Creative Writing

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Major Project 2 Joke Writing Satirical
Article

• Creative Writing
• Bear Creek High School
• Bernstein Schacht

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Part I

• Joke Writing

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Joke noun a short written anecdote to provoke
laughter or cause amusement, sometimes
ludicrously inadequate in relationship to the
facts

• You might be from Colorado if
• You know the 'correct' pronunciation of Buena
  Vista and Coloradoan.
• SPF 90 is not out of the question.
• April showers bring May blizzards.
• You have stood on solid ground and looked down on
  an airplane in flight.
• People from other states breathe 5 times more
  often than you.
• Knowing that Texas and California are downstream
  gives you a certain feeling of satisfaction when
  you flush.
• You carry your 3,000 mountain bike on top of
  your 500 car.
• You have a business degree and are frying burgers
  at a McDonald's in Vail.
• You are 82 years old and take up snowboarding.
• You get depressed after one day of cloudy
  weather.
• You think that formal wear is ironed denim.
• You go anywhere else on the planet and the air
  feels "sticky" and you notice the sky is no
  longer blue.
• Your bridal registry is at REI.

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T.H.R.E.E.S. Strategy for Joke Writing

• T Target What is the joke making fun of? As a
  writer, make a list of 10 things youre
  interested in or things you hate.
• H Hostility Why are you mad at the target?
  Make a phrase out of this.
• R Realism The realism of the joke is unstated.
  The joke has to be rooted in the real, everyday
  human experience. The premise is accepted as
  factual.
• E Exaggeration This is where you tag on the
  funny. Youll exaggerate what you observe.
• E Emotion The emotion is another unstated part
  of the joke. The emotion of this joke is that
  most people shop and like to look their best.
• S Surprise This is punch line. The end of the
  joke. You want to continue the exaggeration, but
  offer some finality.

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T.H.R.E.E.S. Strategy for Joke Writing

• T Target The mall
• H Hostility I hate shopping at the mall because
  of all the people trying too hard to look good.
• R Realism Weve all been to the mall and we
  observe people. This is an experience we share in
  our culture. Were all part of the problem as
  well. We go the mall and buy things we dont
  need.
• E Exaggeration At the mall, I saw a woman
  carrying a thousand bags. The bags were labeled
  Limited, Express, Nordstrom's, GAP, American
  Eagle, Banana Republic. There were bags hanging
  from bags.
• E Emotion The underlying human emotion is the
  American obsession with beauty and materialism.
• S Surprise The woman probably looked great
  although I couldnt quite see what she was
  wearing underneath all her bags. She smelled
  delicious though just like roasted almonds and
  a Cinnabun.
• The final written joke I hate going to the
  mall. People try too hard to look good. I saw
  this woman there recently who was carrying so
  many bags. There were Limited bags upon Express
  bags upon GAP and Nordstroms bags. She probably
  looked great, but I couldnt see her underneath
  all those bags. She may have even been naked.
  She smelled delicious though just like a
  Cinnabun.

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T.H.R.E.E.S. Strategy for Joke Writing

• T Target Teenagers
• H Hostility Were mad at them because they
  think theyre the coolest and that everything
  they do is cool, new, and original, but in
  reality, everything they do is completely
  recycled.
• R Realism We did the same thing when we were
  teens, so did the generation before us and the
  generation before them. History repeats itself.
• E Exaggeration I saw a kid wearing a Pink Floyd
  shirt, buying a lava lamp, wearing a hemp
  necklace, smoking a joint, and complaining how
  his parents just dont get it and how he cant
  wait until he moves out.
• E Emotion We all thought we invented cool. We
  all thought that we discovered Dark Side of the
  Moon that it was some secret until we came along
  to shine light on it.
• S Surprise The funny part is that I saw his dad
  pick him up later in a VW bus blaring some
  Hendrix with a Legalize It sticker on the
  bumper. As his dad pulled up the kid looked
  mortified and said, Dad, I told you to wait on
  the corner.
• The final written joke Teenagers are funny.
  They all think they invented what it means to be
  cool. I saw this kid wearing a Pink Floyd shirt,
  buying a lava lamp, wearing a hemp necklace,
  smoking and joint and complaining how his dad
  just didnt get it. The funny part is that I
  saw his dad pick him up driving a VW bus blaring
  some Hendrix with a Legalize It sticker on the
  bumper. The kid looked mortified.

