AP-11 Lesson Plan: 3/18/11
Veres
Unit 5: The Unending Conversation
Lesson: Horatian and Juvenalian Satire - The Onion and Stephen Colbert
Essential Questions
How do writers’ ideas help the us question and challenge our beliefs about ourselves and
the contemporary societal problems around us?
How can satire interact with and change social norms?
Lesson Questions:
What is the difference between Horatian and Juvenalian satire?
What satiric techniques contribute to each type?
How does satire ask the audience to think about the issues they address?
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
Analyze a “mock news” piece and a video for techniques used in satire.
Categorize these pieces as Horatian or Juvenalian.
Analyze and discuss the effectiveness of each piece in transmitting its message.
Standards:
1.6.11.A: Listen critically and respond to others in small and large group situations.
• Respond with grade level appropriate questions, ideas, information or opinions.
1.3.11.D: Analyze the effectiveness, in terms of literary quality, of the author’s use of
literary devices, (e.g., personification, simile, alliteration, symbolism, metaphor,
hyperbole, imagery, allusion, satire, foreshadowing, flashback, irony) in various genres.
Instructional Activities:
- Instructor will announce homework and the days activities.
- Instructor will briefly explain what bias is in the context of an editorial.
- Instructor will briefly review what Horatian and Juvenalian satire is.
- Students will analyze the Onion article for the techniques used in small groups (5 min.)
before discussing (5-10 min.)
Who is satirized by this article & what is the article’s position?
Would you say that this is Horatian or Juvenalian satire? What techniques lead you
to this conclusion? (tone, techniques, etc.)
Which techniques were the most effective in transmitting this position?
- Instructor will introduce Colbert’s Speech and show the video... (approx. 15 min.)
“To put this clip into context. The clip I’m about to show you was shot in 2006. This was at the height of
the Iraq War, six months before the Mid-Term elections that would see the Republican party lose control of
congress. Every year the President has a dinner called the White House Correspondents Association
Dinner, and the people who cover the White House news as well as the figures who are in that news attend.
The event is bipartisan and broadcast live.
It always includes at least one comic, and in 2006 that comedian was Steven Colbert, who had established
a false persona satirizing conservative television pundits like Bill O’Reilly. At this point in his career,
Colbert was doing reasonably well in his spin-off from The Daily Show, but he was nowhere near as
famous as he is now. This is the performance that turned him into the celebrity that he is today… not
because he was well-received during the performance… You’ll see some people who think he’s being
funny… and well, you’ll see some people who don’t think that what he’s saying is funny at all. However,
the millions of people that later heard about it and watched it on Youtube that made this performance one
of the most important pieces of recent satire. The debate that unfolded around this performance became
what Time Magazine called “the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006.”
- Instructor will have students take notes on the satire techniques that are used.
- Class will discuss the clip. (10 min.)
I want to read some of the media responses to this to you:
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News Online columnist Heather Mallick wrote, "Colbert had the wit
and raw courage to do to Bush what Mark Antony did to Brutus, murderer of Caesar. As the American
media has self-destructed, it takes Colbert to damn Bush with devastatingly ironic praise."
- Al Franken- "... thought that what Stephen did was very admirable"
- In its year-end issue, New York magazine described Colbert's performance as one of the most "brilliant"
moments of 2006
- Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen found that Colbert's jokes were "lame and insulting"[68] and
wrote that Colbert was "rude" and a "bully".
- Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer felt that Colbert "crossed the line".
- Ana Marie Cox chastised those who praised Colbert as a hero: "I somehow doubt that Bush has never
heard these criticisms before". She added, "Comedy can have a political point but it is not political action"
There even was a debate whether or not the mainstream media was censoring Colbert, because there was
almost not mention of his performance the next day.
- Arianna Huffington said that Colbert told her that he was strenuously avoiding viewing the reaction to his
speech, and she conjectured that “If anything, he seemed to be nursing a tender spot about the chilly
reception his utterly brilliant performance got in the room that night. He is, after all, first and foremost a
performer -- and it's tough for any performer, especially one used to appearing in front of a wildly
appreciative crowd night after night, to suddenly find himself playing to a hostile crowd.”
Why do you think that there such a varied response to this speech?
What techniques did you think were the most effective at conveying Colbert’s
message?
unlikely to need to ask because the above discussion, but make sure these points are
covered:
What is the Colbert’s position & who is satirized in this performance?
Would you say that this is Horatian or Juvenalian satire? What techniques lead you to
this conclusion?
- What do you think the comparative strengths and weaknesses of horatian or
juvenalian satire are?
- One of the commentators said that comedy should not be a political action. Do you
agree?
Assessments:
- Students will have the option of writing a satiric editorial at the end of the unit.
- Later next week, students and instructor, as a large class, will analyze a piece of satire
and discuss/diagram how one might write an essay critiquing it.
Materials:
The Onion- “Obama…” pdf and jpg
Colbert- “White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner.flv” cued to 1:30 – 17:30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7FTF4Oz4dI
Notes:
Colbert
Irony
Invective
Reduction Ad Absurdum
Hyperbole
Caricature
Entrapment
Sarcasm
Moral indignation
Bias in an editorial article might look like:
All opinion- no facts
Facts are skewed or missing information
Opinion is presented as fact
Omitting a counterpoint or argument that would otherwise weaken your argument
Choosing words that are inflammatory or otherwise unfair to reality
Sources are not credible or misleadingly quoted
Presents logical fallacies as persuasive techniques
Reflections: