1. October 25th, 2017

2. Bell Work
10th Grade: Explain what you know about the literary device: satire.
9th Grade: Describe what makes up your “identity.”

3. Objectives
10th Grade: Students will discuss satire and apply its qualities to an onion article.
9th Grade: Students will discuss themes connected to their next unit.

4. 10th Grade Bell Work Onion Article: Read and summarize it.
Satire discussion and application
Media Literacy Quiz: Tomorrow!!

5. Satire

6. What is satire?
“A work or manner that blends a censorious attitude with humor and wit for improving human institutions or humanity.”
-Harmon and Holman
Today, forms of satire can be literary (books, essays, stories, i.e. the printed word), but also cartoons, songs, and the performing arts. 6

7. For example

8. Social Commentary Parody Social Change irony Exaggeration INCONGRUITY
Elements of satire
Social Change

9. Parody To deliberately use wit to imitate style of a
work or individual
Similar:
Take-off, spoof, lampoon, burlesque

10. Incongruity
To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to their surroundings

11. Satire uses irony: the recognition of a reality different than appearance.
Verbal Irony: the actual intent of words is the opposite of overt meaning
Situational Irony: Because of the context of an event the event is the opposite of what would be expected.
Dramatic Irony 11

12. We all know what exaggeration is, taking things to an extreme degree, thereby revealing foolishness or weaknesses of the subject. Exaggeration of a person’s traits is termed caricature

13. Targets? The Usual Suspects.
What makes satire satire?
Social commentary. That is, the writer ridicules or pokes fun at certain aspects of society he or she finds repugnant in hopes of changing it.
Targets? The Usual Suspects.
Vanity, hypocrisy, religion, bigotry, human vices, sentimentality, greed, celebrity worship, materialism, hubris, dumbing down of education,
snobbery, foolishness, cruelty, insensitivity, laziness

14. Advantages of Satire
Most miss author’s true intent; therefore, censors don’t “get it” and author stays out of prison
Nice change from “preachiness” of other approaches to reform
“Stealth” weapon useful when taking an unpopular stance in repressive society
Short and punchy 14

15. Great British satirist Jonathan Swift is a case in point
Great British satirist Jonathan Swift is a case in point. His “A Modest Proposal” suggests that poor Irish parents be encouraged to sell their own children as food. His true purpose, of course, is to attack indifference to the plight of poor.

16. Read the following excerpts from Huck Finn and try to identify what social problem
Twain is criticizing. What P.I.I.E. techniques does he use to make his point?
Huck: “Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and
it lit in the candle, and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn’t need
anybody to tell me that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck,
so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. I got up and turned around
in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time; and then I tied up a
little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away (4)
Pap: “Well, I’ll learn her [Widow Douglas] how to meddle. And looky here—you
drop that school, you hear? I’ll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over
his own father and let on to be better’n what he is. You lemme catch you fooling
around that school again, you hear? Your mother couldn’t read, and she couldn’t
Write, nuther, before she died. None of the family couldn’t before they died. And
Here you’re a swelling yourself up like this. I aint the man to stand it – you hear?
(19)

17. 9th Grade
Bell Work
Notes: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Theme Discussion

18. Essential Questions (NOTES ☺)
What happens when a person leaves their home environment in pursuit of success? Do they give up or betray their identity? Is it really true that “you can never go home again”?
What makes for a good high school experience? Do you have to be happy with your education to have it have been meaningful?
How do we, as humans, overcome adversity? What tactics do we use to get through hard times, difficult situations, and general injustices?

19. Author Introduction
Sherman J. Alexie, Jr., was born in October A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane, WA.
Born hydrocephalic, which means with water on the brain, Alexie underwent a brain operation at the age of 6 months and was not expected to survive. When he did beat the odds, doctors predicted he would live with severe mental retardation. Though he showed no signs of this, he suffered severe side effects, such as seizures, throughout his childhood. In spite of all he had to overcome, Alexie learned to read by age three, and devoured novels, such as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, by age five. All these things ostracized him from his peers, though, and he was often the brunt of other kids' jokes on the reservation.

21. Author Introduction
As a teenager, after finding his mother's name written in a textbook assigned to him at the Wellpinit school, Alexie made a conscious decision to attend high school off the reservation in Reardan, WA, about 20 miles south of Wellpinit, where he knew he would get a better education. At Reardan High he was the only Indian, except for the school mascot. There he excelled academically and became a star player on the basketball team. This experienced inspired his first young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.
In 1985 Alexie graduated Reardan High and went on to attend Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, on scholarship. After two years at Gonzaga, he transferred to Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, WA.

22. Author Introduction
Alexie planned to be a doctor and enrolled in pre-med courses at WSU, but after fainting numerous times in human anatomy class realized he needed to change his career path. That change was fueled when he stumbled into a poetry workshop at WSU.
Encouraged by poetry teacher Alex Kuo, Alexie excelled at writing and realized he'd found his new path. Since starting out as a writer, Alexie has published over a dozen books of both poetry and prose, and has received several national awards and honors, including the National Book Award and the Pen/Faulkner Award.

23. Epigraph (Literary Device)
Epigraphs are like little appetizers to a great story. They illuminate important aspects of the story, and they get us headed in the right direction

24. Vocabulary Hypothermic (19) having an abnormally low body temperature
Decrepit (31)
worn and broken down by hard use
Mafioso (32)
a member of the Mafia Crime syndicate in the US
Ergonomic (57)
intended to provide optimum comfort and to avoid stress or injury.
Translucent (56)
allowing light to pass through

25. Vocabulary Aboriginal (69)
 inhabiting or existing in a land from the earliest times or from before the arrival of colonists
Pyrotechnic (85)
relating to fireworks
Nomad (90)
a person who does not stay long in one place
Delirious (91)
marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion
Metaphorical (97)
symbolically

26. Language
There is a lot of adult language in this book. I have complete faith in your ability to be mature throughout our study of this text.

27. Themes
Family
Tragedy
Love
Stereotypes
Identity

28. Epigraph Activity
Sherman Alexie starts his novel off with an epigraph.
There is another world, but it is in this one. –W.B. Yeats
What would an epigraph for your life story be?