SATIRE

Important Websites

Assignments:

Jan       7      Introduction to the Course: Satire's targets and methods (irony, mockery, parody, hyperbole, sarcasm, point of view, etc.).

Jan       9      Text: "Introduction" pp. i-viii; The Onion (find an article and analyze what makes it work as satire); Read the current Borowitz Report
                    Daily Show without writers (Jan. 7). Review of Daily Show and Colbert's "return"  Dave Barry on New Hampshire

Jan      14     The Beginnings: Aristophanes: The Clouds, pp. 1-22.  Also Read: "Satire in The Clouds," pp. 21-31. Philosopher's Song   Another Version
                           Noah's Ark                    Political Cartoons           Autodave      Writing at Home                               Philosopher Soccer Match

Jan      16     Character Satire - Chaucer, pp. 37-43.
                    Parody -  Cervantes' Don Quixote, pp. 47-59.

Jan      21     MLK Holiday     

Jan      23     Social Satire - Pope 's "Rape of the Lock," pp. 66-73.  Letter to Arabella Fermor    
                    Political Satire, Point of View & Irony - Swift 's “Modest Proposal,” pp. 73-77.  Swift's "Real" Proposals

Jan      28    Gulliver’s Travels, Book III, pp. 78-89. Writing Assignment #1.  Rube Goldberg machine (video 2)   Pictures  Solution to Iraq  Occam
                                                                                                                        Pope: "Essay on Man"

Jan     30    Mark Twain: “Letters from the Earth,” pp. 90-104.    

Feb       4    Charlie Chaplin -- Read about Modern Times                   Super Bowl Satire   Super Bowl Ads
                   The Marx Brothers -- Read about A Night at the Opera and  Duck Soup      

Feb       6    Will Rogers, pp. 105-108; Tom Lehrer, pp. 109-121; Anna Russell - Opera Parodist;  Mark Russell - satiric songs
                    Tom Lehrer songs: Vatican Rag   We'll All Go Together When We Go   Doctor Who video  Pollution  Pollution (performance)
                    Lyrics of Lehrer songs    Tom Lehrer on Video

Feb    11     Mort Sahl: Listen  &  Seriously Funny: Comedians on the fifties and sixties
                   Read: Woody Allen on Mort Sahl and follow links to "reviews" of the documentary "Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition"

                   Read: Mort Sahl on PBS "American Masters" (also look at the video clip).
                   Mort Sahl on Airlines    Mort Sahl Playboy Club      Sahl on Charlie Rose (video @38 min)
                   Lenny Bruce: audio bits.  complete Lenny Bruce  Lenny Bruce on getting busted  Lenny Bruce (Black or White)   Lenny Bruce on Language

Feb    13     George Carlin, pp. 131-135.  Carlin on stuff    on religion    on natural disasters    on abortion   on language    baseball & football
                   George Carlin: Listen to this NPR interview     save the planet     recent interview   on education

Feb   18     Woody Allen, “The Whore of Mensa,” pp. 126-130; Read about Allen’s Sleeper (on-line), video    Woody Allen videos  Woody Allen stand-up
                   Play It Again Sam

Feb   20     cont. Woody Allen; read about Allen’s Love and Death and Annie Hall (on-line)  Love and Death video  L&D end     Woody Allen    
                  Film: Annie Hall

Feb   25     Monty Python, pp. 141-146  Read: Monty Python: A Brief History (with links); Python Beginnings; The Spam Sketch; The Argument Clinic Sketch 
                  Parrot Silly Walks Argument Clinic    Dead Parrot Sketch     Dirty Fork Sketch    Cat Confusers            Summarize Proust Competition  
                  Self-defense with fruit
Feb  27      cont. Monty Python: The Meaning of Life (watch several of these), Life of Brian.(view parts 1-5 of "Secret Life of Brian" also- see sidebar);

                  Brian video clips

Mar. 3      National Lampoon, "The Lemmings," pp. 136-137.     Lampoon Radio Hour,     Lampoon Creators auctioned on e-Bay
                View Woodstock clips here.  Watch Part 1 and Part 3 (at least), and find others you might want to watch (Joe Cocker, The Who,
                      Ritchie Havens, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, lots of others).  Video:  The Lemmings Lament         Belushi as Joe Cocker    
                      Rain Storm                                                                                Chris Guest as Bob Dylan    Chris Guest as James Taylor     

Mar. 5      This is Spinal Tap; Interview with Christopher Guest, pp. 138-140.  Video: This is Spinal Tap.  1-9
               
SPRING BREAK                   

Mar. 17    Saturday Night Live, pp. 147-148.  Watch Richard Pryor "word association" Video.
                Read: History of the Program      
                Transcripts of SNL (you can browse thru these, season by season)

                Transcript: On Gerald Ford's clumsiness (with Ford's real press secretary Ron Nesson).  Video
                Transcript: Easy Rider opening (with Dennis Hopper)
                Is SNL pro-Hillary? - Video      2008 Political Debates

Mar. 19   Magazines and Web Sites: Read: The Onion, pp. 149-157.
                Check out these sites:  Mad,   Mad: History of the Magazine - the Untold Story  Mad Covers & Content 
                National Lampoon, The Onion, Satirewire.com, Billionaires for Bush CD    Lampoon Videos   Election results accidentqally released
                The Onion editorial process: "Tough Room"       The Onion after 9/11
 

Mar. 24    The Daily Show, pp. 190-197.  Video of the Moyers interview with Jon Stewart (pp. 190-194).
                                                                  Watch a video of another (more recent) Jon Stewart interview with Bill Moyers.

Mar. 26    cont. The Daily Show  Watch Stewart after 9/11     Jon Stewart on his Crossfire appearance    Back in Black   Dick Cheney
                 Orange juice gay ad   Orange tree canker

Mar. 31    The Colbert Report, pp. 198-207;   Colbert Writing Maureen Dowd's Column;  Colbert after first year (New York magazine) 
                 White House Correspondents' Dinner     Better know a District    Colbert on 60 Minutes
                 Know a District (Wexler)    Stewart, Conan, & Colbert    Colbert's war on water   Truthiness honor   Colbert platinum
                 National Treasure    Bluster & Satire (NPR)   Colbert Speech at WH Correspondents' Dinner (Video)

Apr.   2     cont. The Colbert Report, NPR Interview with Colbert   Colbert on the O'Reilly Factor   Hungarian Bridge

Apr. 7       South Park, pp. 208ff.;  Check out South Park's new web page and browse thru the "episode guide" starting with Season One.  You can watch full
                 episodes here.  South Park Home Page (browse this); Episode Guide (12 seasons) - click on the 1-12 number pad on the left. South Park online
                 View: Matt & Trey on Charlie Rose    
                 Read: South Park Republicans      Andrew Sullivan on South Park        Scientology Episode critique 

Apr. 9       cont. South Park.  Read: South Park and the Culture Wars    Matt & Trey Interview  

Apr. 14     Bill Maher interview ; Maher fired from ABC; P.J. O'Rourke, pp. 158-167.    Bill Maher interviews P.J. O'Rourke                        

Apr. 16           

Apr. 21       Final Project: Topics and Instructions    

 Writing Assignment #3

Family Guy

Winning the Culture Wars (next to last at bottom of the page)                                      
Action Figure hostage

Lemmings review