Satire and Irony by Dr Frances Corvasce

An analysis of satire in its interdisciplinary forms: political cartoons, poems, short satires, epic opera, music, visual art. Analysis is followed by the students’ creative endeavors in these same fields; drama, creative writing, art.

Includes works by Robert Benchley (as he satirizes Richard Wagner), Auden, Poe, Swift, Dickinson, Zoshchenko, and more; music of the Beatles and drawings by Hogarth. Throughout the study students develop their own working definition of satire.

Included are Caricature, Farce, Parody, Burlesque, Diatribe, Lampoon, Understatement, Exaggeration, Epigram.

Each of the 10 sessions exercises specific skills:

Session One: Definition and comprehension utilizing specific examples
Session Two: Analysis of examples to understand & evaluate relationships between parody and original
Session Three: Comparison and analysis of a parody and its original
Session Four: Comparison of the synopsis from opera to a parody
Session Five: Comprehension of the form & purpose of satire of idea, & the differentiation between satire of idea & parody
Session Six: Analysis of the form and function of social satire.
Session Seven: Differentiation of forms of expression through analysis of satirical drawings
Session Eight: Analysis of caricature in political cartoons
Session Nine: Classification for the purpose of student assessment
Session Ten: Synthesis & application of previous information for creating an original satirical work