1. Show students Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton satire.
2. Put Irony, Satire, and Sarcasm up on the overhead and make sure students understand them. Make sure students understand verbal irony and the reasons why people use it.
3. Discuss the use of different character types in advertising. Recognizing that a “voice” or persona may be employed by advertisers for different reasons, students will begin to grasp the concept of differentiating the speaker from the message. From there, students can be prepared to separate the speaker from the artist in music and literature.
4. Show students some Mac and PC commercials. Can they differentiate the speaker from the message? How about commercials that feature celebrity pitchmen?
5. Phil Ochs’ “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends” will provide an attention-getting introduction to ironic point of view. Introduce the song by reviewing the typical sensibilities of folk musicians of the mid-to-late 1960’s. Review the Kitty Genovese episode in New York City, a situation where a woman was repeatedly attacked next to an apartment building but no one called the police. Tell students to pay special attention to the musical accompaniment for this song. After playing the song, discussion will focus on what issues Phil Ochs is dealing with and what stance he is taking on these issues. While students will recognize that Ochs doesn’t agree with his speaker, they may have trouble pinpointing what he is advocating. Discuss the ironic effect of the piano and percussion.
6. Show students some Stephen Colbert. Have them note how he uses satire to express a different viewpoint than he actually verbally expresses on the show.
7. Allow students to listen to “Born in the USA” or “Rocking in the Free World” Have them freewrite about the irony they find in that song.
8. Play a Weird Al Yankovic satire. How is satire different from the irony of the previous pieces?
Homework Collected: Research Portfolio
Homework Given: Persuasive Research Paper: Final Paper Due: March 31, Reflection Paper Due: April 14
Handouts given out: None
To Read: None
