Missouri Western State College
Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences
ENG 410-01/80 Satire—It Only Hurts When I Don’t Laugh
Class meets 2-4:50 M JGM 109
Spring 2003
Dr. Karen U. Fulton, Professor
Tel: 271-4317(work) 1-660-582-8830 (home)
email: fulton@griffon.mwsc.edu
Office: SS/C 222H
Office Hours 10-12 M 11-12:30 TT
Byron, George Gordon, Lord. Don Juan. New York: Penugin, 1996.
Maher, Bill. When you ride ALONE you ride with bin Laden. Beverly Hills:
New Millenium Press, 2002.
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. Mineola, N. Y.: Dover, 1996.
Twain, Mark. Humorous Stories and Sketches. Mineola, N. Y.: Dover, 1996.
Twain, Mark. The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories. Mineola, N.Y.:
Dover, 1992.
Weekly World News. As Assigned.
Access to word processor with spell-checker.
Access to internet; we will be looking at modern satire largely on line.
A 3 ring-binder (spine no greater than 1/2") for submission of end of
semester portfolio.
English 410 Objectives
1. Identify and define the genre of satire (Horatian and Juvenalian) as it has existed in the past and as it occurs today.
2. Evaluate the success of a given work of satire within the established definition.
3. Explore and evaluate web sites that present material satirically and establish an on-line resource for the subject of satire.
4. Formulate satire based in our own time.
5. Formulate coherent written critical arguments about satirical texts, their contexts and subtexts.
6. Appreciate textual connections within the genre.
7. Understand the ethical and cultural questions that underpin the creation of and reception of satire.
1. An end of semester portfolio
2. Class discussion
3. Three papers
4. Audio/visual presentations of material
5. Oral/written reports on web pages and specific satirical pieces not covered in class
Attendance The final session is required. The penalty for missing the final is failure for the course. (Instead of a traditional final, you will write to next semester’s class and present your portfolio to this semester’s class.) One class session represents a week’s work. There are only twelve Monday sessions this semester, so I will record absences at each session and missing one session will put you in danger of lowering your grade. Missing two sessions will put you in danger of failing the course.
Academic Honesty Students must submit their own work. Students who are guilty of plagiarism or cheating in any form will automatically receive a zero for the assignment involved and place themselves in jeopardy of failing the course.
Student Disability Students who have a disability that might prevent their maximum performance in the class should make this known to the instructor immediately so that provisions may be made for any assistance needed.
Grading
· Mid-term grades
Mid-term grades will be based on completed oral reports,
In-class graded responses, class attendance, completion
of required work, and class participation.
· Final grade
The final grade in the class will be based on a portfolio consisting
of at least 3 pieces of revised pieces of writing (in addition to the self-reflective essay).
· Portfolio
During the second class, more detailed portfolio specifications
will be handed out and previous portfolios will be available..
I will meet with you individually to grade the portfolio.
You then have the option of revising
and resubmitting the
portfolio at the final.
You have only one opportunity to resubmit a portfolio.
· Minimal Passing Standards
In order to pass (grade of "D") the class the student must
complete all written assignments;
complete both oral presentations and/or summaries;
submit a self-graded portfolio on the due date;
not have more than 2 absences for the semester;
attend the scheduled portfolio conference; and
participate in the final session.
Because this class meets once a week for almost 3 hours, I will break up the class into at least 2 and frequently 3 segments. We will always take at least one break toward the middle of the session (somewhere between 3:15 and 3:30).
In past 50-minute classes, it was difficult to incorporate a fast writing. This semester should make the fastwriting a very useful tool. Therefore, class will incorporate a short fastwriting. Bruce Ballenger suggests this technique encourages us to think through writing rather than before writing. "Basically you just write down whatever come into your head, not worrying about whether you're being eloquent, grammatical, or even very smart" (Curious Researcher, 1). Most frequently these will occur at the beginning of the hour to allow you to react to what you have read before the teacher confuses you. At our first session, the fast writing will place at the beginning of the second part of class.
In order to facilitate publishing, all drafts of papers (including the summaries of the oral reports) must be word-processed.
It is your responsibility to have material by deadlines assigned. No provisions are made to incorporate missed oral reports later in the semester. It is vital you are ready to speak on the day assigned.
Papers are scheduled so I can do three readings of your work and return the work to you at the next class period. If the work does not come in at the time assigned, it may not be returned to you until the end of the semester. Credit will not be given until the instructor has commented on the work.
Letter grades are usually not given on the writing assignments. Instead feedback is given by way of an audio-tape containing my spoken on your paper, written comments on your paper, and a rough ranking (by thirds) of your paper in comparison to the other papers submitted on the assignment. These indicators are not convertible to letter grades. I welcome conferences with anyone who has questions about the paper, the tape, or how the paper might fit into the final portfolio.
Note the following Minimal Standards for Projects
Any project will be returned unread and uncredited if
required materials (especially the audiotape) are not
submitted correctly; and correct word-processing and spell
checking have not been completed.
Oral Presentation
Toward the end of the semester, one half of our class session will be designated for oral presentations a recent or current instance of satire (which we have not covered in the class) and to evaluate its “satirical” worth. It will be your job to research this item and present it to the class. I will ask for your presentation on disk, so that I can download your information to the P-drive where each member of the class may make a copy of it. I will assign these topics at random at our fourth class. If there is a particular web site, cartoon, novel, television show, musical response, etc. that you would like to explore, please submit it to me in writing along with your name sometime during the first three weeks.
Written Presentation (class book)
At least one of your three class assignments must be a satire you develop on a topic of your own. These written assignments must be put into publication form (which will be distributed to you) and submitted for publication on the deadline assigned. These will be gathered together and bound into a book; each of you will receive a copy at the final.
Except for Week 1, all assigned reading is to be completed prior to class.
Week 1 (1/13/03)
Introduction. What is satire? Form, history, and language. Offensiveness and reaction.
Dryden “MacFlecknoe” and the beginning of “Absolom and Achitophel”
(these will be handed out)
1/20/03 No class.
Week 2 (1/27/03)
Swift Gulliver’s Travels
Week 3 (2/3/03)
Byron, Don Juan, Canto 1
Week 4 (2/10/03)
Twain “Fennimore Cooper’s Literary Offences” (HSS 59-70); “The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg” (TMS 20-55)
2/17/03 No Class
Week 5 (2/24/03)
Paper #1 due: a critical exposition of one aspect of satire in any work previously studied by the class.
Maher “when you ride ALONE you ride with bin Laden”
Week 6 (3/3/3)
Audio Satire: Lehrer, Newman, The Capitol Steps, The Fireside Theatre, Harry Shearer
3/10/03 No class
Week 7 3/17/03
Written Satire: Weekly World News, The Onion, Private Eye
Paper #2 due: a satirical study of your own based on some aspect of contemporary society.
Week 8 3/24/03
Visual Satire: South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Week 9 3/31/03 First half -- Class presentations
Second half -- return to earlier text(s)
Week 10 4/7/03 First half—Class presentations
Second half -- return to earlier text(s)
Week 11 4/14/03 First half—Class presentations
Second half -- return to earlier text(s)
Week 12 4/21/03 Portfolio due
Class considers satire as genre
Individual portfolio conferences will begin on 4/23
Week 13 4/28/03 Final class discussion of satire; possible visual presentation if class so decides.
Final Exam