analyze essay

As we will be discussing, one important purpose of humor is as a form of social correction, a purpose defined in the second claim of Henri Bergson’s mechanical theory of humor. This kind of corrective humor often comes in the form of satire. People use satire to deliver a critique of other people, actions, or policies, and understanding not just what the critique is but how it’s being produced are important skills to master in our globalized society. Your goal for this second essay is to do just that.

The assignment:

In an academic essay, analyze a piece of satire* of your choosing. In order to complete this analysis, you’ll want to break the body of your essay into three parts:

· The first part should cover any important background information not on the piece of satire itself, but rather on the target (person, group, policy, etc.) of the satire. You’ll want to include at least two outside sources that help you inform your readers about the target.

· The second part of your essay should focus on explaining some of the satirical devices that the piece of satire uses in order to create the satire itself.

· The third and final part should explain what the subject’s critique is of its target. In other words, what message is the subject sending to its audience?

For example, you might write an essay on the SNL sketch about the 2016 presidential debate shown in class. The sketch itself is your subject, and the debate, Trump, and Clinton are the targets. So, the first part of the body of your essay would cover any relevant information about the debate, Trump, and Clinton that would be important for your readers to understand in order to get the satire. The second part of your essay would focus on the satirical devices (parody, exaggeration, irony, etc.) that the sketch uses to create the satire. The third part of your essay would explain what the SNL sketch writers are saying about the debate, Trump, and Clinton.

*The following are pre-approved subjects:

· The Daily Show (t.v. show—find clips on Youtube or at www.cc.com)

Note: If you choose a t.v. show, choose just a short segment, not the whole episode.

Guidelines:

· The essay must be at least 4 full pages in length. Note that you may write more than 4 pages, but you must write at least 4 full pages.

· In addition to the two required outside sources you find on your own, remember that you can use any of the readings from this unit (Parks, Peterson, and/or Almond) to help you develop and support your analysis.