English IV: Regular Course: Block, 1/31 - The Age of Wit (and Sadtire)

Check and discuss Bedford 34 (rules and Exercises)

Work on J10 for 10-15 minutes and then discuss

CWP - The Age of Wit (and Satire)

Take this assignment (and your audience) for a ride. Enjoy it!

For your CWP this quarter, you will consider witty and/or satirical selections we have already enjoyed, in addition to some you have not sampled as of yet. Take a while and peruse some of the ones linked below, as well as check out their introductions that will give you a greater context for the selections you will then read.

After considering the genre you would like to imitate, try your hand at your own witty or satirical work. If you pursue verse, it must be single-spaced; if prose, double. You must properly punctuate your work, even the verse (poetry).

For satirical subject matter, consider the following: Are there any social vices in our country that you believe need to be satirized to instigate change? Consider the victims, the perpetrators, and possible solutions. Will you write a mock epic like Pope's Rape of the Lock, juxtaposing social trivialities and literary grandeur? Or will you write an essay like Swift's Modest Proposal, a more straightforward, below the belt/sand in the eyes form of satire? The choice is yours.

Length: no longer than thirty pages . . . no shorter than two typed MLA formatted.