Satire/Parody Project

HW due 1/6: Slaughterhouse Five and More

January 5, 2016 By Sean Leon

1. Slaughterhouse Five–Read and annotate up to page 43 of Chapter 2. Focus your annotations on characterization of Billy and Roland (i.e. Who is Billy Pilgrim? What do we learn about his life? How does Vonnegut describe Roland? Why is he characterized this way? Etc.). Looking ahead, you will have to complete Chapter 2 and 3 for Thursday.
2. Print out the Class Vocab
3. Personal Vocab will be checked Thursday for 10C and Friday for 10A!
4. Satire/Parody Project

par·o·dy noun \ˈper-ə-dē, ˈpa-rə-\

: a piece of writing, music, etc., that imitates the style 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 Monday (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) Satire/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 and visual component.

TONIGHT: 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.

The following will be considered when assessing the satire/parody project:

1. Project’s visual impact (The visual should be aesthetically pleasing…more simply, it should look amazing). Many of you are making films! Be thoughtful/creative in how you compose each shot and how you edit the film.
2. The project should demonstrate control of satire and/or parody.
3. Project is thoughtful. Beyond the visual element, the written element should also reflect great thought on subject and form.
4. Project is well-designed/executed.
5. Project reflects exceptional effort. This one is very important as I (and my fellow assessors) expect to see a project that “took time and effort” to complete.
6. All projects are expected to employ irony as one of the primary figurative elements to carry the project’s purpose/message. Be thoughtfully/creatively ironic!

HW10 due 2/5: Satire/Parody Projects

February 4, 2015 By Sean Leon

1. Class Forum–Slaughterhouse Five Question

2. Satire/Parody Projects are due tomorrow! I am stoked and can’t wait to see them!

3. Satire/Parody Project Self-evaluation–(TYPED) In detail, tell me what/how you contributed to the final product! Also, assign yourself a grade between 0 and 100! If you would like, at the end of your self-evaluation feel free to give a shout out to anyone who worked particularly hard on the project!

HW10 due 1/20: Slaughterhouse Five and More

January 18, 2015 By Sean Leon

Final Drafts of 1984 Skeleton Essays Due Tuesday!

1. Slaughterhouse Five–Read up to p. 176 (Stop after the song lyrics)

2. Alanis Morissette Project(Performances on Wednesday)–In preparation for the project, work with the situations in the song (i.e. the lottery winner, black fly, cigarette break, etc) and rewrite one so that it is ironic or write your own fresh situation. Be thoughtful and creative. Here are the details to the project! Print them out! Don’t fret here! This project is meant to get you comfortable working together and get you comfortable working with irony. Again, TONIGHT you only need to rewrite one of the situations from the song to make it ironic.

3. Satire/Parody Project Prospectus (Due 1/20)–While the final project is due 2/5, I want your group to present a prospectus on 1/20! ONE PER GROUP. Per thefreedictionary.com a prospectus is a formal summary of a proposed venture or project. In the first paragraph, I expect you to identify your chosen option and subject (i.e. what are you satirizing/parodying). Further, in that paragraph I want you to explain why you chose that subject. What was your group’s reasoning/rationale?You must have a valid reason/rationale to have your prospectus approved. In the second paragraph, you will tell me how you plan to communicate your satire/parody (i.e. film, book, etc.). This paragraph is most important! I want to see that each group has put thought and creativity into how the project is to be executed. Here, I don’t want you to just say that you will create a film. I want details! Paint an early image of how you envision the final project. The more detailed, the more likely your prospectus will be approved. So, in one TYPED (single-spaced) page detail your idea for your parody/satire. Here are the options:

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 (which you will see soon) is an example of satire. We will review several other examples this week.

VERY IMPORTANT: A group project is a collaborative effort! Everyone is expected to contribute equally to the project’s completion. I do not expect that any one person will have to do more work than any other member due to laziness or general disregard for the project. FAILURE TO “DO YOUR PART” WILL RESULT IN FAILING THE PROJECT!

10G/H Reminders and HW

January 25, 2014 By Sean Leon

Monday, January 27th
Hours: 10-12 and 1-3 (note that I will be having lunch between 12 and 1). I will have a wee 2-4 minute chat with each of you.
Where: In the basement, Room B9, the room directly across from the college counselors office (Our classroom will be used for tests) [Read more…]