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"Satire died in Chicago last Tuesday. His name was Mike Royko."
Shorter People - "Gulliver's Travels" Group Work: This Group Work is pretty unique for me. Rather than spending the majority of the time (in fact, there is just one question) on "Gulliver's Travels" - the questions focus on "getting" satire in general. Consider it a continuation of the previous Swift lesson on "A Modest Proposal" and Malcolm Gladwell's "The Satire Paradox". The first question has the students go through their reading and find examples of satire - testing their new-found mastery of understanding what Satire is. And then, and then they look at two modern examples of satire - and the problems that those works encountered when published. It is always easy to laugh at things from 200 years ago - but, it is (and this is a point that I make throughtout the year - much harder to point that finger at ourselves. If you can't - Satire is doomed from the start.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
Quiz
Quiz
As usual, there is a quiz here. Because it precedes a group work - make sure you remind students that if they did not do the reading - they are not to get into a group. Because the reading was longer than usual, I also normally made it worth 150-200 points. For those who didn't read or finish, they should do the reading during class and turn in the Group Work tomorrow (done on their own) without penalty (for the Group Work - their quiz grade stands).
Group Work
Group Work
The quote at the top is not only a great quote - it also ties directly to the next lesson on Alexander Pope and "The Rape of the Lock" and Satire (specifically) to the comparison between Pope and Truman Capote.
The First Group Work Question
The First Group Work Question
The first question has the students quickly going through "Gulliver's Travels" to find specific examples of Satire - and explaining what they are. This is the rare but incredibly useful time when a group will want to split up a text (most of the time the group should stay focused on the same thing) to go through it - then come back together with their examples of Satire.
The rest of the questions
The rest of the questions
For the other questions, the group will divide themselves in two. One part of the Group will look at a news column by Mike Royko (a famous satirical journalist), the other half of the Group will look at an article about an article about an Editorial Cartoon that satirized a college for faking diversity through the use of a photo-shopped picture.
After they finish their respective readings, the group will come back together and answer questions the include the following points (for more - see the actual Group Work, itself, found below).
Are either or both the articles examples of satire?
How does this fit in with Malcolm Gladwell's podcast (the last lesson), "The Satire Paradox"?
Should Satire - considering the fact that many don't "get it" - be suppressed?
How important is it to know the target of the Satire?
What is the difference between reading a Satire concerning itself with a subject 200 years ago ("A Modest Proposal") and one that address a problem of today?
Mike Royko (cont).
Mike Royko (cont).
The Group Work ends with a great quote about writing and writers by Mike Royko.
Handout - Group Work & 2 articles
Handout - Group Work & 2 articles
See above for a detailed explanation of the Group Work. Students should begin this after they take the quiz. Note - this is called Group Work #2 as it is a continuation of the first Swift Group Work that focused on "A Modest Proposal".
There are two articles that the Group will split up - the first is a an article about a Mike Royko column where many readers either missed or disagreed that it was satire. The second is about a Political Cartoon that landed its creator in trouble when readers (viewers) took offense.
"In the political turmoil of mid-1990s Britain, a brilliant young comic named Harry Enfield set out to satirize the ideology and politics of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His parodies became famous. He wrote and performed a vicious sendup of the typical Thatcherite nouveau riche buffoon. People loved it. And what happened? Exactly the opposite of what Enfield hoped would happen. In an age dominated by political comedy, “The Satire Paradox”asks whether laughter and social protest are friends or foes." (taken directly from the WebSite).
"Gulliver's Travels" reading
"Gulliver's Travels" reading
My reading was from the Holt Rinehart Winston textbook - Elements of Literature (course 6). Any textbook (or other sourced) introduction to the Swift and a copy of "A Modest Proposal" will work - though you will have to modify the questions accordingly - but in this case, most of the questions come from "A Modest Proposal" which can easily be found copyright free, online.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
This can all be done remotely of course - I've actually had great success with Group Work remotely - it does take some planning though.
As with Swift's "A Modest Proposal", for the longest time I did Pope's "A Rape of the Lock" as a Group Work. I suspect it had a lot to do with the timing of this unit - sometimes it would come much earlier, when the students were doing their Macbeth scenes and it just made sense to have them work in the groups they would be in for that project. However, unlike "A Modest Proposal" - in this case, I believe a class discussion works much better (with Swift, it's a toss up) with Pope's epic satire. Besides going over the text itself - and expanding the students mastery of reading and understanding satire - when handled as a discussion (using a Vertext), it also gives the class an opportunity to see just how relevant Pope's work and his disdain of the frailties of the very rich and fashionable - is today.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Jonathan Swift, Satire, "A Modest Proposal" Discussion & Podcast
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
One year - before the current Group Work seen above was in its most recent form (it didn't have the Royko article), one of my former students - that I had taught the year before came in to tell me that he had gone to a protest at Tribune Towers against the very Mike Royko article that is mentioned in this Group Work. I hadn't spoken with him before he went - but he wanted me to know that he tried to reason with the protestors that Royko's article was satire - and they needed to turn their attention to more serious problems. These are the moments that a teacher lives for.
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