Satire Project English IV

Satire Project-- English IV

You will create an original work of satire and present it to the class. Your project should present an issue that is clearly being satirized. This project will be worth a test grade, so do the very best job you can.

You should keep in mind that a satire seeks to expose a weakness in society, or a fault in humanity, through the use of humor. That doesn’t mean that you have to make the class laugh to do well, but you should strive to be amusing, rather than deadly serious.

Remember, you are creating an original satire. You are NOT analyzing somebody else’s satire.

As a class, we brainstormed possible project types. There are many ways to present a satire. Choose something from the list below that you feel comfortable with and can actually do. I don’t recommend trying to do something that you aren’t already good at, or at least familiar with.

Project Requirements:

Length: How big or long does your project need to be? That depends. You should adequately develop the topic you choose to present. So if you make a video, one minute isn’t going to do it, but ten minutes will be too long. Does that mean that one minute and one second is long enough? No, unless you do an amazing job of developingtopic. The answer to length is, “I don’t know,” because I don’t know how well you are going to present your ideas. Some students can do as much in two minutes as others do in five. Think about your topic and what it takes to do a good, thorough job, and then work hard on it. If you do a good job I won’t even look at the time.

To come up with some ideas, think about the examples we’ve seen and read:

• Will Ferrell’s parody of George Bush’s global warming speech.
• Mark Twain’s short story “Buying Gloves in Gibraltar.”
• Daily Show debate about Trump and Cruz.
• Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.”
• Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

Presentation:

Everyone must present their project to the class. Some projects will require more explanation than others. By the time you are done showing your project, talking to the class, and answering questions, everyone should have a clear idea of what is being satirized.

You have to discuss your project with the class. You might discuss any or all of the following:

• The issue you are satirizing, described in detail.
• Give some examples of the problem or fault.
• Why does this fault or problem exist?
• Who does it affect?
• Why does it matter if people are aware of the problem or not? What are some possible solutions to the problem?

Presentation Skills

• Make eye contact.
• Avoid verbal junk, such as “like, um, well, ya know, stuff,” etc. as much as possible.
• Don’t read word for word from a script.
• Be able to answer questions knowledgeably.
• Hang in there. Getting stuck for a brief time does not count against you. Just gather your wits and carry on!
• Ask your audience for questions and thank them.

Technology Caution: If your presentation requires a computer or projector or any other technology, make sure it is going to work BEFORE your presentation day occurs, so that you will have time to fix problems.

OtherImportant Things to Know