Monday, March 1, 2010
Guest Blogger - Cadie E.
Since I’ve been taking AP Lit I’ve noticed that I analyze what I read so much more, I think deeply about other possible meanings and what is behind the story. It’s not justwith what I’m reading that I’m analyzing more either, it's even the little things, that probably don’t need to be analyzed, I see so much more in. And now that we’re studying Satire, I notice the parodies that are all over, they’re everywhere. Sometimes, even if I don’t understand the meaning behind it, I can still tell that something is being satirized. I bet even if someone watched a cartoon like SpongeBob or an episode of Fairly Odd Parents, they could find something being satirized. The satire in A Modest Proposal is genius because not only is it hilarious and ironic, it really could make sense and get people to think. Someone who had read this when it first came out may not have realized how satirical it was and could have taken this ‘proposal’ seriously. They hopefully wouldn’t agree with the proposal, but might have thought that Jonathon Swift had lost his senses. I want to know if any of the other students have found more satires now that we’ve gone into depth with it, and what they’ve found. Did you notice satire/parody somewhere unexpected or in something you’ve read/watched over and over again and now just realized the humor in it? And since satire is all about pointing out and learning something from the parody, what have you discovered?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I also cant stop noticing satire everywhere i go. I was reading the comics in the paper and i couldent help but noticing that almost every other one was satirical. One of my favorites, Pearls Before Swine, is almost all satire and i cant help but saying to myself "oh look, juvinalian satire!" or "gee golly, look at that high burlesque!"
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought AMP was hilarious too, Swift used so much factual evidence that its not hard for me to imagine someone actually taking him seriously.
Same. I feel like everything has opened up so much more. I realize satire more in my daily life, and it makes me feel sort of nerdy, but smart because i'm taking what i'm learning in the class room out of into my daily life.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I now notice satire and especially allusions. In movies, tv, or books allusions are used all of the time and i never notices before. Having more background actually lets you understand jokes and tv to their full extent and its hilarious.
ReplyDeleteKelsey Macken
ReplyDeleteYeah, basically I agree with all of your answers, and I really haven't been searching for any. They just seem to pop up everywhere I look. And I was just wondering, does anyone think that based on the knowledge that we have recieved in AP Lit, that you feel like you understand certain things better, not just comedy wise, but in other aspects of life?
I can understand the symbolism behind certain object better when I read. Ever since we did "Dante's Inferno" I really started to see the meaning behind symbols in other books I've read on my own time. It's not as hard as it initially was, and the symbols almost seem to stick out more. It's also easier to get the humor in certain political cartoons or ads when the sponsor berates a the enemy candidate. Sometimes I think I dig too deep into certain aspects of books sometimes, especially when a certain character rallies up against a cause or an object.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, I can now see that the "smarter you are, the more you understand" (as Ms. Arko always points out). It's interesting to see all these deep meanings behind a simple story that would normally be a quick read, forgotten the next week. Though satirizing is suppose to poke fun at something, it can also make someone think about the reality of a problem or person deeper than what was intended. Can you imagine a world, where we just pointed fingers at everyone and everthing that was wrong? (ok, I suppose we do a lot of this anyway) Satirizing is different though, because it brings something to attention while in come cases bringing a smile on someone's face (such as the daily show or the colbert report).
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. This class has helped me take my time and actually read what I'm reading. Its crazy. I never thought I would be able to think this deeply about a short story, but we've done it all year with everything that we've read. I feel this class is helping me out a lot, it's carrying over into other classes too which is helping me out. I can now better understand anything from poetry to a long novel.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. I watch Family Guy regularly, and every since we studied satire, parody, etc. (and pretty much just ever since Ms. Arko said "the smarter you are, the funnier things are" or something along those lines) I've noticed a LOT more things that I hadn't been knowledgeable to pick up on before. Going off of what Melanie said about deep meanings behind simple stories: a person could be watching Family Guy and simply laugh at something just because it seems funny, but there's so much more to get out of it if they truly understand.
ReplyDeleteThere's one episode, for instance, where they have a character saying "You're a phony!" multiple times throughout. After reading Catcher in the Rye last year, I thought it could possibly be a reference to that - and sure enough, in the credits there was "Holden Caulfield"! Someone who isn't familiar with the book would probably just giggle because it's random, but anyone else who has read the book gets more of a laugh out of it.
I think it's interesting that you brought up the fact that the public might have thought that Swift had lost his senses. That was probably actually part of Swift's aim in his satire. Swift published his proposal in order to show the Irish citizens that THEY, in fact, had lost their senses. He wanted to show that one can't believe everything he reads especially just because it has an important person's name attached to it. Although this proposal probably didn't bring about much change in Ireland at the time, A Modest Proposal is an excellent satirical work that can now be studied.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed my growth in analysis over the past year because of the class and am quiet pleased. I had always thried to look more indepth into what I read [normally more so for pleasure reading], but didn't always get as indepth as we do with our discussions in class. This entire year have brought watching The Office to a whole neew level.
ReplyDeleteWell just like you said the Fairly Odd Parents does have quite a bit of satire. first of all the name its self is satiric, and the parents are as well. Where the Mom is tough and the Dad is more like Timmy's little sister than a father. In the show the writers make fun of people such as Arnold Schwarzinager, Britney Spears, and the ever loved boy bands. They do this with charcaters like Jorgen Von Strangle, Britney Britney, and Chip Skylark. I enjoyed watching this show when i was younger and almost wonder what else i would notice if i watched it now?
ReplyDeleteDuncan G
ReplyDeleteI agree with the analyzing of every single part of a book. I can Identify more satire and as Mrs. Arko said, "the smarter you are, the funnier the world is". But sometimes analyzing backfires, because I begin to over-analyze. When something seems simple, i take another look at the question and think "Is this a trick question ... no no no, there's a deeper meaning, i must continue to analyze, okay now i give, this is too hard"