Slaughterhouse Five/1984 parody–For this option you are creating a parody of either 1984 or Slaughterhouse Five. You are not expected to parody the entire novel, only select sections of the novel.

B) Parody—Here you have the freedom to choose any subject you would like to parody. Remember, with a parody you must mimic the form of the subject.

C) Parody Hybrid–For this option, like the 1984 film shown in class, you create a joint parody of one of the texts as well as some aspect of today’s society. (the 1984 film parodied bits of 1984 and the English classroom; someone may choose to parody a bit of Slaughterhouse Five and mix in a parody of The Family Guy…the options here are endless, sorta)

D) Satirical commentary–Here you employ satire to comment on our society–along social, political, or economic lines. The Facebook movie is an example of satire. We will review several other examples this week.

The means for communicating your parody/satire are only limited by your imagination. You could create a movie, a comic book, a magazine, a book, etc. You must have both a written (script if your project is a movie) and visual component.

(Due Monday, 1/9): Choose an option from above and in a few sentences explain why you prefer that option. Then, brainstorm possible subjects that work with your chosen option. For instance, if you choose option B one possible subject might be college admissions interviews. Or if you choose option D one possible subject might be the college admissions process. You must come up with at least three possible subjects. Remember, this is your term final so I expect that you will put forth maximum thought and effort.