An Introduction to Satire featuring Shrek, Will Ferrell, and The Onion

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An Introduction to Satirefeaturing Shrek, Will
Ferrell, and The Onion
English 10 British Literature
Mr. Ambrose

• Elements of this lesson adapted from Exploring
  Satire with Shrek by Junius Wright

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The Matrix

• Check out this clip from The Matrix

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Shrek
Check out this scene from Shrek. Take notes on
what you observe. 5120-5320
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What is satire?

• Satire A literary work that ridicules its
  subject in order to make a comment or criticism
  about it.

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Satire

• There are four major techniques employed in
  satire
• Exaggeration
• Incongruity
• Reversal
• Parody

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Exaggeration

• To enlarge, increase, or represent something
  beyond normal bounds so that it becomes
  ridiculous and its faults can be seen.

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Incongruity

• To present things that are out of place or are
  absurd in relation to its surroundings.

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Reversal

• To present the opposite of the normal order (i.e.
  the order of events, hierarchical order).

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Parody

• To imitate the techniques and/or style of some
  person, place, or thing.

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Shrek Re-watch the scene
Lets take a look at Shrek one more time. This
time, see if you can find an example of each
satirical technique.
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Satirical Techniques in Shrek

• Exaggeration
• Princess Fiona fights and successfully defeats
  Robin Hood and his Merry Men without help.
• Incongruity
• Princess Fiona uses her ponytail to defeat one of
  the Merry Men, stopping in mid-air to adjust her
  hair
• Reversal
• The role of the hero and the damsel in distress
  are reversed. The damsel saves the hero.
• Parody
• The fight scene is an exaggerated imitation of
  the martial arts style in movies like The Matrix.

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So whats the commentary?

• The traditional story of the knight rescuing the
  damsel in distress is not a realistic depiction
  of the roles filled by men and women in modern
  society.
• Current Hollywood action movies like The Matrix
  have become ridiculous because they are too
  focused on special effects.
• Any other ideas?

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Will Ferrell as George W. Bush
What satirical techniques are at work in this
clip? Write your ideas down in your
notebook. (We can watch it twice if you like.)
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Will Ferrell

• What elements of satire are present? Where?
• Exaggeration?
• Incongruity?
• Reversal?
• Parody?
• What is the commentary being offered?

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The Onion
Read and discuss Stephon Marbury Embroils
Celtics Big 3 in Shakespearean Intrigue
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Homework (Honors)

• Honors
• Find an example of a story you like on
  www.theonion.com.
• Print it out and bring it in tomorrow.
• In addition, write an analysis of the article
  (two paragraphs), explaining (a) what elements of
  satire are being employed and (b) what commentary
  is being offered.
• Staple the article and your analysis together.

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Homework (Standard)

• Standard
• Explore the website www.theonion.com.
• Find articles and videos that you think would be
  interesting to the class.
• Enter class with articles and videos in mind to
  share with the group.
• You might do this by e-mailing yourself links.