Please have outline HW out so that I may check it for completion. Respond to one of the aspects of the historical period you read about: Changes in Religion: “The new scientific and rational explanations of phenomena gradually began to affect some people’s religious views….perhaps God didn’t interfere at all in human affairs. Perhaps the universe was like an immense piece of clockwork, set in motion by a Creator who more or less withdrew from this perfect mechanism and let it run by itself.” What do you think of this idea? Does it affect how we view the universe and ideas about God today? “Reason and Enlightenment: Asking ‘How?’” “ [Before this time] People believed that unusual events such as earthquakes, comets, and even babies born with malformations had some kind of meaning…People did not ask, “How did this unusual event take place?” but “Why did this unusual event take place, and what does it mean?” Gradually, during the Enlightenment, people stopped asking “Why?” questions and started asking “How?” questions, and the answers to those questions—much less frightening and superstitious.” What type of questions are more important in our society today? How or why questions? “Religion and Politics: Repression of Minority Sects” and “Addicted to Theater” “For more than twenty years, while the Puritans held power, the theaters in England were closed.” “With the approval of Parliament, the king attempted to outlaw all the various Puritan and Independent sects— dozens of them, all happily disagreeing among themselves—that had caused so much uproar during the preceding thirty years. Persecution of these various sects continued throughout the eighteenth century. ” What do you think about ideas of artistic freedom and censorship today? What do you make of ideas about Religious Freedom today? Is Religious Freedom important to our society? Should it be? Should it be? (Think of Islamic Extremism? Recent events in Paris France (Charlie Hebdo?)

Satire: Making fun of some aspect of culture, society, and/or human nature in an attempt to improve it or inspire change.

Satire differs from comedy in that: -Satire seeks to correct, improve, or reform through ridicule -Comedy aims simply to amuse its audience -Satire uses laughter as a weapon against something that exists outside the work itself.

Formal (Direct) Satire  The persona (speaker) uses first-person point of view  This speaker may address the reader or a character within the work  Example: “A Modest Proposal” Indirect Satire  Some format other than direct address to the reader  This is usually a fictional narrative, in which objects of satire are characters  Example: Animal Farm

Horatian: - Named for the Roman satirist Horace - Tolerant, funny, sophisticated, witty, wise, self-effacing - Aims to correct through humor. - Directs wit, exaggeration, and self- deprecating humor toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil.

Juvenalian: -Named after Roman satirist Juvenal -Angry, caustic, personal, relentless, bitter, serious -Provokes a darker kind of laughter; addresses social evil and points with contempt to the corruption of men and institutions through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. -Often pessimistic, characterized by irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humor

Optimist -Likes people, but thinks they are rather blind and foolish -Tells the truth with a smile -Cures people of their ignorance -Writes in order to heal

Pessimist: -Loves individuals, hates mankind -Aim is to wound, to punish, to destroy -Uses Juvenalian satire

Diatribe/Invective: -Direct attack -Stated without irony or sarcasm -name calling, personal abuse, etc. Farce: -Exciting laughter through exaggerated, improbable situations. -Usually contains low comedy: quarreling, fighting, coarse wit, horseplay, noisy singing, boisterous conduct, trickery, clownishness, drunkenness, slap-stick.

 Caricature:  Distortion for emphasis  Usually focuses on powerful subjects  Emphasizes physical characteristics in order to make deeper criticism

Grotesque: -Creating a tension between laughter and horror or revulsion; the essence of all “sick humor” or “black humor” Understatement: -A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important than it is

Juxtaposition: -the arrangement of two or more characters, ideas, or words side-by-side for the purpose of comparison, contrast, or character development Sarcasm: -taunting on a personal level by saying something and meaning the opposite

Parody: -Imitation which, through distortion and exaggeration, evokes amusement, derision, and sometimes scorn -Borrows a pre-existing form -ex: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report

Burlesque: -Vulgar -Treats subject with ridicule, vulgarity, distortion, and contempt Mock-heroic: -Grand diction, lofty style -Takes a trivial or repellent theme and treats it with grandeur or feigned solemnity -ex: The Onion Headline: “Loser Spends Entire Day in Bed”

1. What's the tone of the satire? (grim, cheerful, sardonic, mock serious, optimistic, etc.) 2. What type of satire is this? (direct vs. indirect) 3. What is the writer satirizing? (what aspect of society are they trying to criticize?) 4. What is the writer's purpose in satirizing this subject? (what do they want to change?) 5. What literary techniques does the writer use in this satire? (hyperbole, understatement, irony, humor, etc.)

 A satire wants to EFFECT CHANGE in the world.  A satire usually achieves this effect by going to an extreme degree of exaggeration (or hyperbole).  If a satirist can elicit an emotional response from his reader, he can get them to listen to a more reasonable suggestion

 The Simpsons – Homer tries to buy a gun. The Simpsons – Homer tries to buy a gun.  Butt of the Satire:  American gun registry laws.  Satire’s Comment:  That while some people feel that America’s gun registry laws are too strict, they are in fact ineffective.

 An Inconvenient Truth – “None Like It Hot!” An Inconvenient Truth – “None Like It Hot!”  Butt of the Satire:  “America’s handsomest politicians…”  Satire’s Comment:  That a cheap, quick fix solution will not solve the problem of global warming.

 UCB Comedy UCB Comedy – “BP Spills Coffee”  Butt of the Satire:  BP’s CEOs and whoever else is responsible for dealing with the Gulf Oil spill…  Satire’s Comment:  That REAL solutions are needed from REAL leaders. This is a major ecological disaster, requiring significant efforts to contain and clean; neither a ‘quick-fix’ nor serendipitous solution will work.

 Nathan Barley (2005)  “The idiots are winning”  Butt of the Satire:  Hipster culture and Digital culture. Trendiness.  Satire’s Comment:  That the shallowness of the hipster and digital culture are dangerous and damaging for human society.

 Read this article from The Onion: “ Industrial Revolution Provides Millions of Out-of-Work Children With Jobs” Analyze this piece for its targets and methods!