English 101 is one of the most common college courses in the world. When I enrolled in the class, I was bothered that I would have spend forty hours in a freshman writing class; along with at least another forty hours throughout the semester writing for the class. What surprised me, was that when I began writing my essays I was not annoyed or bothered; I actually enjoyed the assignments. Most importantly, throughout the course of the semester, I have become a better writer and have ultimately met the course goals of English 101. There were many course goals in my English class “Writing though Parody.” The course goals included: understanding the nature of parody, understanding genres, being aware of the writing process, and finally developing …show more content…
A simple definition of a parody is an imitation. My personal example of a parody can be seen by referring to my “Fifth Grade Commencement Address.” My piece is ironic in that my address takes place at a fifth grade graduation rather than in high school or college setting. Secondly, I ridicule commencement address clichés such as when I begin to quote Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go (32). Finally, I made the class president Donald Trump’s imaginary son, and throughout the essay I mock Trump. For example, when I write “…some of us will become hall monitors to help keep our halls clear of undesirable new students,” I am mocking Trump’s stance on Syrian refugees as well as Mexican immigration (30). These are only a few examples of how my writing reflects my understanding of …show more content…
Once I collected my research the real work had just begun. I had to take ideas from my sources, primarily David Hacket Fischer’s historical text, Paul Revere’s Ride, and smoothly incorporate them into my writing. Evidence of this can be seen when I quote, “A few hours’ delay…might have been enough for General Gage’s troops to have completed their mission” (Fischer 148). I then explain that “[d]ue to Prescott’s early warning in Concord the colonists’ militia had an advantage against the British troops” (10). Here I use my research to further bolster my argument that Prescott’s role in the events leading up to the revolution was important. In my revision I also had to incorporate a journal citation. I used the libraries resources once again and cited “...Charles J. Caes’ American History journal article…” (10). Using a wide variety of sources ensured that my essay had depth. Lastly, I leaned to properly cite my sources in the essay as well as including a bibliography (13). After a semester in English 101 I have become a more sophisticated writer. I have mastered the course goals such as, understanding the nature of parody, properly using the writing process, and finally developing strong
While the tone may range from playful to angry, satire generally criticizes in order to make a change. Exaggeration, parody, reversal, and incongruity are satirical devices. Author’s use satirical devices to strengthen their central idea.
Satire is defined as the use of irony, sarcasm, or exaggeration to expose and criticize human folly or vice. Mark Twain’s, Huckleberry Fin, is a novel that in order to be fully appreciated and understood must be seen as a work of satire. Twain uses satire in an attempt to both mock aspects of society as well as jeer at the American people. Why twain uses satire . Religious hypocrisy, a need for war and unnecessary fighting, cowardice of the average man.
Satire is form of comedy in which flaws in people or society are chastised in order to prompt change in the objects of criticism. Regardless of how long ago comedy itself may have existed, the concept of satire was introduced by the Roman satirists, Juvenal and Horace. The tones conveyed in their writing characterize the main modes of satire, being Horatian and Juvenalian, and are still used in satire today. Presently, two popular forms of comedy that employ satirical elements include parody news sources and comedic performances. Although satirical writing has evolved throughout history, many aspects of satire are still apparent in both the articles of parody news sources, like The Onion, and the performances of professional comedians, like
For example, the comedy shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon expresses satirical humor concerning politics. His show also demonstrates political satire by telling jokes and even impersonating political figures for the audience. He creates humor through sarcasm that focuses on real issues. His sarcastic humor causes others to feel more confident in their criticism toward politicians. For example, “Jimmy Fallon expresses his humor about Donald Trump, impersonating his appearance and imitating his voice while talking about politics. He uses his humor by impersonating Donald Trump and his sweeping generalizations with Madea (Rogo).” Jimmy Fallon shows people his views through humor and it creates a sense of community to express their agreeable and disagreeable views. As we discussed some ideas about satirical humor that affects political changes, it was important to reveal their feelings about changes in life and drove them to look upon their society or government more
The best ways to present satire is either through incongruity, parody, reversals, or exaggeration. When a writer presents incongruity, there are elements that are out of place, and they shouldn’t be there. This not only brings the attention on that item/idea but also shows how ridiculous it really is. This feeling is what inspires the change and without it, satire would not have been accomplished. If parody is used, the target of the satire is imitated in some absurd way. Some examples will do this with the object’s style; others will imitate techniques that make the audience realize how crazy and outrageous they really are. Once again this is the reason why it works, because it inspires the change in the target of the satire. Third, if reversals are used, the normal order of things is presented opposite of what they should be. This can be accomplished in roles, order of events, or even hierarchical order. This brings the attention on it specifically and shows absurdity, also inspiring change. The last method is exaggeration, where aspects are enlarged beyond reality in order to show its faults. This makes the audience dwell on the problems, and therefore what is needed to change it.
