An Inter-Disciplinary Mini-Unit

 Level: High School

Purpose: To understand the various types of satire and irony as they relate to literature.

Overview: These lessons will focus on different types of irony and satire through analysis of works by Mark Twain, Achibald McLeish, Jonathan Swift, and Alexander Pope.

Lesson One: Students will familiarize themselves with verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony, Horatian satire, and Juvenalian satire. They will recall examples from TV and movies as well as writing creative examples. (Language Arts)

Lesson Two: Students will analyze Mark Twain’s "Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling" and Achibald McLeish’s "Terence, This is Stupid Stuff" for examples of irony and/or satire. (Language Arts)

Lesson Three: Students will analyze Jonathan Swift’s "A Modest Proposal" for examples of irony and/or satire. (Language Arts)

Lesson One

Objective:

Students will familiarize themselves with verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony, Horatian satire, and Juvenalian satire. They will recall examples from TV and movies as well as writing creative examples.

Materials:

Educational Structures

Procedure:

1. Have students research and write down the definition of the following terms:

verbal irony

situational irony

dramatic irony

Horatian satire

Juvenalian satire

2. Have students rewrite the definition in their own words.

3. Have the students find examples of each term from TV shows, movies, or books and explain them.

Lesson Two

 Objective:

Students will analyze Mark Twain’s "A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling" and Achibald McLeish’s "Terence, This is Stupid Stuff" for examples of irony and/or satire.

Materials:

copies of "A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling" and "Terence, This is Stupid Stuff" from Educational Structures

definitions from lesson one

Procedure:

1. Have the students read the literature aloud in class.

2. Have the students discuss, as a class, the various examples of irony found in each.

3. Have the students discuss, as a class, what each piece is satirizing and what type of satire each represents. Be sure to discuss the point that the author is trying to make through the satire.

Lesson Three

Objective:

Students will analyze Jonathan Swift’s "A Modest Proposal" for examples of irony and/or satire.

Materials:

references from Educational Structures

copy of "A Modest Proposal" from Educational Structures

definitions from lesson one

Procedure:

1. Have the students research the historical context behind Ireland in the Victorian period. Be sure that they examine the religious conflicts and the economic state of the country.

2. As a class, read "A Modest Proposal."

3. Have the students write a discussion about the essay and the irony and satire contained within it.

Lesson Four

Objective:

Materials:

copy of "The Rape of the Lock" from Educational Structures

definitions from lesson one

Procedure:

1. Have the students read "The Rape of the Lock."

2. Have them discuss the examples of irony and satire within the poem.

The students should be able to give examples of the types of irony and satire from two short pieces of literature.

The students should be able to discuss, in written form, examples of irony and satire from an essay given its historical context.

The students should be able to list and discuss examples of irony and satire found in an extended poem.