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George Carlin

• May 12, 1937  June 22, 2008
• Comedian, Social Critic, Author
• 5 Grammy Awards
• Hosted the 1st episode of Saturday Night Live
• 14 HBO comedy specials
• 7 Dirty Words creator
• A key figure in the 1978 Supreme Court case that
  affirmed governmental regulation in the
  censorship of material on public airwaves
• 2 on Comedy Centrals list of 100 greatest stand
  up comics of all time
• 2008 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for
  American Humor

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GEORGE CARLIN'S NEW RULES 2006

• New Rule Stop giving me that pop-up ad for
  classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk
  to people for 25 years. Because you don't
  particularly like them! Besides, I already know
  what the captain of the football team is doing
  these days mowing my lawn.
• New Rule Don't eat anything that's served to you
  out a window unless you're a seagull. People are
  acting all shocked that a human finger was found
  in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less
  than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain?
  Trout?
• New Rule Stop saying that teenage boys who have
  sex with their hot, blonde teachers are
  permanently damaged. I have a better description
  for these kids lucky bastards.
• New Rule If you need to shave and you still
  collect baseball cards, you're a dope. If you're
  a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If
  you're a grown man , they're pictures of men.
• New Rule Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone.
  Here's how much men care about your eyebrows do
  you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

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GEORGE CARLIN'S NEW RULES 2006

• New Rule There's no such thing as flavored
  water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the
  supermarket, water, but without that watery
  taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft
  drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch
  over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored
  water.
• New Rule Stop fing with old people. Target is
  introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's
  square, with a bigger label. And the top is now
  the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out
  how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue.
  Congratulations, Target, you just solved the
  Social Security crisis.
• New Rule The more complicated the Starbucks
  order, the bigger the ass hole. If you walk into
  a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy,
  half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot,
  gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice,
  with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh,
  you're a huge ass hole.
• New Rule I'm not the cashier! By the time I look
  up from sliding my card,entering my PIN number,
  pressing "Enter," verifying the amount, deciding,
  no, I don't want cash back, and pressing "Enter"
  again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me
  up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.

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Your Turn!

• Using the T.H.R.E.E.S. Strategy, write five jokes
  of your very own.
• Your five jokes must be focused on the same
  target.
• Start by brainstorming a list of things you
  dislike and why you dislike them. Then youll be
  starting from an emotional place.
• Use the strategy to develop the idea, and then
  write the final joke.
• Your five jokes are due by the end of the period
  Friday.

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Part II

• Satirical Article

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Satire noun a literary composition, in verse
or prose, in which human folly and vice are held
up to scorn, derision, or ridicule

• A complex comedy that is humors, ironic and/or
  sarcastic
• Criticism, either general criticism of humanity
  or human nature or specific criticism of an
  individual or group
• Some kind of moral voice simply mocking or
  criticism is not satire
• Tries to move humanity forward can contain some
  serious social commentary
• Either good natured or bitterly cynical
  denunciation
• More than a little bit prone to references to
  things society finds taboo or disgusting (bodily
  functions, sexuality, etc.)
• There are two main types Direct Indirect Satire

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Direct Satire Stating a direct criticism
humorously. This is the oldest and, most common
form of satiric writing.
Although humorous and intended to entertain,
direct satire like The Daily Show and The Colbert
Report can cause social thought and change
because of the critical nature of the programs.
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Indirect Satire Using characters in a situation
in order to criticize humorously uses one or
more of the following

• Irony Sarcasm
• Parody
• Caricature
• Exaggeration
• Diminutization
• Travesty
• Burlesque
• Farce
• Low Comedy
• Invective
• Knaves Fools
• Malapropism

