Understanding Satire Twain and Mccullough & Earth Day Worksheet
04.09 Understanding Satire Workshee
Part A: Twain and McCullough
Provide supporting evidence from the texts (below) to support your responses to these questions. Use complete sentences in your responses.
- What is the issue Twain is satirizing?
- What techniques does Twain use to create his satire?
- What is the issue McCullough is satirizing?
- What techniques does McCullough use to create his satire?
- How effectively do the techniques used communicate Twain’s position?
- How effectively do the techniques used communicate McCullough’s position?
- How are the messages communicated by Twain and McCullough similar?
- Which message could you relate to more? Explain why in a minimum of three sentences.
Part B: Search for Satire
Use the guided analysis exercises within the lesson as a model for this part of the assignment.
- Locate an example of satire. Copy and paste it here, making sure to note the source where you found it in a proper citation.
(Possible sources include television shows, humor magazines, the op/ed section of the newspaper, movies, comic strips, songs, and internet memes.) - What human institution or human weakness is satirized in this piece?
- Identify and explain the types of humor devices used to create the satire.
- How effectively do the techniques used communicate the creator’s position?
- Evaluate the overall effectiveness of the satire. Explain your reasoning in a minimum of three sentences.
Re-read each speech for your analysis.
- Twain’s speech “Advice to Youth“
- McCullough’s speech “You’re not special“