So, if you made it; I hope the WASL-fueled AP experience was everything you wished for and more. I hope to have a pretty good schedule of everything we’re up to between now and the AP test by Wednesday.

Hopefully, you read “Shooting Dad” by Sarah Vowell.  I’ll ask you to answer question 4 and characterize the types of humor in the piece and include at least 10 examples.  Then, we’ll share.

Next, we’ll talk a bit about irony and read this piece from the Guardian.

1. Why does the writer say “We have a grave problem with this word?”
2. Define what you think the author means by Socratic irony? Give your own example.
3. The explanation of Romantic irony is even harder. Give it a shot. Be romantically ironic. I dare you.
4. In the discussion of Irony as a tool of dissent, Heller says this “Where irony springs up as a response to being lied to (by authority, or prevailing culture, or whatever), it is still adhering loosely to Chaucer’s model – it states the lie in order to expose the lie, and is therefore a route to truth.”  Paraphrase and explain what she’s saying.
5. Ok, how about Phase 4, aka us. How does Heller think irony gets used now?  Give me an example in your own experience.
6. What does Heller mean by: “The end of irony would be a disaster for the world – bad things will always occur, and those at fault will always attempt to cover them up with emotional and overblown language.”
7. Why is American telly better than British telly? How does the Six Feet Under example show that?
8. Skip the Germans. And then talk to me about instant messaging and irony. Why is it hard? Or is it?
9. Explain how the conclusion is ironic. Whatever.

HW: Find something ironic. Bring it. Write about 100 words on the nature of its irony. Try not to implode.

Image credit: Guns, c.1981-82 by Andy Warhol art.com

After taking in your SOP essays, we’ll start with learning how to write like David Foster Wallace. Footnotes rule! Send the results here.

Next, we’re on to A Modest Proposal. We’ll share our MPs and then talk a bit about the Swift piece using the questions and then we’ll answer some multiple choice question. Store them here.

Next is Dave Barry’s “Lost in the Kitchen” (in 50 Essays). We’ll read it and then have small groups write 4 multiple choice questions about it. Be able to explain what type of question it is.

HW: Read Sarah Vowell’s “Shooting Dad.” (in 50 Essays) Write a short blog post using this question (#4 in the book).

Part of the appeal of Vowell’s work is its humor.  Humor is a notoriously hard thing to analyze: we know when we find something funny because we laugh, out loud or to ourselves, but we have a harder time explaining why something is funny. Pick five different moments in Vowell’s essay, and try to explain what it was that was funny about each moment. Then see if you can come up with a hypothesis, generalizing from these specific moments, about what makes things funny.

Image Credit: boston.com

What is Satire? An AP prompt used the following article from The Onion for an AP rhetorical strategies prompt. Click below for prompt.

In small groups, decide how you would answer this question. After some group consultation, we’ll talk about how to respond to this and what makes satire work. Afterward, well read “Girl Moved to Tears by Of Mice and Men Cliff Notes” and figure out what is satire in that piece.

In class, in pairs, write your own Onion headline and at least 3-4 paragraphs of the fake news piece that would accompany it. Some possible topics include:

• WASL
• Graduation
• Bad TV
• Pretentious Teachers/Artists
• Grades
• The Election
• Seattle

We may listen to this in preparation. Then, I’m hoping that groups can send their headlines to other groups for them to write up. We’ll post them here.

Finally, we’ll read the first section of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (it’s in your 50 Essays book).

1. How does Swift want the reader the speaker? What features best describe the “persona” he adopts?
2. Note Swift’s diction in the opening paragraphs. Identify examples of quantification and dehumanization. Explain their purpose.
3. Swift’s speaker explains the anticipated results before revealing the actual proposal. Explain the rhetorical purpose of such a strategy.
4. What are some assumptions underlying paragraph 7.
5. For each of the classic appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos) indicate two examples from the first 8 paragraphs. Which one is the speaker’s primary appeal?
6. Read paragraph 9 carefully. Explain the purposeand effect of the qualifiers included there.

HW: Finish reading A Modest Proposal and then write your own Modest Proposal in which you suggest something ridiculous but make a seemingly logical argument. Response to Standard Operating Procedure is due as well.

Also, bring in something funny. If you’re not sure what’s funny, see this.