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Irony Sarcasm

• Irony when what is said or written is the
  opposite of what is meant or intended. The
  ability to recognize irony is one of the surest
  tests of intelligence and sophistication.
• Verbal Ironysimply an inversion of meaning
• Dramatic Ironywhen the words or acts of a
  character carry a meaning unperceived by himself
  but understood by the audience. The irony
  resides in the contrast between the meaning
  intended by the speaker and the added
  significance seen by others.
• Socratic IronySocrates pretended ignorance of a
  subject in order to draw knowledge out of his
  students by a question and answer device.
  Socratic irony is feigning ignorance to achieve
  some advantage over an opponent.
• Situational IronyDepends on a discrepancy
  between purpose and results . Example a
  practical joke that backfires is situational
  irony.
• Sarcasm a harsh, biting, or cutting response or
  comment taunting

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Parody noun a work of literature that mimics
another work of literature, usually as a way of
criticizing it.

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail parodies King
  Arthurs quest to find the Holy Grail.
• Austin Powers parodies the multiple James Bond
  films.
• The Scary Movie series parodies various
  horror/slasher mystery movies.

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Caricature noun An exaggerated portrayal of
the weaknesses, frailties, or humorous aspects of
an individual or group.
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• Caricatures of the presidential candidates by
  Saturday Night Live cast members have had a
  strong influence over time, and in the 2004
  2008 election years they actually changed the way
  that the candidates performed in public.

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Zoolander exaggerates the fashion world and
male modeling.Anchorman exaggerates the news
anchors and male chauvinism.
Exaggeration noun the portrayal of something
trivial or unimportant as very important, usually
to emphasize its triviality
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Weird Als Amish Paradise is a diminutization
of Coolios Gangstas Paradise. Hes really
mocking two lifestyles the Amish and gang life.
Diminutization noun the portrayal of something
perceived as important as something
trivial/unimportant to show its unimportance.
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Other Tools of the Satirist

• Travesty presents a serious (often religious)
  subject frivolously it reduces everything to its
  lowest level.
• Burlesque ridiculous exaggeration achieved
  through a variety of ways. For example, the
  sublime may be absurd, honest emotions may be
  turned to sentimentality.
• Farce exciting laughter through exaggerated,
  improbable situations.
• Low Comedy quarreling, fighting, coarse with,
  horseplay, noisy singing, boisterous conduct,
  trickery, clownishness, drunkenness, slap-stick.
• Invective harsh, abusive language directed
  against a person or cause. Invective is a
  vehicle, a tool of anger. Invective is the
  bitterest of all satire.
• Sarcasm a sharply mocking or contemptuous
  remark. The term came from the Greek word
  sarkazein which means to tear flesh.
• Knaves Fools in comedy there are no villains
  and no innocent victims. Instead, there are
  rogues (knaves) and suckers (fools). The knave
  exploits someone asking for it. When these two
  interact, comic satire results. When knaves
  fools meet, they expose each other.
• Malapropism a deliberate mispronunciation of a
  name or term with the intent of poking fun.

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Satirical Articles
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Article 1

• College Freshman Makes Triumphant Return To High
  School

• Henry Doyle freely roams the halls of Bayshore
  High a privilege he would have needed a pass for
  just last spring.

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Rich Guy Feeling Left Out Of Recession
Article 2

• Chandler can only imagine what it would be like
  to feel camaraderie with the thousands who lost
  everything and had to start from scratch.

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Your Turn!

• Using the T.H.R.E.E.S. Strategy (perhaps building
  on a joke youve already written), write a
  satirical article similar to those in the onion.
• Select something (a law, a rule, unwritten social
  etiquette, graduation requirements, public
  personality, etc) youd like to make fun of.
• Your article should be an example of satire and
  should work beyond mere parody.
• Write a rough draft of your article with evidence
  of brainstorming/revision
• 500 word minimum
• Use imagery if possible
• Use any tools of the satarist