Throughout the semester I have learned an astounding amount of information. The English 101 curriculum has not only taught me how to write in general, but also taught me a variety of ways to get my point across to the reader. Before I took English 101 I was an average writer at best, but now that I am taking a class that focuses on writing strategies I feel that I have been able to improve as a writer. During the course we were taught how to write an informative essay as well as how to write a persuasive essay. The type of writing that this class has taught me will most definitely help me with future classes as well as my future in the real world. Throughout the English 101 course I have been able to improve as a writer by composing essays
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument…” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor. There are many elements of satire that identify flaws within our society. A couple of satire elements that will be discussed are irony and exaggeration. In addition, a parody is used in popular culture as a way to mock or mimic situation or person.
My biggest improvement in this English 111 class was my writing. Writing tasks that were assigned greatly strengthened my overall performance throughout the course, preparing me for the future classes. The environment made me feel at ease, helping me evolve as a student, and as a person. The environment made me feel at ease, preparing me for future classes. Another large achievement of mine that I displayed in the class, was my ability to talk comfortably with the other students. The variety of group activities we did allowed me to openly speak my opinion, leading to a better overall performance with my work and papers. The English 111 class enabled me to have better participation in and out of class and allowed
Over the course of this semester I learned a lot about myself as a writer. This English 101 class has really allowed me to expand my essay structure and ways of thinking. This was my first college writing course and it has given me much more freedom when writing because in high school I felt limited and like what we were writing was not very important. In high school I would write essays to just to fulfill the required word or page count and to a degree I still feel like this but maybe that is why I am an engineering major but in this course I actually was able to express my ideas and for the first time really test the limits of my writing capabilities. I really enjoyed being able to incorporate my voice more in my essays and I believe that I developed my own personal style a bit from this. At the beginning of the semester my writing was quite choppy and there was plenty of room for improvement in the overall flow of my essays. Now, I use several different tactics such as outlining to create better connections between paragraphs. I believe I was able to move beyond many of the high school ways of writing and make general improvements to my essays.
Writing papers has been one of my biggest fears as a student. High school English class prepared me for the editing of my essays, for example, grammatical errors, spelling, font errors, and things that were under the category of fixing my paper. I realized that the writing process requires more than just editing, you have to understand that the paper is like a human body, it cannot function if every single part is not effective. I can certainly say that I have improved as a writer a great deal and this portfolio and the final revised drafts of my work certainly can argue for that. English 101 was certainly different from my other English classes; we actually focused on different parts of the writing process in each class instead of wasting our time discussing the same components of the process over and over again. As I reflect on my experiences throughout the semester of English 101 I am aware that I have met very important requirements of writing that I feel were very valuable for me as a student and my writing has improved progressively.
As writers, many students write to the expectations of their professors and not to their fullest potential. Throughout English 101 I had been writing only to please my professor or to fill the basic requirement to pass English. I always felt that my writing ability was never enough for my professors throughout the previous years. They always wanted clear and concise essays, which for some reason was unreachable by me. However, starting college and taking English 101 helped me with my weaknesses and changed my technique of writing essays. My experience in English 101 taught me to write to my fullest potential and to write what I felt; rather then writing what was required.
I have always known that writing was not my strong point. Entering writing 101 in September I was very much afraid. I knew that the expectations would be very high for this course; thus it would be more difficult than any other writing class I had previously taken. At first writing was a nightmare for me, but thanks to the assistance from professor Smart and my tutors, I have improved drastically in my writing skills and, as a result I am now a better writer. During the course of four months, I have learned so much. There were a few bumps in the way throughout the semester, but I managed to overcome them. It is hard to believe that my journey in writing 101 is coming to an end. Through my hard work and dedication, this class has helped me to build confidence in my writing that will help me throughout my college life.
I came into English 101, a little afraid of what it was going to be like and if my writing abilities were strong enough for me to take it. Once I started the semester though things got a lot easier and I was able to really enjoy writing. The terms on the PAR do not look as discouraging. I am able to put works of literature into a conversation now and find how they connect. I also know what lines of inquiry are and I am able to find them in others essays and put them into mine. I can also find passages from texts to support my statement. Overall, I believe that English 101 has made me a better writer and I think that I have improved tremendously in my writing skills since the first day of class.
As my English 101 class comes to an end, I have realized how much I have transformed as a writer. In this essay, I am going to explain what I realized my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer and how they have manifested themselves throughout the quarter. I was skeptical at first coming into this class knowing that English takes formidable work and dedication, but I am very proud of the progress I have made. We completed a great deal of work throughout the quarter; from grammar exercises, summary reviews, and two challenging essays. Throughout the quarter I found myself improving in each category. As a writer, my skills and confidence have developed into more clarity and thought, something I have always wanted to be, as a result of a well constructed class that led to a superb educational experience.
The purpose of satire is to point out human flaws in a humorous way in order to instruct and possibly change humanity. A parody is a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic styles of an author or a work for comic affect or ridicule. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a satirical piece of work that parodies Hamlet, especially in terms of death, a common theme in both. These two plays take different views on death portrayed by the protagonists of each: either Hamlet or Rosencrantz & Guildenstern.