Satire

1. Satire

2. As you watch and listen, write down 3-4 things you notice that characterize the following video and audio clips

3. Video and Audio clips • iphone 5 • Jon Stewart "Fox News“ • George Carlin "Icebox Man“ • Weird Al "Amish Paradise"

5. Group activity • In your groups, look at the political cartoon and the object. What do you notice? • Look for commonalities among all of your observations. • Decide on a group definition of SATIRE. What is it? What is it not? What techniques do people use to create it?

6. Definition of Satire: Any work (TV, Movie, Short Story, Novel, Art, etc.) that uses wit or humor to critique or criticize human behavior, human nature, and/or social institutions (i.e. laws, school, government, religion, etc.). The point of satire is to change/modify its target (the thing it critiques/criticizes). Techniques: Irony: the term used to describe the contrast between what appears to be and what really is. Irony often highlights a gap between reality and our expectations or beliefs. • Verbal irony: a mode of expression in which the author says one thing, but means the opposite • Situational irony: an outcome of events that is contrary to what would normally be expected/hoped for • Dramatic irony: events or facts not known to a character are known to another character and the reader • Hyperbole: a figure of speech involving great exaggeration; the effect may be satiric, sentimental, or comical • Understatement: a figure of speech that downplays something’s importance; the opposite of hyperbole; the effect may be satiric, sentimental, or comical • Inversion: a reversal, or twisting of something; turning something into its opposite • Dark Humor: the use of humor to temper, or reduce the sadness or negativity of a situation; dark humor is often ironic, and uses the irony to make a point

7. Irony The term used to describe the contrast between what appears to be and what really is. Irony often highlights a gap between reality and our expectations or beliefs. • Verbal irony: a mode of expression in which the author says one thing, but means the opposite • Situational irony: an outcome of events that is contrary to what would normally be expected/hoped for • Dramatic irony: events or facts not known to a character are known to another character and the reader

8. Hyperbole • a figure of speech involving great exaggeration; the effect may be satiric, sentimental, or comical • Example: “My mother is blessed with the trait of disorganization”

9. Understatement • a figure of speech that downplays something’s importance; the opposite of hyperbole; the effect may be satiric, sentimental, or comical • Example: ? • Colbert-"Gatsby"

10. Inversion • a reversal, or twisting of something; turning something into its opposite • Example: Substitute teacher video

11. Dark Humor • the use of humor to temper, or reduce the sadness or negativity of a situation; dark humor is often ironic, and uses the irony to make a point • Example: The Bosnian’s First Day of School video